the intense interest aroused in the public by what was known at the time as the styles case has now somewhat subsided
nevertheless in view of the worldwide notoriety which attended it i have been asked both by my friend and the family themselves to write an account of the whole story
this we trust will silence the sensational rumours which still persist
i will therefore briefly set down the circumstances which led to my being connected with the affair
i had been invalided home from the front and after spending some months in a rather depressing convalescent home was given a months sick leave
having no near relations or friends i was trying to make up my mind what to do when i ran across john cavendish
i had seen very little of him for some years
indeed i had never known him particularly well
he was a good fifteen years my senior for one thing though he hardly looked his years
as a boy though i had often stayed at styles his mothers place in
we had a good yarn about old times and it ended in his inviting me down to styles to spend my leave there
the mater will be delighted to see you all those years he added
your mother keeps well i asked
oh yes
i suppose you know that she has married again
i am afraid i showed my surprise rather plainly
mrs cavendish who had married johns father when he was a widower with two sons had been a handsome woman of as i remembered her
she certainly could not be a day less than seventy now
i recalled her as an energetic autocratic personality somewhat inclined to charitable and social notoriety with a fondness for opening bazaars and playing the lady bountiful
she was a most generous woman and possessed a considerable fortune of her own
their styles court had been purchased by mr cavendish early in their married life
he had been completely under his wifes ascendancy so much so that on dying he left the place to her for her lifetime as well as the larger part of his income an arrangement that was distinctly unfair to his two sons
their stepmother however had always been most generous to them indeed they were so young at the time of their fathers remarriage that they always thought of her as their own mother
lawrence the younger had been a delicate youth
he had qualified as a doctor but early relinquished the profession of medicine and lived at home while pursuing literary ambitions though his verses never had any marked success
john practiced for some time as a barrister but had finally settled down to the more congenial life of a country squire
he had married two years ago and had taken his wife to live at styles though i entertained a shrewd suspicion that he would have preferred his mother to increase his allowance which would have enabled him to have a home of his own
mrs cavendish however was a lady who liked to make her own plans and expected other people to fall in with them and in this case she certainly had the whip hand namely the purse strings
john noticed my surprise at the news of his mothers remarriage and smiled rather
rotten little bounder too he said savagely
i can tell you hastings its making life jolly difficult for us
as for remember
oh i suppose she was after your time
shes the factotum companion jack of all trades
a great
not precisely young and beautiful but as game as they make them
you were going to say
oh this fellow
he turned up from nowhere on the pretext of being a second cousin or something of though she didnt seem particularly keen to acknowledge the relationship
the fellow is an absolute outsider anyone can see that
hes got a great black beard and wears patent leather boots in all weathers
but the mater cottoned to him at once took him on as know how shes always running a hundred societies
i nodded
well of course the war has turned the hundreds into thousands
no doubt the fellow was very useful to her
but you could have knocked us all down with a feather when three months ago she suddenly announced that she and alfred were engaged
the fellow must be at least twenty years younger than she is
its simply barefaced fortune hunting but there you is her own mistress and shes married him
it must be a difficult situation for you all
its damnable
thus it came about that three days later i descended from the train at styles st
mary an absurd little station with no apparent reason for existence perched up in the midst of green fields and country lanes
john cavendish was waiting on the platform and piloted me out to the car
got a drop or two of petrol still you see he remarked
mainly owing to the activities
the village of styles st
mary was situated about two miles from the little station and styles court lay a mile the other side of it
it was a still warm day in early july
as one looked out over the flat country lying so green and peaceful under the afternoon sun it seemed almost impossible to believe that not so very far away a great war was running its appointed course
i felt i had suddenly strayed into another world
as we turned in at the lodge gates john said im afraid find it very quiet down here hastings
my dear fellow thats just what i want
oh its pleasant enough if you want to lead the idle life
i drill with the volunteers twice a week and lend a hand at the farms
my wife works regularly on the land
she is up at five every morning to milk and keeps at it steadily until lunchtime
its a jolly good life taking it all it werent for that fellow alfred
he checked the car suddenly and glanced at his watch
i wonder if weve time to pick up cynthia
no shell have started from the hospital by now
thats not your wife
no cynthia is a protegee of my mothers the daughter of an old of hers who married a rascally solicitor
he came a cropper and the girl was left an orphan and penniless
my mother came to the rescue and cynthia has been with us nearly two years now
she works in the red cross hospital at seven miles away
as he spoke the last words we drew up in front of the fine old house
a lady in a stout tweed skirt who was bending over a flower bed straightened herself at our approach
hullo heres our wounded hero
miss shook hands with a hearty almost painful grip
i had an impression of very blue eyes in a sunburnt face
she was a woman of about forty with a deep voice almost manly in its tones and had a large sensible square body with feet to last encased in good thick boots
her conversation i soon found was couched in the telegraphic style
weeds grow like house afire
cant keep even with em
shall press you in
better be careful
im sure i shall be only too delighted to make myself useful i responded
dont say it
never does
wish you hadnt later
youre a cynic said john laughing
wheres tea or out
too fine a day to be cooped up in the house
come on then youve done enough gardening for today
the labourer is worthy of his hire you know
come and be refreshed
well said miss drawing off her gardening gloves im inclined to agree with you
she led the way round the house to where tea was spread under the shade of a large sycamore
a figure rose from one of the basket chairs and came a few steps to meet us
my wife hastings said john
i shall never forget my first sight of mary cavendish
her tall slender form outlined against the bright light the vivid sense of slumbering fire that seemed to find expression only in those wonderful tawny eyes of hers remarkable eyes different from any other womans that i have ever known the intense power of stillness she possessed which nevertheless conveyed the impression of a wild untamed spirit in an exquisitely civilised these things are burnt into my memory
i shall never forget them
she greeted me with a few words of pleasant welcome in a low clear voice and i sank into a basket chair feeling distinctly glad that i had accepted johns invitation
mrs cavendish gave me some tea and her few quiet remarks heightened my first impression of her as a thoroughly fascinating woman
an appreciative listener is always stimulating and i described in a humorous manner certain incidents of my convalescent home in a way which i flatter myself greatly amused my hostess
john of course good fellow though he is could hardly be called a brilliant conversationalist
at that moment a well remembered voice floated through the open french window near at hand then write to the princess after tea alfred
ill write to lady for the second day myself
or shall we wait until we hear from the princess
in case of a refusal lady might open it the first day and mrs the second
then theres the the school fete
there was the murmur of a mans voice and then mrs rose in reply yes certainly
after tea will do quite well
you are so thoughtful alfred dear
the french window swung open a little wider and a handsome old lady with a somewhat masterful cast of features stepped out of it on to the lawn
a man followed her a suggestion of deference in his manner
mrs greeted me with effusion
why if it isnt too delightful to see you again mr hastings after all these years
alfred darling mr husband
i looked with some curiosity at alfred darling
he certainly struck a rather alien note
i did not wonder at john objecting to his beard
it was one of the longest and blackest i have ever seen
he wore and had a curious of feature
it struck me that he might look natural on a stage but was strangely out of place in real life
his voice was rather deep and unctuous
he placed a wooden hand in mine and said this is a pleasure mr hastings
then turning to his wife emily dearest i think that cushion is a little damp
she beamed fondly on him as he substituted another with every demonstration of the tenderest care
strange infatuation of an otherwise sensible woman
with the presence of mr a sense of constraint and veiled hostility seemed to settle down upon the company
miss in particular took no pains to conceal her feelings
mrs however seemed to notice nothing unusual
her volubility which i remembered of old had lost nothing in the intervening years and she poured out a steady flood of conversation mainly on the subject of the forthcoming bazaar which she was organizing and which was to take place shortly
occasionally she referred to her husband over a question of days or dates
his watchful and attentive manner never varied
from the very first i took a firm and rooted dislike to him and i flatter myself that my first judgments are usually fairly shrewd
presently mrs turned to give some instructions about letters to and her husband addressed me in his painstaking voice is soldiering your regular profession mr hastings
no before the war i was in
and you will return there after it is over
either that or a fresh start altogether
mary cavendish leant forward
what would you really choose as a profession if you could just consult your inclination
well that depends
no secret hobby she asked
tell drawn to something
every one something absurd
laugh at me
she smiled
well ive always had a secret hankering to be a detective
the real yard
or sherlock holmes
oh sherlock holmes by all means
but really seriously i am awfully drawn to it
i came across a man in belgium once a very famous detective and he quite inflamed me
he was a marvellous little fellow
he used to say that all good detective work was a mere matter of method
my system is based on of course i have progressed rather further
he was a funny little man a great dandy but wonderfully clever
like a good detective story myself remarked miss
lots of nonsense written though
criminal discovered in last chapter
every one dumbfounded
real know at once
there have been a great number of undiscovered crimes i argued
dont mean the police but the people that are right in it
the family
you couldnt really hoodwink them
theyd know
then i said much amused you think that if you were mixed up in a crime say a murder youd be able to spot the murderer right off
of course i should
be able to prove it to a pack of lawyers
but im certain id know
id feel it in my fingertips if he came near me
it might be a she i suggested
but murders a violent crime
associate it more with a man
not in a case of poisoning
mrs clear voice startled me
dr was saying yesterday that owing to the general ignorance of the more uncommon poisons among the medical profession there were probably countless cases of poisoning quite unsuspected
why mary what a gruesome conversation cried mrs
it makes me feel as if a goose were walking over my grave
oh theres cynthia
a young girl in v
uniform ran lightly across the lawn
why cynthia you are late today
this is mr
cynthia was a young creature full of life and vigour
she tossed off her little v
cap and i admired the great loose waves of her auburn hair and the smallness and whiteness of the hand she held out to claim her tea
with dark eyes and eyelashes she would have been a beauty
she flung herself down on the ground beside john and as i handed her a plate of sandwiches she smiled up at me
sit down here on the grass do
its ever so much nicer
i dropped down obediently
you work at dont you miss
she nodded
for my sins
do they bully you then i asked smiling
i should like to see them cried cynthia with dignity
i have got a cousin who is nursing i remarked
and she is terrified of sisters
i dont wonder
sisters are you know mr hastings
they simply are
youve no idea
but im not a nurse thank heaven i work in the dispensary
how many people do you poison i asked smiling
cynthia smiled too
oh hundreds she said
cynthia called mrs do you think you could write a few notes for me
certainly aunt emily
she jumped up promptly and something in her manner reminded me that her position was a dependent one and that mrs kind as she might be in the main did not allow her to forget it
my hostess turned to me
john will show you your room
supper is at seven
we have given up late dinner for some time now
lady our members was the late lord the same
she agrees with me that one must set an example of economy
we are quite a war household nothing is wasted scrap of waste paper even is saved and sent away in sacks
i expressed my appreciation and john took me into the house and up the broad staircase which forked right and left halfway to different wings of the building
my room was in the left wing and looked out over the park
john left me and a few minutes later i saw him from my window walking slowly across the grass arm in arm with cynthia
i heard mrs call cynthia impatiently and the girl started and ran back to the house
at the same moment a man stepped out from the shadow of a tree and walked slowly in the same direction
he looked about forty very dark with a melancholy face
some violent emotion seemed to be mastering him
he looked up at my window as he passed and i recognized him though he had changed much in the fifteen years that had elapsed since we last met
it was johns younger brother lawrence cavendish
i wondered what it was that had brought that singular expression to his face
then i dismissed him from my mind and returned to the contemplation of my own affairs
the evening passed pleasantly enough and i dreamed that night of that enigmatical woman mary cavendish
the next morning dawned bright and sunny and i was full of the anticipation of a delightful visit
i did not see mrs cavendish until lunchtime when she volunteered to take me for a walk and we spent a charming afternoon roaming in the woods returning to the house about five
as we entered the large hall john beckoned us both into the
i saw at once by his face that something disturbing had occurred
we followed him in and he shut the door after us
look here mary theres the deuce of a mess
had a row with alfred and shes off
john nodded
yes you see she went to the mater herself
miss entered
her lips were set grimly together and she carried a small suitcase
she looked excited and determined and slightly on the defensive
at any rate she burst out ive spoken my mind
my dear cried mrs cavendish this cant be true
miss nodded grimly
true enough
afraid i said some things to emily she wont forget or forgive in a hurry
dont mind if theyve only sunk in a bit
probably water off a ducks back though
i said right out youre an old woman emily and theres no fool like an old fool
the mans twenty years younger than you and dont you fool yourself as to what he married you for
well dont let him have too much of it
farmer has got a very pretty young wife
just ask your alfred how much time he spends over there
she was very angry
i went on im going to warn you whether you like it or not
that man would as soon murder you in your bed as look at you
hes a bad lot
you can say what you like to me but remember what ive told you
what did she
say miss made an extremely expressive
darling wicked accuse her dear
husband the sooner i left her house the
better so im
off but not
now this
minute for a moment we sat and stared at
her finally john cavendish finding his persuasions of no avail went off to look up the
trains his wife followed him murmuring something about persuading mrs to think better of
it as she left the room miss face
changed she leant towards me
eagerly mr hastings youre
honest i can trust
you i was a little
startled she laid her hand on my arm and sank her voice to a
whisper look after her mr
hastings my poor
emily theyre a lot of
them oh i know what im talking
about there isnt one of them thats not hard up and trying to get money out of
her ive protected her as much as i
could now im out of the way theyll impose upon
her of course miss i said ill do everything i can but im sure youre excited and
overwrought she interrupted me by slowly shaking her
forefinger young man trust
me ive lived in the world rather longer than you
have all i ask you is to keep your eyes
open see what i
mean the throb of the motor came through the open window and miss rose and moved to the
door johns voice sounded
outside with her hand on the handle she turned her head over her shoulder and beckoned to
me above all mr hastings watch that
husband there was no time for
more miss was swallowed up in an eager chorus of protests and
goodbyes the did not
appear as the motor drove away mrs cavendish suddenly detached herself from the group and moved across the drive to the lawn to meet a tall bearded man who had been evidently making for the
house the colour rose in her cheeks as she held out her hand to
him who is that i asked sharply for instinctively i distrusted the
man thats dr said john
shortly and who is dr
hes staying in the village doing a rest cure after a bad nervous
breakdown hes a london specialist a very clever of the greatest living experts on poisons i
believe and hes a great friend of marys put in cynthia the
irrepressible john cavendish frowned and changed the
subject come for a stroll
hastings this has been a most rotten
business she always had a rough tongue but there is no friend in england than
he took the path through the plantation and we walked down to the village through the woods which bordered one side of the
estate as we passed through one of the gates on our way home again a pretty young woman of gipsy type coming in the opposite direction bowed and
smiled thats a pretty girl i remarked
appreciatively johns face
hardened that is mrs
the one that miss
exactly said john with rather unnecessary
abruptness i thought of the old lady in the big house and that vivid wicked little face that had just smiled into ours and a vague chill of foreboding crept over
me i brushed it
aside styles is really a glorious old place i said to
john he nodded rather
yes its a fine
property itll be mine some be mine now by rights if my father had only made a decent
will and then i shouldnt be so damned hard up as i am
now hard up are
you my dear hastings i dont mind telling you that im at my wits end for
money couldnt your brother help
lawrence hes gone through every penny he ever had publishing rotten verses in fancy
bindings no were an impecunious
lot my mothers always been awfully good to us i must
say that is up to
now since her marriage of course he broke off
frowning for the first time i felt that with something indefinable had gone from the
atmosphere her presence had spelt
security now that security was the air seemed rife with
suspicion the sinister face of dr to me
unpleasantly a vague suspicion of every one and everything filled my
mind just for a moment i had a premonition of approaching
evil i had arrived at styles on the of
july i come now to the events of the and of that
month for the convenience of the reader i will recapitulate the incidents of those days in as exact a manner as
possible they were elicited subsequently at the trial by a process of long and tedious
i received a letter from a couple of days after her departure telling me she was working as a nurse at the big hospital in a manufacturing town some fifteen miles away and begging me to let her know if mrs should show any wish to be
reconciled the only fly in the ointment of my peaceful days was mrs extraordinary and for my part unaccountable preference for the society of dr
what she saw in the man i cannot imagine but she was always asking him up to the house and often went off for long expeditions with
him i must confess that i was quite unable to see his
attraction the of july fell on a
monday it was a day of
turmoil the famous bazaar had taken place on saturday and an entertainment in connection with the same charity at which mrs was to recite a war poem was to be held that
night we were all busy during the morning arranging and decorating the hall in the village where it was to take
place we had a late luncheon and spent the afternoon resting in the
garden i noticed that johns manner was somewhat
unusual he seemed very excited and
restless after tea mrs went to lie down to rest before her efforts in the evening and i challenged mary cavendish to a single at
tennis about a quarter to seven mrs called us that we should be late as supper was early that
night we had rather a scramble to get ready in time and before the meal was over the motor was waiting at the
door the entertainment was a great success mrs recitation receiving tremendous
applause there were also some tableaux in which cynthia took
part she did not return with us having been asked to a supper party and to remain the night with some friends who had been acting with her in the
tableaux the following morning mrs stayed in bed to breakfast as she was rather overtired but she appeared in her mood about
and swept lawrence and myself off to a luncheon
party such a charming invitation from mrs
lady sister you
know the came over with the of our oldest
families mary had excused herself on the plea of an engagement with dr
we had a pleasant luncheon and as we drove away lawrence suggested that we should return by which was barely a mile out of our way and pay a visit to cynthia in her
dispensary mrs replied that this was an excellent idea but as she had several letters to write she would drop us there and we could come back with cynthia in the
we were detained under suspicion by the hospital porter until cynthia appeared to vouch for us looking very cool and sweet in her long white
overall she took us up to her sanctum and introduced us to her fellow dispenser a rather individual whom cynthia cheerily addressed as
nibs what a lot of
bottles i exclaimed as my eye travelled round the small
room do you really know whats in them
all say something original groaned
cynthia every single person who comes up here says
that we are really thinking of bestowing a prize on the first individual who does not say what a lot of
bottles and i know the next thing youre going to say is how many people have you
poisoned i pleaded guilty with a
laugh if you people only knew how fatally easy it is to poison some one by mistake you wouldnt joke about
it come on lets have
tea weve got all sorts of secret stories in that
cupboard no the poison
cupboard the big
right we had a very cheery tea and assisted cynthia to wash up
afterwards we had just put away the last teaspoon when a knock came at the
door the of cynthia and nibs were suddenly petrified into a stern and forbidding
expression come in said cynthia in a sharp professional
tone a young and rather scared looking nurse appeared with a bottle which she proffered to nibs who waved her towards cynthia with the somewhat enigmatical remark im not really here
today cynthia took the bottle and examined it with the severity of a
judge this should have been sent up this
morning sister is very
sorry she
forgot sister should read the rules outside the
door i gathered from the little nurses expression that there was not the least likelihood of her having the to retail this message to the dreaded
sister so now it cant be done until tomorrow finished
cynthia dont you think you could possibly let us have it
tonight well said cynthia graciously we are very busy but if we have time it shall be
done the little nurse withdrew and cynthia promptly took a jar from the shelf refilled the bottle and placed it on the table outside the
door i
laughed discipline must be
exactly come out on our little
balcony you can see all the outside wards
there i followed cynthia and her friend and they pointed out the different wards to
me lawrence remained behind but after a few moments cynthia called to him over her shoulder to come and join
us then she looked at her
watch nothing more to do
no all
right then we can lock up and
go i had seen lawrence in quite a different light that
afternoon compared to john he was an astoundingly difficult person to get to
know he was the opposite of his brother in almost every respect being unusually shy and
reserved yet he had a certain charm of manner and i fancied that if one really knew him well one could have a deep affection for
him i had always fancied that his manner to cynthia was rather constrained and that she on her side was inclined to be shy of
him but they were both gay enough this afternoon and chatted together like a couple of
children as we drove through the village i remembered that i wanted some stamps so accordingly we pulled up at the post
office as i came out again i into a little man who was just
entering i drew aside and apologised when suddenly with a loud exclamation he clasped me in his arms and kissed me
warmly mon ami hastings he
cried it is indeed mon ami
exclaimed i turned to the
this is a very pleasant meeting for me miss
cynthia this is my old friend monsieur whom i have not seen for
years oh we know monsieur said cynthia
gaily but i had no idea he was a friend of
yours yes indeed said
seriously i know mademoiselle
cynthia it is by the charity of that good mrs that i am
here then as i looked at him yes my friend she had kindly extended hospitality to seven of my who alas are refugees from their native
land we belgians will always remember her with
gratitude was an extraordinary looking little
man he was hardly more than five feet four inches but carried himself with great
dignity his head was exactly the shape of an egg and he always perched it a little on one
side his moustache was very stiff and
military the neatness of his attire was almost
incredible i believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet
wound yet this quaint little man who i was sorry to see now limped badly had been in his time one of the most celebrated members of the belgian
police as a detective his flair had been extraordinary and he had achieved triumphs by unravelling some of the most baffling cases of the
day he pointed out to me the little house inhabited by him and his fellow belgians and i promised to go and see him at an early
date then he raised his hat with a flourish to cynthia and we drove
away hes a dear little man said
cynthia id no idea you knew
him youve been entertaining a celebrity unawares i
replied and for the rest of the way home i recited to them the various exploits and triumphs of
we arrived back in a very cheerful
mood as we entered the hall mrs came out of her
boudoir she looked flushed and
upset oh its you she
said is there anything the matter aunt emily asked
cynthia certainly not said mrs
sharply what should there
be then catching sight of dorcas the going into the she called to her to bring some stamps into the
boudoir yes
mm the old servant hesitated then added dont you think mm youd better get to
bed youre looking very
tired perhaps youre right
now ive some letters i must finish by
have you lighted the fire in my room as i told
you yes
mm then ill go to bed directly after
supper she went into the boudoir again and cynthia stared after
her goodness
gracious i wonder whats up she said to
lawrence he did not seem to have heard her for without a word he turned on his heel and went out of the
house i suggested a quick game of tennis before supper and cynthia agreeing i ran upstairs to fetch my
racquet mrs cavendish was coming down the
stairs it may have been my fancy but she too was looking odd and
disturbed had a good walk with dr i asked trying to appear as indifferent as i
could i didnt go she replied
abruptly where is mrs
in the
boudoir her hand clenched itself on the banisters then she seemed to nerve herself for some encounter and went rapidly past me down the stairs across the hall to the boudoir the door of which she shut behind
her as i ran out to the tennis court a few moments later i had to pass the open boudoir window and was unable to help overhearing the following scrap of
dialogue mary cavendish was saying in the voice of a woman desperately controlling herself then you wont show it to
me to which mrs replied my dear mary it has nothing to do with that
matter then show it to
me i tell you it is not what you
imagine it does not concern you in the
least to which mary cavendish replied with a rising bitterness of course i might have known you would shield
him cynthia was waiting for me and greeted me eagerly with i
say theres been the most awful
row ive got it all out of
dorcas what kind of a
row between aunt emily and
him i do hope shes found him out at
last was dorcas there
then of course
not she happened to be near the
door it was a real old
i do wish i knew what it was all
about i thought of mrs gipsy face and warnings but wisely decided to hold my peace whilst cynthia exhausted every possible hypothesis and cheerfully hoped aunt emily will send him away and will never speak to him
again i was anxious to get hold of john but he was nowhere to be
seen evidently something very momentous had occurred that
afternoon i tried to forget the few words i had overheard but do what i would i could not dismiss them altogether from my
mind what was mary concern in the
matter mr was in the when i came down to
supper his face was impassive as ever and the strange unreality of the man struck me
afresh mrs came down
last she still looked agitated and during the meal there was a somewhat constrained
silence was unusually
quiet as a rule he surrounded his wife with little attentions placing a cushion at her back and altogether playing the part of the devoted
husband immediately after supper mrs retired to her boudoir
again send my coffee in here mary she
called ive just five minutes to catch the
post cynthia and i went and sat by the open window in the
mary cavendish brought our coffee to
us she seemed
excited do you young people want lights or do you enjoy the twilight she
asked will you take mrs her coffee
cynthia i will pour it
out do not trouble mary said
i will take it to
emily he poured it out and went out of the room carrying it
carefully lawrence followed him and mrs cavendish sat down by
us we three sat for some time in
silence it was a glorious night hot and
still mrs cavendish fanned herself gently with a palm
leaf its almost too hot she
murmured we shall have a
thunderstorm alas that these harmonious moments can never
endure my paradise was rudely shattered by the sound of a well known and heartily disliked voice in the
hall dr
cynthia what a funny time to
come i glanced jealously at mary cavendish but she seemed quite undisturbed the delicate pallor of her cheeks did not
vary in a few moments alfred had ushered the doctor in the latter laughing and protesting that he was in no fit state for a
in truth he presented a sorry spectacle being literally plastered with
mud what have you been doing doctor cried mrs
cavendish i must make my apologies said the
doctor i did not really mean to come in but mr
insisted well you are in a plight said john strolling in from the
hall have some coffee and tell us what you have been up
to thank you i
will he laughed rather as he described how he had discovered a very rare species of fern in an inaccessible place and in his efforts to obtain it had lost his footing and slipped ignominiously into a neighbouring
pond the sun soon dried me off he added but im afraid my appearance is very
disreputable at this juncture mrs called to cynthia from the hall and the girl ran
out just carry up my will you
dear im going to
bed the door into the hall was a wide
one i had risen when cynthia did john was close by
me there were therefore three witnesses who could swear that mrs was carrying her coffee as yet in her
hand my evening was utterly and entirely spoilt by the presence of dr
it seemed to me the man would never
go he rose at last however and i breathed a sigh of
relief ill walk down to the village with you said mr
i must see our agent over those estate
accounts he turned to
john no one need sit
up i will take the
latchkey to make this part of my story clear i the following plan of the first floor of
styles the servants rooms are reached through the door
b they have no communication with the right wing where the rooms were
situated it seemed to be the middle of the night when i was awakened by lawrence
cavendish he had a candle in his hand and the agitation of his face told me at once that something was seriously
wrong whats the matter i asked sitting up in bed and trying to collect my scattered
thoughts we are afraid my mother is very
ill she seems to be having some kind of
fit unfortunately she has locked herself
in ill come at
once i sprang out of bed and pulling on a followed lawrence along the passage and the gallery to the right wing of the
house john cavendish joined us and one or two of the servants were standing round in a state of
excitement lawrence turned to his
brother what do you think we had better
do never i thought had his indecision of character been more
apparent john rattled the handle of mrs door violently but with no
effect it was obviously locked or bolted on the
inside the whole household was aroused by
now the most alarming sounds were audible from the interior of the
room clearly something must be
done try going through mr room sir cried
dorcas oh the poor
mistress suddenly i realized that alfred was not with he alone had given no sign of his
presence john opened the door of his
room it was pitch dark but lawrence was following with the candle and by its feeble light we saw that the bed had not been slept in and that there was no sign of the room having been
occupied we went straight to the connecting
door that too was locked or bolted on the
inside what was to be
done oh dear sir cried dorcas wringing her hands what ever shall we
do we must try and break the door in i
suppose itll be a tough job
though here let one of the maids go down and wake and tell him to go for dr at
once now then well have a try at the
door half a moment though isnt there a door into miss
rooms yes sir but thats always
bolted its never been
undone well we might just
see he ran rapidly down the corridor to
room mary cavendish was there shaking the girl who must have been an unusually sound sleeper and trying to wake
her in a moment or two he was
back no
good thats bolted
too we must break in the
door i think this one is a shade less solid than the one in the
passage we strained and heaved
together the framework of the door was solid and for a long time it resisted our efforts but at last we felt it give beneath our weight and finally with a resounding crash it was burst
open we stumbled in together lawrence still holding his
candle mrs was lying on the bed her whole form agitated by violent convulsions in one of which she must have overturned the table beside
her as we entered however her limbs relaxed and she fell back upon the
pillows john strode across the room and lit the
gas turning to annie one of the housemaids he sent her downstairs to the for
brandy then he went across to his mother whilst i the door that gave on the
corridor i turned to lawrence to suggest that i had better leave them now that there was no further need of my services but the words were frozen on my
lips never have i seen such a ghastly look on any mans
face he was white as chalk the candle he held in his shaking hand was sputtering onto the carpet and his eyes petrified with terror or some such kindred emotion stared over my head at a point on the further
wall it was as though he had seen something that turned him to
stone i instinctively followed the direction of his eyes but i could see nothing
unusual the still feebly flickering ashes in the grate and the row of prim ornaments on the mantelpiece were surely harmless
enough the violence of mrs attack seemed to be
passing she was able to speak in short
gasps better of lock myself
in a shadow fell on the bed and looking up i saw mary cavendish standing near the door with her arm around
cynthia she seemed to be supporting the girl who looked utterly dazed and unlike
herself her face was heavily flushed and she yawned
repeatedly poor cynthia is quite frightened said mrs cavendish in a low clear
voice she herself i noticed was dressed in her white land
smock then it must be later than i
thought i saw that a faint streak of daylight was showing through the curtains of the windows and that the clock on the mantelpiece pointed to close upon five
oclock a strangled cry from the bed startled
me a fresh access of pain seized the unfortunate old
lady the convulsions were of a violence terrible to
behold everything was
confusion we round her powerless to help or
alleviate a final convulsion lifted her from the bed until she appeared to rest upon her head and her heels with her body arched in an extraordinary
manner in vain mary and john tried to administer more
brandy the moments
flew again the body arched itself in that peculiar
fashion at that moment dr pushed his way authoritatively into the
room for one instant he stopped dead staring at the figure on the bed and at the same instant mrs cried out in a strangled voice her eyes fixed on the doctor then she fell back motionless on the
pillows with a stride the doctor reached the bed and seizing her arms worked them energetically applying what i knew to be artificial
respiration he issued a few short sharp orders to the
servants an imperious wave of his hand drove us all to the
door we watched him fascinated though i think we all knew in our hearts that it was too late and that nothing could be done
now i could see by the expression on his face that he himself had little
hope finally he abandoned his task shaking his head
gravely at that moment we heard footsteps outside and dr mrs own doctor a portly fussy little man came bustling
in in a few words explained how he had happened to be passing the lodge gates as the car came out and had run up to the house as fast as he could whilst the car went on to fetch dr
with a faint gesture of the hand he indicated the figure on the
bed very
sad very sad murmured dr
poor dear
lady always did far too too my
advice i warned
her her heart was far from
strong take it easy i said to her
but zeal for good works was too
great nature
dr i noticed was watching the local doctor
narrowly he still kept his eyes fixed on him as he
spoke the convulsions were of a peculiar violence dr
i am sorry you were not here in time to witness
them they were in
character ah said dr
wisely i should like to speak to you in private said dr
he turned to
john you do not
object certainly
not we all trooped out into the corridor leaving the two doctors alone and i heard the key turned in the lock behind
us we went slowly down the
stairs i was violently
excited i have a certain talent for deduction and dr manner had started a flock of wild surmises in my
mind mary cavendish laid her hand upon my
arm what is
it why did dr seem
i looked at
her do you know what i
listen i looked round the others were out of
earshot i lowered my voice to a
whisper i believe she has been
poisoned im certain dr suspects
what she shrank against the wall the pupils of her eyes dilating
wildly then with a sudden cry that startled me she cried out no
that and breaking from me fled up the
stairs i followed her afraid that she was going to
faint i found her leaning against the bannisters deadly
pale she waved me away
impatiently no
me id rather be
alone let me just be quiet for a minute or
two go down to the
others i obeyed her
reluctantly john and lawrence were in the
i joined
them we were all silent but i suppose i voiced the thoughts of us all when i at last broke it by saying where is mr
john shook his
head hes not in the
house our eyes
met where was alfred
his absence was strange and
inexplicable i remembered mrs dying
words what lay beneath
them what more could she have told us if she had had
time at last we heard the doctors descending the
stairs dr was looking important and excited and trying to conceal an inward exultation under a manner of decorous
calm dr remained in the background his grave bearded face
unchanged dr was the spokesman for the
two he addressed himself to john mr cavendish i should like your consent to a
postmortem is that necessary asked john
gravely a spasm of pain crossed his
face absolutely said dr
you mean by
that that neither dr nor myself could give a death certificate under the
circumstances john bent his
head in that case i have no alternative but to
agree thank you said dr
briskly we propose that it should take place tomorrow rather
tonight and he glanced at the
daylight under the circumstances i am afraid an inquest can hardly be formalities are necessary but i beg that you wont distress
yourselves there was a pause and then dr drew two keys from his pocket and handed them to
john these are the keys of the two
rooms i have locked them and in my opinion they would be better kept locked for the
present the doctors then
departed i had been turning over an idea in my head and i felt that the moment had now come to broach
it yet i was a little of doing
so john i knew had a horror of any kind of publicity and was an easygoing optimist who preferred never to meet trouble
halfway it might be difficult to convince him of the soundness of my
plan lawrence on the other hand being less conventional and having more imagination i felt i might count upon as an
ally there was no doubt that the moment had come for me to take the
lead john i said i am going to ask you
well you remember my speaking of my friend
the belgian who is
here he has been a most famous
yes i want you to let me call him into investigate this
before the
postmortem yes time is an advantage has been foul
play rubbish cried lawrence
angrily in my opinion the whole thing is a mares nest of
hadnt an idea of such a thing until put it into his
head but like all specialists got a bee in his
bonnet poisons are his hobby so of course he sees them
everywhere i confess that i was surprised by
attitude he was so seldom vehement about
anything john
hesitated i cant feel as you do lawrence he said at
last im inclined to give hastings a free hand though i should prefer to wait a
bit we dont want any unnecessary
scandal no no i cried eagerly you need have no fear of
that is discretion
itself very well then have it your own
way i leave it in your
hands though if it is as we suspect it seems a clear enough
case god forgive me if i am
him i looked at my
watch it was six
oclock i determined to lose no
time five minutes delay however i allowed
myself i spent it in ransacking the library until i discovered a medical book which gave a description of strychnine
poisoning the house which the belgians occupied in the village was quite close to the park
gates one could save time by taking a narrow path through the long grass which cut off the detours of the winding
drive so i accordingly went that
way i had nearly reached the lodge when my attention was arrested by the running figure of a man approaching
me it was mr
where had he
been how did he intend to explain his
absence he accosted me
eagerly my
god this is
terrible my poor
wife i have only just
heard where have you been i
asked kept me late last
night it was one oclock before wed
finished then i found that id forgotten the latchkey after
all i didnt want to arouse the household so gave me a
bed how did you hear the news i
asked knocked up to tell
him my poor
emily she was so a noble
character she overtaxed her
strength a wave of revulsion swept over
me what a consummate hypocrite the man
was i must hurry on i said thankful that he did not ask me whither i was
bound in a few minutes i was knocking at the door of leastways
cottage getting no answer i repeated my summons
impatiently a window above me was cautiously opened and himself looked
out he gave an exclamation of surprise at seeing
me in a few brief words i explained the tragedy that had occurred and that i wanted his
help wait my friend i will let you in and you shall recount to me the affair whilst i
dress in a few moments he had unbarred the door and i followed him up to his
room there he installed me in a chair and i related the whole story keeping back nothing and omitting no circumstance however insignificant whilst he himself made a careful and deliberate
toilet i told him of my awakening of mrs dying words of her husbands absence of the quarrel the day before of the scrap of conversation between mary and her that i had overheard of the former quarrel between mrs and and of the
innuendoes i was hardly as clear as i could
wish i repeated myself several times and occasionally had to go back to some detail that i had
forgotten smiled kindly on
me the mind is
confused is it not
so take time mon
ami you are agitated you are is but
natural presently when we are calmer we will arrange the facts neatly each in his proper
place we will
reject those of importance we will put on one side those of no importance screwed up his face and puffed comically them
away thats all very well i objected but how are you going to decide what is important and what
isnt that always seems the difficulty to
me shook his head
energetically he was now arranging his moustache with exquisite
care not
one fact leads to we
continue does the next fit in with
that a
good we can
proceed this next little
ah that is
curious there is something link in the chain that is not
there we
examine we
search and that little curious fact that possibly paltry little detail that will not tally we put it
here he made an extravagant gesture with his
hand it is
significant it is
tremendous yes
ah shook his forefinger so fiercely at me that i before
beware peril to the detective who says it is so does not
matter it will not
agree i will forget
it that way lies
confusion everything
matters i
know you always told me
that thats why i have gone into all the details of this thing whether they seemed to me relevant or
not and i am pleased with
you you have a good memory and you have given me the facts
faithfully of the order in which you present them i say it is
deplorable but i make are
upset to that i attribute the circumstance that you have omitted one fact of paramount
importance what is that i
asked you have not told me if mrs ate well last
night i stared at
him surely the war had affected the little mans
brain he was carefully engaged in brushing his coat before putting it on and seemed wholly engrossed in the
task i dont remember i
said and anyway i dont
see you do not
see but it is of the first
importance i cant see why i said rather
as far as i can remember she didnt eat
much she was obviously upset and it had taken her appetite
away that was only
natural yes said thoughtfully it was only
natural he opened a drawer and took out a small then turned to
me now i am
ready we will proceed to the chateau and study matters on the
spot excuse me mon ami you dressed in haste and your tie is on one
side permit
me with a deft gesture he rearranged
now shall we
start we hurried up the village and turned in at the lodge
gates stopped for a moment and gazed over the beautiful expanse of park still glittering with morning
dew so beautiful so beautiful and yet the poor family plunged in sorrow prostrated with
grief he looked at me keenly as he spoke and i was aware that i reddened under his prolonged
gaze was the family prostrated by
grief was the sorrow at mrs death so
great i realized that there was an emotional lack in the
atmosphere the dead woman had not the gift of commanding
love her death was a shock and a distress but she would not be passionately
regretted seemed to follow my
thoughts he nodded his head
gravely no you are right he said it is not as though there was a blood
tie she has been kind and generous to these but she was not their own
mother blood remember
tells i said i wish you would tell me why you wanted to know if mrs ate well last
night i have been turning it over in my mind but i cant see how it has anything to do with the
matter he was silent for a minute or two as we walked along but finally he said i do not mind telling as you know it is not my habit to explain until the end is
reached the present contention is that mrs died of strychnine poisoning presumably administered in her
yes well what time was the coffee
served about eight
oclock therefore she drank it between then and not much
later well strychnine is a fairly rapid
poison its effects would be felt very soon probably in about an
hour yet in mrs case the symptoms do not manifest themselves until five oclock the next morning nine
hours but a heavy meal taken at about the same time as the poison might retard its effects though hardly to that
extent still it is a possibility to be taken into
account but according to you she ate very little for supper and yet the symptoms do not develop until early the next
morning now that is a curious circumstance my
friend something may arise at the autopsy to explain
it in the meantime remember
it as we neared the house john came out and met
us his face looked weary and
haggard this is a very dreadful business monsieur he
said hastings has explained to you that we are anxious for no
publicity i comprehend
perfectly you see it is only suspicion so
far we have nothing to go
precisely it is a matter of precaution
only john turned to me taking out his and lighting a cigarette as he did
so you know that fellow is
yes i met
him john flung the match into an adjacent flower bed a proceeding which was too much for
feelings he retrieved it and buried it
neatly its jolly difficult to know how to treat
him that difficulty will not exist long pronounced
quietly john looked puzzled not quite understanding the portent of this cryptic
saying he handed the two keys which dr had given him to
me show monsieur everything he wants to
see the rooms are locked asked
dr considered it
advisable nodded
thoughtfully then he is very
sure well that simplifies matters for
us we went up together to the room of the
tragedy for convenience i a plan of the room and the principal articles of furniture in
it locked the door on the inside and proceeded to a minute inspection of the
room he darted from one object to the other with the agility of a
grasshopper i remained by the door fearing to obliterate any
clues however did not seem grateful to me for my
forbearance what have you my friend he cried that you remain there do you say
yes the stuck
pig i explained that i was afraid of obliterating any
footmarks but what an
idea there has already been practically an army in the
room what footmarks are we likely to
find no come here and aid me in my
search i will put down my little case until i need
it he did so on the round table by the window but it was an proceeding for the top of it being loose it tilted up and precipitated the on the
floor eh voila table cried
ah my friend one may live in a big house and yet have no
comfort after which piece of moralizing he resumed his
search a small purple with a key in the lock on the engaged his attention for some
time he took out the key from the lock and passed it to me to
inspect i saw nothing peculiar
however it was an ordinary key of the yale type with a bit of twisted wire through the
handle next he examined the framework of the door we had broken in assuring himself that the bolt had really been
shot then he went to the door opposite leading into
room that door was also bolted as i had
stated however he went to the length of it and opening and shutting it several times this he did with the utmost precaution against making any
noise suddenly something in the bolt itself seemed to rivet his
attention he examined it carefully and then nimbly whipping out a pair of small forceps from his case he drew out some minute particle which he carefully sealed up in a tiny
envelope on the chest of drawers there was a tray with a spirit lamp and a small saucepan on
it a small quantity of a dark fluid remained in the saucepan and an empty cup and saucer that had been drunk out of stood near
it i wondered how i could have been so as to overlook
this here was a clue worth
having delicately dipped his finger into liquid and tasted it
gingerly he made a
grimace in
it he passed on to the debris on the floor where the table by the bed had been
overturned a some books matches a bunch of keys and the crushed fragments of a lay scattered
about ah this is curious said
i must confess that i see nothing particularly curious about
it you do
not observe the chimney is broken in two places they lie there as they
fell but see the is absolutely smashed to
powder well i said wearily i suppose some one must have stepped on
it exactly said in an odd
voice some one stepped on
it he rose from his knees and walked slowly across to the mantelpiece where he stood fingering the ornaments and straightening thema trick of his when he was
agitated mon ami he said turning to me somebody stepped on that cup grinding it to powder and the reason they did so was either because it contained strychnine is far more it did not contain
strychnine i made no
reply i was bewildered but i knew that it was no good asking him to
explain in a moment or two he roused himself and went on with his
investigations he picked up the bunch of keys from the floor and twirling them round in his fingers finally selected one very bright and shining which he tried in the lock of the purple
it fitted and he opened the box but after a moments hesitation closed and it and slipped the bunch of keys as well as the key that had originally stood in the lock into his own
pocket i have no authority to go through these
papers but it should be
once he then made a very careful examination of the drawers of the
washstand crossing the room to the window a round stain hardly visible on the dark brown carpet seemed to interest him
particularly he went down on his knees examining it going so far as to smell
it finally he poured a few drops of the cocoa into a test tube sealing it up
carefully his next proceeding was to take out a little
notebook we have found in this room he said writing busily six points of
interest shall i enumerate them or will
you oh you i replied
hastily very well
then one a that has been ground into powder two a with a key in the lock three a stain on the
floor that may have been done some time ago i
interrupted no for it is still damp and smells of
coffee four a fragment of some dark green a thread or two but
recognizable ah i
cried that was what you sealed up in the
yes it may turn out to be a piece of one of mrs own dresses and quite
unimportant we shall
see five
this with a dramatic gesture he pointed to a large splash of candle grease on the floor by the
it must have been done since yesterday otherwise a good housemaid would have at once removed it with and a hot
iron one of my best hats that is not to the
point it was very likely done last
night we were very
agitated or perhaps mrs herself dropped her
candle you brought only one candle into the
yes lawrence cavendish was carrying
it but he was very
upset he seemed to see something over indicated the absolutely paralysed
him that is interesting said
quickly yes it is eye sweeping the whole length of the it was not his candle that made this great patch for you perceive that this is white grease whereas monsieur candle which is still on the is
pink on the other hand mrs had no candlestick in the room only a
then i said what do you
deduce to which my friend only made a rather irritating reply urging me to use my own natural
faculties and the sixth point i
asked i suppose it is the sample of
cocoa no said
thoughtfully i might have included that in the six but i did
not no the sixth point i will keep to myself for the
present he looked quickly round the
room there is nothing more to be done here i think stared earnestly and long at the dead ashes in the
grate the fire it
destroys but by might us
see deftly on hands and knees he began to sort the ashes from the grate into the fender handling them with the greatest
caution suddenly he gave a faint
exclamation the forceps
hastings i quickly handed them to him and with skill he extracted a small piece of half charred
paper there mon ami he
cried what do you think of
that i scrutinized the
fragment this is an exact reproduction of it i was
puzzled it was unusually thick quite unlike ordinary
notepaper suddenly an idea struck
me i
cried this is a fragment of a
exactly i looked up at him
sharply you are not
surprised no he said gravely i expected
it i relinquished the piece of paper and watched him put it away in his case with the same methodical care that he bestowed on
everything my brain was in a
whirl what was this complication of a
will who had destroyed
it the person who had left the candle grease on the
obviously but how had anyone gained
admission all the doors had been bolted on the
inside now my friend said briskly we will
go i should like to ask a few questions of the her name is is it
not we passed through alfred room and delayed long enough to make a brief but fairly comprehensive examination of
it we went out through that door locking both it and that of mrs room as
before i took him down to the boudoir which he had expressed a wish to see and went myself in search of
dorcas when i returned with her however the boudoir was
empty i cried where are
you i am here my
friend he had stepped outside the french window and was standing apparently lost in admiration before the various shaped flower
admirable he
admirable what
symmetry observe that crescent and those neatness rejoices the
eye the spacing of the plants also is
perfect it has been recently done is it not
so yes i believe they were at it yesterday
afternoon but come is
here eh bien eh
bien do not grudge me a moments satisfaction of the
eye yes but this affair is more
important and how do you know that these fine begonias are not of equal
importance i shrugged my
shoulders there was really no arguing with him if he chose to take that
line you do not
agree but such things have
been well we will come in and interview the brave
dorcas dorcas was standing in the boudoir her hands folded in front of her and her grey hair rose in stiff waves under her white
cap she was the very model and picture of a good
servant in her attitude towards she was inclined to be suspicious but he soon broke down her
defences he drew forward a
chair pray be seated
mademoiselle thank you
sir you have been with your mistress many years is it not
so ten years
sir that is a long time and very faithful
service you were much attached to her were you
not she was a very good mistress to me
sir then you will not object to answering a few
questions i put them to you with mr full
approval oh certainly
sir then i will begin by asking you about the events of yesterday
afternoon your mistress had a
quarrel yes
sir but i dont know that i ought dorcas
hesitated looked at her
keenly my good dorcas it is necessary that i should know every detail of that quarrel as fully as
possible do not think that you are betraying your
secrets your mistress lies dead and it is necessary that we should know we are to avenge
her nothing can bring her back to life but we do hope if there has been foul play to bring the murderer to
justice amen to that said dorcas
fiercely and naming no names theres one in this house that none of us could ever
abide and an ill day it was when first he darkened the
threshold waited for her indignation to subside and then resuming his businesslike tone he asked now as to this
quarrel what is the first you heard of
it well sir i happened to be going along the hall outside
yesterday what time was
that i couldnt say exactly sir but it wasnt teatime by a long
way perhaps four it may have been a bit
later well sir as i said i happened to be passing along when i heard voices very loud and angry in
here i didnt exactly mean to listen there it
is i
stopped the door was shut but the mistress was speaking very sharp and clear and i heard what she said quite
plainly you have lied to me and deceived me she
said i didnt hear what mr
replied he spoke a good bit lower than she she answered how dare
you i have kept you and clothed you and fed
you you owe everything to
me and this is how you repay
me by bringing disgrace upon our
name again i didnt hear what he said but she went on nothing that you can say will make any
difference i see my duty
clearly my mind is made
up you need not think that any fear of publicity or scandal between husband and wife will deter
me then i thought i heard them coming out so i went off
quickly you are sure it was mr voice you
heard oh yes sir whose elses could it
be well what happened
next later i came back to the hall but it was all
quiet at five oclock mrs rang the bell and told me to bring her a cup of to the
boudoir she was looking white and
upset dorcas she says ive had a great
shock im sorry for that mm i
says feel better after a nice hot cup of tea
mm she had something in her
hand i dont know if it was a letter or just a piece of paper but it had writing on it and she kept staring at it almost as if she couldnt believe what was written
there she whispered to herself as though she had forgotten i was there these few
changed and then she says to me never trust a man dorcas theyre not worth
it i hurried off and got her a good strong cup of tea and she thanked me and said shed feel better when shed drunk
it i dont know what to do she
says scandal between husband and wife is a dreadful thing
dorcas id rather hush it up if i
could mrs cavendish came in just then so she didnt say any
more she still had the letter or whatever it was in her
hand yes
sir what would she be likely to do with it
afterwards well i dont know sir i expect she would lock it up in that purple case of
hers is that where she usually kept important
papers yes
sir she brought it down with her every morning and took it up every
night when did she lose the key of
it she missed it yesterday at lunchtime sir and told me to look carefully for
it she was very much put out about
it but she had a duplicate
key oh yes
sir dorcas was looking very curiously at him and to tell the truth so was
i what was all this about a lost
smiled never mind dorcas it is my business to know
things is this the key that was
lost he drew from his pocket the key that he had found in the lock of the
upstairs eyes looked as though they would pop out of her
head thats it sir right
enough but where did you find
it i looked everywhere for
it ah but you see it was not in the same place yesterday as it was
today now to pass to another subject had your mistress a dark green dress in her
wardrobe dorcas was rather startled by the unexpected
question no
sir are you quite
sure oh yes
sir has anyone else in the house got a green
dress dorcas
reflected miss cynthia has a green evening
dress light or dark
green a light green sir a sort of chiffon they call
it ah that is not what i
want and nobody else has anything
green no that i know
of face did not betray a trace of whether he was disappointed or
otherwise he merely remarked good we will leave that and pass
on have you any reason to believe that your mistress was likely to take a sleeping powder last
night not last night sir i know she
didnt why do you know so
positively because the box was
empty she took the last one two days ago and she didnt have any more made
up you are quite sure of
that positive
sir then that is cleared
up by the way your mistress didnt ask you to sign any paper
yesterday to sign a
paper no
sir when mr hastings and mr lawrence came in yesterday evening they found your mistress busy writing
letters i suppose you can give me no idea to whom these letters were
addressed im afraid i couldnt
sir i was out in the
evening perhaps annie could tell you though shes a careless
girl never cleared the away last
night thats what happens when im not here to look after
things lifted his
hand since they have been left dorcas leave them a little longer i pray
you i should like to examine
them very well
sir what time did you go out last
evening about six oclock
sir thank you dorcas that is all i have to ask
you he rose and strolled to the
window i have been admiring these flower
beds how many gardeners are employed here by the
way only three now
sir five we had before the war when it was kept as a place should
be i wish you could have seen it then
sir a fair sight it
was but now theres only old manning and young william and a woman gardener in breeches and
suchlike ah these are dreadful
times the good times will come again
dorcas at least we hope
so now will you send annie to me
here yes
sir thank you
sir how did you know that mrs took sleeping powders i asked in lively curiosity as dorcas left the
room and about the lost key and the
duplicate one thing at a
time as to the sleeping powders i knew by
this he suddenly produced a small cardboard box such as chemists use for
powders where did you find
it in the washstand drawer in mrs
bedroom it was number six of my
catalogue but i suppose as the last powder was taken two days ago it is not of much
importance probably not but do you notice anything that strikes you as peculiar about this
box i examined it
closely no i cant say that i
do look at the
label i read the label one powder to be taken at bedtime if
required mrs
no i see nothing
unusual not the fact that there is no chemists
ah i
exclaimed to be sure that is
odd have you ever known a chemist to send out a box like that without his printed
name no i cant say that i
have i was becoming quite excited but my ardour by remarking yet the explanation is quite
do not intrigue yourself my
friend an audible creaking proclaimed the approach of annie so i had no time to
reply annie was a fine strapping girl and was evidently under intense excitement mingled with a certain ghoulish enjoyment of the
tragedy came to the point at once with a businesslike
i sent for you annie because i thought you might be able to tell me something about the letters mrs wrote last
night how many were
there and can you tell me any of the names and
addresses annie
considered there were four letters
sir one was to miss and one was to mr wells the lawyer and the other two i dont think i remember yes one was to the caterers in
the other one i dont
remember think urged
annie racked her brains in
vain im sorry sir but its clean
gone i dont think i can have noticed
it it does not matter said not betraying any sign of
disappointment now i want to ask you about something
else there is a saucepan in mrs room with some cocoa in
it did she have that every
night yes sir it was put in her room every evening and she warmed it up in the she fancied
it what was
it plain
cocoa yes sir made with milk with a teaspoonful of sugar and two of rum in
it who took it to her
room i did
always yes
sir at what
time when i went to draw the curtains as a rule
sir did you bring it straight up from the kitchen
then no sir you see theres not much room on the gas stove so cook used to make it early before putting the vegetables on for
supper then i used to bring it up and put it on the table by the swing door and take it into her room
later the swing door is in the left wing is it
not yes
sir and the table is it on this side of the door or on the
side its this side
sir what time did you bring it up last
night about seven i should say
sir and when did you take it into mrs
room when i went to shut up
sir about eight
oclock mrs came up to bed before id
finished then between
and oclock the cocoa was standing on the table in the left
wing yes
sir annie had been growing redder and redder in the face and now she blurted out unexpectedly and if there was salt in it sir it wasnt
me i never took the salt near
it what makes you think there was salt in it asked
seeing it on the tray
sir you saw some salt on the
yes coarse kitchen salt it
looked i never noticed it when i took the tray up but when i came to take it into the room i saw it at once and i suppose i ought to have taken it down again and asked cook to make some
fresh but i was in a hurry because dorcas was out and i thought maybe the cocoa itself was all right and the salt had only gone on the
tray so i dusted it off with my apron and took it
in i had the utmost difficulty in controlling my
excitement unknown to herself annie had provided us with an important piece of
evidence how she would have if she had realized that her coarse kitchen salt was strychnine one of the most deadly poisons known to
mankind i marvelled at
calm his was
astonishing i awaited his next question with impatience but it disappointed
me when you went into mrs room was the door leading into miss room
oh yes sir it always
was it had never been
opened and the door into mr
room did you notice if that was bolted
too annie
hesitated i couldnt rightly say sir it was shut but i couldnt say whether it was bolted or
not when you finally left the room did mrs bolt the door after
you no sir not then but i expect she did
later she usually did lock it at
night the door into the passage that
is did you notice any candle grease on the floor when you did the room
yesterday candle
grease oh no
sir mrs didnt have a candle only a
then if there had been a large patch of candle grease on the floor you think you would have been sure to have seen
it yes sir and i would have taken it out with a piece of and a hot
iron then repeated the question he had put to dorcas did your mistress ever have a green
dress no
sir nor a mantle nor a cape nor do you call
ita sports
coat not green
sir nor anyone else in the
house annie
reflected no
sir you are sure of
that quite
bien that is all i want to
know thank you very
much with a nervous giggle annie took herself out of the
room my excitement burst
forth i cried i congratulate
you this is a great
discovery what is a great
discovery why that it was the cocoa and not the coffee that was
poisoned that explains
everything of course it did not take effect until the early morning since the cocoa was only drunk in the middle of the
night so you think that the well what i say hastings the
strychnine of
course that salt on the tray what else could it have
been it might have been salt replied
i shrugged my
shoulders if he was going to take the matter that way it was no good arguing with
him the idea crossed my mind not for the first time that poor old was growing
old privately i thought it lucky that he had associated with him some one of a more receptive type of
mind was surveying me with quietly twinkling
eyes you are not pleased with me mon
ami my dear i said coldly it is not for me to dictate to
you you have a right to your own opinion just as i have to
mine a most admirable sentiment remarked rising briskly to his
feet now i have finished with this
room by the way whose is the smaller desk in the
corner mr
ah he tried the roll top
locked but perhaps one of mrs keys would open
it he tried several twisting and turning them with a practiced hand and finally uttering an ejaculation of
voila it is not the key but it will open it at a
pinch he slid back the roll top and ran a rapid eye over the neatly filed
papers to my surprise he did not examine them merely remarking as he the desk decidedly he is a man of method this mr
a man of method was in estimation the highest praise that could be bestowed on any
individual i felt that my friend was not what he had been as he rambled on there were no stamps in his desk but there might have been eh mon
ami there might have been eyes wandered round the boudoir has nothing more to tell
us it did not yield
much only
this he pulled a crumpled envelope out of his pocket and tossed it over to
me it was rather a curious
document a plain dirty looking old envelope with a few words scrawled across it apparently at
random the following is a facsimile of it
where did you find this i asked in lively curiosity
in the wastepaper wastepaper basket
you recognise the handwriting
yes it is mrs
but what does it mean
shrugged his shoulders
i cannot it is suggestive
a wild idea flashed across me
was it possible that mrs mind was deranged
had she some fantastic idea of demoniacal possession
and if that were so was it not also possible that she might have taken her own life
i was about to expound these theories to when his own words distracted me
come he said now to examine the
my dear
what on earth is the good of that now that we know about the cocoa
oh la la
that miserable cocoa cried flippantly
he laughed with apparent enjoyment raising his arms to heaven in mock despair in what i could not but consider the worst possible taste
and anyway i said with increasing coldness as mrs took her coffee upstairs with her i do not see what you expect to find unless you consider it likely that we shall discover a packet of strychnine on the coffee tray
was sobered at once
come come my friend he said slipping his arms through mine
ne pas
allow me to interest myself in my and i will respect your cocoa
is it a bargain
he was so quaintly humorous that i was forced to laugh and we went together to the where the and tray remained undisturbed as we had left them
made me recapitulate the scene of the night before listening very carefully and verifying the position of the various cups
so mrs cavendish stood by the poured out
then she came across to the window where you sat with mademoiselle cynthia
here are the three cups
and the cup on the mantelpiece half drunk that would be mr lawrence
and the one on the tray
i saw him put it down there
one two three four where then is the cup of mr
he does not take coffee
then all are accounted for
one moment my friend
with infinite care he took a drop or two from the grounds in each cup sealing them up in separate test tubes tasting each in turn as he did so
his physiognomy underwent a curious change
an expression gathered there that i can only describe as half puzzled and half relieved
bien he said at last
it is evident
i had an clearly i was mistaken
yes altogether i was mistaken
yet it is strange
but no matter
and with a characteristic shrug he dismissed whatever it was that was worrying him from his mind
i could have told him from the beginning that this obsession of his over the coffee was bound to end in a blind alley but i restrained my tongue
after all though he was old had been a great man in his day
breakfast is ready said john cavendish coming in from the hall
you will breakfast with us monsieur
i observed john
already he was almost restored to his normal self
the shock of the events of the last night had upset him temporarily but his poise soon swung back to the normal
he was a man of very little imagination in sharp contrast with his brother who had perhaps too much
ever since the early hours of the morning john had been hard at work sending of the first had gone to notices for the papers and generally occupying himself with the melancholy duties that a death entails
may i ask how things are proceeding he said
do your investigations point to my mother having died a natural must we prepare ourselves for the worst
i think mr cavendish said gravely that you would do well not to buoy yourself up with any false hopes
can you tell me the views of the other members of the family
my brother lawrence is convinced that we are making a fuss over nothing
he says that everything points to its being a simple case of heart failure
he does does he
that is very interesting murmured softly
and mrs cavendish
a faint cloud passed over johns face
i have not the least idea what my wifes views on the subject are
the answer brought a momentary stiffness in its train
john broke the rather awkward silence by saying with a slight effort i told you didnt i that mr has returned
bent his head
its an awkward position for all of us
of course one has to treat him as hang it all ones gorge does rise at sitting down to eat with a possible murderer
nodded sympathetically
i quite understand
it is a very difficult situation for you mr cavendish
i would like to ask you one question
mr reason for not returning last night was i believe that he had forgotten the latchkey
is not that so
i suppose you are quite sure that the latchkey was he did not take it after all
i have no idea
i never thought of looking
we always keep it in the hall drawer
ill go and see if its there now
held up his hand with a faint smile
no no mr cavendish it is too late now
i am certain that you would find it
if mr did take it he has had ample time to replace it by now
but do you think
i think nothing
if anyone had chanced to look this morning before his return and seen it there it would have been a valuable point in his favour
that is all
john looked perplexed
do not worry said smoothly
i assure you that you need not let it trouble you
since you are so kind let us go and have some breakfast
every one was assembled in the
under the circumstances we were naturally not a cheerful party
the reaction after a shock is always trying and i think we were all suffering from it
decorum and good breeding naturally enjoined that our demeanour should be much as usual yet i could not help wondering if this were really a matter of great difficulty
there were no red eyes no signs of secretly indulged grief
i felt that i was right in my opinion that dorcas was the person most affected by the personal side of the tragedy
i pass over alfred who acted the bereaved widower in a manner that i felt to be disgusting in its hypocrisy
did he know that we suspected him i wondered
surely he could not be unaware of the fact conceal it as we would
did he feel some secret stirring of fear or was he confident that his crime would go unpunished
surely the suspicion in the atmosphere must warn him that he was already a marked man
but did every one suspect him
what about mrs cavendish
i watched her as she sat at the head of the table graceful composed enigmatic
in her soft grey frock with white ruffles at the wrists falling over her slender hands she looked very beautiful
when she chose however her face could be in its
she was very silent hardly opening her lips and yet in some queer way i felt that the great strength of her personality was dominating us all
and little cynthia
did she suspect
she looked very tired and ill i thought
the heaviness and languor of her manner were very marked
i asked her if she were feeling ill and she answered frankly yes ive got the most beastly headache
have another cup of coffee mademoiselle said
it will revive you
it is unparalleled for the mal de tete
he jumped up and took her cup
no sugar said cynthia watching him as he picked up the
no sugar
you abandon it in the wartime eh
no i never take it in coffee
murmured to himself as he brought back the replenished cup
only i heard him and glancing up curiously at the little man i saw that his face was working with suppressed excitement and his eyes were as green as a cats
he had heard or seen something that had affected him what was it
i do not usually label myself as dense but i must confess that nothing out of the ordinary had attracted my attention
in another moment the door opened and dorcas appeared
mr wells to see you sir she said to john
i remembered the name as being that of the lawyer to whom mrs had written the night before
john rose immediately
show him into my study
then he turned to us
my mothers lawyer he explained
and in a lower voice he is also understand
perhaps you would like to come with me
we acquiesced and followed him out of the room
john strode on ahead and i took the opportunity of whispering to there will be an inquest then
he seemed absorbed in thought so much so that my curiosity was aroused
what is it
you are not attending to what i say
it is true my friend
i am much worried
because mademoiselle cynthia does not take sugar in her coffee
you cannot be serious
but i am most serious
ah there is something there that i do not understand
my instinct was right
what instinct
the instinct that led me to insist on examining those
no more now
we followed john into his study and he closed the door behind us
mr wells was a pleasant man of with keen eyes and the typical lawyers mouth
john introduced us both and explained the reason of our presence
you will understand wells he added that this is all strictly private
we are still hoping that there will turn out to be no need for investigation of any kind
quite so quite so said mr wells soothingly
i wish we could have spared you the pain and publicity of an inquest but of course its quite unavoidable in the absence of a doctors certificate
yes i suppose so
clever man
great authority on toxicology i believe
indeed said john with a certain stiffness in his manner
then he added rather shall we have to appear as of us i mean
you of
a slight pause ensued before the lawyer went on in his soothing manner any other evidence will be simply a mere matter of form
i see
a faint expression of relief swept over johns face
it puzzled me for i saw no occasion for it
if you know of nothing to the contrary pursued mr wells i had thought of friday
that will give us plenty of time for the doctors report
the postmortem is to take place tonight i believe
then that arrangement will suit you
i need not tell you my dear cavendish how distressed i am at this most tragic affair
can you give us no help in solving it monsieur
speaking for the first time since we had entered the room
yes we heard that mrs wrote to you last night
you should have received the letter this morning
i did but it contains no information
it is merely a note asking me to call upon her this morning as she wanted my advice on a matter of great importance
she gave you no hint as to what that matter might be
unfortunately no
that is a pity said john
a great pity agreed gravely
there was silence
remained lost in thought for a few minutes
finally he turned to the lawyer
wells there is one thing i should like to ask is if it is not against professional etiquette
in the event of mrs death who would inherit her money
the lawyer hesitated a moment and then replied the knowledge will be public property very soon so if mr cavendish does not object
not at all john
i do not see any reason why i should not answer your question
by her last will dated august of last year after various unimportant legacies to servants etc
she gave her entire fortune to her stepson mr john cavendish
was not the question mr unfair to her other stepson mr lawrence cavendish
no i do not think so
you see under the terms of their fathers will while john inherited the property lawrence at his stepmothers death would come into a considerable sum of money
mrs left her money to her elder stepson knowing that he would have to keep up styles
it was to my mind a very fair and equitable distribution
nodded thoughtfully
but i am right in saying am i not that by your english law that will was automatically revoked when mrs remarried
mr wells bowed his head
as i was about to proceed monsieur that document is now nan and void
he reflected for a moment and then asked was mrs herself aware of that fact
i do not know
she may have been
she was said john unexpectedly
we were discussing the matter of wills being revoked by marriage only yesterday
one more question mr wells
you say her last will
had mrs then made several former wills
on an average she made a new will at least once a year said mr wells
she was given to changing her mind as to her dispositions now benefiting one now another member of her family
suppose suggested that unknown to you she had made a new will in favour of some one who was not in any sense of the word a member of the will say miss for you be surprised
not in the least
seemed to have exhausted his questions
i drew close to him while john and the lawyer were debating the question of going through mrs papers
do you think mrs made a will leaving all her money to miss i asked in a low voice with some curiosity
then why did you ask
john cavendish had turned to
will you come with us monsieur
we are going through my mothers papers
mr is quite willing to leave it entirely to mr wells and myself
which simplifies matters very much murmured the lawyer
as technically of course he was entitled he did not finish the sentence
we will look through the desk in the boudoir first explained john and go up to her bedroom afterwards
she kept her most important papers in a purple which we must look through carefully
yes said the lawyer it is quite possible that there may be a later will than the one in my possession
there is a later will
it was who spoke
john and the lawyer looked at him startled
or rather pursued my friend there was one
what do you was one
where is it now
see here
he took out the charred fragment we had found in the grate in mrs room and handed it to the lawyer with a brief explanation of when and where he had found it
but possibly this is an old will
i do not think so
in fact i am almost certain that it was made no earlier than yesterday afternoon
broke simultaneously from both men
turned to john
if you will allow me to send for your gardener i will prove it to you
oh of i dont see
raised his hand
do as i ask you
afterwards you shall question as much as you please
very well
he rang the bell
dorcas answered it in due course
dorcas will you tell manning to come round and speak to me here
yes sir
dorcas withdrew
we waited in a tense silence
alone seemed perfectly at his ease and dusted a forgotten corner of the bookcase
the clumping of hobnailed boots on the gravel outside proclaimed the approach of manning
john looked at
the latter nodded
come inside manning said john i want to speak to you
manning came slowly and through the french window and stood as near it as he could
he held his cap in his hands twisting it very carefully round and round
his back was much bent though he was probably not as old as he looked but his eyes were sharp and intelligent and belied his slow and rather cautious speech
manning said john this gentleman will put some questions to you which i want you to answer
yes sir mumbled manning
stepped forward briskly
eye swept over him with a faint contempt
you were planting a bed of begonias round by the south side of the house yesterday afternoon were you not manning
yes sir me and
and mrs came to the window and called you did she not
yes sir she did
tell me in your own words exactly what happened after that
well sir nothing much
she just told to go on his bicycle down to the village and bring back a form of will or dont know what wrote it down for him
well he did sir
and what happened next
we went on with the begonias sir
did not mrs call you again
yes sir both me and she called
and then
she made us come right in and sign our names at the bottom of a long where shed signed
did you see anything of what was written above her signature asked sharply
no sir there was a bit of blotting paper over that part
and you signed where she told you
yes sir first me and then
what did she do with it afterwards
well sir she slipped it into a long envelope and put it inside a sort of purple box that was standing on the desk
what time was it when she first called you
about four i should say sir
not earlier
couldnt it have been about three
no i shouldnt say so sir
it would be more likely to be a bit after before it
thank you manning that will do said pleasantly
the gardener glanced at his master who nodded whereupon manning lifted a finger to his forehead with a low mumble and backed cautiously out of the window
we all looked at each other
good heavens
murmured john
what an extraordinary coincidence
that my mother should have made a will on the very day of her death
mr wells cleared his throat and remarked are you so sure it is a coincidence cavendish
what do you mean
your mother you tell me had a violent quarrel one yesterday afternoon
what do you mean cried john again
there was a tremor in his voice and he had gone very pale
in consequence of that quarrel your mother very suddenly and hurriedly makes a new will
the contents of that will we shall never know
she told no one of its provisions
this morning no doubt she would have consulted me on the she had no chance
the will disappears and she takes its secret with her to her grave
cavendish i much fear there is no coincidence there
monsieur i am sure you agree with me that the facts are very suggestive
suggestive or not interrupted john we are most grateful to monsieur for the matter
but for him we should never have known of this will
i suppose i may not ask you monsieur what first led you to suspect the fact
smiled and answered a scribbled over old envelope and a freshly planted bed of begonias
john i think would have pressed his questions further but at that moment the loud purr of a motor was audible and we all turned to the window as it swept past
cried john
excuse me wells
he went hurriedly out into the hall
looked at me
miss i explained
ah i am glad she has come
there is a woman with a head and a heart too hastings
though the good god gave her no beauty
i followed johns example and went out into the hall where miss was endeavouring to extricate herself from the voluminous mass of veils that enveloped her head
as her eyes fell on me a sudden pang of guilt shot through me
this was the woman who had warned me so earnestly and to whose warning i had alas paid no heed
how soon and how contemptuously i had dismissed it from my mind
now that she had been proved justified in so tragic a manner i felt ashamed
she had known alfred only too well
i wondered whether if she had remained at styles the tragedy would have taken place or would the man have feared her watchful eyes
i was relieved when she shook me by the hand with her well remembered painful grip
the eyes that met mine were sad but not reproachful that she had been crying bitterly i could tell by the redness of her eyelids but her manner was unchanged from its old
started the moment i got the wire
just come off night duty
hired car
quickest way to get here
have you had anything to eat this morning asked john
i thought not
come along breakfasts not cleared away yet and theyll make you some fresh tea
he turned to me
look after her hastings will you
wells is waiting for me
oh heres monsieur
hes helping us you know
miss shook hands with but glanced suspiciously over her shoulder at john
what do you us
helping us to investigate
nothing to investigate
have they taken him to prison yet
taken who to prison
alfred of course
my dear do be careful
lawrence is of the opinion that my mother died from heart seizure
more fool lawrence
retorted miss
of course alfred murdered poor i always told you he would
my dear dont shout so
whatever we may think or suspect it is better to say as little as possible for the present
the inquest isnt until friday
not until fiddlesticks
the snort miss gave was truly magnificent
youre all off your heads
the man will be out of the country by then
if hes any sense he wont stay here tamely and wait to be hanged
john cavendish looked at her helplessly
i know what it is she accused him youve been listening to the doctors
never should
what do they know
nothing at just enough to make them dangerous
i ought to own father was a doctor
that little is about the greatest fool that even i have ever seen
heart seizure
sort of thing he would say
anyone with any sense could see at once that her husband had poisoned her
i always said hed murder her in her bed poor soul
now hes done it
and all you can do is to murmur silly things about heart seizure and inquest on friday
you ought to be ashamed of yourself john cavendish
what do you want me to do asked john unable to help a faint smile
dash it all i cant haul him down to the local police station by the scruff of his neck
well you might do something
find out how he did it
hes a crafty beggar
dare say he soaked fly papers
ask cook if shes missed any
it occurred to me very forcibly at that moment that to harbour miss and alfred under the same roof and keep the peace between them was likely to prove a herculean task and i did not envy john
i could see by the expression of his face that he fully appreciated the difficulty of the position
for the moment he sought refuge in retreat and left the room
dorcas brought in fresh tea
as she left the room came over from the window where he had been standing and sat down facing miss
mademoiselle he said gravely i want to ask you something
ask away said the lady eyeing him with some disfavour
i want to be able to count upon your help
ill help you to hang alfred with pleasure she replied
hangings too good for him
ought to be drawn and quartered like in good old times
we are at one then said for i too want to hang the criminal
him or another
no question of another
poor emily was never murdered until he came along
i dont say she wasnt surrounded by was
but it was only her purse they were after
her life was safe enough
but along comes mr alfred within two presto
believe me miss said very earnestly if mr is the man he shall not escape me
on my honour i will hang him as high as haman
thats better said miss more enthusiastically
but i must ask you to trust me
now your help may be very valuable to me
i will tell you why
because in all this house of mourning yours are the only eyes that have wept
miss blinked and a new note crept into the of her voice
if you mean that i was fond of i was
you know emily was a selfish old woman in her way
she was very generous but she always wanted a return
she never let people forget what she had done for that way she missed love
dont think she ever realized it though or felt the lack of it
hope not anyway
i was on a different footing
i took my stand from the first
so many pounds a year im worth to you
well and good
but not a penny piece a pair of gloves nor a theatre ticket
she didnt very offended sometimes
said i was foolishly proud
it wasnt i couldnt explain
anyway i kept my
and so out of the whole bunch i was the only one who could allow myself to be fond of her
i watched over her
i guarded her from the lot of them and then a scoundrel comes along and pooh
all my years of devotion go for nothing
i understand mademoiselle i understand all you feel
it is most natural
you think that we are we lack fire and trust me it is not so
john stuck his head in at this juncture and invited us both to come up to mrs room as he and mr wells had finished looking through the desk in the boudoir
as we went up the stairs john looked back to the door and lowered his voice confidentially look here whats going to happen when these two meet
i shook my head helplessly
ive told mary to keep them apart if she can
will she be able to do so
the lord only knows
theres one thing himself wont be too keen on meeting her
youve got the keys still havent you i asked as we reached the door of the locked room
taking the keys from john unlocked it and we all passed in
the lawyer went straight to the desk and john followed him
my mother kept most of her important papers in this i believe he said
drew out the small bunch of keys
permit me
i locked it out of precaution this morning
but its not locked now
and john lifted the lid as he spoke
milles cried dumfounded
and have both the keys in my pocket
he flung himself upon the case
suddenly he stiffened
en voila affaire
this lock has been forced
laid down the case again
but who forced it
why should they
but the door was locked
these burst from us
answered them mechanically
that is the question
ah if i only knew
since i was here an hour ago
as to the door being locked it is a very ordinary lock
probably any other of the in this passage would fit it
we stared at one another blankly
had walked over to the mantelpiece
he was outwardly calm but i noticed his hands which from long force of habit were mechanically straightening the spill vases on the mantelpiece were shaking violently
see here it was like this he said at last
there was something in that piece of evidence slight in itself perhaps but still enough of a clue to connect the murderer with the crime
it was vital to him that it should be destroyed before it was discovered and its significance appreciated
therefore he took the risk the great risk of coming in here
finding the case locked he was obliged to force it thus betraying his presence
for him to take that risk it must have been something of great importance
but what was it
ah cried with a gesture of anger
that i do not know
a document of some kind without doubt possibly the scrap of paper dorcas saw in her hand yesterday afternoon
and i his anger burst forth animal that i am
i guessed nothing
i have behaved like an imbecile
i should never have left that case here
i should have carried it away with me
ah triple pig
and now it is gone
it is is it destroyed
is there not yet a must leave no stone unturned
he rushed like a madman from the room and i followed him as soon as i had sufficiently recovered my wits
but by the time i had reached the top of the stairs he was out of sight
mary cavendish was standing where the staircase branched staring down into the hall in the direction in which he had disappeared
what has happened to your extraordinary little friend mr hastings
he has just rushed past me like a mad bull
hes rather upset about something i remarked feebly
i really did not know how much would wish me to disclose
as i saw a faint smile gather on mrs expressive mouth i endeavoured to try and turn the conversation by saying they havent met yet have they
mr and miss
she looked at me in rather a disconcerting manner
do you think it would be such a disaster if they did meet
well dont you
i said rather taken aback
she was smiling in her quiet way
i should like to see a good flare up
it would clear the air
at present we are all thinking so much and saying so little
john doesnt think so i remarked
hes anxious to keep them apart
oh john
something in her tone fired me and i blurted out old johns an awfully good sort
she studied me curiously for a minute or two and then said to my great surprise you are loyal to your friend
i like you for that
arent you my friend too
i am a very bad friend
why do you say that
because it is true
i am charming to my friends one day and forget all about them the next
i dont know what impelled me but i was and i said foolishly and not in the best of taste yet you seem to be invariably charming to dr
instantly i regretted my words
her face stiffened
i had the impression of a steel curtain coming down and blotting out the real woman
without a word she turned and went swiftly up the stairs whilst i stood like an idiot gaping after her
i was recalled to other matters by a frightful row going on below
i could hear shouting and expounding
i was vexed to think that my diplomacy had been in vain
the little man appeared to be taking the whole house into his confidence a proceeding of which i for one doubted the wisdom
once again i could not help regretting that my friend was so prone to lose his head in moments of excitement
i stepped briskly down the stairs
the sight of me calmed almost immediately
i drew him aside
my dear fellow i said is this wise
surely you dont want the whole house to know of this occurrence
you are actually playing into the criminals hands
you think so hastings
i am sure of it
well well my friend i will be guided by you
although unfortunately it is a little too late now
he looked so crestfallen and that i felt quite sorry though i still thought my rebuke a just and wise one
well he said at last let us go mon ami
you have finished here
for the moment yes
you will walk back with me to the village
he picked up his little suitcase and we went out through the open window in the
cynthia was just coming in and stood aside to let her pass
excuse me mademoiselle one minute
she turned
did you ever make up mrs medicines
a slight flush rose in her face as she answered rather no
only her powders
the flush deepened as cynthia replied oh yes i did make up some sleeping powders for her once
produced the empty box which had contained powders
can you tell me what they were
no they were bromide powders
thank you mademoiselle good morning
as we walked briskly away from the house i glanced at him more than once
i had often before noticed that if anything excited him his eyes turned green like a cats
they were shining like emeralds now
my friend he broke out at last i have a little idea a very strange and probably utterly impossible idea
and fits in
i shrugged my shoulders
i privately thought that was rather too much given to these fantastic ideas
in this case surely the truth was only too plain and apparent
so that is the explanation of the blank label on the box i remarked
very simple as you said
i really wonder that i did not think of it myself
did not appear to be listening to me
they have made one more discovery he observed jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of styles
mr wells told me as we were going upstairs
what was it
locked up in the desk in the boudoir they found a will of mrs dated before her marriage leaving her fortune to alfred
it must have been made just at the time they were engaged
it came quite as a surprise to to john cavendish also
it was written on one of those printed will forms and witnessed by two of the dorcas
did mr know of it
he says not
one might take that with a grain of salt i remarked sceptically
all these wills are very confusing
tell me how did those scribbled words on the envelope help you to discover that a will was made yesterday afternoon
mon ami have you ever when writing a letter been arrested by the fact that you did not know how to spell a certain word
yes often
i suppose every one has
and have you not in such a case tried the word once or twice on the edge of the or a spare scrap of paper to see if it looked right
well that is what mrs did
you will notice that the word possessed is spelt first with one s and subsequently with
to make sure she had further tried it in a sentence thus i am possessed
now what did that tell me
it told me that mrs had been writing the word possessed that afternoon and having the fragment of paper found in the grate fresh in my mind the possibility of a document almost certain to contain that to me at once
this possibility was confirmed by a further circumstance
in the general confusion the boudoir had not been swept that morning and near the desk were several traces of brown mould and earth
the weather had been perfectly fine for some days and no ordinary boots would have left such a heavy deposit
i strolled to the window and saw at once that the begonia beds had been newly planted
the mould in the beds was exactly similar to that on the floor of the boudoir and also i learnt from you that they had been planted yesterday afternoon
i was now sure that one or possibly both of the there were two sets of footprints in the entered the boudoir for if mrs had merely wished to speak to them she would in all probability have stood at the window and they would not have come into the room at all
i was now quite convinced that she had made a fresh will and had called the two gardeners in to witness her signature
events proved that i was right in my supposition
that was very ingenious i could not help admitting
i must confess that the conclusions i drew from those few scribbled words were quite erroneous
he smiled
you gave too much rein to your imagination
imagination is a good servant and a bad master
the simplest explanation is always the most likely
another did you know that the key of the had been lost
i did not know it
it was a guess that turned out to be correct
you observed that it had a piece of twisted wire through the handle
that suggested to me at once that it had possibly been wrenched off a flimsy
now if it had been lost and recovered mrs would at once have replaced it on her bunch but on her bunch i found what was obviously the duplicate key very new and bright which led me to the hypothesis that somebody else had inserted the original key in the lock of the
yes i said alfred without doubt
looked at me curiously
you are very sure of his guilt
well naturally
every fresh circumstance seems to establish it more clearly
on the contrary said quietly there are several points in his favour
oh come now
i see only one
and that
that he was not in the house last night
bad shot
as you english say
you have chosen the one point that to my mind tells against him
how is that
because if mr knew that his wife would be poisoned last night he would certainly have arranged to be away from the house
his excuse was an obviously trumped up one
that leaves us two possibilities either he knew what was going to happen or he had a reason of his own for his absence
and that reason i asked sceptically
how should i know
discreditable without doubt
this mr i should say is somewhat of a that does not of necessity make him a murderer
i shook my head unconvinced
we do not agree eh said
well let us leave it
time will show which of us is right
now let us turn to other aspects of the case
what do you make of the fact that all the doors of the bedroom were bolted on the inside
well i considered
one must look at it logically
i should put it this way
the doors were own eyes have told us the presence of the candle grease on the floor and the destruction of the will prove that during the night some one entered the room
you agree so far
put with admirable clearness
well i said encouraged as the person who entered did not do so by the window nor by miraculous means it follows that the door must have been opened from inside by mrs herself
that strengthens the conviction that the person in question was her husband
she would naturally open the door to her own husband
shook his head
why should she
she had bolted the door leading into his most unusual proceeding on her had had a most violent quarrel with him that very afternoon
no he was the last person she would admit
but you agree with me that the door must have been opened by mrs herself
there is another possibility
she may have forgotten to bolt the door into the passage when she went to bed and have got up later towards morning and bolted it then
is that seriously your opinion
no i do not say it is so but it might be
now to turn to another feature what do you make of the scrap of conversation you overheard between mrs cavendish and her
i had forgotten that i said thoughtfully
that is as enigmatical as ever
it seems incredible that a woman like mrs cavendish proud and reticent to the last degree should interfere so violently in what was certainly not her affair
it was an astonishing thing for a woman of her breeding to do
it is certainly curious i agreed
still it is unimportant and need not be taken into account
a groan burst from
what have i always told you
everything must be taken into account
if the fact will not fit the the theory go
well we shall see i said
yes we shall see
we had reached leastways cottage and ushered me upstairs to his own room
he offered me one of the tiny russian cigarettes he himself occasionally smoked
i was amused to notice that he stowed away the used matches most carefully in a little china pot
my momentary annoyance vanished
had placed our two chairs in front of the open window which commanded a view of the village street
the fresh air blew in warm and pleasant
it was going to be a hot day
suddenly my attention was arrested by a weedy looking young man rushing down the street at a great pace
it was the expression on his face that was curious mingling of terror and agitation
look i said
he leant forward
tiens he said
it is mr mace from the chemists shop
he is coming here
the young man came to a halt before leastways cottage and after hesitating a moment pounded vigorously at the door
a little minute cried from the window
i come
motioning to me to follow him he ran swiftly down the stairs and opened the door
mr mace began at
mr im sorry for the inconvenience but i heard that youd just come back from the hall
yes we have
the young man moistened his dry lips
his face was working curiously
its all over the village about old mrs dying so suddenly
they do say he lowered his voice its poison
face remained quite impassive
only the doctors can tell us that mr mace
yes course
the young man hesitated and then his agitation was too much for him
he clutched by the arm and sank his voice to a whisper just tell me this mr it isnt strychnine is it
i hardly heard what replied
something evidently of a noncommittal nature
the young man departed and as he closed the door eyes met mine
yes he said nodding gravely
he will have evidence to give at the inquest
we went slowly upstairs again
i was opening my lips when stopped me with a gesture of his hand
not now not now mon ami
i have need of reflection
my mind is in some is not well
for about ten minutes he sat in dead silence perfectly still except for several expressive motions of his eyebrows and all the time his eyes grew steadily greener
at last he heaved a deep sigh
it is well
the bad moment has passed
now all is arranged and classified
one must never permit confusion
the case is not clear
for it is of the most complicated
it puzzles me
there are two facts of significance
and what are they
the first is the state of the weather yesterday
that is very important
but it was a glorious day
i interrupted
youre pulling my leg
not at all
the thermometer registered degrees in the shade
do not forget that my friend
it is the key to the whole riddle
and the second point i asked
the important fact that monsieur wears very peculiar clothes has a black beard and uses glasses
i cannot believe you are serious
i am absolutely serious my friend
but this is childish
no it is very momentous
and supposing the coroners jury returns a verdict of wilful murder against alfred
what becomes of your theories then
they would not be shaken because twelve stupid men had happened to make a mistake
but that will not occur
for one thing a country jury is not anxious to take responsibility upon itself and mr stands practically in the position of local squire
also he added i should not allow it
you would not allow it
i looked at the extraordinary little man divided between annoyance and amusement
he was so tremendously sure of himself
as though he read my thoughts he nodded gently
oh yes mon ami i would do what i say
he got up and laid his hand on my shoulder
his physiognomy underwent a complete change
tears came into his eyes
in all this you see i think of that poor mrs who is dead
she was not extravagantly
but she was very good to us owe her a debt
i endeavoured to interrupt but swept on
let me tell you this hastings
she would never forgive me if i let alfred her husband be arrested a word from me could save him
in the interval before the inquest was unfailing in his activity
twice he was closeted with mr wells
he also took long walks into the country
i rather resented his not taking me into his confidence the more so as i could not in the least guess what he was driving at
it occurred to me that he might have been making inquiries at farm so finding him out when i called at leastways cottage on wednesday evening i walked over there by the fields hoping to meet him
but there was no sign of him and i hesitated to go right up to the farm itself
as i walked away i met an aged rustic who leered at me cunningly
from the hall you he asked
im looking for a friend of mine whom i thought might have walked this way
a little chap
as waves his hands when he talks
one of them from the village
yes i said eagerly
he has been here then
oh ay hes been here right enough
of yours is he
ah you gentlemen from the a pretty lot
and he leered more than ever
why do the gentlemen from the hall come here often i asked as carelessly as i could
he winked at me knowingly
one does mister
naming no names mind
and a very liberal gentleman too
oh thank you sir im sure
i walked on sharply
had been right then and i experienced a sharp twinge of disgust as i thought of alfred with another womans money
had that piquant gipsy face been at the bottom of the crime or was it the baser mainspring of money
probably a judicious mixture of both
on one point seemed to have a curious obsession
he once or twice observed to me that he thought dorcas must have made an error in fixing the time of the quarrel
he suggested to her repeatedly that it was
and not oclock when she had heard the voices
but dorcas was unshaken
quite an hour or even more had elapsed between the time when she had heard the voices and oclock when she had taken tea to her mistress
the inquest was held on friday at the arms in the village
and i sat together not being required to give evidence
the preliminaries were gone through
the jury viewed the body and john cavendish gave evidence of identification
further questioned he described his awakening in the early hours of the morning and the circumstances of his mothers death
the medical evidence was next taken
there was a breathless hush and every eye was fixed on the famous london specialist who was known to be one of the greatest authorities of the day on the subject of toxicology
in a few brief words he summed up the result of the postmortem
shorn of its medical phraseology and technicalities it amounted to the fact that mrs had met her death as the result of strychnine poisoning
judging from the quantity recovered she must have taken not less than of a grain of strychnine but probably one grain or slightly over
is it possible that she could have swallowed the poison by accident asked the coroner
i should consider it very unlikely
strychnine is not used for domestic purposes as some poisons are and there are restrictions placed on its sale
does anything in your examination lead you to determine how the poison was administered
you arrived at styles before dr i believe
that is so
the motor met me just outside the lodge gates and i hurried there as fast as i could
will you relate to us exactly what happened next
i entered mrs room
she was at that moment in a typical convulsion
she turned towards me and gasped out
could the strychnine have been administered in mrs coffee which was taken to her by her husband
possibly but strychnine is a fairly rapid drug in its action
the symptoms appear from one to two hours after it has been swallowed
it is retarded under certain conditions none of which however appear to have been present in this case
i presume mrs took the coffee after dinner about eight oclock whereas the symptoms did not manifest themselves until the early hours of the morning which on the face of it points to the drug having been taken much later in the evening
mrs was in the habit of drinking a cup of cocoa in the middle of the night
could the strychnine have been administered in that
no i myself took a sample of the cocoa remaining in the saucepan and had it analysed
there was no strychnine present
i heard chuckle softly beside me
how did you know
i whispered
i should doctor was i would have been considerably surprised at any other result
simply because strychnine has an unusually bitter taste
it can be detected in a solution of in and can only be disguised by some strongly flavoured substance
cocoa would be quite powerless to mask it
one of the jury wanted to know if the same objection applied to coffee
coffee has a bitter taste of its own which would probably cover the taste of strychnine
then you consider it more likely that the drug was administered in the coffee but that for some unknown reason its action was delayed
yes but the cup being completely smashed there is no possibility of analyzing its contents
this concluded dr evidence
dr corroborated it on all points
sounded as to the possibility of suicide he it utterly
the deceased he said suffered from a weak heart but otherwise enjoyed perfect health and was of a cheerful and disposition
she would be one of the last people to take her own life
lawrence cavendish was next called
his evidence was quite unimportant being a mere repetition of that of his brother
just as he was about to step down he paused and said rather i should like to make a suggestion if i may
he glanced at the coroner who replied briskly certainly mr cavendish we are here to arrive at the truth of this matter and welcome anything that may lead to further elucidation
it is just an idea of mine explained lawrence
of course i may be quite wrong but it still seems to me that my mothers death might be accounted for by natural means
how do you make that out mr cavendish
my mother at the time of her death and for some time before it was taking a tonic containing strychnine
ah said the coroner
the jury looked up interested
i believe continued lawrence that there have been cases where the cumulative effect of a drug administered for some time has ended by causing death
also is it not possible that she may have taken an overdose of her medicine by accident
this is the first we have heard of the deceased taking strychnine at the time of her death
we are much obliged to you mr cavendish
dr was recalled and ridiculed the idea
what mr cavendish suggests is quite impossible
any doctor would tell you the same
strychnine is in a certain sense a cumulative poison but it would be quite impossible for it to result in sudden death in this way
there would have to be a long period of chronic symptoms which would at once have attracted my attention
the whole thing is absurd
and the second suggestion
that mrs may have inadvertently taken an overdose
three or even four doses would not have resulted in death
mrs always had an extra large amount of medicine made up at a time as she dealt with coots the cash chemists in
she would have had to take very nearly the whole bottle to account for the amount of strychnine found at the postmortem
then you consider that we may dismiss the tonic as not being in any way instrumental in causing her death
the supposition is ridiculous
the same who had interrupted before here suggested that the chemist who made up the medicine might have committed an error
that of course is always possible replied the doctor
but dorcas who was the next witness called dispelled even that possibility
the medicine had not been newly made up
on the contrary mrs had taken the last dose on the day of her death
so the question of the tonic was finally abandoned and the coroner proceeded with his task
having elicited from dorcas how she had been awakened by the violent ringing of her bell and had subsequently roused the household he passed to the subject of the quarrel on the preceding afternoon
evidence on this point was substantially what and i had already heard so i will not repeat it here
the next witness was mary cavendish
she stood very upright and spoke in a low clear and perfectly composed voice
in answer to the coroners question she told how her alarm clock having aroused her at
as usual she was dressing when she was startled by the sound of something heavy falling
that would have been the table by the bed
commented the coroner
i opened my door continued mary and listened
in a few minutes a bell rang violently
dorcas came running down and woke my husband and we all went to my room but it was locked
the coroner interrupted her
i really do not think we need trouble you further on that point
we know all that can be known of the subsequent happenings
but i should be obliged if you would tell us all you overheard of the quarrel the day before
there was a faint insolence in her voice
she raised her hand and adjusted the ruffle of lace at her neck turning her head a little as she did so
and quite spontaneously the thought flashed across my mind she is gaining time
i understand continued the coroner deliberately that you were sitting reading on the bench just outside the long window of the boudoir
that is so is it not
this was news to me and glancing sideways at i fancied that it was news to him as well
there was the faintest pause the mere hesitation of a moment before she answered yes that is so
and the boudoir window was open was it not
surely her face grew a little paler as she answered yes
then you cannot have failed to hear the voices inside especially as they were raised in anger
in fact they would be more audible where you were than in the hall
will you repeat to us what you overheard of the quarrel
i really do not remember hearing anything
do you mean to say you did not hear voices
oh yes i heard the voices but i did not hear what they said
a faint spot of colour came into her cheek
i am not in the habit of listening to private conversations
the coroner persisted
and you remember nothing at all
nothing mrs cavendish
not one stray word or phrase to make you realize that it was a private conversation
she paused and seemed to reflect still outwardly as calm as ever
yes i remember
mrs said do not remember exactly causing scandal between husband and wife
the coroner leant back satisfied
that corresponds with what dorcas heard
but excuse me mrs cavendish although you realized it was a private conversation you did not move away
you remained where you were
i caught the momentary gleam of her tawny eyes as she raised them
i felt certain that at that moment she would willingly have torn the little lawyer with his insinuations into pieces but she replied quietly enough no
i was very comfortable where i was
i fixed my mind on my book
and that is all you can tell us
the examination was over though i doubted if the coroner was entirely satisfied with it
i think he suspected that mary cavendish could tell more if she chose
amy hill shop assistant was next called and deposed to having sold a will form on the afternoon of the to william earl at styles
william earl and manning succeeded her and testified to witnessing a document
manning fixed the time at about
william was of the opinion that it was rather earlier
cynthia came next
she had however little to tell
she had known nothing of the tragedy until awakened by mrs cavendish
you did not hear the table fall
i was fast asleep
the coroner smiled
a good conscience makes a sound sleeper he observed
thank you miss that is all
miss produced the letter written to her by mrs on the evening of the
and i had of course already seen it
it added nothing to our knowledge of the tragedy
the following is a facsimile styles court hand written note july my dear can we not bury the
i have found it hard to forgive the things you said against my dear husband but i am an old woman very fond of you yours affectionately emily it was handed to the jury who scrutinized it attentively
i fear it does not help us much said the coroner with a sigh
there is no mention of any of the events of that afternoon
plain as a pikestaff to me said miss shortly
it shows clearly enough that my poor old friend had just found out shed been made a fool of
it says nothing of the kind in the letter the coroner pointed out
no because emily never could bear to put herself in the wrong
but i know her
she wanted me back
but she wasnt going to own that id been right
she went round about
most people do
dont believe in it myself
mr wells smiled faintly
so i noticed did several of the jury
miss was obviously quite a public character
anyway all this tomfoolery is a great waste of time continued the lady glancing up and down the jury disparagingly
when all the time we know perfectly well
the coroner interrupted her in an agony of apprehension thank you miss that is all
i fancy he breathed a sigh of relief when she complied
then came the sensation of the day
the coroner called albert mace chemists assistant
it was our agitated young man of the pale face
in answer to the coroners questions he explained that he was a qualified pharmacist but had only recently come to this particular shop as the assistant formerly there had just been called up for the army
these preliminaries completed the coroner proceeded to business
mr mace have you lately sold strychnine to any unauthorized person
when was this
last monday night
not tuesday
no sir monday the
will you tell us to whom you sold it
you could have heard a pin drop
it was to mr
every eye turned simultaneously to where alfred was sitting impassive and wooden
he started slightly as the damning words fell from the young mans lips
i half thought he was going to rise from his chair but he remained seated although a remarkably well acted expression of astonishment rose on his face
you are sure of what you say asked the coroner sternly
quite sure sir
are you in the habit of selling strychnine indiscriminately over the counter
the wretched young man wilted visibly under the coroners frown
oh no course not
but seeing it was mr of the hall i thought there was no harm in it
he said it was to poison a dog
inwardly i sympathized
it was only human nature to endeavour to please the when it might result in custom being transferred from coots to the local establishment
is it not customary for anyone purchasing poison to sign a book
yes sir mr did so
have you got the book here
it was produced and with a few words of stern censure the coroner dismissed the wretched mr mace
then amidst a breathless silence alfred was called
did he realize i wondered how closely the halter was being drawn around his neck
the coroner went straight to the point
on monday evening last did you purchase strychnine for the purpose of poisoning a dog
replied with perfect calmness no i did not
there is no dog at styles except an outdoor sheepdog which is in perfect health
you deny absolutely having purchased strychnine from albert mace on monday last
i do
do you also deny this
the coroner handed him the register in which his signature was inscribed
certainly i do
the handwriting is quite different from mine
i will show you
he took an old envelope out of his pocket and wrote his name on it handing it to the jury
it was certainly utterly dissimilar
then what is your explanation of mr maces statement
alfred replied mr mace must have been mistaken
the coroner hesitated for a moment and then said mr as a mere matter of form would you mind telling us where you were on the evening of monday july
cant remember
that is absurd mr said the coroner sharply
think again
i cannot tell you
i have an idea that i was out walking
in what direction
i really cant remember
the coroners face grew graver
were you in company with anyone
did you meet anyone on your walk
that is a pity said the coroner
i am to take it then that you decline to say where you were at the time that mr mace positively recognized you as entering the shop to purchase strychnine
if you like to take it that way yes
be careful mr
was fidgeting nervously
he murmured
does this imbecile of a man want to be arrested
was indeed creating a bad impression
his futile denials would not have convinced a child
the coroner however passed briskly to the next point and drew a deep breath of relief
you had a discussion with your wife on tuesday afternoon
pardon me interrupted alfred you have been misinformed
i had no quarrel with my dear wife
the whole story is absolutely untrue
i was absent from the house the entire afternoon
have you anyone who can testify to that
you have my word said
the coroner did not trouble to reply
there are two witnesses who will swear to having heard your disagreement with mrs
those witnesses were mistaken
i was puzzled
the man spoke with such quiet assurance that i was staggered
there was an expression of exultation on his face which i could not understand
was he at last convinced of alfred guilt
mr said the coroner you have heard your wifes dying words repeated here
can you explain them in any way
certainly i can
you can
it seems to me very simple
the room was dimly lighted
dr is much of my height and build and like me wears a beard
in the dim light and suffering as she was my poor wife mistook him for me
murmured to himself
but it is an idea that
you think it is true
i do not say that
but it is truly an ingenious supposition
you read my wifes last words as an was were on the contrary an appeal to me
the coroner reflected a moment then he said i believe mr that you yourself poured out the coffee and took it to your wife that evening
i poured it out yes
but i did not take it to her
i meant to do so but i was told that a friend was at the hall door so i laid down the coffee on the hall table
when i came through the hall again a few minutes later it was gone
this statement might or might not be true but it did not seem to me to improve matters much for
in any case he had had ample time to introduce the poison
at that point nudged me gently indicating two men who were sitting together near the door
one was a little sharp dark man the other was tall and fair
i questioned mutely
he put his lips to my ear
do you know who that little man is
i shook my head
that is detective inspector james of scotland
the other man is from scotland yard too
things are moving quickly my friend
i stared at the two men intently
there was certainly nothing of the policeman about them
i should never have suspected them of being official personages
i was still staring when i was startled and recalled by the verdict being given wilful murder against some person or persons unknown
as we came out of the arms drew me aside by a gentle pressure of the arm
i understood his object
he was waiting for the scotland yard men
in a few moments they emerged and at once stepped forward and accosted the shorter of the two
i fear you do not remember me inspector
why if it isnt mr cried the inspector
he turned to the other man
youve heard me speak of mr
it was in he and i worked forgery remember he was run down in brussels
ah those were great days
then do you remember baron
there was a pretty rogue for you
he eluded the clutches of half the police in europe
but we nailed him in to mr here
as these friendly reminiscences were being indulged in i drew nearer and was introduced to who in his turn introduced us both to his companion superintendent
i need hardly ask what you are doing here gentlemen remarked
closed one eye knowingly
no indeed
pretty clear case i should say
but answered gravely there i differ from you
oh come said opening his lips for the first time
surely the whole thing is clear as daylight
the mans caught
how he could be such a fool beats me
but was looking attentively at
hold your fire he remarked
me and here have met theres no mans judgment id sooner take than his
if im not greatly mistaken hes got something up his sleeve
isnt that so
i have drawn certain
was still looking rather sceptical but continued his scrutiny of
its this way he said so far weve only seen the case from the outside
thats where the yards at a disadvantage in a case of this kind where the murders only out so to speak after the inquest
a lot depends on being on the spot first thing and thats where mr had the start of us
we shouldnt have been here as soon as this even if it hadnt been for the fact that there was a smart doctor on the spot who gave us the tip through the coroner
but youve been on the spot from the first and you may have picked up some little hints
from the evidence at the inquest mr murdered his wife as sure as i stand here and if anyone but you hinted the contrary id laugh in his face
i must say i was surprised the jury didnt bring it in wilful murder against him right off
i think they would have if it hadnt been for the seemed to be holding them back
perhaps though you have a warrant for his arrest in your pocket now suggested
a kind of wooden shutter of officialdom came down from expressive countenance
perhaps i have and perhaps i havent he remarked
looked at him thoughtfully
i am very anxious messieurs that he should not be arrested
i dare say observed sarcastically
was regarding with comical
cant you go a little further mr
a winks as good as a you
youve been on the the yard doesnt want to make any mistakes you know
nodded gravely
that is exactly what i thought
well i will tell you this
use your warrant arrest mr
but it will bring you no case against him will be dismissed at once
comme ca
and he snapped his fingers expressively
face grew grave though gave an incredulous snort
as for me i was literally dumb with astonishment
i could only conclude that was mad
had taken out a handkerchief and was gently dabbing his brow
i do it mr
id take your word but theres others over me wholl be asking what the devil i mean by it
cant you give me a little more to go on
reflected a moment
it can be done he said at last
i admit i do not wish it
it forces my hand
i would have preferred to work in the dark just for the present but what you say is very word of a belgian policeman whose day is past is not enough
and alfred must not be arrested
that i have sworn as my friend hastings here knows
see then my good you go at once to styles
well in about half an hour
were seeing the coroner and the doctor first
call for me in last house in the village
i will go with you
at styles mr will give you or if he is will give you such proofs that shall satisfy you that the case against him could not possibly be sustained
is that a bargain
thats a bargain said heartily
and on behalf of the yard im much obliged to you though im bound to confess i cant at present see the faintest possible loophole in the evidence but you always were a marvel
so long then
the two detectives strode away with an incredulous grin on his face
well my friend cried before i could get in a word what do you think
i had some warm moments in that court i did not figure to myself that the man would be so pigheaded as to refuse to say anything at all
decidedly it was the policy of an imbecile
there are other explanations besides that of imbecility i remarked
for if the case against him is true how could he defend himself except by silence
why in a thousand ingenious ways cried
see say that it is i who have committed this murder i can think of seven most plausible stories
far more convincing than mr stony denials
i could not help laughing
my dear i am sure you are capable of thinking of seventy
but seriously in spite of what i heard you say to the detectives you surely cannot still believe in the possibility of alfred innocence
why not now as much as before
nothing has changed
but the evidence is so conclusive
yes too conclusive
we turned in at the gate of leastways cottage and proceeded up the now familiar stairs
yes yes too conclusive continued almost to himself
real evidence is usually vague and unsatisfactory
it has to be
but here the whole thing is cut and dried
no my friend this evidence has been very cleverly cleverly that it has defeated its own ends
how do you make that out
because so long as the evidence against him was vague and intangible it was very hard to disprove
but in his anxiety the criminal has drawn the net so closely that one cut will set free
i was silent
and in a minute or two continued let us look at the matter like this
here is a man let us say who sets out to poison his wife
he has lived by his wits as the saying goes
presumably therefore he has some wits
he is not altogether a fool
well how does he set about it
he goes boldly to the village chemists and purchases strychnine under his own name with a trumped up story about a dog which is bound to be proved absurd
he does not employ the poison that night
no he waits until he has had a violent quarrel with her of which the whole household is and which naturally directs their suspicions upon him
he prepares no shadow of an alibi yet he knows the chemists assistant must necessarily come forward with the facts
do not ask me to believe that any man could be so idiotic
only a lunatic who wished to commit suicide by causing himself to be hanged would act so
do not see i began
neither do i see
i tell you mon ami it puzzles me
but if you believe him innocent how do you explain his buying the strychnine
very simply
he did not buy it
but mace recognized him
i beg your pardon he saw a man with a black beard like mr and wearing glasses like mr and dressed in mr rather noticeable clothes
he could not recognize a man whom he had probably only seen in the distance since you remember he himself had only been in the village a fortnight and mrs dealt principally with coots in
then you think
mon ami do you remember the two points i laid stress upon
leave the first one for the moment what was the second
the important fact that alfred wears peculiar clothes has a black beard and uses glasses i quoted
now suppose anyone wished to pass himself off as john or lawrence cavendish
would it be easy
no i said thoughtfully
of course an actor but cut me short ruthlessly
and why would it not be easy
i will tell you my friend because they are both men
to make up successfully as one of these two in broad daylight it would need an actor of genius and a certain initial facial resemblance
but in the case of alfred all that is changed
his clothes his beard the glasses which hide his are the salient points about his personal appearance
now what is the first instinct of the criminal
to divert suspicion from himself is it not so
and how can he best do that
by throwing it on some one else
in this instance there was a man ready to his hand
everybody was predisposed to believe in mr guilt
it was a foregone conclusion that he would be suspected but to make it a sure thing there must be tangible as the actual buying of the poison and that with a man of the peculiar appearance of mr was not difficult
remember this young mace had never actually spoken to mr
how should he doubt that the man in his clothes with his beard and his glasses was not alfred
it may be so i said fascinated by eloquence
but if that was the case why does he not say where he was at six oclock on monday evening
ah why indeed said calming down
if he were arrested he probably would speak but i do not want it to come to that
i must make him see the gravity of his position
there is of course something discreditable behind his silence
if he did not murder his wife he is nevertheless a scoundrel and has something of his own to conceal quite apart from the murder
what can it be
i mused won over to views for the moment although still retaining a faint conviction that the obvious deduction was the correct one
can you not guess asked smiling
no can you
oh yes i had a little idea sometime it has turned out to be correct
you never told me i said
spread out his hands
pardon me mon ami you were not precisely sympathique
he turned to me earnestly
tell see now that he must not be arrested
perhaps i said doubtfully for i was really quite indifferent to the fate of alfred and thought that a good fright would do him no harm
who was watching me intently gave a sigh
come my friend he said changing the subject apart from mr how did the evidence at the inquest strike you
oh pretty much what i expected
did nothing strike you as peculiar about it
my thoughts flew to mary cavendish and i hedged in what way
well mr lawrence evidence for instance
i was relieved
oh lawrence
no i dont think so
hes always a nervous chap
his suggestion that his mother might have been poisoned accidentally by means of the tonic she was taking that did not strike you as
no i cant say it did
the doctors ridiculed it of course
but it was quite a natural suggestion for a layman to make
but monsieur lawrence is not a layman
you told me yourself that he had started by studying medicine and that he had taken his degree
yes thats true
i never thought of that
i was rather startled
it is odd
from the first his behaviour has been peculiar
of all the household he alone would be likely to recognize the symptoms of strychnine poisoning and yet we find him the only member of the family to uphold strenuously the theory of death from natural causes
if it had been monsieur john i could have understood it
he has no technical knowledge and is by nature unimaginative
but monsieur
and now today he puts forward a suggestion that he himself must have known was ridiculous
there is food for thought in this mon ami
its very confusing i agreed
then there is mrs cavendish continued
thats another who is not telling all she knows
what do you make of her attitude
i dont know what to make of it
it seems inconceivable that she should be shielding alfred
yet that is what it looks like
nodded reflectively
yes it is queer
one thing is certain she overheard a good deal more of that private conversation than she was willing to admit
and yet she is the last person one would accuse of stooping to eavesdrop
one thing her evidence has shown me
i made a mistake
dorcas was quite right
the quarrel did take place earlier in the afternoon about four oclock as she said
i looked at him curiously
i had never understood his insistence on that point
yes a good deal that was peculiar came out today continued
dr now what was he doing up and dressed at that hour in the morning
it is astonishing to me that no one commented on the fact
he has insomnia i believe i said doubtfully
which is a very good or a very bad explanation remarked
it covers everything and explains nothing
i shall keep my eye on our clever dr
any more faults to find with the evidence
i inquired
mon ami replied gravely when you find that people are not telling you the out
now unless i am much mistaken at the inquest today only most two persons were speaking the truth without reservation or subterfuge
i wont cite lawrence or mrs cavendish
but theres miss surely they were speaking the truth
both of them my friend
one i grant you but both
his words gave me an unpleasant shock
miss evidence unimportant as it was had been given in such a downright straightforward manner that it had never occurred to me to doubt her sincerity
still i had a great respect for on the occasions when he was what i described to myself as foolishly pigheaded
do you really think so i asked
miss had always seemed to me so essentially uncomfortably so
gave me a curious look which i could not quite fathom
he seemed to speak and then checked himself
miss too i continued theres nothing untruthful about her
but it was strange that she never heard a sound sleeping next door whereas mrs cavendish in the other wing of the building distinctly heard the table fall
well shes young
and she sleeps soundly
ah yes indeed
she must be a famous sleeper that one
i did not quite like the tone of his voice but at that moment a smart knock reached our ears and looking out of the window we perceived the two detectives waiting for us below
seized his hat gave a ferocious twist to his moustache and carefully brushing an imaginary speck of dust from his sleeve motioned me to precede him down the stairs there we joined the detectives and set out for styles
i think the appearance of the two scotland yard men was rather a to john though of course after the verdict he had realized that it was only a matter of time
still the presence of the detectives brought the truth home to him more than anything else could have done
had conferred with in a low tone on the way up and it was the latter functionary who requested that the household with the exception of the servants should be assembled together in the
i realized the significance of this
it was up to to make his boast good
personally i was not sanguine
might have excellent reasons for his belief in innocence but a man of the type of would require tangible proofs and these i doubted if could supply
before very long we had all trooped into the the door of which closed
politely set chairs for every one
the scotland yard men were the cynosure of all eyes
i think that for the first time we realized that the thing was not a bad dream but a tangible reality
we had read of such we ourselves were actors in the drama
tomorrow the daily papers all over england would blazon out the news in staring headlines mysterious tragedy in wealthy lady poisoned
there would be pictures of styles snapshots of the family leaving the village photographer had not been idle
all the things that one had read a hundred times things that happen to other people not to oneself
and now in this house a murder had been committed
in front of us were the detectives in charge of the case
the glib phraseology passed rapidly through my mind in the interval before opened the proceedings
i think every one was a little surprised that it should be he and not one of the official detectives who took the initiative
mesdames and messieurs said bowing as though he were a celebrity about to deliver a lecture i have asked you to come here all together for a certain object
that object it concerns mr alfred
was sitting a little by think unconsciously every one had drawn his chair slightly away from he gave a faint start as pronounced his name
mr said addressing him directly a very dark shadow is resting on this shadow of murder
shook his head sadly
my poor wife he murmured
poor emily
it is terrible
i do not think monsieur said pointedly that you quite realize how terrible it may you
and as did not appear to understand he added mr you are standing in very grave danger
the two detectives
i saw the official caution anything you say will be used in evidence against you actually hovering on lips
went on
do you understand now monsieur
no what do you mean
i mean said deliberately that you are suspected of poisoning your wife
a little gasp ran round the circle at this plain speaking
good heavens cried starting up
what a monstrous idea
my dearest emily
i do not watched him you quite realize the unfavourable nature of your evidence at the inquest
mr knowing what i have now told you do you still refuse to say where you were at six oclock on monday afternoon
with a groan alfred sank down again and buried his face in his hands
approached and stood over him
speak he cried menacingly
with an effort raised his face from his hands
then slowly and deliberately he shook his head
you will not speak
i do not believe that anyone could be so monstrous as to accuse me of what you say
nodded thoughtfully like a man whose mind is made up
he said
then i must speak for you
alfred sprang up again
how can you speak
you do not know he broke off abruptly
turned to face us
mesdames and messieurs
i speak
i affirm that the man who entered the chemists shop and purchased strychnine at six oclock on monday last was not mr for at six oclock on that day mr was escorting mrs back to her home from a neighbouring farm
i can produce no less than five witnesses to swear to having seen them together either at six or just after and as you may know the abbey farm mrs home is at least two and a half miles distant from the village
there is absolutely no question as to the alibi
there was a moments stupefied silence
who was the least surprised of any of us was the first to speak
my word he cried youre the goods
and no mistake mr
these witnesses of yours are all right i suppose
i have prepared a list of and addresses
you must see them of course
but you will find it all right
im sure of that
lowered his voice
im much obliged to you
a pretty mares nest arresting him would have been
but if excuse me sir why couldnt you say all this at the inquest
i will tell you why interrupted
there was a certain rumour
a most malicious and utterly untrue one interrupted alfred in an agitated voice
and mr was anxious to have no scandal revived just at present
am i right
quite right
with my poor emily not yet buried can you wonder i was anxious that no more lying rumours should be started
between you and me sir remarked id sooner have any amount of rumours than be arrested for murder
and i venture to think your poor lady would have felt the same
and if it hadn't been for mr here arrested you would have been as sure as eggs is eggs
i was foolish no doubt murmured
but you do not know inspector how i have been persecuted and maligned
and he shot a baleful glance at
now sir said turning briskly to john i should like to see the bedroom please and after that ill have a little chat with the servants
dont you bother about anything
mr here will show me the way
as they all went out of the room turned and made me a sign to follow him upstairs
there he caught me by the arm and drew me aside
quick go to the other wing
stand this side of the door
do not move till i come
then turning rapidly he rejoined the two detectives
i followed his instructions taking up my position by the door and wondering what on earth lay behind the request
why was i to stand in this particular spot on guard
i looked thoughtfully down the corridor in front of me
an idea struck me
with the exception of cynthia every ones room was in this left wing
had that anything to do with it
was i to report who came or went
i stood faithfully at my post
the minutes passed
nobody came
nothing happened
it must have been quite twenty minutes before rejoined me
you have not stirred
no ive stuck here like a rock
nothings happened
was he pleased or disappointed
youve seen nothing at all
but you have probably heard something
a big mon ami
is it possible
ah but i am vexed with myself
i am not usually clumsy
i made but a slight know the left hand and over went the table by the bed
he looked so childishly vexed and crestfallen that i hastened to console him
never mind old chap
what does it matter
your triumph downstairs excited you
i can tell you that was a surprise to us all
there must be more in this affair of with mrs than we thought to make him hold his tongue so persistently
what are you going to do now
where are the scotland yard fellows
gone down to interview the servants
i showed them all our exhibits
i am disappointed in
he has no method
i said looking out of the window
heres dr
i believe youre right about that man
i dont like him
he is clever observed
oh clever as the devil
i must say i was overjoyed to see him in the plight he was in on tuesday
you never saw such a spectacle
and i described the doctors adventure
he looked a regular scarecrow
plastered with mud from head to foot
you saw him then
of course he didnt want to come init was just after mr insisted
caught me violently by the shoulders
was dr here on tuesday evening
and you never told me
why did you not tell me
he appeared to be in an absolute frenzy
my dear i i never thought it would interest you
i didnt know it was of any importance
it is of the first importance
so was here on tuesday night of the murder
hastings do you not see
that alters
i had never seen him so upset
loosening his hold of me he mechanically straightened a pair of candlesticks still murmuring to himself yes that alters
suddenly he seemed to come to a decision
we must act at once
where is mr cavendish
john was in the
went straight to him
mr cavendish i have some important business in
a new clue
may i take your motor
why of course
do you mean at once
if you please
john rang the bell and ordered round the car
in another ten minutes we were racing down the park and along the high road to
now i remarked perhaps you will tell me what all this is about
well mon ami a good deal you can guess for yourself
of course you realize that now mr is out of it the whole position is greatly changed
we are face to face with an entirely new problem
we know now that there is one person who did not buy the poison
we have cleared away the manufactured clues
now for the real ones
i have ascertained that anyone in the household with the exception of mrs cavendish who was playing tennis with you could have mr on monday evening
in the same way we have his statement that he put the coffee down in the hall
no one took much notice of that at the now it has a very different significance
we must find out who did take that coffee to mrs eventually or who passed through the hall whilst it was standing there
from your account there are only two people whom we can positively say did not go near the cavendish and mademoiselle cynthia
yes that is so
i felt an inexpressible lightening of the heart
mary cavendish could certainly not rest under suspicion
in clearing alfred continued i have been obliged to show my hand sooner than i intended
as long as i might be thought to be pursuing him the criminal would be off his guard
now he will be doubly careful
he turned to me abruptly
tell me hastings you you no suspicions of anybody
i hesitated
to tell the truth an idea wild and extravagant in itself had once or twice that morning flashed through my brain
i had rejected it as absurd nevertheless it persisted
you couldnt call it a suspicion i murmured
its so utterly foolish
come now urged
do not fear
speak your mind
you should always pay attention to your instincts
well then i blurted out its i suspect miss of not telling all she knows
laugh at me not at all
why should i
i cant help feeling i continued that weve rather left her out of the possible suspects simply on the strength of her having been away from the place
but after all she was only fifteen miles away
a car would do it in half an hour
can we say positively that she was away from styles on the night of the murder
yes my friend said unexpectedly we can
one of my first actions was to ring up the hospital where she was working
well i learnt that miss had been on afternoon duty on tuesday and convoy coming in had kindly offered to remain on night duty which offer was gratefully accepted
that disposes of that
oh i said rather nonplussed
really i continued its her extraordinary against that started me off suspecting her
i cant help feeling shed do anything against him
and i had an idea she might know something about the destroying of the will
she might have burnt the new one mistaking it for the earlier one in his favour
she is so terribly bitter against him
you consider her unnatural
she is so very violent
i wondered really whether she is quite sane on that point
shook his head energetically
no no you are on a wrong track there
there is nothing or degenerate about miss
she is an excellent specimen of english beef and brawn
she is sanity itself
yet her hatred of seems almost a mania
my idea very ridiculous one no she had intended to poison that in some way mrs got hold of it by mistake
but i dont at all see how it could have been done
the whole thing is absurd and ridiculous to the last degree
still you are right in one thing
it is always wise to suspect everybody until you can prove logically and to your own satisfaction that they are innocent
now what reasons are there against miss having deliberately poisoned mrs
why she was devoted to her i exclaimed
you argue like a child
if miss were capable of poisoning the old lady she would be quite equally capable of simulating devotion
no we must look elsewhere
you are perfectly correct in your assumption that her against alfred is too violent to be natural but you are quite wrong in the deduction you draw from it
i have drawn my own deductions which i believe to be correct but i will not speak of them at present
he paused a minute then went on
now to my way of thinking there is one insuperable objection to miss being the murderess
and that is
that in no possible way could mrs death benefit miss
now there is no murder without a motive
i reflected
could not mrs have made a will in her favour
but you yourself suggested that possibility to mr wells
that was for a reason
i did not want to mention the name of the person who was actually in my mind
miss occupied very much the same position so i used her name instead
still mrs might have done so
why that will made on the afternoon of her death may
but shake of the head was so energetic that i stopped
no my friend
i have certain little ideas of my own about that will
but i can tell you this was not in miss favour
i accepted his assurance though i did not really see how he could be so positive about the matter
well i said with a sigh we will acquit miss then
it is partly your fault that i ever came to suspect her
it was what you said about her evidence at the inquest that set me off
looked puzzled
what did i say about her evidence at the inquest
dont you remember
when i cited her and john cavendish as being above suspicion
he seemed a little confused but recovered himself
by the way hastings there is something i want you to do for me
next time you happen to be alone with lawrence cavendish i want you to say this to him
i have a message for you from
he says find the extra and you can rest in peace
nothing more
nothing less
find the extra and you can rest in peace
is that right i asked much mystified
ah that i will leave you to find out
you have access to the facts
just say that to him and see what he says
very its all extremely mysterious
we were running into now and directed the car to the analytical chemist
hopped down briskly and went inside
in a few minutes he was back again
there he said
that is all my business
what were you doing there i asked in lively curiosity
i left something to be analysed
yes but what
the sample of cocoa i took from the saucepan in the bedroom
but that has already been tested i cried stupefied
dr had it tested and you yourself laughed at the possibility of there being strychnine in it
i know dr had it tested replied quietly
well then
well i have a fancy for having it analysed again that is all
and not another word on the subject could i drag out of him
this proceeding of in respect of the cocoa puzzled me intensely
i could see neither rhyme nor reason in it
however my confidence in him which at one time had rather waned was fully restored since his belief in alfred innocence had been so triumphantly vindicated
the funeral of mrs took place the following day and on monday as i came down to a late breakfast john drew me aside and informed me that mr was leaving that morning to take up his quarters at the arms until he should have completed his plans
and really its a great relief to think hes going hastings continued my honest friend
it was bad enough before when we thought hed done it but im hanged if it isnt worse now when we all feel guilty for having been so down on the fellow
the fact is weve treated him abominably
of course things did look black against him
i dont see how anyone could blame us for jumping to the conclusions we did
still there it is we were in the wrong and now theres a beastly feeling that one ought to make amends which is difficult when one doesnt like the fellow a bit better than one did before
the whole things damned awkward
and im thankful hes had the tact to take himself off
its a good thing styles wasnt the to leave to him
couldnt bear to think of the fellow lording it here
hes welcome to her money
be able to keep up the place all right i asked
there are the death duties of course but half my fathers money goes with the place and lawrence will stay with us for the present so there is his share as well
we shall be pinched at first of course because as i once told you i am in a bit of a hole financially myself
still the johnnies will wait now
in the general relief at approaching departure we had the most genial breakfast we had experienced since the tragedy
cynthia whose young spirits were naturally buoyant was looking quite her pretty self again and we all with the exception of lawrence who seemed unalterably gloomy and nervous were quietly cheerful at the opening of a new and hopeful future
the papers of course had been full of the tragedy
glaring headlines sandwiched biographies of every member of the household subtle innuendoes the usual familiar tag about the police having a clue
nothing was spared us
it was a slack time
the war was momentarily inactive and the newspapers seized with on this crime in fashionable life the mysterious affair at styles was the topic of the moment
naturally it was very annoying for the
the house was constantly besieged by reporters who were consistently denied admission but who continued to haunt the village and the grounds where they lay in wait with cameras for any unwary members of the household
we all lived in a blast of publicity
the scotland yard men came and went examining questioning and reserved of tongue
towards what end they were working we did not know
had they any clue or would the whole thing remain in the category of undiscovered crimes
after breakfast dorcas came up to me rather mysteriously and asked if she might have a few words with me
what is it dorcas
well its just this sir
be seeing the belgian gentleman today perhaps
well sir you know how he asked me so particular if the mistress or anyone else had a green dress
yes yes
you have found one
my interest was aroused
no not that sir
but since then ive remembered what the young gentlemen john and lawrence were still the young gentlemen to dorcas call the box
its up in the front attic sir
a great chest full of old clothes and fancy dresses and what not
and it came to me sudden like that there might be a green dress amongst them
so if youd tell the belgian gentleman
i will tell him dorcas i promised
thank you very much sir
a very nice gentleman he is sir
and quite a different class from them two detectives from london what goes prying about and asking questions
i dont hold with foreigners as a rule but from what the newspapers say i make out as how these brave isnt the ordinary run of foreigners and certainly hes a most polite spoken gentleman
dear old dorcas
as she stood there with her honest face upturned to mine i thought what a fine specimen she was of the servant that is so fast dying out
i thought i might as well go down to the village at once and look up but i met him halfway coming up to the house and at once gave him message
ah the brave dorcas
we will look at the chest no will examine it all the same
we entered the house by one of the windows
there was no one in the hall and we went straight up to the attic
sure enough there was the chest a fine old piece all studded with brass nails and full to overflowing with every imaginable type of garment
bundled everything out on the floor with scant ceremony
there were one or two green fabrics of varying shades but shook his head over them all
he seemed somewhat apathetic in the search as though he expected no great results from it
suddenly he gave an exclamation
the chest was nearly empty and there reposing right at the bottom was a magnificent black beard
oho said
he turned it over in his hands examining it closely
new he remarked
yes quite new
after a moments hesitation he replaced it in the chest heaped all the other things on top of it as before and made his way briskly downstairs
he went straight to the pantry where we found dorcas busily polishing her silver
wished her good morning with gallic politeness and went on we have been looking through that chest dorcas
i am much obliged to you for mentioning it
there is indeed a fine collection there
are they often used may i ask
well sir not very often nowadays though from time to time we do have what the young gentlemen call a night
and very funny it is sometimes sir
mr lawrence hes wonderful
most comic
i shall never forget the night he came down as the char of persia i think he called ita sort of eastern king it was
he had the big paper knife in his hand and mind dorcas he says have to be very respectful
this is my specially sharpened scimitar and its off with your head if im at all displeased with you
miss cynthia she was what they call an apache or some such sort of cutthroat i take it to be
a real sight she looked
youd never have believed a pretty young lady like that could have made herself into such a ruffian
nobody would have known her
these evenings must have been great fun said
i suppose mr lawrence wore that fine black beard in the chest upstairs when he was shah of persia
he did have a beard sir replied dorcas smiling
and well i know it for he borrowed two skeins of my black wool to make it with
and im sure it looked wonderfully natural at a distance
i didnt know as there was a beard up there at all
it must have been got quite lately i think
there was a red wig i know but nothing else in the way of hair
burnt corks they use tis messy getting it off again
miss cynthia was a nigger once and oh the trouble she had
so dorcas knows nothing about that black beard said thoughtfully as we walked out into the hall again
do you think it is the one
i whispered eagerly
you notice it had been trimmed
it was cut exactly the shape of mr and i found one or two snipped hairs
hastings this affair is very deep
who put it in the chest i wonder
some one with a good deal of intelligence remarked
you realize that he chose the one place in the house to hide it where its presence would not be remarked
yes he is intelligent
but we must be more intelligent
we must be so intelligent that he does not suspect us of being intelligent at all
i acquiesced
there mon ami you will be of great assistance to me
i was pleased with the compliment
there had been times when i hardly thought that appreciated me at my true worth
yes he continued staring at me thoughtfully you will be invaluable
this was naturally gratifying but next words were not so welcome
i must have an ally in the house he observed reflectively
you have me i protested
true but you are not sufficient
i was hurt and showed it
hurried to explain himself
you do not quite take my meaning
you are known to be working with me
i want somebody who is not associated with us in any way
oh i see
how about john
no i think not
the dear fellow isnt perhaps very bright i said thoughtfully
here comes miss said suddenly
she is the very person
but i am in her black books since i cleared mr
still we can but try
with a nod that was barely civil miss to request for a few minutes conversation
we went into the little and closed the door
well monsieur said miss impatiently what is it
out with it
im busy
do you remember mademoiselle that i once asked you to help me
yes i do
the lady nodded
and i told you id help you with hang alfred
studied her seriously
miss i will ask you one question
i beg of you to reply to it truthfully
never tell lies replied miss
it is this
do you still believe that mrs was poisoned by her husband
what do you mean she asked sharply
you think your pretty explanations influence me in the slightest
ill admit that it wasnt he who bought strychnine at the chemists shop
what of that
i dare say he soaked fly paper as i told you at the beginning
that is strychnine said mildly
what does that matter
arsenic would put poor emily out of the way just as well as strychnine
if im convinced he did it it doesnt matter a jot to me how he did it
if you are convinced he did it said quietly
i will put my question in another form
did you ever in your heart of hearts believe that mrs was poisoned by her husband
good heavens cried miss
havent i always told you the man is a villain
havent i always told you he would murder her in her bed
havent i always hated him like poison
exactly said
that bears out my little idea entirely
what little idea
miss do you remember a conversation that took place on the day of my friends arrival here
he repeated it to me and there is a sentence of yours that has impressed me very much
do you remember affirming that if a crime had been committed and anyone you loved had been murdered you felt certain that you would know by instinct who the criminal was even if you were quite unable to prove it
yes i remember saying that
i believe it too
i suppose you think it nonsense
and yet you will pay no attention to my instinct against alfred
no said
because your instinct is not against mr
you wish to believe he committed the crime
you believe him capable of committing it
but your instinct tells you he did not commit it
it tells you i go on
she was staring at him fascinated and made a slight affirmative movement of the hand
shall i tell you why you have been so vehement against mr
it is because you have been trying to believe what you wish to believe
it is because you are trying to drown and stifle your instinct which tells you another name
no no no cried miss wildly flinging up her hands
oh dont say it
it isnt true
it cant be true
i dont know what put such a a into my head
i am right am i not asked
yes yes you must be a wizard to have guessed
but it cant be too monstrous too impossible
it must be alfred
shook his head gravely
dont ask me about it continued miss because i shant tell you
i wont admit it even to myself
i must be mad to think of such a thing
nodded as if satisfied
i will ask you nothing
it is enough for me that it is as i thought
and ii too have an instinct
we are working together towards a common end
dont ask me to help you because i wont
i wouldnt lift a finger toto
she faltered
you will help me in spite of yourself
i ask you you will be my ally
you will not be able to help yourself
you will do the only thing that i want of you
you will watch
bowed her head
yes i cant help doing that
i am always hoping i shall be proved wrong
if we are wrong well and good said
no one will be more pleased than i shall
but if we are right
if we are right miss on whose side are you then
i dont know i dont know
come now
it could be hushed up
there must be no hushing up
but emily herself she broke off
miss said gravely this is unworthy of you
suddenly she took her face from her hands
yes she said quietly that was not who spoke
she flung her head up proudly
this is
and she is on the side of justice
let the cost be what it may
and with these words she walked firmly out of the room
there said looking after her goes a very valuable ally
that woman hastings has got brains as well as a heart
i did not reply
instinct is a marvellous thing mused
it can neither be explained nor ignored
you and miss seem to know what you are talking about i observed coldly
perhaps you dont realize that i am still in the dark
is that so mon ami
enlighten me will you
studied me attentively for a moment or two
then to my intense surprise he shook his head decidedly
oh look here why not
two is enough for a secret
well i think it is very unfair to keep back facts from me
i am not keeping back facts
every fact that i know is in your possession
you can draw your own deductions from them
this time it is a question of ideas
still it would be interesting to know
looked at me very earnestly and again shook his head
you see he said sadly you have no instincts
it was intelligence you were requiring just now i pointed out
the two often go together said
the remark seemed so utterly irrelevant that i did not even take the trouble to answer it
but i decided that if i made any interesting and important no doubt i would keep them to myself and surprise with the ultimate result
there are times when it is ones duty to assert oneself
i had had no opportunity as yet of passing on message to lawrence
but now as i strolled out on the lawn still nursing a grudge against my friends i saw lawrence on the croquet lawn aimlessly knocking a couple of very ancient balls about with a still more ancient mallet
it struck me that it would be a good opportunity to deliver my message
otherwise himself might relieve me of it
it was true that i did not quite gather its purport but i flattered myself that by reply and perhaps a little skillful on my part i should soon perceive its significance
accordingly i accosted him
ive been looking for you i remarked
have you
the truth is ive got a message for
he told me to wait until i was alone with you i said dropping my voice significantly and watching him intently out of the corner of my eye
i have always been rather good at what is called i believe creating an atmosphere
there was no change of expression in the dark melancholic face
had he any idea of what i was about to say
this is the message
i dropped my voice still lower
what on earth does he mean
lawrence stared at me in quite unaffected astonishment
dont you know
do you
i was compelled to shake my head
what extra
i dont know
hed better ask dorcas or one of the maids if he wants to know about
its their business not mine
i dont know anything about the except that weve got some that are never used which are a perfect dream
old worcester
youre not a connoisseur are you hastings
you miss a lot
a really perfect bit of old pure delight to handle it or even to look at it
well what am i to tell
tell him i dont know what hes talking about
its double dutch to me
all right
i was moving off towards the house again when he suddenly called me back
i say what was the end of that message
say it over again will you
are you sure you dont know what it means i asked him earnestly
he shook his head
no he said i dont
ii wish i did
the boom of the gong sounded from the house and we went in together
had been asked by john to remain to lunch and was already seated at the table
by tacit consent all mention of the tragedy was barred
we conversed on the war and other outside topics
but after the cheese and biscuits had been handed round and dorcas had left the room suddenly leant forward to mrs cavendish
pardon me madame for recalling unpleasant memories but i have a little little ideas were becoming a perfect would like to ask one or two questions
of me
you are too amiable madame
what i want to ask is this the door leading into mrs room from that of mademoiselle cynthia it was bolted you say
certainly it was bolted replied mary cavendish rather
said so at the inquest
she looked perplexed
i mean explained you are sure it was bolted and not merely locked
oh i see what you mean
no i dont know
i said bolted meaning that it was fastened and i could not open it but i believe all the doors were found bolted on the inside
still as far as you are concerned the door might equally well have been locked
you yourself did not happen to notice madame when you entered mrs room whether that door was bolted or not
ii believe it was
but you did not see it
but i did interrupted lawrence suddenly
i happened to notice that it was bolted
ah that settles it
and looked crestfallen
i could not help rejoicing that for once one of his little ideas had come to naught
after lunch begged me to accompany him home
i consented rather stiffly
you are annoyed is it not so he asked anxiously as we walked through the park
not at all i said coldly
that is well
that lifts a great load from my mind
this was not quite what i had intended
i had hoped that he would have observed the stiffness of my manner
still the fervour of his words went towards the appeasing of my just displeasure
i thawed
i gave lawrence your message i said
and what did he say
he was entirely puzzled
i am quite sure he had no idea of what you meant
i had expected to be disappointed but to my surprise he replied that that was as he had thought and that he was very glad
my pride forbade me to ask any questions
switched off on another tack
mademoiselle cynthia was not at lunch today
how was that
she is at the hospital again
she resumed work today
ah she is an industrious little
and pretty too
she is like pictures i have seen in italy
i would rather like to see that dispensary of hers
do you think she would show it to me
i am sure she would be delighted
its an interesting little place
does she go there every day
she has all wednesdays off and comes back to lunch on saturdays
those are her only times off
i will remember
women are doing great work nowadays and mademoiselle cynthia is yes she has brains that little one
i believe she has passed quite a stiff exam
without doubt
after all it is very responsible work
i suppose they have very strong poisons there
yes she showed them to us
they are kept locked up in a little cupboard
i believe they have to be very careful
they always take out the key before leaving the room
it is near the window this cupboard
no right the other side of the room
i wondered
will you come in
we had reached the cottage
i think ill be getting back
i shall go round the long way through the woods
the woods round styles were very beautiful
after the walk across the open park it was pleasant to saunter through the cool glades
there was hardly a breath of wind the very chirp of the birds was faint and subdued
i strolled on a little way and finally flung myself down at the foot of a grand old
my thoughts of mankind were kindly and charitable
i even forgave for his absurd secrecy
in fact i was at peace with the world
then i yawned
i thought about the crime and it struck me as being very unreal and far off
i yawned again
probably i thought it really never happened
of course it was all a bad dream
the truth of the matter was that it was lawrence who had murdered alfred with a croquet mallet
but it was absurd of john to make such a fuss about it and to go shouting out i tell you i wont have it
i woke up with a start
at once i realized that i was in a very awkward predicament
for about twelve feet away from me john and mary cavendish were standing facing each other and they were evidently quarrelling
and quite as evidently they were unaware of my vicinity for before i could move or speak john repeated the words which had aroused me from my dream
i tell you mary i wont have it
marys voice came cool and liquid have you any right to criticize my actions
it will be the talk of the village
my mother was only buried on saturday and here you are gadding about with the fellow
oh she shrugged her shoulders if it is only village gossip that you mind
but it isnt
ive had enough of the fellow hanging about
hes a polish jew anyway
a tinge of jewish blood is not a bad thing
it leavens looked at stupidity of the ordinary englishman
fire in her eyes ice in her voice
i did not wonder that the blood rose to johns face in a crimson tide
her tone did not change
the pleading died out of his voice
am i to understand that you will continue to see against my express wishes
if i choose
you defy me
no but i deny your right to criticize my actions
have you no friends of whom i should disapprove
john fell back a
colour ebbed slowly from his face
what do you mean he said in an unsteady voice
you see said mary quietly
you do see dont you that you have no right to dictate to me as to the choice of my friends
john glanced at her a stricken look on his face
no right
have i no right mary he said unsteadily
he stretched out his hands
for a moment i thought she wavered
a softer expression came over her face then suddenly she turned almost fiercely away
she was walking away when john sprang after her and caught her by the arm voice was very quiet you in love with this fellow
she hesitated and suddenly there swept across her face a strange expression old as the hills yet with something eternally young about it
so might some egyptian sphinx have smiled
she freed herself quietly from his arm and spoke over her shoulder
perhaps she said and then swiftly passed out of the little glade leaving john standing there as though he had been turned to stone
rather ostentatiously i stepped forward crackling some dead branches with my feet as i did so
john turned
luckily he took it for granted that i had only just come upon the scene
hullo hastings
have you seen the little fellow safely back to his cottage
quaint little chap
is he any good though really
he was considered one of the finest detectives of his day
oh well i suppose there must be something in it then
what a rotten world it is though
you find it so i asked
good lord yes
theres this terrible business to start with
scotland yard men in and out of the house like a
never know where they wont turn up next
screaming headlines in every paper in the all journalists i say
do you know there was a whole crowd staring in at the lodge gates this morning
sort of madame chamber of horrors business that can be seen for nothing
pretty thick isnt it
cheer up john i said soothingly
it cant last for ever
cant it though
it can last long enough for us never to be able to hold up our heads again
no no youre getting morbid on the subject
enough to make a man morbid to be stalked by beastly journalists and stared at by gaping idiots wherever he goes
but theres worse than that
john lowered his voice have you ever thought a nightmare to did it
i cant help feeling sometimes it must have been an accident
could have done it
now out of the way theres no one else no one i mean of us
yes indeed that was nightmare enough for any man
one of us
yes surely it must be so unless a new idea suggested itself to my mind
rapidly i considered it
the light increased
mysterious doings his all fitted in
fool that i was not to have thought of this possibility before and what a relief for us all
no john i said it isnt one of us
how could it be
i know but still who else is there
cant you guess
i looked cautiously round and lowered my voice
but what earthly interest could he have in my mothers death
that i dont see i confessed but ill tell you this thinks so
does he
how do you know
i told him of intense excitement on hearing that dr had been at styles on the fatal night and added he said twice that alters everything
and ive been thinking
you know said he had put down the coffee in the hall
well it was just then that arrived
isnt it possible that as brought him through the hall the doctor dropped something into the coffee in passing
hm said john
it would have been very risky
yes but it was possible
and then how could he know it was her coffee
no old fellow i dont think that will wash
but i had remembered something else
youre quite right
that wasnt how it was done
and i then told him of the cocoa sample which had taken to be analysed
john interrupted just as i had done
but look here had had it analysed already
yes yes thats the point
i didnt see it either until now
dont you understand
had it just it
if the murderer nothing could be simpler than for him to substitute some ordinary cocoa for his sample and send that to be tested
and of course they would find no strychnine
but no one would dream of suspecting or think of taking another i added with belated recognition
yes but what about the bitter taste that cocoa wont disguise
well weve only his word for that
and there are other possibilities
hes admittedly one of the worlds greatest toxicologists
one of the worlds greatest what
say it again
he knows more about poisons than almost anybody i explained
well my idea is that perhaps hes found some way of making strychnine tasteless
or it may not have been strychnine at all but some obscure drug no one has ever heard of which produces much the same symptoms
hm yes that might be said john
but look here how could he have got at the cocoa
that wasnt downstairs
no it wasnt i admitted reluctantly
and then suddenly a dreadful possibility flashed through my mind
i hoped and prayed it would not occur to john also
i glanced sideways at him
he was frowning and i drew a deep breath of relief for the terrible thought that had flashed across my mind was this that dr might have had an accomplice
yet surely it could not be
surely no woman as beautiful as mary cavendish could be a murderess
yet beautiful women had been known to poison
and suddenly i remembered that first conversation at tea on the day of my arrival and the gleam in her eyes as she had said that poison was a womans weapon
how agitated she had been on that fatal tuesday evening
had mrs discovered something between her and and threatened to tell her husband
was it to stop that that the crime had been committed
then i remembered that enigmatical conversation between and
was this what they had meant
was this the monstrous possibility that had tried not to believe
yes it all fitted in
no wonder miss had suggested hushing it up
now i understood that unfinished sentence of hers emily herself
and in my heart i agreed with her
would not mrs have preferred to go unavenged rather than have such terrible dishonour fall upon the name of cavendish
theres another thing said john suddenly and the unexpected sound of his voice made me start
something which makes me doubt if what you say can be true
whats that i asked thankful that he had gone away from the subject of how the poison could have been introduced into the cocoa
why the fact that demanded a postmortem
he have done so
little would have been quite content to let it go at heart disease
yes i said doubtfully
but we dont know
perhaps he thought it safer in the long run
some one might have talked afterwards
then the home office might have ordered exhumation
the whole thing would have come out then and he would have been in an awkward position for no one would have believed that a man of his reputation could have been deceived into calling it heart disease
yes thats possible admitted john
still he added im blest if i can see what his motive could have been
i trembled
look here i said i may be altogether wrong
and remember all this is in confidence
oh of goes without saying
we had walked as we talked and now we passed through the little gate into the garden
voices rose near at hand for tea was spread out under the as it had been on the day of my arrival
cynthia was back from the hospital and i placed my chair beside her and told her of wish to visit the dispensary
of course
id love him to see it
hed better come to tea there one day
i must fix it up with him
hes such a dear little man
but he is funny
he made me take the brooch out of my tie the other day and put it in again because he said it wasnt straight
i laughed
its quite a mania with him
yes isnt it
we were silent for a minute or two and then glancing in the direction of mary cavendish and dropping her voice cynthia said mr hastings
after tea i want to talk to you
her glance at mary had set me thinking
i fancied that between these two there existed very little sympathy
for the first time it occurred to me to wonder about the girls future
mrs had made no provisions of any kind for her but i imagined that john and mary would probably insist on her making her home with any rate until the end of the war
john i knew was very fond of her and would be sorry to let her go
john who had gone into the house now reappeared
his face wore an unaccustomed frown of anger
confound those detectives
i cant think what theyre after
theyve been in every room in the things inside out and upside down
it really is too bad
i suppose they took advantage of our all being out
i shall go for that fellow when i next see him
lot of paul grunted miss
lawrence that they had to make a show of doing something
mary cavendish said nothing
after tea i invited cynthia to come for a walk and we sauntered off into the woods together
i inquired as soon as we were protected from prying eyes by the leafy screen
with a sigh cynthia flung herself down and tossed off her hat
the sunlight piercing through the branches turned the auburn of her hair to quivering gold
mr are always so kind and you know such a lot
it struck me at this moment that cynthia was really a very charming girl
much more charming than mary who never said things of that kind
well i asked as she hesitated
i want to ask your advice
what shall i do
you see aunt emily always told me i should be provided for
i suppose she forgot or didnt think she was likely to i am not provided for
and i dont know what to do
do you think i ought to go away from here at once
good heavens no
they dont want to part with you im sure
cynthia hesitated a moment plucking up the grass with her tiny hands
then she said mrs cavendish does
she hates me
hates you i cried astonished
cynthia nodded
i dont know why but she cant bear me and he cant either
there i know youre wrong i said warmly
on the contrary john is very fond of you
i meant lawrence
not of course that i care whether lawrence hates me or not
still its rather horrid when no one loves you isnt it
but they do cynthia dear i said earnestly
im sure you are mistaken
look there is miss
cynthia nodded rather
yes john likes me i think and of course for all her gruff ways wouldnt be unkind to a fly
but lawrence never speaks to me if he can help it and mary can hardly bring herself to be civil to me
she wants to stay on is begging her to but she doesnt want me dont know what to do
suddenly the poor child burst out crying
i dont know what possessed me
her beauty perhaps as she sat there with the sunlight glinting down on her head perhaps the sense of relief at encountering someone who so obviously could have no connection with the tragedy perhaps honest pity for her youth and loneliness
anyway i leant forward and taking her little hand i said awkwardly marry me cynthia
unwittingly i had hit upon a sovereign remedy for her tears
she sat up at once drew her hand away and said with some dont be silly
i was a little annoyed
im not being silly
i am asking you to do me the honour of becoming my wife
to my intense surprise cynthia burst out laughing and called me a funny dear
its perfectly sweet of you she said but you know you dont want to
ive got
never mind what youve got
you dont really want i dont either
well of course that settles it i said stiffly
but i dont see anything to laugh at
theres nothing funny about a proposal
no indeed said cynthia
somebody might accept you next time
goodbye youve cheered me up very much
and with a final uncontrollable burst of merriment she vanished through the trees
thinking over the interview it struck me as being profoundly unsatisfactory
it occurred to me suddenly that i would go down to the village and look up
somebody ought to be keeping an eye on the fellow
at the same time it would be wise to allay any suspicions he might have as to his being suspected
i remembered how had relied on my diplomacy
accordingly i went to the little house with the apartments card inserted in the window where i knew he lodged and tapped on the door
an old woman came and opened it
good afternoon i said pleasantly
is dr in
she stared at me
havent you heard
heard what
about him
what about him
hes took
no took by the
by the police
i gasped
do you mean theyve arrested him
yes thats it and
i waited to hear no more but tore up the village to find
to my extreme annoyance was not in and the old belgian who answered my knock informed me that he believed he had gone to london
i was dumbfounded
what on earth could be doing in london
was it a sudden decision on his part or had he already made up his mind when he parted from me a few hours earlier
i retraced my steps to styles in some annoyance
with away i was uncertain how to act
had he foreseen this arrest
had he not in all probability been the cause of it
those questions i could not resolve but in the meantime what was i to do
should i announce the arrest openly at styles or not
though i did not acknowledge it to myself the thought of mary cavendish was weighing on me
would it not be a terrible shock to her
for the moment i set aside utterly any suspicions of her
she could not be i should have heard some hint of it
of course there was no possibility of being able permanently to conceal dr arrest from her it
would be announced in every newspaper on the morrow still
i shrank from blurting it out if only
poirot had been accessible i could have asked his advice what possessed
him to go posting off to london in this unaccountable way in spite of
myself my opinion of his sagacity was immeasurably heightened i would never
have dreamt of suspecting the doctor had not poirot put it into my head yes decidedly the little
man was clever
after some reflecting i decided to take john into my confidence and leave him to make the matter public or not as he thought fit
he gave vent to a prodigious whistle as i imparted the news
great scot
you were right then
i couldnt believe it at the time
no it is astonishing until you get used to the idea and see how it makes everything fit in
now what are we to do
of course it will be generally known tomorrow
john reflected
never mind he said at last we wont say anything at present
there is no need
as you say it will be known soon enough
but to my intense surprise on getting down early the next morning and eagerly opening the newspapers there was not a word about the arrest
there was a column of mere padding about the styles poisoning case but nothing further
it was rather inexplicable but i supposed that for some reason or other wished to keep it out of the papers
it worried me just a little for it suggested the possibility that there might be further arrests to come
after breakfast i decided to go down to the village and see if had returned yet but before i could start a face blocked one of the windows and the voice said bon jour mon ami
i exclaimed with relief and seizing him by both hands i dragged him into the room
i was never so glad to see anyone
listen i have said nothing to anybody but john
is that right
my friend replied i do not know what you are talking about
dr arrest of course i answered impatiently
is arrested then
did you not know it
not the least in the world
but pausing a moment he added still it does not surprise me
after all we are only four miles from the coast
the coast i asked puzzled
what has that got to do with it
surely it is obvious
not to me
no doubt i am very dense but i cannot see what the proximity of the coast has got to do with the murder of mrs
nothing at all of course replied smiling
but we were speaking of the arrest of dr
well he is arrested for the murder of mrs
what cried in apparently lively astonishment
dr arrested for the murder of mrs
that would be too good a farce
who told you that my friend
well no one exactly told me i confessed
but he is arrested
oh yes very likely
but for espionage mon ami
not for poisoning mrs
not unless our friend has taken leave of his senses replied
i thought you thought so too
gave me one look which conveyed a wondering pity and his full sense of the utter absurdity of such an idea
do you mean to say i asked slowly adapting myself to the new idea that dr is a spy
have you never suspected it
it never entered my head
it did not strike you as peculiar that a famous london doctor should bury himself in a little village like this and should be in the habit of walking about at all hours of the night fully dressed
no i confessed i never thought of such a thing
he is of course a german by birth said thoughtfully though he has practiced so long in this country that nobody thinks of him as anything but an englishman
he was naturalized about fifteen years ago
a very clever mana jew of course
the blackguard i cried indignantly
he is on the contrary a patriot
think what he stands to lose
i admire the man myself
but i could not look at it in philosophical way
and this is the man with whom mrs cavendish has been wandering about all over the country i cried indignantly
i should fancy he had found her very useful remarked
so long as gossip busied itself in coupling their names together any other vagaries of the doctors passed unobserved
then you think he never really cared for her i asked too eagerly perhaps under the circumstances
that of course i cannot say i tell you my own private opinion hastings
well it is this that mrs cavendish does not care and never has cared one little jot about dr
do you really think so
i could not disguise my pleasure
i am quite sure of it
and i will tell you why
because she cares for some one else mon ami
what did he mean
in spite of myself an agreeable warmth spread over me
i am not a vain man where women are concerned but i remembered certain evidences too lightly thought of at the time perhaps but which certainly seemed to indicate
my pleasing thoughts were interrupted by the sudden entrance of miss
she glanced round hastily to make sure there was no one else in the room and quickly produced an old sheet of brown paper
this she handed to murmuring as she did so the cryptic words on top of the wardrobe
then she hurriedly left the room
unfolded the sheet of paper eagerly and uttered an exclamation of satisfaction
he spread it out on the table
come here hastings
now tell me what is that
or l
it was a medium sized sheet of paper rather dusty as though it had lain by for some time
but it was the label that was attracting attention
at the top it bore the printed stamp of messrs
the theatrical and it was addressed to the debatable initial cavendish esq
styles court styles st
it might be t
or it might be l
i said after studying the thing for a minute or two
it certainly isnt a j
good replied folding up the paper again
i also am of your way of thinking
it is an l
depend upon it
where did it come from i asked curiously
is it important
moderately so
it confirms a surmise of mine
having deduced its existence i set miss to search for it and as you see she has been successful
what did she mean by on the top of the wardrobe
she meant replied promptly that she found it on top of a wardrobe
a funny place for a piece of brown paper i mused
the top of a wardrobe is an excellent place for brown paper and cardboard boxes
i have kept them there myself
neatly arranged there is nothing to offend the eye
i asked earnestly have you made up your mind about this crime
is to say i believe i know how it was committed
unfortunately i have no proof beyond my surmise unless
with sudden energy he caught me by the arm and whirled me down the hall calling out in french in his excitement mademoiselle dorcas mademoiselle dorcas un moment sil plait
dorcas quite by the noise came hurrying out of the pantry
my good dorcas i have an little it should prove justified what magnificent chance
tell me on monday not tuesday dorcas but monday the day before the tragedy did anything go wrong with mrs bell
dorcas looked very surprised
yes sir now you mention it it did though i dont know how you came to hear of it
a mouse or some such must have nibbled the wire through
the man came and put it right on tuesday morning
with a long drawn exclamation of ecstasy led the way back to the
see you one should not ask for outside reason should be enough
but the flesh is weak it is consolation to find that one is on the right track
ah my friend i am like a giant refreshed
i run
i leap
and in very truth run and leap he did wildly down the stretch of lawn outside the long window
what is your remarkable little friend doing asked a voice behind me and i turned to find mary cavendish at my elbow
she smiled and so did i
what is it all about
really i cant tell you
he asked dorcas some question about a bell and appeared so delighted with her answer that he is capering about as you see
mary laughed
how ridiculous
hes going out of the gate
isnt he coming back today
ive given up trying to guess what hell do next
is he quite mad mr hastings
i honestly dont know
sometimes i feel sure he is as mad as a hatter and then just as he is at his maddest i find there is method in his madness
in spite of her laugh mary was looking thoughtful this morning
she seemed grave almost sad
it occurred to me that it would be a good opportunity to tackle her on the subject of cynthia
i began rather tactfully i thought but i had not gone far before she stopped me authoritatively
you are an excellent advocate i have no doubt mr hastings but in this case your talents are quite thrown away
cynthia will run no risk of encountering any unkindness from me
i began to stammer feebly that i hoped she hadnt again she stopped me and her words were so unexpected that they quite drove cynthia and her troubles out of my mind
mr hastings she said do you think i and my husband are happy together
i was considerably taken aback and murmured something about its not being my business to think anything of the sort
well she said quietly whether it is your business or not i will tell you that we are not happy
i said nothing for i saw that she had not finished
she began slowly walking up and down the room her head a little bent and that slim supple figure of hers swaying gently as she walked
she stopped suddenly and looked up at me
you dont know anything about me do you she asked
where i come from who i was before i married in fact
well i will tell you
i will make a father confessor of you
you are kind i i am sure you are kind
somehow i was not quite as elated as i might have been
i remembered that cynthia had begun her confidences in much the same way
besides a father confessor should be elderly it is not at all the role for a young man
my father was english said mrs cavendish but my mother was a russian
ah i said now i understand
understand what
a hint of something there has always been about you
my mother was very beautiful i believe
i dont know because i never saw her
she died when i was quite a little child
i believe there was some tragedy connected with her took an overdose of some sleeping draught by mistake
however that may be my father was brokenhearted
shortly afterwards he went into the consular service
everywhere he went i went with him
when i was i had been nearly all over the world
it was a splendid loved it
there was a smile on her face and her head was thrown back
she seemed living in the memory of those old glad days
then my father died
he left me very badly off
i had to go and live with some old aunts in yorkshire
she shuddered
you will understand me when i say that it was a deadly life for a girl brought up as i had been
the narrowness the deadly monotony of it almost drove me mad
she paused a minute and added in a different tone and then i met john cavendish
you can imagine that from my aunts point of view it was a very good match for me
but i can honestly say it was not this fact which weighed with me
no he was simply a way of escape from the insufferable monotony of my life
i said nothing and after a moment she went on dont misunderstand me
i was quite honest with him
i told him what was true that i liked him very much that i hoped to come to like him more but that i was not in any way what the world calls in love with him
he declared that that satisfied him and were married
she waited a long time a little frown had gathered on her forehead
she seemed to be looking back earnestly into those past days
i am cared for me at first
but i suppose we were not well matched
almost at once we drifted apart
is not a pleasing thing for my pride but it is the of me very soon
i must have made some murmur of dissent for she went on quickly oh yes he did
not that it matters that weve come to the parting of the ways
she answered quietly i mean that i am not going to remain at styles
you and john are not going to live here
john may live here but i shall not
you are going to leave him
but why
she paused a long time and said at last i want to
and as she spoke i had a sudden vision of broad spaces virgin tracts of forests a realization of what freedom would mean to such a nature as mary cavendish
i seemed to see her for a moment as she was a proud wild creature as untamed by civilization as some shy bird of the hills
a little cry broke from her lips you dont know you dont know how this hateful place has been prison to me
i understand i said dont do anything rash
oh rash
her voice mocked at my prudence
then suddenly i said a thing i could have bitten out my tongue for you know that dr has been arrested
an instant coldness passed like a mask over her face blotting out all expression
john was so kind as to break that to me this morning
well what do you think i asked feebly
of what
of the arrest
what should i think
apparently he is a german spy so the gardener had told john
her face and voice were absolutely cold and expressionless
did she care or did she not
she moved away a step or two and fingered one of the flower vases
these are quite dead
i must do them again
would you mind you mr hastings
and she walked quietly past me out of the window with a cool little nod of dismissal
no surely she could not care for
no woman could act her part with that icy
did not make his appearance the following morning and there was no sign of the scotland yard men
but at lunchtime there arrived a new piece of rather lack of evidence
we had vainly tried to trace the fourth letter which mrs had written on the evening preceding her death
our efforts having been in vain we had abandoned the matter hoping that it might turn up of itself one day
and this is just what did happen in the shape of a communication which arrived by the second post from a firm of french music publishers acknowledging mrs cheque and regretting they had been unable to trace a certain series of russian
so the last hope of solving the mystery by means of mrs correspondence on the fatal evening had to be abandoned
just before tea i strolled down to tell of the new disappointment but found to my annoyance that he was once more out
gone to london again
oh no monsieur he has but taken the train to
to see a young dispensary he said
silly ass
i ejaculated
i told him wednesday was the one day she wasnt there
well tell him to look us up tomorrow morning will you
certainly monsieur
but on the following day no sign of
i was getting angry
he was really treating us in the most cavalier fashion
after lunch lawrence drew me aside and asked if i was going down to see him
no i dont think i shall
he can come up here if he wants to see us
lawrence looked indeterminate
something unusually nervous and excited in his manner roused my curiosity
what is it i asked
i could go if theres anything special
its nothing much if you are going will you tell him he dropped his voice to a think ive found the extra
i had almost forgotten that enigmatical message of but now my curiosity was aroused afresh
lawrence would say no more so i decided that i would descend from my high horse and once more seek out at leastways cottage
this time i was received with a smile
monsieur was within
would i mount
i mounted accordingly
was sitting by the table his head buried in his hands
he sprang up at my entrance
you are not ill i trust
no no not ill
but i decide an affair of great moment
whether to catch the criminal or not i asked facetiously
but to my great surprise nodded gravely
to speak or not to speak as your so great shakespeare says that is the question
i did not trouble to correct the quotation
you are not serious
i am of the most serious
for the most serious of all things hangs in the balance
a womans happiness mon ami he said gravely
i did not quite know what to say
the moment has come said thoughtfully and i do not know what to do
for see you it is a big stake for which i play
no one but i would attempt it
and he tapped himself proudly on the breast
after pausing a few minutes respectfully so as not to spoil his effect i gave him message
aha he cried
so he has found the extra
that is good
he has more intelligence than would appear this monsieur lawrence of yours
i did not myself think very highly of intelligence but i to contradict and gently took him to task for forgetting my instructions as to which were days off
it is true
i have the head of a sieve
however the other young lady was most kind
she was sorry for my disappointment and showed me everything in the kindest way
oh well thats all right then and you must go to tea with cynthia another day
i told him about the letter
i am sorry for that he said
i always had hopes of that letter
but no it was not to be
this affair must all be unravelled from within
he tapped his forehead
these little grey cells
it is up to you say over here
then suddenly he asked are you a judge of my friend
no i said rather surprised i know that there are no two alike but thats as far as my science goes
he unlocked a little drawer and took out some photographs which he laid on the table
i have numbered them
will you describe them to me
i studied the proofs attentively
all greatly magnified i see
i should say are a mans fingerprints thumb and first finger
are a they are much smaller and quite different in every way
no paused for some seem to be a lot of confused but here very distinctly are no
overlapping the others
you recognize them beyond fail
oh yes they are identical
nodded and gently taking the photographs from me locked them up again
i suppose i said that as usual you are not going to explain
on the contrary
were the fingerprints of monsieur lawrence
were those of mademoiselle cynthia
they are not important
i merely obtained them for comparison
is a little more complicated
it is as you see highly magnified
you may have noticed a sort of blur extending all across the picture
i will not describe to you the special apparatus dusting powder etc
which i used
it is a process to the police and by means of it you can obtain a photograph of the fingerprints of any object in a very short space of time
well my friend you have seen the remains to tell you the particular object on which they had been left
go oni am really excited
eh bien
photo no
represents the highly magnified surface of a tiny bottle in the top poison cupboard of the dispensary in the red cross hospital at sounds like the house that jack built
i exclaimed
but what were lawrence doing on it
he never went near the poison cupboard the day we were there
oh yes he did
we were all together the whole time
no my friend there was a moment when you were not all together
there was a moment when you could not have been all together or it would not have been necessary to call to monsieur lawrence to come and join you on the balcony
id forgotten that i admitted
but it was only for a moment
long enough
long enough for what
smile became rather enigmatical
long enough for a gentleman who had once studied medicine to gratify a very natural interest and curiosity
our eyes met
were pleasantly vague
he got up and hummed a little tune
i watched him suspiciously
i said what was in this particular little bottle
looked out of the window
hydrochloride of strychnine he said over his shoulder continuing to hum
i said it quite quietly
i was not surprised
i had expected that answer
they use the pure hydrochloride of strychnine very occasionally for pills
it is the official solution
that is used in most medicines
that is why the have remained undisturbed since then
how did you manage to take this photograph
i dropped my hat from the balcony explained simply
visitors were not permitted below at that hour so in spite of my many apologies mademoiselle colleague had to go down and fetch it for me
then you knew what you were going to find
no not at all
i merely realized that it was possible from your story for monsieur lawrence to go to the poison cupboard
the possibility had to be confirmed or eliminated
i said your gaiety does not deceive me
this is a very important discovery
i do not know said
but one thing does strike me
no doubt it has struck you too
what is that
why that there is altogether too much strychnine about this case
this is the third time we run up against it
there was strychnine in mrs tonic
there is the strychnine sold across the counter at styles st
mary by mace
now we have more strychnine handled by one of the household
it is confusing and as you know i do not like confusion
before i could reply one of the other belgians opened the door and stuck his head in
there is a lady below asking for mr hastings
a lady
i jumped up
followed me down the narrow stairs
mary cavendish was standing in the doorway
i have been visiting an old woman in the village she explained and as lawrence told me you were with monsieur i thought i would call for you
alas madame said i thought you had come to honour me with a visit
i will some day if you ask me she promised him smiling
if you should need a father confessor madame she started ever so papa is always at your service
she stared at him for a few minutes as though seeking to read some deeper meaning into his words
then she turned abruptly away
come will you not walk back with us too monsieur
enchanted madame
all the way to styles mary talked fast and feverishly
it struck me that in some way she was nervous of eyes
the weather had broken and the sharp wind was almost autumnal in its shrewishness
mary shivered a little and buttoned her black sports coat closer
the wind through the trees made a mournful noise like some great giant sighing
we walked up to the great door of styles and at once the knowledge came to us that something was wrong
dorcas came running out to meet us
she was crying and wringing her hands
i was aware of other servants huddled together in the background all eyes and ears
oh mam
i dont know how to tell you
what is it dorcas i asked impatiently
tell us at once
its those wicked detectives
theyve arrested arrested mr cavendish
arrested lawrence
i saw a strange look come into eyes
no sir
not mr john
behind me with a wild cry mary cavendish fell heavily against me and as i turned to catch her i met the quiet triumph in eyes
the trial of john cavendish for the murder of his stepmother took place two months later
of the intervening weeks i will say little but my admiration and sympathy went out to mary cavendish
she ranged herself passionately on her husband's side scorning the mere idea of his guilt and fought for him tooth and nail
i expressed my admiration to and he nodded thoughtfully
yes she is of those women who show at their best in adversity
it brings out all that is sweetest and truest in them
her pride and her jealousy have
jealousy i queried
have you not realized that she is an unusually jealous woman
as i was saying her pride and jealousy have been laid aside
she thinks of nothing but her husband and the terrible fate that is hanging over him
he spoke very feelingly and i looked at him earnestly remembering that last afternoon when he had been deliberating whether or not to speak
with his tenderness for a woman's happiness i felt glad that the decision had been taken out of his hands
even now i said i can hardly believe it
you see up to the very last minute i thought it was lawrence
i know you did
but john
my old friend john
every murderer is probably old friend observed philosophically
you cannot mix up sentiment and reason
i must say i think you might have given me a hint
perhaps mon ami i did not do so just because he was your old friend
i was rather disconcerted by this remembering how i had busily passed on to john what i believed to be views concerning
he by the way had been acquitted of the charge brought against him
nevertheless although he had been too clever for them this time and the charge of espionage could not be brought home to him his wings were pretty well clipped for the future
i asked whether he thought john would be condemned
to my intense surprise he replied that on the contrary he was extremely likely to be acquitted
but i protested
oh my friend have i not said to you all along that i have no proofs
it is one thing to know that a man is guilty it is quite another matter to prove him so
and in this case there is terribly little evidence
that is the whole trouble
i know but i lack the last link in my chain
and unless i can find that missing link he shook his head gravely
when did you first suspect john cavendish i asked after a minute or two
did you not suspect him at all
not after that fragment of conversation you overheard between mrs cavendish and her and her subsequent lack of frankness at the inquest
did you not put two and two together and reflect that if it was not alfred who was quarrelling with his you remember he strenuously denied it at the must be either lawrence or john
now if it was lawrence mary conduct was just as inexplicable
but if on the other hand it was john the whole thing was explained quite naturally
so i cried a light breaking in upon me it was john who quarrelled with his mother that afternoon
and you have known this all along
mrs behaviour could only be explained that way
and yet you say he may be acquitted
at the police court proceedings we shall hear the case for the prosecution but in all probability his solicitors will advise him to reserve his defence
that will be sprung upon us at the trial
by the way i have a word of caution to give you my friend
i must not appear in the case
officially i have nothing to do with it
until i have found that last link in my chain i must remain behind the scenes
mrs cavendish must think i am working for her husband not against him
i say that's playing it a bit low down i protested
we have to deal with a most clever and unscrupulous man and we must use any means in our he will slip through our fingers
that is why i have been careful to remain in the background
all the discoveries have been made by and will take all the credit
if i am called upon to give evidence at smiled will probably be as a witness for the defence
i could hardly believe my ears
it is quite en continued
strangely enough i can give evidence that will demolish one contention of the prosecution
which one
the one that relates to the destruction of the will
john cavendish did not destroy that will
was a true prophet
i will not go into the details of the police court proceedings as it involves many tiresome repetitions
i will merely state that john cavendish reserved his defence and was duly committed for trial
september found us all in london
mary took a house in kensington being included in the family party
i myself had been given a job at the war office so was able to see them continually
as the weeks went by the state of nerves grew worse and worse
that last link he talked about was still lacking
privately i hoped it might remain so for what happiness could there be for mary if john were not acquitted
on september john cavendish appeared in the dock at the old bailey charged with the wilful murder of emily and pleaded not guilty
sir ernest the famous k
had been engaged to defend him
mr k
opened the case for the crown
the murder he said was a most premeditated and cold-blooded one
it was neither more nor less than the deliberate poisoning of a fond and trusting woman by the stepson to whom she had been more than a mother
ever since his boyhood she had supported him
he and his wife had lived at styles court in every luxury surrounded by her care and attention
she had been their kind and generous benefactress
he proposed to call witnesses to show how the prisoner a profligate and spendthrift had been at the end of his financial tether and had also been carrying on an intrigue with a certain mrs a neighbouring farmer's wife
this having come to his stepmother's ears she taxed him with it on the afternoon before her death and a quarrel ensued part of which was overheard
on the previous day the prisoner had purchased strychnine at the village chemist's shop wearing a disguise by means of which he hoped to throw the onus of the crime upon another manto wit mrs husband of whom he had been bitterly jealous
luckily for mr he had been able to produce an unimpeachable alibi
on the afternoon of july continued counsel immediately after the quarrel with her son mrs made a new will
this will was found destroyed in the grate of her bedroom the following morning but evidence had come to light which showed that it had been drawn up in favour of her husband
deceased had already made a will in his favour before her marriage mr wagged an expressive prisoner was not aware of that
what had induced the deceased to make a fresh will with the old one still extant he could not say
she was an old lady and might possibly have forgotten the former one seemed to him more may have had an idea that it was revoked by her marriage as there had been some conversation on the subject
ladies were not always very well versed in legal knowledge
she had about a year before executed a will in favour of the prisoner
he would call evidence to show that it was the prisoner who ultimately handed his stepmother her coffee on the fatal night
later in the evening he had sought admission to her room on which occasion no doubt he found an opportunity of destroying the will which as far as he knew would render the one in his favour valid
the prisoner had been arrested in consequence of the discovery in his room by detective inspector most brilliant the identical phial of strychnine which had been sold at the village chemist's to the supposed mr on the day before the murder
it would be for the jury to decide whether or not these damning facts constituted an overwhelming proof of the prisoner's guilt
and subtly implying that a jury which did not so decide was quite unthinkable mr sat down and wiped his forehead
the first witnesses for the prosecution were mostly those who had been called at the inquest the medical evidence being again taken first
sir ernest who was famous all over england for the unscrupulous manner in which he bullied witnesses only asked two questions
i take it dr that strychnine as a drug acts quickly
and that you are unable to account for the delay in this case
thank you
mr mace identified the phial handed him by counsel as that sold by him to mr
pressed he admitted that he only knew mr by sight
he had never spoken to him
the witness was not
alfred was called and denied having purchased the poison
he also denied having quarrelled with his wife
various witnesses testified to the accuracy of these statements
the gardeners evidence as to the witnessing of the will was taken and then dorcas was called
dorcas faithful to her young gentlemen denied strenuously that it could have been john's voice she heard and resolutely declared in the teeth of everything that it was mr who had been in the boudoir with her mistress
a rather wistful smile passed across the face of the prisoner in the dock
he knew only too well how useless her gallant defiance was since it was not the object of the defence to deny this point
mrs cavendish of course could not be called upon to give evidence against her husband
after various questions on other matters mr asked in the month of june last do you remember a parcel arriving for mr lawrence cavendish from
dorcas shook her head
i don't remember sir
it may have done but mr lawrence was away from home part of june
in the event of a parcel arriving for him whilst he was away what would be done with it
it would either be put in his room or sent on after him
by you
no sir i should leave it on the hall table
it would be miss who would attend to anything like that
was called and after being examined on other points was questioned as to the parcel
don't remember
lots of parcels come
can't remember one special one
you do not know if it was sent after mr lawrence cavendish to wales or whether it was put in his room
don't think it was sent after him
should have remembered it if it was
supposing a parcel arrived addressed to mr lawrence cavendish and afterwards it disappeared should you remark its absence
no don't think so
i should think some one had taken charge of it
i believe miss that it was you who found this sheet of brown paper
he held up the same dusty piece which and i had examined in the at styles
yes i did
how did you come to look for it
the belgian detective who was employed on the case asked me to search for it
where did you eventually discover it
on the top wardrobe
on top of the prisoner's wardrobe
ii believe so
did you not find it yourself
then you must know where you found it
yes it was on the prisoner's wardrobe
that is better
an assistant from theatrical testified that on june they had supplied a black beard to mr l
cavendish as requested
it was ordered by letter and a postal order was enclosed
no they had not kept the letter
all transactions were entered in their books
they had sent the beard as directed to l
cavendish esq
styles court'
sir ernest rose
where was the letter written from
from styles court
the same address to which you sent the parcel
and the letter came from there
like a beast of prey fell upon him how do you know
ii don't understand
how do you know that letter came from styles
did you notice the postmark
ah you did not notice the postmark
and yet you affirm so confidently that it came from styles
it might in fact have been any postmark
in fact the letter though written on stamped notepaper might have been posted from anywhere
from wales for instance
the witness admitted that such might be the case and sir ernest signified that he was satisfied
elizabeth wells second housemaid at styles stated that after she had gone to bed she remembered that she had bolted the front door instead of leaving it on the latch as mr had requested
she had accordingly gone downstairs again to rectify her error
hearing a slight noise in the west wing she had peeped along the passage and had seen mr john cavendish knocking at mrs door
sir ernest made short work of her and under his unmerciful bullying she contradicted herself hopelessly and sir ernest sat down again with a satisfied smile on his face
with the evidence of annie as to the candle grease on the floor and as to seeing the prisoner take the coffee into the boudoir the proceedings were adjourned until the following day
as we went home mary cavendish spoke bitterly against the prosecuting counsel
that hateful man
what a net he has drawn around my poor john
how he twisted every little fact until he made it seem what it wasn't
well i said it will be the other way about tomorrow
yes she said then suddenly dropped her voice
mr hastings you do not it could not have been no that could not be
but i myself was puzzled and as soon as i was alone with i asked him what he thought sir ernest was driving at
ah said appreciatively
he is a clever man that sir ernest
do you think he believes lawrence guilty
i do not think he believes or cares anything
no what he is trying for is to create such confusion in the minds of the jury that they are divided in their opinion as to which brother did it
he is endeavouring to make out that there is quite as much evidence against lawrence as against i am not at all sure that he will not succeed
was the first witness called when the trial was reopened and gave his evidence succinctly and briefly
after relating the earlier events he proceeded acting on information received superintendent and myself searched the prisoner's room during his temporary absence from the house
in his chest of drawers hidden beneath some underclothing we found first a pair of similar to those worn by mr these were exhibited secondly this phial
the phial was that already recognized by the chemist's assistant a tiny bottle of blue glass containing a few grains of a white crystalline powder and labelled strychnine hydrochloride
a fresh piece of evidence discovered by the detectives since the police court proceedings was a long almost new piece of
it had been found in mrs cheque book and on being reversed at a mirror showed clearly the words
of which i die possessed i leave to my beloved husband alfred ing
this placed beyond question the fact that the destroyed will had been in favour of the deceased husband
then produced the charred fragment of paper recovered from the grate and this with the discovery of the beard in the attic completed his evidence
but sir was yet to come
what day was it when you searched the prisoner's room
tuesday the of july
exactly a week after the tragedy
you found these two objects you say in the chest of drawers
was the drawer unlocked
does it not strike you as unlikely that a man who had committed a crime should keep the evidence of it in an unlocked drawer for anyone to find
he might have stowed them there in a hurry
but you have just said it was a whole week since the crime
he would have had ample time to remove them and destroy them
there is no perhaps about it
would he or would he not have had plenty of time to remove and destroy them
was the pile of underclothes under which the things were hidden heavy or light
in other words it was winter underclothing
obviously the prisoner would not be likely to go to that drawer
perhaps not
kindly answer my question
would the prisoner in the hottest week of a hot summer be likely to go to a drawer containing winter underclothing
yes or no
in that case is it not possible that the articles in question might have been put there by a third person and that the prisoner was quite unaware of their presence
i should not think it likely
but it is possible
more evidence followed
evidence as to the financial difficulties in which the prisoner had found himself at the end of july
evidence as to his intrigue with mrs mary that must have been bitter hearing for a woman of her pride
had been right in her facts though her animosity against alfred had caused her to jump to the conclusion that he was the person concerned
lawrence cavendish was then put into the box
in a low voice in answer to mr questions he denied having ordered anything from in june
in fact on june he had been staying away in wales
instantly sir chin was shooting forward
you deny having ordered a black beard from on june
in the event of anything happening to your brother who will inherit styles court
the brutality of the question called a flush to pale face
the judge gave vent to a faint murmur of and the prisoner in the dock leant forward angrily
cared nothing for his client's anger
answer my question if you please
i suppose said lawrence quietly that i should
what do you mean by you suppose'
your brother has no children
you would inherit it wouldn't you
ah that's better said with ferocious geniality
and you'd inherit a good slice of money too wouldn't you
really sir ernest protested the judge these questions are not relevant
sir ernest bowed and having shot his arrow proceeded
on tuesday the july you went i believe with another guest to visit the dispensary at the red cross hospital in
did you while you happened to be alone for a few seconds unlock the poison cupboard and examine some of the bottles
have done so
i put it to you that you did do so
sir ernest fairly shot the next question at him
did you examine one bottle in particular
be careful mr cavendish
i am referring to a little bottle of hydro-chloride hydro-chloride of strychnine
lawrence was turning a sickly greenish colour
am sure i didn't
then how do you account for the fact that you left the unmistakable impress of your finger-prints on it
the bullying manner was highly efficacious with a nervous disposition
ii suppose i must have taken up the bottle
i suppose so too
did you abstract any of the contents of the bottle
certainly not
then why did you take it up
i once studied to be a doctor
such things naturally interest me
so poisons naturally interest' you do they
still you waited to be alone before gratifying that interest of yours
that was pure chance
if the others had been there i should have done just the same
still as it happens the others were not there
no but
in fact during the whole afternoon you were only alone for a couple of minutes and it say it be during those two minutes that you displayed your natural interest in hydro-chloride of strychnine
lawrence stammered
with a satisfied and expressive countenance sir ernest observed i have nothing more to ask you mr cavendish
this bit of had caused great excitement in court
the heads of the many fashionably attired women present were busily laid together and their whispers became so loud that the judge angrily threatened to have the court cleared if there was not immediate silence
there was little more evidence
the hand-writing experts were called upon for their opinion of the signature of alfred in the chemist's poison register
they all declared unanimously that it was certainly not his hand-writing and gave it as their view that it might be that of the prisoner disguised
they admitted that it might be the prisoner's hand-writing cleverly counterfeited
sir ernest speech in opening the case for the defence was not a long one but it was backed by the full force of his emphatic manner
never he said in the course of his long experience had he known a charge of murder rest on slighter evidence
not only was it entirely circumstantial but the greater part of it was practically unproved
let them take the testimony they had heard and sift it impartially
the strychnine had been found in a drawer in the prisoner's room
that drawer was an unlocked one as he had pointed out and he submitted that there was no evidence to prove that it was the prisoner who had concealed the poison there
it was in fact a wicked and malicious attempt on the part of some third person to fix the crime on the prisoner
the prosecution had been unable to produce a shred of evidence in support of their contention that it was the prisoner who ordered the black beard from
the quarrel which had taken place between prisoner and his stepmother was freely admitted but both it and his financial embarrassments had been grossly exaggerated
his learned friend sir ernest nodded carelessly at mr had stated that if the prisoner were an innocent man he would have come forward at the inquest to explain that it was he and not mr who had been the participator in the quarrel
he thought the facts had been misrepresented
what had actually occurred was this
the prisoner returning to the house on tuesday evening had been authoritatively told that there had been a violent quarrel between mr and mrs
no suspicion had entered the prisoner's head that anyone could possibly have mistaken his voice for that of mr
he naturally concluded that his stepmother had had two quarrels
the prosecution that on monday july the prisoner had entered the chemist's shop in the village disguised as mr
the prisoner on the contrary was at that time at a lonely spot called spinney where he had been summoned by an anonymous note couched in blackmailing terms and threatening to reveal certain matters to his wife unless he complied with its demands
the prisoner had accordingly gone to the appointed spot and after waiting there vainly for half an hour had returned home
unfortunately he had met with no one on the way there or back who could vouch for the truth of his story but luckily he had kept the note and it would be produced as evidence
as for the statement relating to the destruction of the will the prisoner had formerly practiced at the bar and was perfectly well aware that the will made in his favour a year before was automatically revoked by his stepmother's remarriage
he would call evidence to show who did destroy the will and it was possible that that might open up quite a new view of the case
finally he would point out to the jury that there was evidence against other people besides john cavendish
he would direct their attention to the fact that the evidence against mr lawrence cavendish was quite as strong if not stronger than that against his brother
he would now call the prisoner
john acquitted himself well in the
under sir skilful handling he told his tale credibly and well
the anonymous note received by him was produced and handed to the jury to examine
the readiness with which he admitted his financial difficulties and the disagreement with his stepmother lent value to his denials
at the close of his examination he paused and said i should like to make one thing clear
i utterly reject and disapprove of sir ernest insinuations against my brother
my brother i am convinced had no more to do with the crime than i have
sir ernest merely smiled and noted with a sharp eye that john's protest had produced a very favourable impression on the jury
then the began
i understand you to say that it never entered your head that the witnesses at the inquest could possibly have mistaken your voice for that of mr
is not that very surprising
no i don't think so
i was told there had been a quarrel between my mother and mr and it never occurred to me that such was not really the case
not when the servant dorcas repeated certain fragments of the which you must have recognized
i did not recognize them
your memory must be unusually short
no but we were both angry and i think said more than we meant
i paid very little attention to my mother's actual words
mr incredulous sniff was a triumph of forensic skill
he passed on to the subject of the
have produced this note very opportunely
tell me is there nothing familiar about the hand-writing of it
not that i know of
do you not think that it bears a marked resemblance to your own disguised
i put it to you that it is your own hand-writing
i put it to you that anxious to prove an alibi you conceived the idea of a fictitious and rather incredible appointment and wrote this note yourself in order to bear out your statement
is it not a fact that at the time you claim to have been waiting about at a solitary and spot you were really in the chemist's shop in styles st
mary where you purchased strychnine in the name of alfred
no that is a lie
i put it to you that wearing a suit of mr clothes with a black beard trimmed to resemble his you were signed the register in his name
that is absolutely untrue
then i will leave the remarkable similarity of hand-writing between the note the register and your own to the consideration of the jury said mr and sat down with the air of a man who has done his duty but who was nevertheless horrified by such deliberate perjury
after this as it was growing late the case was adjourned till monday
i noticed was looking profoundly discouraged
he had that little frown between the eyes that i knew so well
ah mon ami things are going badly badly
in spite of myself my heart gave a leap of relief
evidently there was a likelihood of john cavendish being acquitted
when we reached the house my little friend waved aside mary's offer of tea
no i thank you madame
i will mount to my room
i followed him
still frowning he went across to the desk and took out a small pack of patience cards
then he drew up a chair to the table and to my utter amazement began solemnly to build card houses
my jaw dropped involuntarily and he said at once no mon ami i am not in my second childhood
i steady my nerves that is all
this employment requires precision of the fingers
with precision of the fingers goes precision of the brain
and never have i needed that more than now
what is the trouble i asked
with a great thump on the table demolished his carefully built up edifice
it is this mon ami
that i can build card houses seven stories high but i cannot thump find thump that last link of which i spoke to you
i could not quite tell what to say so i held my peace and he began slowly building up the cards again speaking in jerks as he did so
it is
by cardon
i watched the card house rising under his hands story by story
he never hesitated or faltered
it was really almost like a conjuring trick
what a steady hand you've got i remarked
i believe i've only seen your hand shake once
on an occasion when i was enraged without doubt observed with great
yes indeed
you were in a towering rage
do you remember
it was when you discovered that the lock of the in mrs bedroom had been forced
you stood by the mantel-piece twiddling the things on it in your usual fashion and your hand shook like a leaf
i must say but i stopped suddenly
for uttering a hoarse and inarticulate cry again annihilated his masterpiece of cards and putting his hands over his eyes swayed backwards and forwards apparently suffering the keenest agony
good heavens i cried
what is the matter
are you taken ill
no no he gasped
it i have an idea
i exclaimed much relieved
one of your little ideas
ah ma no
replied frankly
this time it is an idea gigantic
and my friend have given it to me
suddenly clasping me in his arms he kissed me warmly on both cheeks and before i had recovered from my surprise ran headlong from the room
mary cavendish entered at that moment
what is the matter with monsieur
he rushed past me crying out a garage
for the love of heaven direct me to a garage madame'
and before i could answer he had dashed out into the
hurried to the window
true enough there he was tearing down the street hatless and gesticulating as he went
i turned to mary with a gesture of despair
he'll be stopped by a policeman in another minute
there he goes round the corner
our eyes met and we stared helplessly at one another
what can be the matter
i don't know
he was building card houses when suddenly he said he had an idea and rushed off as you saw
well said mary i expect he will be back before dinner
but night fell and had not returned
abrupt departure had intrigued us all greatly
sunday morning wore away and still he did not reappear
but about three o'clock a ferocious and prolonged hooting outside drove us to the window to see alighting from a car accompanied by and
the little man was transformed
he radiated an absurd complacency
he bowed with exaggerated respect to mary cavendish
madame i have your permission to hold a little reunion in the salon
it is necessary for every one to attend
mary smiled sadly
you know monsieur that you have carte blanche in every way
still beaming us all into the bringing forward chairs as he did so
mademoiselle cynthia
monsieur lawrence
the good dorcas
and annie
we must delay our proceedings a few minutes until mr arrives
i have sent him a note
miss rose immediately from her seat
if that man comes into the house i leave it
no no
went up to her and pleaded in a low voice
finally miss consented to return to her chair
a few minutes later alfred entered the room
the company once assembled rose from his seat with the air of a popular lecturer and bowed politely to his audience
messieurs mesdames as you all know i was called in by monsieur john cavendish to investigate this case
i at once examined the bedroom of the deceased which by the advice of the doctors had been kept locked and was consequently exactly as it had been when the tragedy occurred
i found first a fragment of green material second a stain on the carpet near the window still damp thirdly an empty box of bromide powders
to take the fragment of green material first i found it caught in the bolt of the communicating door between that room and the adjoining one occupied by mademoiselle cynthia
i handed the fragment over to the police who did not consider it of much importance
nor did they recognize it for what it piece torn from a green land
there was a little stir of excitement
now there was only one person at styles who worked on the cavendish
therefore it must have been mrs cavendish who entered the room through the door communicating with mademoiselle room
but that door was bolted on the inside i cried
when i examined the room yes
but in the first place we have only her word for it since it was she who tried that particular door and reported it fastened
in the ensuing confusion she would have had ample opportunity to shoot the bolt across
i took an early opportunity of verifying my conjectures
to begin with the fragment corresponds exactly with a tear in mrs
also at the inquest mrs cavendish declared that she had heard from her own room the fall of the table by the bed
i took an early opportunity of testing that statement by my friend monsieur hastings in the left wing of the building just outside mrs door
i myself in company with the police went to the room and whilst there i apparently accidentally knocked over the table in question but found that as i had expected monsieur hastings had heard no sound at all
this confirmed my belief that mrs cavendish was not speaking the truth when she declared that she had been dressing in her room at the time of the tragedy
in fact i was convinced that far from having been in her own room mrs cavendish was actually in the room when the alarm was given
i shot a quick glance at mary
she was very pale but smiling
i proceeded to reason on that assumption
mrs cavendish is in her room
we will say that she is seeking for something and has not yet found it
suddenly mrs awakens and is seized with an alarming paroxysm
she flings out her arm overturning the bed table and then pulls desperately at the bell
mrs cavendish startled drops her candle scattering the grease on the carpet
she picks it up and retreats quickly to mademoiselle room closing the door behind her
she hurries out into the passage for the servants must not find her where she is
but it is too late
already footsteps are echoing along the gallery which connects the two wings
what can she do
quick as thought she hurries back to the young girl's room and starts shaking her awake
the hastily aroused household come trooping down the passage
they are all busily battering at mrs door
it occurs to nobody that mrs cavendish has not arrived with the rest this is can find no one who saw her come from the other wing
he looked at mary cavendish
am i right madame
she bowed her head
quite right monsieur
you understand that if i had thought i would do my husband any good by revealing these facts i would have done so
but it did not seem to me to bear upon the question of his guilt or innocence
in a sense that is correct madame
but it cleared my mind of many misconceptions and left me free to see other facts in their true significance
the will cried lawrence
then it was you mary who destroyed the will
she shook her head and shook his also
no he said quietly
there is only one person who could possibly have destroyed that herself
she had only made it out that very afternoon
nevertheless mon ami it was mrs
because in no other way can you account for the fact that on one of the hottest days of the year mrs ordered a fire to be lighted in her room
i gave a gasp
what idiots we had been never to think of that fire as being incongruous
was continuing the temperature on that day messieurs was degrees in the shade
yet mrs ordered a fire
because she wished to destroy something and could think of no other way
you will remember that in consequence of the war economics practiced at styles no waste paper was thrown away
there was therefore no means of destroying a thick document such as a will
the moment i heard of a fire being lighted in mrs room i leaped to the conclusion that it was to destroy some important a will
so the discovery of the charred fragment in the grate was no surprise to me
i did not of course know at the time that the will in question had only been made this afternoon and i will admit that when i learnt that fact i fell into a grievous error
i came to the conclusion that mrs determination to destroy her will arose as a direct consequence of the quarrel she had that afternoon and that therefore the quarrel took place after and not before the making of the will
here as we know i was wrong and i was forced to abandon that idea
i faced the problem from a new standpoint
now at o'clock dorcas overheard her mistress saying angrily you need not think that any fear of publicity or scandal between husband and wife will deter me'
i and rightly that these words were addressed not to her husband but to mr john cavendish
at o'clock an hour later she uses almost the same words but the standpoint is different
she admits to dorcas i don't know what to do scandal between husband and wife is a dreadful thing
at o'clock she has been angry but completely mistress of herself
at o'clock she is in violent distress and speaks of having had a great shock
looking at the matter psychologically i drew one deduction which i was convinced was correct
the second scandal she spoke of was not the same as the it concerned herself
let us reconstruct
at o'clock mrs quarrels with her son and threatens to denounce him to his by the way overheard the greater part of the conversation
mrs in consequence of a conversation on the validity of wills makes a will in favour of her husband which the two gardeners witness
at o'clock dorcas finds her mistress in a state of considerable agitation with a slip of letter dorcas her hand and it is then that she orders the fire in her room to be lighted
presumably then between
and o'clock something has occurred to occasion a complete revolution of feeling since she is now as anxious to destroy the will as she was before to make it
what was that something
as far as we know she was quite alone during that
nobody entered or left that boudoir
what then occasioned this sudden change of sentiment
one can only guess but i believe my guess to be correct
mrs had no stamps in her desk
we know this because later she asked dorcas to bring her some
now in the opposite corner of the room stood her husband's
she was anxious to find some stamps and according to my theory she tried her own keys in the desk
that one of them fitted i know
she therefore opened the desk and in searching for the stamps she came across something slip of paper which dorcas saw in her hand and which assuredly was never meant for mrs eyes
on the other hand mrs cavendish believed that the slip of paper to which her clung so tenaciously was a written proof of her own husband's infidelity
she demanded it from mrs who assured her quite truly that it had nothing to do with that matter
mrs cavendish did not believe her
she thought that mrs was shielding her stepson
now mrs cavendish is a very resolute woman and behind her mask of reserve she was madly jealous of her husband
she determined to get hold of that paper at all costs and in this resolution chance came to her aid
she happened to pick up the key of mrs which had been lost that morning
she knew that her invariably kept all important papers in this particular case
mrs cavendish therefore made her plans as only a woman driven desperate through jealousy could have done
some time in the evening she the door leading into mademoiselle room
possibly she applied oil to the hinges for i found that it opened quite noiselessly when i tried it
she put off her project until the early hours of the morning as being safer since the servants were accustomed to hearing her move about her room at that time
she dressed completely in her land kit and made her way quietly through mademoiselle room into that of mrs
he paused a moment and cynthia interrupted but i should have woken up if anyone had come through my room
not if you were drugged mademoiselle
you addressed us collectively through all the tumult and noise next door mademoiselle cynthia slept
that admitted of two possibilities
either her sleep was i did not her unconsciousness was indeed by artificial means
with this latter idea in my mind i examined all the most carefully remembering that it was mrs cavendish who had brought mademoiselle cynthia her coffee the night before
i took a sample from each cup and had them no result
i had counted the cups carefully in the event of one having been removed
six persons had taken coffee and six cups were duly found
i had to confess myself mistaken
then i discovered that i had been guilty of a very grave oversight
coffee had been brought in for seven persons not six for had been there that evening
this changed the face of the whole affair for there was now one cup missing
the servants noticed nothing since annie the housemaid who took in the coffee brought in seven cups not knowing that mr never drank it whereas dorcas who cleared them away the following morning found six as strictly speaking she found five the sixth being the one found broken in mrs room
i was confident that the missing cup was that of mademoiselle cynthia
i had an additional reason for that belief in the fact that all the cups found contained sugar which mademoiselle cynthia never took in her coffee
my attention was attracted by the story of annie about some salt on the tray of cocoa which she took every night to mrs room
i accordingly secured a sample of that cocoa and sent it to be analysed
but that had already been done by dr said lawrence quickly
not exactly
the analyst was asked by him to report whether strychnine was or was not present
he did not have it tested as i did for a narcotic
for a narcotic
here is the analyst's report
mrs cavendish administered a safe but effectual narcotic to both mrs and mademoiselle cynthia
and it is possible that she had a quart in consequence
imagine her feelings when her is suddenly taken ill and dies and immediately after she hears the word posion
she has believed that the sleeping draught she administered was perfectly harmless but there is no doubt that for one terrible moment she must have feared that mrs death lay at her door
she is seized with panic and under its influence she hurries downstairs and quickly drops the and saucer used by mademoiselle cynthia into a large brass vase where it is discovered later by monsieur lawrence
the remains of the cocoa she dare not touch
too many eyes are upon her
guess at her relief when strychnine is mentioned and she discovers that after all the tragedy is not her doing
we are now able to account for the symptoms of strychnine poisoning being so long in making their appearance
a narcotic taken with strychnine will delay the action of the poison for some hours
mary looked up at him the colour slowly rising in her face
all you have said is quite true monsieur
it was the most awful hour of my life
i shall never forget it
but you are wonderful
i understand now
what i meant when i told you that you could safely confess to papa eh
but you would not trust me
i see everything now said lawrence
the drugged cocoa taken on top of the poisoned coffee amply accounts for the delay
but was the coffee poisoned or was it not
we come to a little difficulty here since mrs never drank it
the cry of surprise was universal
you will remember my speaking of a stain on the carpet in mrs room
there were some peculiar points about that stain
it was still damp it exhaled a strong odour of coffee and imbedded in the nap of the carpet i found some little splinters of china
what had happened was plain to me for not two minutes before i had placed my little case on the table near the window and the table tilting up had deposited it upon the floor on precisely the identical spot
in exactly the same way mrs had laid down her cup of coffee on reaching her room the night before and the treacherous table had played her the same trick
what happened next is mere guess work on my part but i should say that mrs picked up the broken cup and placed it on the table by the bed
feeling in need of a stimulant of some kind she heated up her cocoa and drank it off then and there
now we are faced with a new problem
we know the cocoa contained no strychnine
the coffee was never drunk
yet the strychnine must have been administered between seven and nine o'clock that evening
what third medium was medium so suitable for disguising the taste of strychnine that it is extraordinary no one has thought of it
looked round the room and then answered himself impressively
her medicine
do you mean that the murderer introduced the strychnine into her tonic i cried
there was no need to introduce it
it was already therein the mixture
the strychnine that killed mrs was the identical strychnine prescribed by dr
to make that clear to you i will read you an extract from a book on dispensing which i found in the dispensary of the red cross hospital at the following prescription has become famous in text books mixed with bromide
this solution deposits in a few hours the greater part of the strychnine salt as an insoluble bromide in transparent crystals
a lady in england lost her life by taking a similar mixture the precipitated strychnine collected at the bottom and in taking the last dose she swallowed nearly all of it'
now there was of course no bromide in dr prescription but you will remember that i mentioned an empty box of bromide powders
one or two of those powders introduced into the full bottle of medicine would precipitate the strychnine as the book describes and cause it to be taken in the last dose
you will learn later that the person who usually poured out mrs medicine was always extremely careful not to shake the bottle but to leave the sediment at the bottom of it undisturbed
throughout the case there have been evidences that the tragedy was intended to take place on monday evening
on that day mrs bell wire was neatly cut and on monday evening mademoiselle cynthia was spending the night with friends so that mrs would have been quite alone in the right wing completely shut off from help of any kind and would have died in all probability before medical aid could have been summoned
but in her hurry to be in time for the village entertainment mrs forgot to take her medicine and the next day she lunched away from home so that the was actually taken hours later than had been anticipated by the murderer and it is owing to that delay that the final last link of the now in my hands
amid breathless excitement he held out three thin strips of paper
a letter in the murderer's own hand-writing amis
had it been a little clearer in its terms it is possible that mrs warned in time would have escaped
as it was she realized her danger but not the manner of it
in the deathly silence pieced together the slips of paper and clearing his throat read dearest you will be anxious at hearing nothing
it is all it will be tonight instead of last night
you understand
there's a good time coming once the old woman is dead and out of the way
no one can possibly bring home the crime to me
that idea of yours about the bromides was a stroke of genius
but we must be very circumspect
a false step here my friends the letter breaks off
doubtless the writer was interrupted but there can be no question as to his identity
we all know this hand-writing and
a howl that was almost a scream broke the silence
you devil
how did you get it
a chair was overturned
skipped nimbly aside
a quick movement on his part and his assailant fell with a crash
messieurs mesdames said with a flourish let me introduce you to the murderer mr alfred
you old villain i said i've half a mind to strangle you
what do you mean by deceiving me as you have done
we were sitting in the library
several hectic days lay behind us
in the room below john and mary were together once more while alfred and miss were in custody
now at last i had to myself and could relieve my still burning curiosity
did not answer me for a moment but at last he said i did not deceive you mon ami
at most i permitted you to deceive yourself
yes but why
well it is difficult to explain
you see my friend you have a nature so honest and a countenance so transparent to conceal your feelings is impossible
if i had told you my ideas the very first time you saw mr alfred that astute gentleman would your so expressive a rat
and then bon jour to our chances of catching him
i think that i have more diplomacy than you give me credit for
my friend i implore you do not enrage yourself
your help has been of the most invaluable
it is but the extremely beautiful nature that you have which made me pause
well i grumbled a little mollified
i still think you might have given me a hint
but i did my friend
several hints
you would not take them
think now did i ever say to you that i believed john cavendish guilty
did i not on the contrary tell you that he would almost certainly be acquitted
yes but
and did i not immediately afterwards speak of the difficulty of bringing the murderer to justice
was it not plain to you that i was speaking of two entirely different persons
no i said it was not plain to me
then again continued at the beginning did i not repeat to you several times that i didn't want mr arrested now
that should have conveyed something to you
do you mean to say you suspected him as long ago as that
to begin with whoever else might benefit by mrs death her husband would benefit the most
there was no getting away from that
when i went up to styles with you that first day i had no idea as to how the crime had been committed but from what i knew of mr i fancied that it would be very hard to find anything to connect him with it
when i arrived at the chateau i realized at once that it was mrs who had burnt the will and there by the way you cannot complain my friend for i tried my best to force on you the significance of that bedroom fire in midsummer
yes yes i said impatiently
go on
well my friend as i say my views as to mr guilt were very much shaken
there was in fact so much evidence against him that i was inclined to believe that he had not done it
when did you change your mind
when i found that the more efforts i made to clear him the more efforts he made to get himself arrested
then when i discovered that had nothing to do with mrs and that in fact it was john cavendish who was interested in that quarter i was quite sure
simply this
if it had been who was carrying on an intrigue with mrs his silence was perfectly comprehensible
but when i discovered that it was known all over the village that it was john who was attracted by the farmer's pretty wife his silence bore quite a different interpretation
it was nonsense to pretend that he was afraid of the scandal as no possible scandal could attach to him
this attitude of his gave me furiously to think and i was slowly forced to the conclusion that alfred wanted to be arrested
from that moment i was equally determined that he should not be arrested
wait a minute
i don't see why he wished to be arrested
because mon ami it is the law of your country that a man once acquitted can never be tried again for the same offence
but it was idea
assuredly he is a man of method
see here he knew that in his position he was bound to be suspected so he conceived the exceedingly clever idea of preparing a lot of manufactured evidence against himself
he wished to be arrested
he would then produce his irreproachable hey presto he was safe for life
but i still don't see how he managed to prove his alibi and yet go to the chemist's shop
stared at me in surprise
my poor friend
you have not yet realized that it was miss who went to the chemist's shop
but certainly
who else
it was most easy for her
she is of a good height her voice is deep and manly moreover remember she and are cousins and there is a distinct resemblance between them especially in their gait and bearing
it was simplicity itself
they are a clever pair
i am still a little fogged as to how exactly the bromide business was done i remarked
i will reconstruct for you as far as possible
i am inclined to think that miss was the master mind in that affair
you remember her once mentioning that her father was a doctor
possibly she dispensed his medicines for him or she may have taken the idea from one of the many books lying about when mademoiselle cynthia was studying for her exam
anyway she was familiar with the fact that the addition of a bromide to a mixture containing strychnine would cause the precipitation of the latter
probably the idea came to her quite suddenly
mrs had a box of bromide powders which she occasionally took at night
what could be easier than quietly to dissolve one or more of those powders in mrs large sized bottle of medicine when it came from coot's
the risk is practically nil
the tragedy will not take place until nearly a fortnight later
if anyone has seen either of them touching the medicine they will have forgotten it by that time
miss will have engineered her quarrel and departed from the house
the lapse of time and her absence will defeat all suspicion
yes it was a clever idea
if they had left it alone it is possible the crime might never have been brought home to them
but they were not satisfied
they tried to be too that was their undoing
puffed at his tiny cigarette his eyes fixed on the ceiling
they arranged a plan to throw suspicion on john cavendish by buying strychnine at the village chemist's and signing the register in his hand-writing
on monday mrs will take the last dose of her medicine
on monday therefore at six o'clock alfred arranges to be seen by a number of people at a spot far removed from the village
miss has previously made up a cock and bull story about him and mrs to account for his holding his tongue afterwards
at six o'clock miss disguised as alfred enters the chemist's shop with her story about a dog obtains the strychnine and writes the name of alfred in john's handwriting which she had previously studied carefully
but as it will never do if john too can prove an alibi she writes him an anonymous copying his takes him to a remote spot where it is exceedingly unlikely that anyone will see him
so far all goes well
miss goes back to
alfred returns to styles
there is nothing that can compromise him in any way since it is miss who has the strychnine which after all is only wanted as a blind to throw suspicion on john
now a hitch occurs
mrs does not take her medicine that night
the broken bell by through his these are wasted
and makes his slip
mrs is out and he sits down to write to his accomplice who he fears may be in a panic at the of their plan
it is probable that mrs returned earlier than he expected
caught in the act and somewhat he hastily shuts and locks his desk
he fears that if he remains in the room he may have to open it again and that mrs might catch sight of the letter before he could snatch it up
so he goes out and walks in the woods little dreaming that mrs will open his desk and discover the incriminating document
but this as we know is what happened
mrs reads it and becomes aware of the perfidy of her husband and though unfortunately the sentence about the bromides conveys no warning to her mind
she knows that she is in is ignorant of where the danger lies
she decides to say nothing to her husband but sits down and writes to her solicitor asking him to come on the morrow and she also determines to destroy immediately the will which she has just made
she keeps the fatal letter
it was to discover that letter then that her husband forced the lock of the
yes and from the enormous risk he ran we can see how fully he realized its importance
that letter excepted there was absolutely nothing to connect him with the crime
there's only one thing i can't make out why didn't he destroy it at once when he got hold of it
because he did not dare take the biggest risk of of keeping it on his own person
i don't understand
look at it from his point of view
i have discovered that there were only five short minutes in which he could have taken five minutes immediately before our own arrival on the scene for before that time annie was brushing the stairs and would have seen anyone who passed going to the right wing
figure to yourself the scene
he enters the room unlocking the door by means of one of the other were all much alike
he hurries to the is locked and the keys are nowhere to be seen
that is a terrible blow to him for it means that his presence in the room cannot be concealed as he had hoped
but he sees clearly that everything must be risked for the sake of that damning piece of evidence
quickly he forces the lock with a penknife and turns over the papers until he finds what he is looking for
but now a fresh dilemma arises he dare not keep that piece of paper on him
he may be seen leaving the may be searched
if the paper is found on him it is certain doom
probably at this minute too he hears the sounds below of mr wells and john leaving the boudoir
he must act quickly
where can he hide this terrible slip of paper
the contents of the are kept and in any case are sure to be examined
there are no means of destroying it and he dare not keep it
he looks round and he do you think mon ami
in a moment he has torn the letter into long thin strips and rolling them up into spills he thrusts them hurriedly in amongst the other spills in the vase on the mantle-piece
i uttered an exclamation
no one would think of looking there continued
and he will be able at his leisure to come back and destroy this solitary piece of evidence against him
then all the time it was in the spill vase in mrs bedroom under our very noses i cried
yes my friend
that is where i discovered my last link and i owe that very fortunate discovery to you
to me
do you remember telling me that my hand shook as i was straightening the ornaments on the mantel-piece
yes but i don't see
no but i saw
do you know my friend i remembered that earlier in the morning when we had been there together i had straightened all the objects on the mantel-piece
and if they were already straightened there would be no need to straighten them again unless in the meantime some one else had touched them
dear me i murmured so that is the explanation of your extraordinary behaviour
you rushed down to styles and found it still there
yes and it was a race for time
but i still can't understand why was such a fool as to leave it there when he had plenty of opportunity to destroy it
ah but he had no opportunity
i saw to that
do you remember reproving me for taking the household into my confidence on the subject
well my friend i saw there was just one chance
i was not sure then if was the criminal or not but if he was i reasoned that he would not have the paper on him but would have hidden it somewhere and by enlisting the sympathy of the household i could prevent his destroying it
he was already under suspicion and by making the matter public i secured the services of about ten amateur detectives who would be watching him unceasingly and being himself aware of their watchfulness he would not dare seek further to destroy the document
he was therefore forced to depart from the house leaving it in the spill vase
but surely miss had ample opportunities of aiding him
yes but miss did not know of the paper's existence
in accordance with their prearranged plan she never spoke to alfred
they were supposed to be deadly enemies and until john cavendish was safely convicted they neither of them dared risk a meeting
of course i had a watch kept on mr hoping that sooner or later he would lead me to the
but he was too clever to take any chances
the paper was safe where it was since no one had thought of looking there in the first week it was not likely they would do so afterwards
but for your lucky remark we might never have been able to bring him to justice
i understand that now but when did you first begin to suspect miss
when i discovered that she had told a lie at the inquest about the letter she had received from mrs
why what was there to lie about
you saw that letter
do you recall its general appearance
or less
you will recollect then that mrs wrote a very distinctive hand and left large clear spaces between her words
but if you look at the date at the top of the letter you will notice that july is quite different in this respect
do you see what i mean
no i confessed i don't
you do not see that that letter was not written on the but on the day after miss departure
the was written in before the to turn it into the
that is exactly what i asked myself
why does miss suppress the letter written on the and produce this faked one instead
because she did not wish to show the letter of the
why again
and at once a suspicion dawned in my mind
you will remember my saying that it was wise to beware of people who were not telling you the truth
and yet i cried indignantly after that you gave me two reasons why miss could not have committed the crime
and very good reasons too replied
for a long time they were a to me until i remembered a very significant fact that she and alfred were cousins
she could not have committed the crime but the reasons against that did not her from being an accomplice
and then there was that rather hatred of hers
it concealed a very opposite emotion
there was undoubtedly a tie of passion between them long before he came to styles
they had already arranged their infamous he should marry this rich but rather foolish old lady induce her to make a will leaving her money to him and then gain their ends by a very cleverly conceived crime
if all had gone as they planned they would probably have left england and lived together on their poor victim's money
they are a very astute and unscrupulous pair
while suspicion was to be directed against him she would be making quiet preparations for a very different denouement
she arrives from with all the compromising items in her possession
no suspicion attaches to her
no notice is paid to her coming and going in the house
she hides the strychnine and glasses in john's room
she puts the beard in the attic
she will see to it that sooner or later they are duly discovered
i don't quite see why they tried to fix the blame on john i remarked
it would have been much easier for them to bring the crime home to lawrence
yes but that was mere chance
all the evidence against him arose out of pure accident
it must in fact have been distinctly annoying to the pair of schemers
his manner was unfortunate i observed thoughtfully
you realize of course what was at the back of that
you did not understand that he believed mademoiselle cynthia guilty of the crime
no i exclaimed astonished
i myself nearly had the same idea
it was in my mind when i asked mr wells that first question about the will
then there were the bromide powders which she had made up and her clever male impersonations as dorcas recounted them to us
there was really more evidence against her than anyone else
you are joking
shall i tell you what made monsieur lawrence turn so pale when he first entered his mother's room on the fatal night
it was because whilst his mother lay there obviously poisoned he saw over your shoulder that the door into mademoiselle room was
but he declared that he saw it bolted i cried
and that was just what confirmed my suspicion that it was not
he was shielding mademoiselle cynthia
but why should he shield her
because he is in love with her
there you are quite wrong
i happen to know for a fact that far from being in love with her he positively dislikes her
who told you that mon ami
cynthia herself
la petite
and she was concerned
she said that she did not mind at all
then she certainly did mind very much remarked
they are like femmes
what you say about lawrence is a great surprise to me i said
was most obvious
did not monsieur lawrence make the sour face every time mademoiselle cynthia spoke and laughed with his brother
he had taken it into his long head that mademoiselle cynthia was in love with monsieur john
when he entered his mother's room and saw her obviously poisoned he jumped to the conclusion that mademoiselle cynthia knew something about the matter
he was nearly driven desperate
first he crushed the to powder under his feet remembering that she had gone up with his mother the night before and he determined that there should be no chance of testing its contents
he strenuously and quite uselessly upheld the theory of death from natural
what about the extra
i was fairly certain that it was mrs cavendish who had hidden it but i had to make sure
monsieur lawrence did not know at all what i meant but on reflection he came to the conclusion that if he could find an extra anywhere his lady love would be cleared of suspicion
and he was perfectly right
one thing more
what did mrs mean by her dying words
they were of course an accusation against her husband
dear me i said with a sigh i think you have explained everything
i am glad it has all ended so happily
even john and his wife are reconciled
thanks to me
how do you to you
my dear friend do you not realize that it was simply and solely the trial which has brought them together again
that john cavendish still loved his wife i was convinced
also that she was equally in love with him
but they had drifted very far apart
it all arose from a misunderstanding
she married him without love
he knew it
he is a sensitive man in his way he would not force himself upon her if she did not want him
and as he withdrew her love awoke
but they are both unusually proud and their pride held them inexorably apart
he drifted into an entanglement with mrs and she deliberately cultivated the friendship of dr
do you remember the day of john arrest when you found me deliberating over a big decision
yes i quite understood your distress
pardon me mon ami but you did not understand it in the least
i was trying to decide whether or not i would clear john cavendish at once
i could have cleared it might have meant a failure to convict the real criminals
they were entirely in the dark as to my real attitude up to the very last partly accounts for my success
do you mean that you could have saved john cavendish from being brought to trial
but i eventually decided in favour of a woman's happiness
nothing but the great danger through which they have passed could have brought these two proud souls together again
i looked at in silent amazement
the colossal cheek of the little man
who on earth but would have thought of a trial for murder as a restorer of conjugal happiness
i perceive your thoughts mon ami said smiling at me
no one but would have attempted such a thing
and you are wrong in condemning it
the happiness of one man and one woman is the greatest thing in all the world
his words took me back to earlier events
i remembered mary as she lay white and exhausted on the sofa listening listening
there had come the sound of the bell below
she had started up
had opened the door and meeting her agonized eyes had nodded gently
yes madame he said
i have brought him back to you
he had stood aside and as i went out i had seen the look in mary's eyes as john cavendish had caught his wife in his arms
perhaps you are right i said gently
yes it is the greatest thing in the world
suddenly there was a tap at the door and cynthia peeped in
ii only
come in i said springing up
she came in but did not sit down
wanted to tell you something
cynthia with a little tassel for some moments then suddenly exclaiming you dears
kissed first me and then and rushed out of the room again
what on earth does this mean i asked surprised
it was very nice to be kissed by cynthia but the publicity of the salute rather impaired the pleasure
it means that she has discovered monsieur lawrence does not dislike her as much as she thought replied philosophically
but here he is
lawrence at that moment passed the door
monsieur lawrence called
we must congratulate you is it not so
lawrence blushed and then smiled awkwardly
a man in love is a sorry spectacle
now cynthia had looked charming
i sighed
what is it mon ami
nothing i said sadly
they are two delightful women
and neither of them is for you
never mind
console yourself my friend
we may hunt together again who knows
