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diff --git a/old/13882-0.txt b/old/13882-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d934d52 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13882-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9678 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Thorndyke's Cases, by R. Austin Freeman + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: John Thorndyke's Cases + +Author: R. Austin Freeman + +Release Date: October 27, 2004 [EBook #13882] +[This file last updated April 18, 2011] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN THORNDYKE'S CASES *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and PG Distributed Proofreaders. + + + + +JOHN THORNDYKE'S CASES + +RELATED BY CHRISTOPHER JERVIS, M.D. + +AND EDITED BY R. AUSTIN FREEMAN +AUTHOR OF "THE GOLDEN POOL," ETC. + +WITH SIX ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. M. BROCK, AND +NINE FROM PHOTOGRAPHS, ETC. + + +[Illustration: PROFESSOR POPPELBAUM IS ENLIGHTENED.] + + +TO MY FRIEND + +FRANK STANDFIELD + +IN MEMORY OF MANY A PLEASANT EVENING +SPENT WITH MICROSCOPE AND CAMERA +THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED + + + + +PREFACE + + +The stories in this collection, inasmuch as they constitute a somewhat +new departure in this class of literature, require a few words of +introduction. The primary function of all fiction is to furnish +entertainment to the reader, and this fact has not been lost sight of. +But the interest of so-called "detective" fiction is, I believe, greatly +enhanced by a careful adherence to the probable, and a strict avoidance +of physical impossibilities; and, in accordance with this belief, I have +been scrupulous in confining myself to authentic facts and practicable +methods. The stories have, for the most part, a medico-legal motive, and +the methods of solution described in them are similar to those employed +in actual practice by medical jurists. The stories illustrate, in fact, +the application to the detection of crime of the ordinary methods of +scientific research. I may add that the experiments described have in +all cases been performed by me, and that the micro-photographs are, of +course, from the actual specimens. + +I take this opportunity of thanking those of my friends who have in +various ways assisted me, and especially the friend to whom I have +dedicated this book; by whom I have been relieved of the very +considerable labour of making the micro-photographs, and greatly +assisted in procuring and preparing specimens. I must also thank Messrs. +Pearson for kindly allowing me the use of Mr. H. M. Brock's admirable +and sympathetic drawings, and the artist himself for the care with which +he has maintained strict fidelity to the text. + +R. A. F. + +Gravesend, +_September 21, 1909_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. THE MAN WITH THE NAILED SHOES +II. THE STRANGER'S LATCHKEY +III. THE ANTHROPOLOGIST AT LARGE +IV. THE BLUE SEQUIN +V. THE MOABITE CIPHER +VI. THE MANDARIN'S PEARL +VII. THE ALUMINIUM DAGGER +VIII. A MESSAGE FROM THE DEEP SEA + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +PROFESSOR POPPLEBAUM IS ENLIGHTENED, _Frontispiece_ +PLAN OF ST. BRIDGET'S BAY +THE SERGEANT'S SKETCH +FLUFF FROM KEY-BARREL +THE STRANGER IS RUN TO EARTH +TRANSVERSE SECTIONS OF HUMAN HAIR +THORNDYKE'S STRATEGY +THE DISCOVERY +THE MOABITE CIPHRE +THE PROFESSOR'S ANALYSIS +THE APPARITION IN THE MIRROR +THE ALUMINUM DAGGER +THE SAND FROM THE MURDERED WOMAN'S PILLOW +HUMAN HAIR, SHOWING ROOTS +SUPERINTENDENT MILLER RISES TO THE OCCASION + + + + +JOHN THORNDYKE'S CASES + + +I + +THE MAN WITH THE NAILED SHOES + + +There are, I suppose, few places even on the East Coast of England more +lonely and remote than the village of Little Sundersley and the country +that surrounds it. Far from any railway, and some miles distant from any +considerable town, it remains an outpost of civilization, in which +primitive manners and customs and old-world tradition linger on into an +age that has elsewhere forgotten them. In the summer, it is true, a +small contingent of visitors, adventurous in spirit, though mostly of +sedate and solitary habits, make their appearance to swell its meagre +population, and impart to the wide stretches of smooth sand that fringe +its shores a fleeting air of life and sober gaiety; but in late +September--the season of the year in which I made its acquaintance--its +pasture-lands lie desolate, the rugged paths along the cliffs are seldom +trodden by human foot, and the sands are a desert waste on which, for +days together, no footprint appears save that left by some passing +sea-bird. + +I had been assured by my medical agent, Mr. Turcival, that I should find +the practice of which I was now taking charge "an exceedingly soft +billet, and suitable for a studious man;" and certainly he had not +misled me, for the patients were, in fact, so few that I was quite +concerned for my principal, and rather dull for want of work. Hence, +when my friend John Thorndyke, the well-known medico-legal expert, +proposed to come down and stay with me for a weekend and perhaps a few +days beyond, I hailed the proposal with delight, and welcomed him with +open arms. + +"You certainly don't seem to be overworked, Jervis," he remarked, as we +turned out of the gate after tea, on the day of his arrival, for a +stroll on the shore. "Is this a new practice, or an old one in a state +of senile decay?" + +"Why, the fact is," I answered, "there is virtually no practice. +Cooper--my principal--has been here about six years, and as he has +private means he has never made any serious effort to build one up; and +the other man, Dr. Burrows, being uncommonly keen, and the people very +conservative, Cooper has never really got his foot in. However, it +doesn't seem to trouble him." + +"Well, if he is satisfied, I suppose you are," said Thorndyke, with a +smile. "You are getting a seaside holiday, and being paid for it. But I +didn't know you were as near to the sea as this." + +We were entering, as he spoke, an artificial gap-way cut through the low +cliff, forming a steep cart-track down to the shore. It was locally +known as Sundersley Gap, and was used principally, when used at all, by +the farmers' carts which came down to gather seaweed after a gale. + +"What a magnificent stretch of sand!" continued Thorndyke, as we reached +the bottom, and stood looking out seaward across the deserted beach. +"There is something very majestic and solemn in a great expanse of +sandy shore when the tide is out, and I know of nothing which is capable +of conveying the impression of solitude so completely. The smooth, +unbroken surface not only displays itself untenanted for the moment, but +it offers convincing testimony that it has lain thus undisturbed through +a considerable lapse of time. Here, for instance, we have clear evidence +that for several days only two pairs of feet besides our own have +trodden this gap." + +"How do you arrive at the 'several days'?" I asked. + +"In the simplest manner possible," he replied. "The moon is now in the +third quarter, and the tides are consequently neap-tides. You can see +quite plainly the two lines of seaweed and jetsam which indicate the +high-water marks of the spring-tides and the neap-tides respectively. +The strip of comparatively dry sand between them, over which the water +has not risen for several days, is, as you see, marked by only two sets +of footprints, and those footprints will not be completely obliterated +by the sea until the next spring-tide--nearly a week from to-day." + +"Yes, I see now, and the thing appears obvious enough when one has heard +the explanation. But it is really rather odd that no one should have +passed through this gap for days, and then that four persons should have +come here within quite a short interval of one another." + +"What makes you think they have done so?" Thorndyke asked. + +"Well," I replied, "both of these sets of footprints appear to be quite +fresh, and to have been made about the same time." + +"Not at the same time, Jervis," rejoined Thorndyke. "There is certainly +an interval of several hours between them, though precisely how many +hours we cannot judge, since there has been so little wind lately to +disturb them; but the fisherman unquestionably passed here not more than +three hours ago, and I should say probably within an hour; whereas the +other man--who seems to have come up from a boat to fetch something of +considerable weight--returned through the gap certainly not less, and +probably more, than four hours ago." + +I gazed at my friend in blank astonishment, for these events befell in +the days before I had joined him as his assistant, and his special +knowledge and powers of inference were not then fully appreciated by me. + +"It is clear, Thorndyke," I said, "that footprints have a very different +meaning to you from what they have for me. I don't see in the least how +you have reached any of these conclusions." + +"I suppose not," was the reply; "but, you see, special knowledge of this +kind is the stock-in-trade of the medical jurist, and has to be acquired +by special study, though the present example is one of the greatest +simplicity. But let us consider it point by point; and first we will +take this set of footprints which I have inferred to be a fisherman's. +Note their enormous size. They should be the footprints of a giant. But +the length of the stride shows that they were made by a rather short +man. Then observe the massiveness of the soles, and the fact that there +are no nails in them. Note also the peculiar clumsy tread--the deep toe +and heel marks, as if the walker had wooden legs, or fixed ankles and +knees. From that character we can safely infer high boots of thick, +rigid leather, so that we can diagnose high boots, massive and stiff, +with nailless soles, and many sizes too large for the wearer. But the +only boot that answers this description is the fisherman's +thigh-boot--made of enormous size to enable him to wear in the winter +two or three pairs of thick knitted stockings, one over the other. Now +look at the other footprints; there is a double track, you see, one set +coming from the sea and one going towards it. As the man (who was +bow-legged and turned his toes in) has trodden in his own footprints, it +is obvious that he came from the sea, and returned to it. But observe +the difference in the two sets of prints; the returning ones are much +deeper than the others, and the stride much shorter. Evidently he was +carrying something when he returned, and that something was very heavy. +Moreover, we can see, by the greater depth of the toe impressions, that +he was stooping forward as he walked, and so probably carried the weight +on his back. Is that quite clear?" + +"Perfectly," I replied. "But how do you arrive at the interval of time +between the visits of the two men?" + +"That also is quite simple. The tide is now about halfway out; it is +thus about three hours since high water. Now, the fisherman walked just +about the neap-tide, high-water mark, sometimes above it and sometimes +below. But none of his footprints have been obliterated; therefore he +passed after high water--that is, less than three hours ago; and since +his footprints are all equally distinct, he could not have passed when +the sand was very wet. Therefore he probably passed less than an hour +ago. The other man's footprints, on the other hand, reach only to the +neap-tide, high-water mark, where they end abruptly. The sea has washed +over the remainder of the tracks and obliterated them. Therefore he +passed not less than three hours and not more than four days +ago--probably within twenty-four hours." + +As Thorndyke concluded his demonstration the sound of voices was borne +to us from above, mingled with the tramping of feet, and immediately +afterwards a very singular party appeared at the head of the gap +descending towards the shore. First came a short burly fisherman clad in +oilskins and sou'-wester, clumping along awkwardly in his great +sea-boots, then the local police-sergeant in company with my +professional rival Dr. Burrows, while the rear of the procession was +brought up by two constables carrying a stretcher. As he reached the +bottom of the gap the fisherman, who was evidently acting as guide, +turned along the shore, retracing his own tracks, and the procession +followed in his wake. + +"A surgeon, a stretcher, two constables, and a police-sergeant," +observed Thorndyke. "What does that suggest to your mind, Jervis?" + +"A fall from the cliff," I replied, "or a body washed up on the shore." + +"Probably," he rejoined; "but we may as well walk in that direction." + +We turned to follow the retreating procession, and as we strode along +the smooth surface left by the retiring tide Thorndyke resumed: + +"The subject of footprints has always interested me deeply for two +reasons. First, the evidence furnished by footprints is constantly being +brought forward, and is often of cardinal importance; and, secondly, the +whole subject is capable of really systematic and scientific treatment. +In the main the data are anatomical, but age, sex, occupation, health, +and disease all give their various indications. Clearly, for instance, +the footprints of an old man will differ from those of a young man of +the same height, and I need not point out to you that those of a person +suffering from locomotor ataxia or paralysis agitans would be quite +unmistakable." + +"Yes, I see that plainly enough," I said. + +"Here, now," he continued, "is a case in point." He halted to point with +his stick at a row of footprints that appeared suddenly above high-water +mark, and having proceeded a short distance, crossed the line again, and +vanished where the waves had washed over them. They were easily +distinguished from any of the others by the clear impressions of +circular rubber heels. + +"Do you see anything remarkable about them?" he asked. + +"I notice that they are considerably deeper than our own," I answered. + +"Yes, and the boots are about the same size as ours, whereas the stride +is considerably shorter--quite a short stride, in fact. Now there is a +pretty constant ratio between the length of the foot and the length of +the leg, between the length of leg and the height of the person, and +between the stature and the length of stride. A long foot means a long +leg, a tall man, and a long stride. But here we have a long foot and a +short stride. What do you make of that?" He laid down his stick--a +smooth partridge cane, one side of which was marked by small lines into +inches and feet--beside the footprints to demonstrate the discrepancy. + +"The depth of the footprints shows that he was a much heavier man than +either of us," I suggested; "perhaps he was unusually fat." + +"Yes," said Thorndyke, "that seems to be the explanation. The carrying +of a dead weight shortens the stride, and fat is practically a dead +weight. The conclusion is that he was about five feet ten inches high, +and excessively fat." He picked up his cane, and we resumed our walk, +keeping an eye on the procession ahead until it had disappeared round a +curve in the coast-line, when we mended our pace somewhat. Presently we +reached a small headland, and, turning the shoulder of cliff, came full +upon the party which had preceded us. The men had halted in a narrow +bay, and now stood looking down at a prostrate figure beside which the +surgeon was kneeling. + +"We were wrong, you see," observed Thorndyke. "He has not fallen over +the cliff, nor has he been washed up by the sea. He is lying above +high-water mark, and those footprints that we have been examining appear +to be his." + +As we approached, the sergeant turned and held up his hand. + +"I'll ask you not to walk round the body just now, gentlemen," he said. +"There seems to have been foul play here, and I want to be clear about +the tracks before anyone crosses them." + +Acknowledging this caution, we advanced to where the constables were +standing, and looked down with some curiosity at the dead man. He was a +tall, frail-looking man, thin to the point of emaciation, and appeared +to be about thirty-five years of age. He lay in an easy posture, with +half-closed eyes and a placid expression that contrasted strangely +enough with the tragic circumstances of his death. + +"It is a clear case of murder," said Dr. Burrows, dusting the sand from +his knees as he stood up. "There is a deep knife-wound above the heart, +which must have caused death almost instantaneously." + +"How long should you say he has been dead, Doctor?" asked the sergeant. + +"Twelve hours at least," was the reply. "He is quite cold and stiff." + +[Illustration: PLAN OF ST. BRIDGET'S BAY. + ++ Position of body. D D D, Tracks of Hearn's shoes. +A, Top of Shepherd's Path. E, Tracks of the nailed shoes. +B, Overhanging cliff. F, Shepherd's Path ascending shelving cliff. +C, Footpath along edge of cliff.] + +"Twelve hours, eh?" repeated the officer. "That would bring it to about +six o'clock this morning." + +"I won't commit myself to a definite time," said Dr. Burrows hastily. "I +only say not _less_ than twelve hours. It might have been considerably +more." + +"Ah!" said the sergeant. "Well, he made a pretty good fight for his +life, to all appearances." He nodded at the sand, which for some feet +around the body bore the deeply indented marks of feet, as though a +furious struggle had taken place. "It's a mighty queer affair," pursued +the sergeant, addressing Dr. Burrows. "There seems to have been only one +man in it--there is only one set of footprints besides those of the +deceased--and we've got to find out who he is; and I reckon there won't +be much trouble about that, seeing the kind of trade-marks he has left +behind him." + +"No," agreed the surgeon; "there ought not to be much trouble in +identifying those boots. He would seem to be a labourer, judging by the +hob-nails." + +"No, sir; not a labourer," dissented the sergeant. "The foot is too +small, for one thing; and then the nails are not regular hob-nails. +They're a good deal smaller; and a labourer's boots would have the nails +all round the edges, and there would be iron tips on the heels, and +probably on the toes too. Now these have got no tips, and the nails are +arranged in a pattern on the soles and heels. They are probably +shooting-boots or sporting shoes of some kind." He strode to and fro +with his notebook in his hand, writing down hasty memoranda, and +stooping to scrutinize the impressions in the sand. The surgeon also +busied himself in noting down the facts concerning which he would have +to give evidence, while Thorndyke regarded in silence and with an air of +intense preoccupation the footprints around the body which remained to +testify to the circumstances of the crime. + +"It is pretty clear, up to a certain point," the sergeant observed, as +he concluded his investigations, "how the affair happened, and it is +pretty clear, too, that the murder was premeditated. You see, Doctor, +the deceased gentleman, Mr. Hearn, was apparently walking home from Port +Marston; we saw his footprints along the shore--those rubber heels make +them easy to identify--and he didn't go down Sundersley Gap. He +probably meant to climb up the cliff by that little track that you see +there, which the people about here call the Shepherd's Path. Now the +murderer must have known that he was coming, and waited upon the cliff +to keep a lookout. When he saw Mr. Hearn enter the bay, he came down the +path and attacked him, and, after a tough struggle, succeeded in +stabbing him. Then he turned and went back up the path. You can see the +double track between the path and the place where the struggle took +place, and the footprints going to the path are on top of those coming +from it." + +"If you follow the tracks," said Dr. Burrows, "you ought to be able to +see where the murderer went to." + +"I'm afraid not," replied the sergeant. "There are no marks on the path +itself--the rock is too hard, and so is the ground above, I fear. But +I'll go over it carefully all the same." + +The investigations being so far concluded, the body was lifted on to the +stretcher, and the cortège, consisting of the bearers, the Doctor, and +the fisherman, moved off towards the Gap, while the sergeant, having +civilly wished us "Good-evening," scrambled up the Shepherd's Path, and +vanished above. + +"A very smart officer that," said Thorndyke. "I should like to know what +he wrote in his notebook." + +"His account of the circumstances of the murder seemed a very reasonable +one," I said. + +"Very. He noted the plain and essential facts, and drew the natural +conclusions from them. But there are some very singular features in this +case; so singular that I am disposed to make a few notes for my own +information." + +He stooped over the place where the body had lain, and having narrowly +examined the sand there and in the place where the dead man's feet had +rested, drew out his notebook and made a memorandum. He next made a +rapid sketch-plan of the bay, marking the position of the body and the +various impressions in the sand, and then, following the double track +leading from and to the Shepherd's Path, scrutinized the footprints with +the deepest attention, making copious notes and sketches in his book. + +"We may as well go up by the Shepherd's Path," said Thorndyke. "I think +we are equal to the climb, and there may be visible traces of the +murderer after all. The rock is only a sandstone, and not a very hard +one either." + +We approached the foot of the little rugged track which zigzagged up the +face of the cliff, and, stooping down among the stiff, dry herbage, +examined the surface. Here, at the bottom of the path, where the rock +was softened by the weather, there were several distinct impressions on +the crumbling surface of the murderer's nailed boots, though they were +somewhat confused by the tracks of the sergeant, whose boots were +heavily nailed. But as we ascended the marks became rather less +distinct, and at quite a short distance from the foot of the cliff we +lost them altogether, though we had no difficulty in following the more +recent traces of the sergeant's passage up the path. + +When we reached the top of the cliff we paused to scan the path that ran +along its edge, but here, too, although the sergeant's heavy boots had +left quite visible impressions on the ground, there were no signs of any +other feet. At a little distance the sagacious officer himself was +pursuing his investigations, walking backwards and forwards with his +body bent double, and his eyes fixed on the ground. + +"Not a trace of him anywhere," said he, straightening himself up as we +approached. "I was afraid there wouldn't be after all this dry weather. +I shall have to try a different tack. This is a small place, and if +those boots belong to anyone living here they'll be sure to be known." + +"The deceased gentleman--Mr. Hearn, I think you called him," said +Thorndyke as we turned towards the village--"is he a native of the +locality?" + +"Oh no, sir," replied the officer. "He is almost a stranger. He has only +been here about three weeks; but, you know, in a little place like this +a man soon gets to be known--and his business, too, for that matter," he +added, with a smile. + +"What was his business, then?" asked Thorndyke. + +"Pleasure, I believe. He was down here for a holiday, though it's a good +way past the season; but, then, he had a friend living here, and that +makes a difference. Mr. Draper up at the Poplars was an old friend of +his, I understand. I am going to call on him now." + +We walked on along the footpath that led towards the village, but had +only proceeded two or three hundred yards when a loud hail drew our +attention to a man running across a field towards us from the direction +of the cliff. + +"Why, here is Mr. Draper himself," exclaimed the sergeant, stopping +short and waving his hand. "I expect he has heard the news already." + +Thorndyke and I also halted, and with some curiosity watched the +approach of this new party to the tragedy. As the stranger drew near we +saw that he was a tall, athletic-looking man of about forty, dressed in +a Norfolk knickerbocker suit, and having the appearance of an ordinary +country gentleman, excepting that he carried in his hand, in place of a +walking-stick, the staff of a butterfly-net, the folding ring and bag of +which partly projected from his pocket. + +"Is it true, Sergeant?" he exclaimed as he came up to us, panting from +his exertions. "About Mr. Hearn, I mean. There is a rumour that he has +been found dead on the beach." + +"It's quite true, sir, I am sorry to say; and, what is worse, he has +been murdered." + +"My God! you don't say so!" + +He turned towards us a face that must ordinarily have been jovial +enough, but was now white and scared and, after a brief pause, he +exclaimed: + +"Murdered! Good God! Poor old Hearn! How did it happen, Sergeant? and +when? and is there any clue to the murderer?" + +"We can't say for certain when it happened," replied the sergeant, "and +as to the question of clues, I was just coming up to call on you." + +"On me!" exclaimed Draper, with a startled glance at the officer. "What +for?" + +"Well, we should like to know something about Mr. Hearn--who he was, and +whether he had any enemies, and so forth; anything, in fact, that would +give as a hint where to look for the murderer. And you are the only +person in the place who knew him at all intimately." + +Mr Draper's pallid face turned a shade paler, and he glanced about him +with an obviously embarrassed air. + +"I'm afraid," he began in a hesitating manner, "I'm afraid I shan't be +able to help you much. I didn't know much about his affairs. You see he +was--well--only a casual acquaintance--" + +"Well," interrupted the sergeant, "you can tell us who and what he was, +and where he lived, and so forth. We'll find out the rest if you give us +the start." + +"I see," said Draper. "Yes, I expect you will." His eyes glanced +restlessly to and fro, and he added presently: "You must come up +to-morrow, and have a talk with me about him, and I'll see what I can +remember." + +"I'd rather come this evening," said the sergeant firmly. + +"Not this evening," pleaded Draper. "I'm feeling rather--this affair, +you know, has upset me. I couldn't give proper attention--" + +His sentence petered out into a hesitating mumble, and the officer +looked at him in evident surprise at his nervous, embarrassed manner. +His own attitude, however, was perfectly firm, though polite. + +"I don't like pressing you, sir," said he, "but time is precious--we'll +have to go single file here; this pond is a public nuisance. They ought +to bank it up at this end. After you, sir." + +The pond to which the sergeant alluded had evidently extended at one +time right across the path, but now, thanks to the dry weather, a narrow +isthmus of half-dried mud traversed the morass, and along this Mr. +Draper proceeded to pick his way. The sergeant was about to follow, when +suddenly he stopped short with his eyes riveted upon the muddy track. A +single glance showed me the cause of his surprise, for on the stiff, +putty-like surface, standing out with the sharp distinctness of a wax +mould, were the fresh footprints of the man who had just passed, each +footprint displaying on its sole the impression of stud-nails arranged +in a diamond-shaped pattern, and on its heel a group of similar nails +arranged in a cross. + +The sergeant hesitated for only a moment, in which he turned a quick +startled glance upon us; then he followed, walking gingerly along the +edge of the path as if to avoid treading in his predecessor's +footprints. Instinctively we did the same, following closely, and +anxiously awaiting the next development of the tragedy. For a minute or +two we all proceeded in silence, the sergeant being evidently at a loss +how to act, and Mr. Draper busy with his own thoughts. At length the +former spoke. + +"You think, Mr. Draper, you would rather that I looked in on you +to-morrow about this affair?" + +"Much rather, if you wouldn't mind," was the eager reply. + +"Then, in that case," said the sergeant, looking at his watch, "as I've +got a good deal to see to this evening, I'll leave you here, and make my +way to the station." + +With a farewell flourish of his hand he climbed over a stile, and when, +a few moments later, I caught a glimpse of him through an opening in the +hedge, he was running across the meadow like a hare. + +The departure of the police-officer was apparently a great relief to Mr. +Draper, who at once fell back and began to talk with us. + +"You are Dr. Jervis, I think," said he. "I saw you coming out of Dr. +Cooper's house yesterday. We know everything that is happening in the +village, you see." He laughed nervously, and added: "But I don't know +your friend." + +I introduced Thorndyke, at the mention of whose name our new +acquaintance knitted his brows, and glanced inquisitively at my friend. + +"Thorndyke," he repeated; "the name seems familiar to me. Are you in the +Law, sir?" + +Thorndyke admitted the impeachment, and our companion, having again +bestowed on him a look full of curiosity, continued: "This horrible +affair will interest you, no doubt, from a professional point of view. +You were present when my poor friend's body was found, I think?" + +"No," replied Thorndyke; "we came up afterwards, when they were removing +it." + +Our companion then proceeded to question us about the murder, but +received from Thorndyke only the most general and ambiguous replies. Nor +was there time to go into the matter at length, for the footpath +presently emerged on to the road close to Mr. Draper's house. + +"You will excuse my not asking you in to-night," said he, "but you will +understand that I am not in much form for visitors just now." + +We assured him that we fully understood, and, having wished him +"Good-evening," pursued our way towards the village. + +"The sergeant is off to get a warrant, I suppose," I observed. + +"Yes; and mighty anxious lest his man should be off before he can +execute it. But he is fishing in deeper waters than he thinks, Jervis. +This is a very singular and complicated case; one of the strangest, in +fact, that I have ever met. I shall follow its development with deep +interest." + +"The sergeant seems pretty cocksure, all the same," I said. + +"He is not to blame for that," replied Thorndyke. "He is acting on the +obvious appearances, which is the proper thing to do in the first place. +Perhaps his notebook contains more than I think it does. But we shall +see." + +When we entered the village I stopped to settle some business with the +chemist, who acted as Dr. Cooper's dispenser, suggesting to Thorndyke +that he should walk on to the house; but when I emerged from the shop +some ten minutes later he was waiting outside, with a smallish +brown-paper parcel under each arm. Of one of these parcels I insisted on +relieving him, in spite of his protests, but when he at length handed it +to me its weight completely took me by surprise. + +"I should have let them send this home on a barrow," I remarked. + +"So I should have done," he replied, "only I did not wish to draw +attention to my purchase, or give my address." + +Accepting this hint I refrained from making any inquiries as to the +nature of the contents (although I must confess to considerable +curiosity on the subject), and on arriving home I assisted him to +deposit the two mysterious parcels in his room. + +When I came downstairs a disagreeable surprise awaited me. Hitherto the +long evenings had been spent by me in solitary and undisturbed enjoyment +of Dr. Cooper's excellent library, but to-night a perverse fate decreed +that I must wander abroad, because, forsooth, a preposterous farmer, who +resided in a hamlet five miles distant, had chosen the evening of my +guest's arrival to dislocate his bucolic elbow. I half hoped that +Thorndyke would offer to accompany me, but he made no such suggestion, +and in fact seemed by no means afflicted at the prospect of my absence. + +"I have plenty to occupy me while you are away," he said cheerfully; and +with this assurance to comfort me I mounted my bicycle and rode off +somewhat sulkily along the dark road. + +My visit occupied in all a trifle under two hours, and when I reached +home, ravenously hungry and heated by my ride, half-past nine had +struck, and the village had begun to settle down for the night. + +"Sergeant Payne is a-waiting in the surgery, sir," the housemaid +announced as I entered the hall. + +"Confound Sergeant Payne!" I exclaimed. "Is Dr. Thorndyke with him?" + +"No, sir," replied the grinning damsel. "Dr. Thorndyke is hout." + +"Hout!" I repeated (my surprise leading to unintentional mimicry). + +"Yes, sir. He went hout soon after you, sir, on his bicycle. He had a +basket strapped on to it--leastways a hamper--and he borrowed a basin +and a kitchen-spoon from the cook." + +I stared at the girl in astonishment. The ways of John Thorndyke were, +indeed, beyond all understanding. + +"Well, let me have some dinner or supper at once," I said, "and I will +see what the sergeant wants." + +The officer rose as I entered the surgery, and, laying his helmet on the +table, approached me with an air of secrecy and importance. + +"Well, sir," said he, "the fat's in the fire. I've arrested Mr. Draper, +and I've got him locked up in the court-house. But I wish it had been +someone else." + +"So does he, I expect," I remarked. + +"You see, sir," continued the sergeant, "we all like Mr. Draper. He's +been among us a matter of seven years, and he's like one of ourselves. +However, what I've come about is this; it seems the gentleman who was +with you this evening is Dr. Thorndyke, the great expert. Now Mr. Draper +seems to have heard about him, as most of us have, and he is very +anxious for him to take up the defence. Do you think he would consent?" + +"I expect so," I answered, remembering Thorndyke's keen interest in the +case; "but I will ask him when he comes in." + +"Thank you, sir," said the sergeant. "And perhaps you wouldn't mind +stepping round to the court-house presently yourself. He looks uncommon +queer, does Mr. Draper, and no wonder, so I'd like you to take a look at +him, and if you could bring Dr. Thorndyke with you, he'd like it, and so +should I, for, I assure you, sir, that although a conviction would mean +a step up the ladder for me, I'd be glad enough to find that I'd made a +mistake." + +I was just showing my visitor out when a bicycle swept in through the +open gate, and Thorndyke dismounted at the door, revealing a square +hamper--evidently abstracted from the surgery--strapped on to a carrier +at the back. I conveyed the sergeant's request to him at once, and asked +if he was willing to take up the case. + +"As to taking up the defence," he replied, "I will consider the matter; +but in any case I will come up and see the prisoner." + +With this the sergeant departed, and Thorndyke, having unstrapped the +hamper with as much care as if it contained a collection of priceless +porcelain, bore it tenderly up to his bedroom; whence he appeared, after +a considerable interval, smilingly apologetic for the delay. + +"I thought you were dressing for dinner," I grumbled as he took his seat +at the table. + +"No," he replied. "I have been considering this murder. Really it is a +most singular case, and promises to be uncommonly complicated, too." + +"Then I assume that you will undertake the defence?" + +"I shall if Draper gives a reasonably straightforward account of +himself." + +It appeared that this condition was likely to be fulfilled, for when we +arrived at the court-house (where the prisoner was accommodated in a +spare office, under rather free-and-easy conditions considering the +nature of the charge) we found Mr. Draper in an eminently communicative +frame of mind. + +"I want you, Dr. Thorndyke, to undertake my defence in this terrible +affair, because I feel confident that you will be able to clear me. And +I promise you that there shall be no reservation or concealment on my +part of anything that you ought to know." + +"Very well," said Thorndyke. "By the way, I see you have changed your +shoes." + +"Yes, the sergeant took possession of those I was wearing. He said +something about comparing them with some footprints, but there can't be +any footprints like those shoes here in Sundersley. The nails are fixed +in the soles in quite a peculiar pattern. I had them made in Edinburgh." + +"Have you more than one pair?" + +"No. I have no other nailed boots." + +"That is important," said Thorndyke. "And now I judge that you have +something to tell us that bears on this crime. Am I right?" + +"Yes. There is something that I am afraid it is necessary for you to +know, although it is very painful to me to revive memories of my past +that I had hoped were buried for ever. But perhaps, after all, it may +not be necessary for these confidences to be revealed to anyone but +yourself." + +"I hope not," said Thorndyke; "and if it is not necessary you may rely +upon me not to allow any of your secrets to leak out. But you are wise +to tell me everything that may in any way bear upon the case." + +At this juncture, seeing that confidential matters were about to be +discussed, I rose and prepared to withdraw; but Draper waved me back +into my chair. + +"You need not go away, Dr. Jervis," he said. "It is through you that I +have the benefit of Dr. Thorndyke's help, and I know that you doctors +can be trusted to keep your own counsel and your clients' secrets. And +now for some confessions of mine. In the first place, it is my painful +duty to tell you that I am a discharged convict--an 'old lag,' as the +cant phrase has it." + +He coloured a dusky red as he made this statement, and glanced furtively +at Thorndyke to observe its effect. But he might as well have looked at +a wooden figure-head or a stone mask as at my friend's immovable visage; +and when his communication had been acknowledged by a slight nod, he +proceeded: + +"The history of my wrong-doing is the history of hundreds of others. I +was a clerk in a bank, and getting on as well as I could expect in that +not very progressive avocation, when I had the misfortune to make four +very undesirable acquaintances. They were all young men, though rather +older than myself, and were close friends, forming a sort of little +community or club. They were not what is usually described as 'fast.' +They were quite sober and decently-behaved young follows, but they were +very decidedly addicted to gambling in a small way, and they soon +infected me. Before long I was the keenest gambler of them all. Cards, +billiards, pool, and various forms of betting began to be the chief +pleasures of my life, and not only was the bulk of my scanty salary +often consumed in the inevitable losses, but presently I found myself +considerably in debt, without any visible means of discharging my +liabilities. It is true that my four friends were my chief--in fact, +almost my only--creditors, but still, the debts existed, and had to be +paid. + +"Now these four friends of mine--named respectively Leach, Pitford, +Hearn, and Jezzard--were uncommonly clever men, though the full extent +of their cleverness was not appreciated by me until too late. And I, +too, was clever in my way, and a most undesirable way it was, for I +possessed the fatal gift of imitating handwriting and signatures with +the most remarkable accuracy. So perfect were my copies that the writers +themselves were frequently unable to distinguish their own signatures +from my imitations, and many a time was my skill invoked by some of my +companions to play off practical jokes upon the others. But these jests +were strictly confined to our own little set, for my four friends were +most careful and anxious that my dangerous accomplishment should not +become known to outsiders. + +"And now follows the consequence which you have no doubt foreseen. My +debts, though small, were accumulating, and I saw no prospect of being +able to pay them. Then, one night, Jezzard made a proposition. We had +been playing bridge at his rooms, and once more my ill luck had caused +me to increase my debt. I scribbled out an IOU, and pushed it across the +table to Jezzard, who picked it up with a very wry face, and pocketed +it. + +"'Look here, Ted,' he said presently, 'this paper is all very well, but, +you know, I can't pay my debts with it. My creditors demand hard cash.' + +"'I'm very sorry,' I replied, 'but I can't help it.' + +"'Yes, you can,' said he, 'and I'll tell you how.' He then propounded a +scheme which I at first rejected with indignation, but which, when the +others backed him up, I at last allowed myself to be talked into, and +actually put into execution. I contrived, by taking advantage of the +carelessness of some of my superiors at the bank, to get possession of +some blank cheque forms, which I filled up with small amounts--not more +than two or three pounds--and signed with careful imitations of the +signatures of some of our clients. Jezzard got some stamps made for +stamping on the account numbers, and when this had been done I handed +over to him the whole collection of forged cheques in settlement of my +debts to all of my four companions. + +"The cheques were duly presented--by whom I do not know; and although, +to my dismay, the modest sums for which I had drawn them had been +skilfully altered into quite considerable amounts, they were all paid +without demur excepting one. That one, which had been altered from three +pounds to thirty-nine, was drawn upon an account which was already +slightly overdrawn. The cashier became suspicious; the cheque was +impounded, and the client communicated with. Then, of course, the mine +exploded. Not only was this particular forgery detected, but inquiries +were set afoot which soon brought to light the others. Presently +circumstances, which I need not describe, threw some suspicion on me. I +at once lost my nerve, and finally made a full confession. + +"The inevitable prosecution followed. It was not conducted vindictively. +Still, I had actually committed the forgeries, and though I endeavoured +to cast a part of the blame on to the shoulders of my treacherous +confederates, I did not succeed. Jezzard, it is true, was arrested, but +was discharged for lack of evidence, and, consequently, the whole burden +of the forgery fell upon me. The jury, of course, convicted me, and I +was sentenced to seven years' penal servitude. + +"During the time that I was in prison an uncle of mine died in Canada, +and by the provisions of his will I inherited the whole of his very +considerable property, so that when the time arrived for my release, I +came out of prison, not only free, but comparatively rich. I at once +dropped my own name, and, assuming that of Alfred Draper, began to look +about for some quiet spot in which I might spend the rest of my days in +peace, and with little chance of my identity being discovered. Such a +place I found in Sundersley, and here I have lived for the last seven +years, liked and respected, I think, by my neighbours, who have little +suspected that they were harbouring in their midst a convicted felon. + +"All this time I had neither seen nor heard anything of my four +confederates, and I hoped and believed that they had passed completely +out of my life. But they had not. Only a month ago I met them once more, +to my sorrow, and from the day of that meeting all the peace and +security of my quiet existence at Sundersley have vanished. Like evil +spirits they have stolen into my life, changing my happiness into bitter +misery, filling my days with dark forebodings and my nights with +terror." + +Here Mr. Draper paused, and seemed to sink into a gloomy reverie. + +"Under what circumstances did you meet these men?" Thorndyke asked. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Draper, arousing with sudden excitement, "the +circumstances were very singular and suspicious. I had gone over to +Eastwich for the day to do some shopping. About eleven o'clock in the +forenoon I was making some purchases in a shop when I noticed two men +looking in the window, or rather pretending to do so, whilst they +conversed earnestly. They were smartly dressed, in a horsy fashion, and +looked like well-to-do farmers, as they might very naturally have been +since it was market-day. But it seemed to me that their faces were +familiar to me. I looked at them more attentively, and then it suddenly +dawned upon me, most unpleasantly, that they resembled Leach and +Jezzard. And yet they were not quite like. The resemblance was there, +but the differences were greater than the lapse of time would account +for. Moreover, the man who resembled Jezzard had a rather large mole on +the left cheek just under the eye, while the other man had an eyeglass +stuck in one eye, and wore a waxed moustache, whereas Leach had always +been clean-shaven, and had never used an eyeglass. + +"As I was speculating upon the resemblance they looked up, and caught my +intent and inquisitive eye, whereupon they moved away from the window; +and when, having completed my purchases, I came out into the street, +they were nowhere to be seen. + +"That evening, as I was walking by the river outside the town before +returning to the station, I overtook a yacht which was being towed +down-stream. Three men were walking ahead on the bank with a long +tow-line, and one man stood in the cockpit steering. As I approached, +and was reading the name _Otter_ on the stern, the man at the helm +looked round, and with a start of surprise I recognized my old +acquaintance Hearn. The recognition, however, was not mutual, for I had +grown a beard in the interval, and I passed on without appearing to +notice him; but when I overtook the other three men, and recognized, as +I had feared, the other three members of the gang, I must have looked +rather hard at Jezzard, for he suddenly halted, and exclaimed: 'Why, +it's our old friend Ted! Our long-lost and lamented brother!' He held +out his hand with effusive cordiality, and began to make inquiries as to +my welfare; but I cut him short with the remark that I was not proposing +to renew the acquaintance, and, turning off on to a footpath that led +away from the river, strode off without looking back. + +"Naturally this meeting exercised my mind a good deal, and when I +thought of the two men whom I had seen in the town, I could hardly +believe that their likeness to my quondam friends was a mere +coincidence. And yet when I had met Leach and Jezzard by the river, I +had found them little altered, and had particularly noticed that +Jezzard had no mole on his face, and that Leach was clean-shaven as of +old. + +"But a day or two later all my doubts were resolved by a paragraph in +the local paper. It appeared that on the day of my visit to Eastwich a +number of forged cheques had been cashed at the three banks. They had +been presented by three well-dressed, horsy-looking men who looked like +well-to-do farmers. One of them had a mole on the left cheek, another +was distinguished by a waxed moustache and a single eyeglass, while the +description of the third I did not recognize. None of the cheques had +been drawn for large amounts, though the total sum obtained by the +forgers was nearly four hundred pounds; but the most interesting point +was that the cheque-forms had been manufactured by photographic process, +and the water-mark skilfully, though not quite perfectly, imitated. +Evidently the swindlers were clever and careful men, and willing to take +a good deal of trouble for the sake of security, and the result of their +precautions was that the police could make no guess as to their +identity. + +"The very next day, happening to walk over to Port Marston, I came upon +the _Otter_ lying moored alongside the quay in the harbour. As soon as I +recognized the yacht, I turned quickly and walked away, but a minute +later I ran into Leach and Jezzard, who were returning to their craft. +Jezzard greeted me with an air of surprise. 'What! Still hanging about +here, Ted?' he exclaimed. 'That is not discreet of you, dear boy. I +should earnestly advise you to clear out.' + +"'What do you mean?' I asked. + +"'Tut, tut!' said he. 'We read the papers like other people, and we know +now what business took you to Eastwich. But it's foolish of you to hang +about the neighbourhood where you might be spotted at any moment.' + +"The implied accusation took me aback so completely that I stood staring +at him in speechless astonishment, and at that unlucky moment a +tradesman, from whom I had ordered some house-linen, passed along the +quay. Seeing me, he stopped and touched his hat. + +"'Beg pardon, Mr. Draper,' said he, 'but I shall be sending my cart up +to Sundersley to-morrow morning if that will do for you.' + +"I said that it would, and as the man turned away, Jezzard's face broke +out into a cunning smile. + +"So you are Mr. Draper, of Sundersley, now, are you?' said he. 'Well, I +hope you won't be too proud to come and look in on your old friends. We +shall be staying here for some time.' + +"That same night Hearn made his appearance at my house. He had come as +an emissary from the gang, to ask me to do some work for them--to +execute some forgeries, in fact. Of course I refused, and pretty +bluntly, too, whereupon Hearn began to throw out vague hints as to what +might happen if I made enemies of the gang, and to utter veiled, but +quite intelligible, threats. You will say that I was an idiot not to +send him packing, and threaten to hand over the whole gang to the +police; but I was never a man of strong nerve, and I don't mind +admitting that I was mortally afraid of that cunning devil, Jezzard. + +"The next thing that happened was that Hearn came and took lodgings in +Sundersley, and, in spite of my efforts to avoid him, he haunted me +continually. The yacht, too, had evidently settled down for some time at +a berth in the harbour, for I heard that a local smack-boy had been +engaged as a deck-hand; and I frequently encountered Jezzard and the +other members of the gang, who all professed to believe that I had +committed the Eastwich forgeries. One day I was foolish enough to allow +myself to be lured on to the yacht for a few minutes, and when I would +have gone ashore, I found that the shore ropes had been cast off, and +that the vessel was already moving out of the harbour. At first I was +furious, but the three scoundrels were so jovial and good-natured, and +so delighted with the joke of taking me for a sail against my will, that +I presently cooled down, and having changed into a pair of rubber-soled +shoes (so that I should not make dents in the smooth deck with my +hobnails), bore a hand at sailing the yacht, and spent quite a pleasant +day. + +"From that time I found myself gradually drifting back into a state of +intimacy with these agreeable scoundrels, and daily becoming more and +more afraid of them. In a moment of imbecility I mentioned what I had +seen from the shop-window at Eastwich, and, though they passed the +matter off with a joke, I could see that they were mightily disturbed by +it. Their efforts to induce me to join them were redoubled, and Hearn +took to calling almost daily at my house--usually with documents and +signatures which he tried to persuade me to copy. + +"A few evenings ago he made a new and startling proposition. We were +walking in my garden, and he had been urging me once more to rejoin the +gang--unsuccessfully, I need not say. Presently he sat down on a seat +against a yew-hedge at the bottom of the garden, and, after an interval +of silence, said suddenly: + +"'Then you absolutely refuse to go in with us?' + +"'Of course I do,' I replied. 'Why should I mix myself up with a gang of +crooks when I have ample means and a decent position?' + +"'Of course,' he agreed, 'you'd be a fool if you did. But, you see, you +know all about this Eastwich job, to say nothing of our other little +exploits, and you gave us away once before. Consequently, you can take +it from me that, now Jezzard has run you to earth, he won't leave you in +peace until you have given us some kind of a hold on you. You know too +much, you see, and as long as you have a clean sheet you are a standing +menace to us. That is the position. You know it, and Jezzard knows it, +and he is a desperate man, and as cunning as the devil.' + +"'I know that,' I said gloomily. + +"'Very well,' continued Hearn. 'Now I'm going to make you an offer. +Promise me a small annuity--you can easily afford it--or pay me a +substantial sum down, and I will set you free for ever from Jezzard and +the others.' + +"'How will you do that?' I asked. + +"'Very simply,' he replied. 'I am sick of them all, and sick of this +risky, uncertain mode of life. Now I am ready to clean off my own slate +and set you free at the same time; but I must have some means of +livelihood in view.' + +"'You mean that you will turn King's evidence?' I asked. + +"'Yes, if you will pay me a couple of hundred a year, or, say, two +thousand down on the conviction of the gang.' + +"I was so taken aback that for some time I made no reply, and as I sat +considering this amazing proposition, the silence was suddenly broken +by a suppressed sneeze from the other side of the hedge. + +"Hearn and I started to our feet. Immediately hurried footsteps were +heard in the lane outside the hedge. We raced up the garden to the gate +and out through a side alley, but when we reached the lane there was not +a soul in sight. We made a brief and fruitless search in the immediate +neighbourhood, and then turned back to the house. Hearn was deathly pale +and very agitated, and I must confess that I was a good deal upset by +the incident. + +"'This is devilish awkward,' said Hearn. + +"'It is rather,' I admitted; 'but I expect it was only some inquisitive +yokel.' + +"'I don't feel so sure of that,' said he. 'At any rate, we were stark +lunatics to sit up against a hedge to talk secrets.' + +"He paced the garden with me for some time in gloomy silence, and +presently, after a brief request that I would think over his proposal, +took himself off. + +"I did not see him again until I met him last night on the yacht. +Pitford called on me in the morning, and invited me to come and dine +with them. I at first declined, for my housekeeper was going to spend +the evening with her sister at Eastwich, and stay there for the night, +and I did not much like leaving the house empty. However, I agreed +eventually, stipulating that I should be allowed to come home early, and +I accordingly went. Hearn and Pitford were waiting in the boat by the +steps--for the yacht had been moved out to a buoy--and we went on board +and spent a very pleasant and lively evening. Pitford put me ashore at +ten o'clock, and I walked straight home, and went to bed. Hearn would +have come with me, but the others insisted on his remaining, saying +that they had some matters of business to discuss." + +"Which way did you walk home?" asked Thorndyke. + +"I came through the town, and along the main road." + +"And that is all you know about this affair?" + +"Absolutely all," replied Draper. "I have now admitted you to secrets of +my past life that I had hoped never to have to reveal to any human +creature, and I still have some faint hope that it may not be necessary +for you to divulge what I have told you." + +"Your secrets shall not be revealed unless it is absolutely +indispensable that they should be," said Thorndyke; "but you are placing +your life in my hands, and you must leave me perfectly free to act as I +think best." + +With this he gathered his notes together, and we took our departure. + +"A very singular history, this, Jervis," he said, when, having wished +the sergeant "Good-night," we stepped out on to the dark road. "What do +you think of it?" + +"I hardly know what to think," I answered, "but, on the whole, it seems +rather against Draper than otherwise. He admits that he is an old +criminal, and it appears that he was being persecuted and blackmailed by +the man Hearn. It is true that he represents Jezzard as being the +leading spirit and prime mover in the persecution, but we have only his +word for that. Hearn was in lodgings near him, and was undoubtedly +taking the most active part in the business, and it is quite possible, +and indeed probable, that Hearn was the actual _deus ex machina_." + +Thorndyke nodded. "Yes," he said, "that is certainly the line the +prosecution will take if we allow the story to become known. Ha! what +is this? We are going to have some rain." + +"Yes, and wind too. We are in for an autumn gale, I think." + +"And that," said Thorndyke, "may turn out to be an important factor in +our case." + +"How can the weather affect your case?" I asked in some surprise. But, +as the rain suddenly descended in a pelting shower, my companion broke +into a run, leaving my question unanswered. + +On the following morning, which was fair and sunny after the stormy +night, Dr. Burrows called for my friend. He was on his way to the +extemporized mortuary to make the _post-mortem_ examination of the +murdered man's body. Thorndyke, having notified the coroner that he was +watching the case on behalf of the accused, had been authorized to be +present at the autopsy; but the authorization did not include me, and, +as Dr. Burrows did not issue any invitation, I was not able to be +present. I met them, however, as they were returning, and it seemed to +me that Dr. Burrows appeared a little huffy. + +"Your friend," said he, in a rather injured tone, "is really the most +outrageous stickler for forms and ceremonies that I have ever met." + +Thorndyke looked at him with an amused twinkle, and chuckled +indulgently. + +"Here was a body," Dr. Burrows continued irritably, "found under +circumstances clearly indicative of murder, and bearing a knife-wound +that nearly divided the arch of the aorta; in spite of which, I assure +you that Dr. Thorndyke insisted on weighing the body, and examining +every organ--lungs, liver, stomach, and brain--yes, actually the +brain!--as if there had been no clue whatever to the cause of death. +And then, as a climax, he insisted on sending the contents of the +stomach in a jar, sealed with our respective seals, in charge of a +special messenger, to Professor Copland, for analysis and report. I +thought he was going to demand an examination for the tubercle bacillus, +but he didn't; which," concluded Dr. Burrows, suddenly becoming sourly +facetious, "was an oversight, for, after all, the fellow may have died +of consumption." + +Thorndyke chuckled again, and I murmured that the precautions appeared +to have been somewhat excessive. + +"Not at all," was the smiling response. "You are losing sight of our +function. We are the expert and impartial umpires, and it is our +business to ascertain, with scientific accuracy, the cause of death. The +_prima facie_ appearances in this case suggest that the deceased was +murdered by Draper, and that is the hypothesis advanced. But that is no +concern of ours. It is not our function to confirm an hypothesis +suggested by outside circumstances, but rather, on the contrary, to make +certain that no other explanation is possible. And that is my invariable +practice. No matter how glaringly obvious the appearances may be, I +refuse to take anything for granted." + +Dr. Burrows received this statement with a grunt of dissent, but the +arrival of his dogcart put a stop to further discussion. + +Thorndyke was not subpoenaed for the inquest. Dr. Burrows and the +sergeant having been present immediately after the finding of the body, +his evidence was not considered necessary, and, moreover, he was known +to be watching the case in the interests of the accused. Like myself, +therefore, he was present as a spectator, but as a highly interested +one, for he took very complete shorthand notes of the whole of the +evidence and the coroner's comments. + +I shall not describe the proceedings in detail. The jury, having been +taken to view the body, trooped into the room on tiptoe, looking pale +and awe-stricken, and took their seats; and thereafter, from time to +time, directed glances of furtive curiosity at Draper as he stood, +pallid and haggard, confronting the court, with a burly rural constable +on either side. + +The medical evidence was taken first. Dr. Burrows, having been sworn, +began, with sarcastic emphasis, to describe the condition of the lungs +and liver, until he was interrupted by the coroner. + +"Is all this necessary?" the latter inquired. "I mean, is it material to +the subject of the inquiry?" + +"I should say not," replied Dr. Burrows. "It appears to me to be quite +irrelevant, but Dr. Thorndyke, who is watching the case for the defence, +thought it necessary." + +"I think," said the coroner, "you had better give us only the facts that +are material. The jury want you to tell them what you consider to have +been the cause of death. They don't want a lecture on pathology." + +"The cause of death," said Dr. Burrows, "was a penetrating wound of the +chest, apparently inflicted with a large knife. The weapon entered +between the second and third ribs on the left side close to the sternum +or breast-bone. It wounded the left lung, and partially divided both the +pulmonary artery and the aorta--the two principal arteries of the body." + +"Was this injury alone sufficient to cause death?" the coroner asked. + +"Yes," was the reply; "and death from injury to these great vessels +would be practically instantaneous." + +"Could the injury have been self-inflicted?" + +"So far as the position and nature of the wound are concerned," replied +the witness, "self-infliction would be quite possible. But since death +would follow in a few seconds at the most, the weapon would be found +either in the wound, or grasped in the hand, or, at least, quite close +to the body. But in this case no weapon was found at all, and the wound +must therefore certainly have been homicidal." + +"Did you see the body before it was moved?" + +"Yes. It was lying on its back, with the arms extended and the legs +nearly straight; and the sand in the neighbourhood of the body was +trampled as if a furious struggle had taken place." + +"Did you notice anything remarkable about the footprints in the sand?" + +"I did," replied Dr. Burrows. "They were the footprints of two persons +only. One of these was evidently the deceased, whose footmarks could be +easily identified by the circular rubber heels. The other footprints +were those of a person--apparently a man--who wore shoes, or boots, the +soles of which were studded with nails; and these nails were arranged in +a very peculiar and unusual manner, for those on the soles formed a +lozenge or diamond shape, and those on the heel were set out in the form +of a cross." + +"Have you ever seen shoes or boots with the nails arranged in this +manner?" + +"Yes. I have seen a pair of shoes which I am informed belong to the +accused; the nails in them are arranged as I have described." + +"Would you say that the footprints of which you have spoken were made +by those shoes?" + +"No; I could not say that. I can only say that, to the best of my +belief, the pattern on the shoes is similar to that in the footprints." + +This was the sum of Dr. Burrows' evidence, and to all of it Thorndyke +listened with an immovable countenance, though with the closest +attention. Equally attentive was the accused man, though not equally +impassive; indeed, so great was his agitation that presently one of the +constables asked permission to get him a chair. + +The next witness was Arthur Jezzard. He testified that he had viewed the +body, and identified it as that of Charles Hearn; that he had been +acquainted with deceased for some years, but knew practically nothing of +his affairs. At the time of his death deceased was lodging in the +village. + +"Why did he leave the yacht?" the coroner inquired. "Was there any kind +of disagreement!" + +"Not in the least," replied Jezzard. "He grew tired of the confinement +of the yacht, and came to live ashore for a change. But we were the best +of friends, and he intended to come with us when we sailed." + +"When did you see him last?" + +"On the night before the body was found--that is, last Monday. He had +been dining on the yacht, and we put him ashore about midnight. He said +as we were rowing him ashore that he intended to walk home along the +sands as the tide was out. He went up the stone steps by the +watch-house, and turned at the top to wish us good-night. That was the +last time I saw him alive." + +"Do you know anything of the relations between the accused and the +deceased?" the coroner asked. + +"Very little," replied Jezzard. "Mr. Draper was introduced to us by the +deceased about a month ago. I believe they had been acquainted some +years, and they appeared to be on excellent terms. There was no +indication of any quarrel or disagreement between them." + +"What time did the accused leave the yacht on the night of the murder?" + +"About ten o'clock. He said that he wanted to get home early, as his +housekeeper was away and he did not like the house to be left with no +one in it." + +This was the whole of Jezzard's evidence, and was confirmed by that of +Leach and Pitford. Then, when the fisherman had deposed to the discovery +of the body, the sergeant was called, and stepped forward, grasping a +carpet-bag, and looking as uncomfortable as if he had been the accused +instead of a witness. He described the circumstances under which he saw +the body, giving the exact time and place with official precision. + +"You have heard Dr. Burrows' description of the footprints?" the coroner +inquired. + +"Yes. There were two sets. One set were evidently made by deceased. They +showed that he entered St. Bridget's Bay from the direction of Port +Marston. He had been walking along the shore just about high-water mark, +sometimes above and sometimes below. Where he had walked below +high-water mark the footprints had of course been washed away by the +sea." + +"How far back did you trace the footprints of deceased?" + +"About two-thirds of the way to Sundersley Gap. Then they disappeared +below high-water mark. Later in the evening I walked from the Gap into +Port Marston, but could not find any further traces of deceased. He +must have walked between the tide-marks all the way from Port Marston to +beyond Sundersley. When these footprints entered St. Bridget's Bay they +became mixed up with the footprints of another man, and the shore was +trampled for a space of a dozen yards as if a furious struggle had taken +place. The strange man's tracks came down from the Shepherd's Path, and +went up it again; but, owing to the hardness of the ground from the dry +weather, the tracks disappeared a short distance up the path, and I +could not find them again." + +"What were these strange footprints like?" inquired the coroner. + +"They were very peculiar," replied the sergeant. "They were made by +shoes armed with smallish hob-nails, which were arranged in a +diamond-shaped pattern on the holes and in a cross on the heels. I +measured the footprints carefully, and made a drawing of each foot at +the time." Here the sergeant produced a long notebook of funereal +aspect, and, having opened it at a marked place, handed it to the +coroner, who examined it attentively, and then passed it on to the jury. +From the jury it was presently transferred to Thorndyke, and, looking +over his shoulder, I saw a very workmanlike sketch of a pair of +footprints with the principal dimensions inserted. + +Thorndyke surveyed the drawing critically, jotted down a few brief +notes, and returned the sergeant's notebook to the coroner, who, as he +took it, turned once more to the officer. + +"Have you any clue, sergeant, to the person who made these footprints?" +he asked. + +By way of reply the sergeant opened his carpet-bag, and, extracting +therefrom a pair of smart but stoutly made shoes, laid them on the +table. + +"Those shoes," he said, "are the property of the accused; he was wearing +them when I arrested him. They appear to correspond exactly to the +footprints of the murderer. The measurements are the same, and the nails +with which they are studded are arranged in a similar pattern." + +[Illustration: The Sergeant's Sketch + +Extreme length, 11¾ inches. +Width at A, 4½ inches. +Length of heel, 3¼ inches +Width of heel at cross, 3 inches.] + +"Would you swear that the footprints were made with these shoes?" asked +the coroner. + +"No, sir, I would not," was the decided answer. "I would only swear to +the similarity of size and pattern." + +"Had you ever seen these shoes before you made the drawing?" + +"No, sir," replied the sergeant; and he then related the incident of the +footprints in the soft earth by the pond which led him to make the +arrest. + +The coroner gazed reflectively at the shoes which he held in his hand, +and from them to the drawing; then, passing them to the foreman of the +jury, he remarked: + +"Well, gentlemen, it is not for me to tell you whether these shoes +answer to the description given by Dr. Burrows and the sergeant, or +whether they resemble the drawing which, as you have heard, was made by +the officer on the spot and before he had seen the shoes; that is a +matter for you to decide. Meanwhile, there is another question that we +must consider." He turned to the sergeant and asked: "Have you made any +inquiries as to the movements of the accused on the night of the +murder?" + +"I have," replied the sergeant, "and I find that, on that night, the +accused was alone in the house, his housekeeper having gone over to +Eastwich. Two men saw him in the town about ten o'clock, apparently +walking in the direction of Sundersley." + +This concluded the sergeant's evidence, and when one or two more +witnesses had been examined without eliciting any fresh facts, the +coroner briefly recapitulated the evidence, and requested the jury to +consider their verdict. Thereupon a solemn hush fell upon the court, +broken only by the whispers of the jurymen, as they consulted together; +and the spectators gazed in awed expectancy from the accused to the +whispering jury. I glanced at Draper, sitting huddled in his chair, his +clammy face as pale as that of the corpse in the mortuary hard by, his +hands tremulous and restless; and, scoundrel as I believed him to be, I +could not but pity the abject misery that was written large all over +him, from his damp hair to his incessantly shifting feet. + +The jury took but a short time to consider their verdict. At the end of +five minutes the foreman announced that they were agreed, and, in answer +to the coroner's formal inquiry, stood up and replied: + +"We find that the deceased met his death by being stabbed in the chest +by the accused man, Alfred Draper." + +"That is a verdict of wilful murder," said the coroner, and he entered +it accordingly in his notes. The Court now rose. The spectators +reluctantly trooped out, the jurymen stood up and stretched themselves, +and the two constables, under the guidance of the sergeant, carried the +wretched Draper in a fainting condition to a closed fly that was waiting +outside. + +"I was not greatly impressed by the activity of the defence," I remarked +maliciously as we walked home. + +Thorndyke smiled. "You surely did not expect me to cast my pearls of +forensic learning before a coroner's jury," said he. + +"I expected that you would have something to say on behalf of your +client," I replied. "As it was, his accusers had it all their own way." + +"And why not?" he asked. "Of what concern to us is the verdict of the +coroner's jury?" + +"It would have seemed more decent to make some sort of defence," I +replied. + +"My dear Jervis," he rejoined, "you do not seem to appreciate the great +virtue of what Lord Beaconsfield so felicitously called 'a policy of +masterly inactivity'; and yet that is one of the great lessons that a +medical training impresses on the student." + +"That may be so," said I. "But the result, up to the present, of your +masterly policy is that a verdict of wilful murder stands against your +client, and I don't see what other verdict the jury could have found." + +"Neither do I," said Thorndyke. + +I had written to my principal, Dr. Cooper, describing the stirring +events that were taking place in the village, and had received a reply +from him instructing me to place the house at Thorndyke's disposal, and +to give him every facility for his work. In accordance with which edict +my colleague took possession of a well-lighted, disused stable-loft, and +announced his intention of moving his things into it. Now, as these +"things" included the mysterious contents of the hamper that the +housemaid had seen, I was possessed with a consuming desire to be +present at the "flitting," and I do not mind confessing that I purposely +lurked about the stairs in the hopes of thus picking up a few crumbs of +information. + +But Thorndyke was one too many for me. A misbegotten infant in the +village having been seized with inopportune convulsions, I was +compelled, most reluctantly, to hasten to its relief; and I returned +only in time to find Thorndyke in the act of locking the door of the +loft. + +"A nice light, roomy place to work in," he remarked, as he descended the +steps, slipping the key into his pocket. + +"Yes," I replied, and added boldly: "What do you intend to do up there?" + +"Work up the case for the defence," he replied, "and, as I have now +heard all that the prosecution have to say, I shall be able to forge +ahead." + +This was vague enough, but I consoled myself with the reflection that +in a very few days I should, in common with the rest of the world, be in +possession of the results of his mysterious proceedings. For, in view of +the approaching assizes, preparations were being made to push the case +through the magistrate's court as quickly as possible in order to obtain +a committal in time for the ensuing sessions. Draper had, of course, +been already charged before a justice of the peace and evidence of +arrest taken, and it was expected that the adjourned hearing would +commence before the local magistrates on the fifth day after the +inquest. + +The events of these five days kept me in a positive ferment of +curiosity. In the first place an inspector of the Criminal Investigation +Department came down and browsed about the place in company with the +sergeant. Then Mr. Bashfield, who was to conduct the prosecution, came +and took up his abode at the "Cat and Chicken." But the most surprising +visitor was Thorndyke's laboratory assistant, Polton, who appeared one +evening with a large trunk and a sailor's hammock, and announced that he +was going to take up his quarters in the loft. + +As to Thorndyke himself, his proceedings were beyond speculation. From +time to time he made mysterious appearances at the windows of the loft, +usually arrayed in what looked suspiciously like a nightshirt. Sometimes +I would see him holding a negative up to the light, at others +manipulating a photographic printing-frame; and once I observed him with +a paintbrush and a large gallipot; on which I turned away in despair, +and nearly collided with the inspector. + +"Dr. Thorndyke is staying with you, I hear," said the latter, gazing +earnestly at my colleague's back, which was presented for his inspection +at the window. + +"Yes," I answered. "Those are his temporary premises." + +"That is where he does his bedevilments, I suppose?" the officer +suggested. + +"He conducts his experiments there," I corrected haughtily. + +"That's what I mean," said the inspector; and, as Thorndyke at this +moment turned and opened the window, our visitor began to ascend the +steps. + +"I've just called to ask if I could have a few words with you, Doctor," +said the inspector, as he reached the door. + +"Certainly," Thorndyke replied blandly. "If you will go down and wait +with Dr. Jervis, I will be with you in five minutes." + +The officer came down the steps grinning, and I thought I heard him +murmur "Sold!" But this may have been an illusion. However, Thorndyke +presently emerged, and he and the officer strode away into the +shrubbery. What the inspector's business was, or whether he had any +business at all, I never learned; but the incident seemed to throw some +light on the presence of Polton and the sailor's hammock. And this +reference to Polton reminds me of a very singular change that took place +about this time in the habits of this usually staid and sedate little +man; who, abandoning the somewhat clerical style of dress that he +ordinarily affected, broke out into a semi-nautical costume, in which he +would sally forth every morning in the direction of Port Marston. And +there, on more than one occasion, I saw him leaning against a post by +the harbour, or lounging outside a waterside tavern in earnest and +amicable conversation with sundry nautical characters. + +On the afternoon of the day before the opening of the proceedings we +had two new visitors. One of them, a grey-haired spectacled man, was a +stranger to me, and for some reason I failed to recall his name, +Copland, though I was sure I had heard it before. The other was Anstey, +the barrister who usually worked with Thorndyke in cases that went into +Court. I saw very little of either of them, however, for they retired +almost immediately to the loft, where, with short intervals for meals, +they remained for the rest of the day, and, I believe, far into the +night. Thorndyke requested me not to mention the names of his visitors +to anyone, and at the same time apologized for the secrecy of his +proceedings. + +"But you are a doctor, Jervis," he concluded, "and you know what +professional confidences are; and you will understand how greatly it is +in our favour that we know exactly what the prosecution can do, while +they are absolutely in the dark as to our line of defence." + +I assured him that I fully understood his position, and with this +assurance he retired, evidently relieved, to the council chamber. + +The proceedings, which opened on the following day, and at which I was +present throughout, need not be described in detail. The evidence for +the prosecution was, of course, mainly a repetition of that given at the +inquest. Mr. Bashfield's opening statement, however, I shall give at +length, inasmuch as it summarized very clearly the whole of the case +against the prisoner. + +"The case that is now before the Court," said the counsel, "involves a +charge of wilful murder against the prisoner Alfred Draper, and the +facts, in so far as they are known, are briefly these: On the night of +Monday, the 27th of September, the deceased, Charles Hearn, dined with +some friends on board the yacht _Otter_. About midnight he came ashore, +and proceeded to walk towards Sundersley along the beach. As he entered +St. Bridget's Bay, a man, who appears to have been lying in wait, and +who came down the Shepherd's Path, met him, and a deadly struggle seems +to have taken place. The deceased received a wound of a kind calculated +to cause almost instantaneous death, and apparently fell down dead. + +"And now, what was the motive of this terrible crime? It was not +robbery, for nothing appears to have been taken from the corpse. Money +and valuables were found, as far as is known, intact. Nor, clearly, was +it a case of a casual affray. We are, consequently, driven to the +conclusion that the motive was a personal one, a motive of interest or +revenge, and with this view the time, the place, and the evident +deliberateness of the murder are in full agreement. + +"So much for the motive. The next question is, Who was the perpetrator +of this shocking crime? And the answer to that question is given in a +very singular and dramatic circumstance, a circumstance that illustrates +once more the amazing lack of precaution shown by persons who commit +such crimes. The murderer was wearing a very remarkable pair of shoes, +and those shoes left very remarkable footprints in the smooth sand, and +those footprints were seen and examined by a very acute and painstaking +police-officer, Sergeant Payne, whose evidence you will hear presently. +The sergeant not only examined the footprints, he made careful drawings +of them on the spot--on the spot, mind you, not from memory--and he made +very exact measurements of them, which he duly noted down. And from +those drawings and those measurements, those tell-tale shoes have been +identified, and are here for your inspection. + +"And now, who is the owner of those very singular, those almost unique +shoes? I have said that the motive of this murder must have been a +personal one, and, behold! the owner of those shoes happens to be the +one person in the whole of this district who could have had a motive for +compassing the murdered man's death. Those shoes belong to, and were +taken from the foot of, the prisoner, Alfred Draper, and the prisoner, +Alfred Draper, is the only person living in this neighbourhood who was +acquainted with the deceased. + +"It has been stated in evidence at the inquest that the relations of +these two men, the prisoner and the deceased, were entirely friendly; +but I shall prove to you that they were not so friendly as has been +supposed. I shall prove to you, by the evidence of the prisoner's +housekeeper, that the deceased was often an unwelcome visitor at the +house, that the prisoner often denied himself when he was really at home +and disengaged, and, in short, that he appeared constantly to shun and +avoid the deceased. + +"One more question and I have finished. Where was the prisoner on the +night of the murder? The answer is that he was in a house little more +than half a mile from the scene of the crime. And who was with him in +that house? Who was there to observe and testify to his going forth and +his coming home? No one. He was alone in the house. On that night, of +all nights, he was alone. Not a soul was there to rouse at the creak of +a door or the tread of a shoe--to tell as whether he slept or whether he +stole forth in the dead of the night. + +"Such are the facts of this case. I believe that they are not disputed, +and I assert that, taken together, they are susceptible of only one +explanation, which is that the prisoner, Alfred Draper, is the man who +murdered the deceased, Charles Hearn." + +Immediately on the conclusion of this address, the witnesses were +called, and the evidence given was identical with that at the inquest. +The only new witness for the prosecution was Draper's housekeeper, and +her evidence fully bore out Mr. Bashfield's statement. The sergeant's +account of the footprints was listened to with breathless interest, and +at its conclusion the presiding magistrate--a retired solicitor, once +well known in criminal practice--put a question which interested me as +showing how clearly Thorndyke had foreseen the course of events, +recalling, as it did, his remark on the night when we were caught in the +rain. + +"Did you," the magistrate asked, "take these shoes down to the beach and +compare them with the actual footprints?" + +"I obtained the shoes at night," replied the sergeant, "and I took them +down to the shore at daybreak the next morning. But, unfortunately, +there had been a storm in the night, and the footprints were almost +obliterated by the wind and rain." + +When the sergeant had stepped down, Mr. Bashfield announced that that +was the case for the prosecution. He then resumed his seat, turning an +inquisitive eye on Anstey and Thorndyke. + +The former immediately rose and opened the case for the defence with a +brief statement. + +"The learned counsel for the prosecution," said he, "has told us that +the facts now in the possession of the Court admit of but one +explanation--that of the guilt of the accused. That may or may not be; +but I shall now proceed to lay before the Court certain fresh +facts--facts, I may say, of the most singular and startling character, +which will, I think, lead to a very different conclusion. I shall say no +more, but call the witnesses forthwith, and let the evidence speak for +itself." + +The first witness for the defence was Thorndyke; and as he entered the +box I observed Polton take up a position close behind him with a large +wicker trunk. Having been sworn, and requested by Anstey to tell the +Court what he knew about the case, he commenced without preamble: + +"About half-past four in the afternoon of the 28th of September I walked +down Sundersley Gap with Dr. Jervis. Our attention was attracted by +certain footprints in the sand, particularly those of a man who had +landed from a boat, had walked up the Gap, and presently returned, +apparently to the boat. + +"As we were standing there Sergeant Payne and Dr. Burrows passed down +the Gap with two constables carrying a stretcher. We followed at a +distance, and as we walked along the shore we encountered another set of +footprints--those which the sergeant has described as the footprints of +the deceased. We examined these carefully, and endeavoured to frame a +description of the person by whom they had been made." + +"And did your description agree with the characters of the deceased?" +the magistrate asked. + +"Not in the least," replied Thorndyke, whereupon the magistrate, the +inspector, and Mr. Bashfield laughed long and heartily. + +"When we turned into St. Bridget's Bay, I saw the body of deceased lying +on the sand close to the cliff. The sand all round was covered with +footprints, as if a prolonged, fierce struggle had taken place. There +were two sets of footprints, one set being apparently those of the +deceased and the other those of a man with nailed shoes of a very +peculiar and conspicuous pattern. The incredible folly that the wearing +of such shoes indicated caused me to look more closely at the +footprints, and then I made the surprising discovery that there had in +reality been no struggle; that, in fact, the two sets of footprints had +been made at different times." + +"At different times!" the magistrate exclaimed in astonishment. + +"Yes. The interval between them may have been one of hours or one only +of seconds, but the undoubted fact is that the two sets of footprints +were made, not simultaneously, but in succession." + +"But how did you arrive at that fact?" the magistrate asked. + +"It was very obvious when one looked," said Thorndyke. "The marks of the +deceased man's shoes showed that he repeatedly trod in his own +footprints; but never in a single instance did he tread in the +footprints of the other man, although they covered the same area. The +man with the nailed shoes, on the contrary, not only trod in his own +footprints, but with equal frequency in those of the deceased. Moreover, +when the body was removed, I observed that the footprints in the sand on +which it was lying were exclusively those of the deceased. There was not +a sign of any nail-marked footprint under the corpse, although there +were many close around it. It was evident, therefore, that the +footprints of the deceased were made first and those of the nailed shoes +afterwards." + +As Thorndyke paused the magistrate rubbed his nose thoughtfully, and +the inspector gazed at the witness with a puzzled frown. + +"The singularity of this fact," my colleague resumed, "made me look at +the footprints yet more critically, and then I made another discovery. +There was a double track of the nailed shoes, leading apparently from +and back to the Shepherd's Path. But on examining these tracks more +closely, I was astonished to find that the man who had made them had +been walking backwards; that, in fact, he had walked backwards from the +body to the Shepherd's Path, had ascended it for a short distance, had +turned round, and returned, still walking backwards, to the face of the +cliff near the corpse, and there the tracks vanished altogether. On the +sand at this spot were some small, inconspicuous marks which might have +been made by the end of a rope, and there were also a few small +fragments which had fallen from the cliff above. Observing these, I +examined the surface of the cliff, and at one spot, about six feet above +the beach, I found a freshly rubbed spot on which were parallel +scratches such as might have been made by the nailed sole of a boot. I +then ascended the Shepherd's Path, and examined the cliff from above, +and here I found on the extreme edge a rather deep indentation, such as +would be made by a taut rope, and, on lying down and looking over, I +could see, some five feet from the top, another rubbed spot with very +distinct parallel scratches." + +"You appear to infer," said the chairman, "that this man performed these +astonishing evolutions and was then hauled up the cliff?" + +"That is what the appearances suggested," replied Thorndyke. + +The chairman pursed up his lips, raised his eyebrows, and glanced +doubtfully at his brother magistrates. Then, with a resigned air, he +bowed to the witness to indicate that he was listening. + +"That same night," Thorndyke resumed, "I cycled down to the shore, +through the Gap, with a supply of plaster of Paris, and proceeded to +take plaster moulds of the more important of the footprints." (Here the +magistrates, the inspector, and Mr. Bashfield with one accord sat up at +attention; Sergeant Payne swore quite audibly; and I experienced a +sudden illumination respecting a certain basin and kitchen spoon which +had so puzzled me on the night of Thorndyke's arrival.) "As I thought +that liquid plaster might confuse or even obliterate the prints in sand, +I filled up the respective footprints with dry plaster, pressed it down +lightly, and then cautiously poured water on to it. The moulds, which +are excellent impressions, of course show the appearance of the boots +which made the footprints, and from these moulds I have prepared casts +which reproduce the footprints themselves. + +"The first mould that I made was that of one of the tracks from the boat +up to the Gap, and of this I shall speak presently. I next made a mould +of one of the footprints which have been described as those of the +deceased." + +"Have been described!" exclaimed the chairman. "The deceased was +certainly there, and there were no other footprints, so, if they were +not his, he must have flown to where he was found." + +"I will call them the footprints of the deceased," replied Thorndyke +imperturbably. "I took a mould of one of them, and with it, on the same +mould, one of my own footprints. Here is the mould, and here is a cast +from it." (He turned and took them from the triumphant Polton, who had +tenderly lifted them out of the trunk in readiness.) "On looking at the +cast, it will be seen that the appearances are not such as would be +expected. The deceased was five feet nine inches high, but was very thin +and light, weighing only nine stone six pounds, as I ascertained by +weighing the body, whereas I am five feet eleven and weigh nearly +thirteen stone. But yet the footprint of the deceased is nearly twice as +deep as mine--that is to say, the lighter man has sunk into the sand +nearly twice as deeply as the heavier man." + +The magistrates were now deeply attentive. They were no longer simply +listening to the despised utterances of a mere scientific expert. The +cast lay before them with the two footprints side by side; the evidence +appealed to their own senses and was proportionately convincing. + +"This is very singular," said the chairman; "but perhaps you can explain +the discrepancy?" + +"I think I can," replied Thorndyke; "but I should prefer to place all +the facts before you first." + +"Undoubtedly that would be better," the chairman agreed. "Pray proceed." + +"There was another remarkable peculiarity about these footprints," +Thorndyke continued, "and that was their distance apart--the length of +the stride, in fact. I measured the steps carefully from heel to heel, +and found them only nineteen and a half inches. But a man of Hearn's +height would have an ordinary stride of about thirty-six inches--more if +he was walking fast. Walking with a stride of nineteen and a half inches +he would look as if his legs were tied together. + +"I next proceeded to the Bay, and took two moulds from the footprints +of the man with the nailed shoes, a right and a left. Here is a cast +from the mould, and it shows very clearly that the man was walking +backwards." + +"How does it show that?" asked the magistrate. + +"There are several distinctive points. For instance, the absence of the +usual 'kick off' at the toe, the slight drag behind the heel, showing +the direction in which the foot was lifted, and the undisturbed +impression of the sole." + +"You have spoken of moulds and casts. What is the difference between +them?" + +"A mould is a direct, and therefore reversed, impression. A cast is the +impression of a mould, and therefore a facsimile of the object. If I +pour liquid plaster on a coin, when it sets I have a mould, a sunk +impression, of the coin. If I pour melted wax into the mould I obtain a +cast, a facsimile of the coin. A footprint is a mould of the foot. A +mould of the footprint is a cast of the foot, and a cast from the mould +reproduces the footprint." + +"Thank you," said the magistrate. "Then your moulds from these two +footprints are really facsimiles of the murderer's shoes, and can be +compared with these shoes which have been put in evidence?" + +"Yes, and when we compare them they demonstrate a very important fact." + +"What is that?" + +"It is that the prisoner's shoes were not the shoes that made those +footprints." A buzz of astonishment ran through the court, but Thorndyke +continued stolidly: "The prisoner's shoes were not in my possession, so +I went on to Barker's pond, on the clay margin of which I had seen +footprints actually made by the prisoner. I took moulds of those +footprints, and compared them with these from the sand. There are +several important differences, which you will see if you compare them. +To facilitate the comparison I have made transparent photographs of both +sets of moulds to the same scale. Now, if we put the photograph of the +mould of the prisoner's right shoe over that of the murderer's right +shoe, and hold the two superposed photographs up to the light, we cannot +make the two pictures coincide. They are exactly of the same length, but +the shoes are of different shape. Moreover, if we put one of the nails +in one photograph over the corresponding nail in the other photograph, +we cannot make the rest of the nails coincide. But the most conclusive +fact of all--from which there is no possible escape--is that the number +of nails in the two shoes is not the same. In the sole of the prisoner's +right shoe there are forty nails; in that of the murderer there are +forty-one. The murderer has one nail too many." + +There was a deathly silence in the court as the magistrates and Mr. +Bashfield pored over the moulds and the prisoner's shoes, and examined +the photographs against the light. Then the chairman asked: "Are these +all the facts, or have you something more to tell us?" He was evidently +anxious to get the key to this riddle. + +"There is more evidence, your Worship," said Anstey. "The witness +examined the body of deceased." Then, turning to Thorndyke, he asked: + +"You were present at the _post-mortem_ examination?" + +"I was." + +"Did you form any opinion as to the cause of death?" + +"Yes. I came to the conclusion that death was occasioned by an overdose +of morphia." + +A universal gasp of amazement greeted this statement. Then the presiding +magistrate protested breathlessly: + +"But there was a wound, which we have been told was capable of causing +instantaneous death. Was that not the case?" + +"There was undoubtedly such a wound," replied Thorndyke. "But when that +wound was inflicted the deceased had already been dead from a quarter to +half an hour." + +"This is incredible!" exclaimed the magistrate. "But, no doubt, you can +give us your reasons for this amazing conclusion?" + +"My opinion," said Thorndyke, "was based on several facts. In the first +place, a wound inflicted on a living body gapes rather widely, owing to +the retraction of the living skin. The skin of a dead body does not +retract, and the wound, consequently, does not gape. This wound gaped +very slightly, showing that death was recent, I should say, within half +an hour. Then a wound on the living body becomes filled with blood, and +blood is shed freely on the clothing. But the wound on the deceased +contained only a little blood-clot. There was hardly any blood on the +clothing, and I had already noticed that there was none on the sand +where the body had lain." + +"And you consider this quite conclusive?" the magistrate asked +doubtfully. + +"I do," answered Thorndyke. "But there was other evidence which was +beyond all question. The weapon had partially divided both the aorta and +the pulmonary artery--the main arteries of the body. Now, during life, +these great vessels are full of blood at a high internal pressure, +whereas after death they become almost empty. It follows that, if this +wound had been inflicted during life, the cavity in which those vessels +lie would have become filled with blood. As a matter of fact, it +contained practically no blood, only the merest oozing from some small +veins, so that it is certain that the wound was inflicted after death. +The presence and nature of the poison I ascertained by analyzing certain +secretions from the body, and the analysis enabled me to judge that the +quantity of the poison was large; but the contents of the stomach were +sent to Professor Copland for more exact examination." + +"Is the result of Professor Copland's analysis known?" the magistrate +asked Anstey. + +"The professor is here, your Worship," replied Anstey, "and is prepared +to swear to having obtained over one grain of morphia from the contents +of the stomach; and as this, which is in itself a poisonous dose, is +only the unabsorbed residue of what was actually swallowed, the total +quantity taken must have been very large indeed." + +"Thank you," said the magistrate. "And now, Dr. Thorndyke, if you have +given us all the facts, perhaps you will tell us what conclusions you +have drawn from them." + +"The facts which I have stated," said Thorndyke, "appear to me to +indicate the following sequence of events. The deceased died about +midnight on September 27, from the effects of a poisonous dose of +morphia, how or by whom administered I offer no opinion. I think that +his body was conveyed in a boat to Sundersley Gap. The boat probably +contained three men, of whom one remained in charge of it, one walked +up the Gap and along the cliff towards St. Bridget's Bay, and the third, +having put on the shoes of the deceased, carried the body along the +shore to the Bay. This would account for the great depth and short +stride of the tracks that have been spoken of as those of the deceased. +Having reached the Bay, I believe that this man laid the corpse down on +his tracks, and then trampled the sand in the neighbourhood. He next +took off deceased's shoes and put them on the corpse; then he put on a +pair of boots or shoes which he had been carrying--perhaps hung round +his neck--and which had been prepared with nails to imitate Draper's +shoes. In these shoes he again trampled over the area near the corpse. +Then he walked backwards to the Shepherd's Path, and from it again, +still backwards, to the face of the cliff. Here his accomplice had +lowered a rope, by which he climbed up to the top. At the top he took +off the nailed shoes, and the two men walked back to the Gap, where the +man who had carried the rope took his confederate on his back, and +carried him down to the boat to avoid leaving the tracks of stockinged +feet. The tracks that I saw at the Gap certainly indicated that the man +was carrying something very heavy when he returned to the boat." + +"But why should the man have climbed a rope up the cliff when he could +have walked up the Shepherd's Path?" the magistrate asked. + +"Because," replied Thorndyke, "there would then have been a set of +tracks leading out of the Bay without a corresponding set leading into +it; and this would have instantly suggested to a smart +police-officer--such as Sergeant Payne--a landing from a boat." + +"Your explanation is highly ingenious," said the magistrate, "and +appears to cover all the very remarkable facts. Have you anything more +to tell us?" + +"No, your Worship," was the reply, "excepting" (here he took from Polton +the last pair of moulds and passed them up to the magistrate) "that you +will probably find these moulds of importance presently." + +As Thorndyke stepped from the box--for there was no +cross-examination--the magistrates scrutinized the moulds with an air of +perplexity; but they were too discreet to make any remark. + +When the evidence of Professor Copland (which showed that an +unquestionably lethal dose of morphia must have been swallowed) had been +taken, the clerk called out the--to me--unfamiliar name of Jacob Gummer. +Thereupon an enormous pair of brown dreadnought trousers, from the upper +end of which a smack-boy's head and shoulders protruded, walked into the +witness-box. + +Jacob admitted at the outset that he was a smack-master's apprentice, +and that he had been "hired out" by his master to one Mr. Jezzard as +deck-hand and cabin-boy of the yacht _Otter_. + +"Now, Gummer," said Anstey, "do you remember the prisoner coming on +board the yacht?" + +"Yes. He has been on board twice. The first time was about a month ago. +He went for a sail with us then. The second time was on the night when +Mr. Hearn was murdered." + +"Do you remember what sort of boots the prisoner was wearing the first +time he came?" + +"Yes. They were shoes with a lot of nails in the soles. I remember them +because Mr. Jezzard made him take them off and put on a canvas pair." + +"What was done with the nailed shoes?" + +"Mr. Jezzard took 'em below to the cabin." + +"And did Mr. Jezzard come up on deck again directly?" + +"No. He stayed down in the cabin about ten minutes." + +"Do you remember a parcel being delivered on board from a London +boot-maker?" + +"Yes. The postman brought it about four or five days after Mr. Draper +had been on board. It was labelled 'Walker Bros., Boot and Shoe Makers, +London.' Mr. Jezzard took a pair of shoes from it, for I saw them on the +locker in the cabin the same day." + +"Did you ever see him wear them?" + +"No. I never see 'em again." + +"Have you ever heard sounds of hammering on the yacht?" + +"Yes. The night after the parcel came I was on the quay alongside, and I +heard someone a-hammering in the cabin." + +"What did the hammering sound like?" + +"It sounded like a cobbler a-hammering in nails." + +"Have you over seen any boot-nails on the yacht?" + +"Yes. When I was a-clearin' up the cabin the next mornin', I found a +hobnail on the floor in a corner by the locker." + +"Were you on board on the night when Mr. Hearn died?" + +"Yes. I'd been ashore, but I came aboard about half-past nine." + +"Did you see Mr. Hearn go ashore?" + +"I see him leave the yacht. I had turned into my bunk and gone to sleep, +when Mr. Jezzard calls down to me: 'We're putting Mr. Hearn ashore,' +says he; 'and then,' he says, 'we're a-going for an hour's fishing. You +needn't sit up,' he says, and with that he shuts the scuttle. Then I got +up and slid back the scuttle and put my head out, and I see Mr. Jezzard +and Mr. Leach a-helpin' Mr. Hearn acrost the deck. Mr. Hearn he looked +as if he was drunk. They got him into the boat--and a rare job they +had--and Mr. Pitford, what was in the boat already, he pushed off. And +then I popped my head in again, 'cause I didn't want them to see me." + +"Did they row to the steps?" + +"No. I put my head out again when they were gone, and I heard 'em row +round the yacht, and then pull out towards the mouth of the harbour. I +couldn't see the boat, 'cause it was a very dark night." + +"Very well. Now I am going to ask you about another matter. Do you know +anyone of the name of Polton?" + +"Yes," replied Gummer, turning a dusky red. "I've just found out his +real name. I thought he was called Simmons." + +"Tell us what you know about him," said Anstey, with a mischievous +smile. + +"Well," said the boy, with a ferocious scowl at the bland and smiling +Polton, "one day he come down to the yacht when the gentlemen had gone +ashore. I believe he'd seen 'em go. And he offers me ten shillin' to let +him see all the boots and shoes we'd got on board. I didn't see no harm, +so I turns out the whole lot in the cabin for him to look at. While he +was lookin' at 'em he asks me to fetch a pair of mine from the fo'c'sle, +so I fetches 'em. When I come back he was pitchin' the boots and shoes +back into the locker. Then, presently, he nips off, and when he was +gone I looked over the shoes, and then I found there was a pair missing. +They was an old pair of Mr. Jezzard's, and what made him nick 'em is +more than I can understand." + +"Would you know those shoes if you saw them!" + +"Yes, I should," replied the lad. + +"Are these the pair?" Anstey handed the boy a pair of dilapidated canvas +shoes, which he seized eagerly. + +"Yes, these is the ones what he stole!" he exclaimed. + +Anstey took them back from the boy's reluctant hands, and passed them up +to the magistrate's desk. "I think," said he, "that if your Worship will +compare these shoes with the last pair of moulds, you will have no doubt +that these are the shoes which made the footprints from the sea to +Sundersley Gap and back again." + +The magistrates together compared the shoes and the moulds amidst a +breathless silence. At length the chairman laid them down on the desk. + +"It is impossible to doubt it," said he. "The broken heel and the tear +in the rubber sole, with the remains of the chequered pattern, make the +identity practically certain." + +As the chairman made this statement I involuntarily glanced round to the +place where Jezzard was sitting. But he was not there; neither he, nor +Pitford, nor Leach. Taking advantage of the preoccupation of the Court, +they had quietly slipped out of the door. But I was not the only person +who had noted their absence. The inspector and the sergeant were already +in earnest consultation, and a minute later they, too, hurriedly +departed. + +The proceedings now speedily came to an end. After a brief discussion +with his brother-magistrates, the chairman addressed the Court. + +"The remarkable and I may say startling evidence, which has been heard +in this court to-day, if it has not fixed the guilt of this crime on any +individual, has, at any rate, made it clear to our satisfaction that the +prisoner is not the guilty person, and he is accordingly discharged. Mr. +Draper, I have great pleasure in informing you that you are at liberty +to leave the court, and that you do so entirely clear of all suspicion; +and I congratulate you very heartily on the skill and ingenuity of your +legal advisers, but for which the decision of the Court would, I am +afraid, have been very different." + +That evening, lawyers, witnesses, and the jubilant and grateful client +gathered round a truly festive board to dine, and fight over again the +battle of the day. But we were scarcely halfway through our meal when, +to the indignation of the servants, Sergeant Payne burst breathlessly +into the room. + +"They've gone, sir!" he exclaimed, addressing Thorndyke. "They've given +us the slip for good." + +"Why, how can that be?" asked Thorndyke. + +"They're dead, sir! All three of them!" + +"Dead!" we all exclaimed. + +"Yes. They made a burst for the yacht when they left the court, and they +got on board and put out to sea at once, hoping, no doubt, to get clear +as the light was just failing. But they were in such a hurry that they +did not see a steam trawler that was entering, and was hidden by the +pier. Then, just at the entrance, as the yacht was creeping out, the +trawler hit her amidships, and fairly cut her in two. The three men were +in the water in an instant, and were swept away in the eddy behind the +north pier; and before any boat could put out to them they had all gone +under. Jezzard's body came up on the beach just as I was coming away." + +We were all silent and a little awed, but if any of us felt regret at +the catastrophe, it was at the thought that three such cold-blooded +villains should have made so easy an exit; and to one of us, at least, +the news came as a blessed relief. + + + + +II + +THE STRANGER'S LATCHKEY + + +The contrariety of human nature is a subject that has given a surprising +amount of occupation to makers of proverbs and to those moral +philosophers who make it their province to discover and expound the +glaringly obvious; and especially have they been concerned to enlarge +upon that form of perverseness which engenders dislike of things offered +under compulsion, and arouses desire of them as soon as their attainment +becomes difficult or impossible. They assure us that a man who has had a +given thing within his reach and put it by, will, as soon as it is +beyond his reach, find it the one thing necessary and desirable; even as +the domestic cat which has turned disdainfully from the preferred +saucer, may presently be seen with her head jammed hard in the milk-jug, +or, secretly and with horrible relish, slaking her thirst at the +scullery sink. + +To this peculiarity of the human mind was due, no doubt, the fact that +no sooner had I abandoned the clinical side of my profession in favour +of the legal, and taken up my abode in the chambers of my friend +Thorndyke, the famous medico-legal expert, to act as his assistant or +junior, than my former mode of life--that of a locum tenens, or minder +of other men's practices--which had, when I was following it, seemed +intolerably irksome, now appeared to possess many desirable features; +and I found myself occasionally hankering to sit once more by the +bedside, to puzzle out the perplexing train of symptoms, and to wield +that power--the greatest, after all, possessed by man--the power to +banish suffering and ward off the approach of death itself. + +Hence it was that on a certain morning of the long vacation I found +myself installed at The Larches, Burling, in full charge of the practice +of my old friend Dr. Hanshaw, who was taking a fishing holiday in +Norway. I was not left desolate, however, for Mrs. Hanshaw remained at +her post, and the roomy, old-fashioned house accommodated three visitors +in addition. One of these was Dr. Hanshaw's sister, a Mrs. Haldean, the +widow of a wealthy Manchester cotton factor; the second was her niece by +marriage, Miss Lucy Haldean, a very handsome and charming girl of +twenty-three; while the third was no less a person than Master Fred, the +only child of Mrs. Haldean, and a strapping boy of six. + +"It is quite like old times--and very pleasant old times, too--to see +you sitting at our breakfast-table, Dr. Jervis." With these gracious +words and a friendly smile, Mrs. Hanshaw handed me my tea-cup. + +I bowed. "The highest pleasure of the altruist," I replied, "is in +contemplating the good fortune of others." + +Mrs. Haldean laughed. "Thank you," she said. "You are quite unchanged, I +perceive. Still as suave and as--shall I say oleaginous?" + +"No, please don't!" I exclaimed in a tone of alarm. + +"Then I won't. But what does Dr. Thorndyke say to this backsliding on +your part? How does he regard this relapse from medical jurisprudence to +common general practice?" + +"Thorndyke," said I, "is unmoved by any catastrophe; and he not only +regards the 'Decline and Fall-off of the Medical Jurist' with +philosophic calm, but he even favours the relapse, as you call it. He +thinks it may be useful to me to study the application of medico-legal +methods to general practice." + +"That sounds rather unpleasant--for the patients, I mean," remarked Miss +Haldean. + +"Very," agreed her aunt. "Most cold-blooded. What sort of man is Dr. +Thorndyke? I feel quite curious about him. Is he at all human, for +instance?" + +"He is entirely human," I replied; "the accepted tests of humanity +being, as I understand, the habitual adoption of the erect posture in +locomotion, and the relative position of the end of the thumb--" + +"I don't mean that," interrupted Mrs. Haldean. "I mean human in things +that matter." + +"I think those things matter," I rejoined. "Consider, Mrs. Haldean, what +would happen if my learned colleague were to be seen in wig and gown, +walking towards the Law Courts in any posture other than the erect. It +would be a public scandal." + +"Don't talk to him, Mabel," said Mrs. Hanshaw; "he is incorrigible. What +are you doing with yourself this morning, Lucy?" + +Miss Haldean (who had hastily set down her cup to laugh at my imaginary +picture of Dr. Thorndyke in the character of a quadruped) considered a +moment. + +"I think I shall sketch that group of birches at the edge of Bradham +Wood," she said. + +"Then, in that case," said I, "I can carry your traps for you, for I +have to see a patient in Bradham." + +"He is making the most of his time," remarked Mrs. Haldean maliciously +to my hostess. "He knows that when Mr. Winter arrives he will retire +into the extreme background." + +Douglas Winter, whose arrival was expected in the course of the week, +was Miss Haldean's fiancé. Their engagement had been somewhat +protracted, and was likely to be more so, unless one of them received +some unexpected accession of means; for Douglas was a subaltern in the +Royal Engineers, living, with great difficulty, on his pay, while Lucy +Haldean subsisted on an almost invisible allowance left her by an uncle. + +I was about to reply to Mrs. Haldean when a patient was announced, and, +as I had finished my breakfast, I made my excuses and left the table. + +Half an hour later, when I started along the road to the village of +Bradham, I had two companions. Master Freddy had joined the party, and +he disputed with me the privilege of carrying the "traps," with the +result that a compromise was effected, by which he carried the +camp-stool, leaving me in possession of the easel, the bag, and a large +bound sketching-block. + +"Where are you going to work this morning?" I asked, when we had trudged +on some distance. + +"Just off the road to the left there, at the edge of the wood. Not very +far from the house of the mysterious stranger." She glanced at me +mischievously as she made this reply, and chuckled with delight when I +rose at the bait. + +"What house do you mean?" I inquired. + +"Ha!" she exclaimed, "the investigator of mysteries is aroused. He +saith, 'Ha! ha!' amidst the trumpets; he smelleth the battle afar off." + +"Explain instantly," I commanded, "or I drop your sketch-block into the +very next puddle." + +"You terrify me," said she. "But I will explain, only there isn't any +mystery except to the bucolic mind. The house is called Lavender +Cottage, and it stands alone in the fields behind the wood. A fortnight +ago it was let furnished to a stranger named Whitelock, who has taken it +for the purpose of studying the botany of the district; and the only +really mysterious thing about him is that no one has seen him. All +arrangements with the house-agent were made by letter, and, as far as I +can make out, none of the local tradespeople supply him, so he must get +his things from a distance--even his bread, which really is rather odd. +Now say I am an inquisitive, gossiping country bumpkin." + +"I was going to," I answered, "but it is no use now." + +She relieved me of her sketching appliances with pretended indignation, +and crossed into the meadow, leaving me to pursue my way alone; and when +I presently looked back, she was setting up her easel and stool, gravely +assisted by Freddy. + +My "round," though not a long one, took up more time than I had +anticipated, and it was already past the luncheon hour when I passed the +place where I had left Miss Haldean. She was gone, as I had expected, +and I hurried homewards, anxious to be as nearly punctual as possible. +When I entered the dining-room, I found Mrs. Haldean and our hostess +seated at the table, and both looked up at me expectantly. + +"Have you seen Lucy?" the former inquired. + +"No," I answered. "Hasn't she come back? I expected to find her here. +She had left the wood when I passed just now." + +Mrs. Haldean knitted her brows anxiously. "It is very strange," she +said, "and very thoughtless of her. Freddy will be famished." + +I hurried over my lunch, for two fresh messages had come in from +outlying hamlets, effectually dispelling my visions of a quiet +afternoon; and as the minutes passed without bringing any signs of the +absentees, Mrs. Haldean became more and more restless and anxious. At +length her suspense became unbearable; she rose suddenly, announcing her +intention of cycling up the road to look for the defaulters, but as she +was moving towards the door, it burst open, and Lucy Haldean staggered +into the room. + +Her appearance filled us with alarm. She was deadly pale, breathless, +and wild-eyed; her dress was draggled and torn, and she trembled from +head to foot. + +"Good God, Lucy!" gasped Mrs. Haldean. "What has happened? And where is +Freddy?" she added in a sterner tone. + +"He is lost!" replied Miss Haldean in a faint voice, and with a catch in +her breath. "He strayed away while I was painting. I have searched the +wood through, and called to him, and looked in all the meadows. Oh! +where can he have gone?" Her sketching "kit," with which she was loaded, +slipped from her grasp and rattled on to the floor, and she buried her +face in her hands and sobbed hysterically. + +"And you have dared to come back without him?" exclaimed Mrs. Haldean. + +"I was getting exhausted. I came back for help," was the faint reply. + +"Of course she was exhausted," said Mrs. Hanshaw. "Come, Lucy: come, +Mabel; don't make mountains out of molehills. The little man is safe +enough. We shall find him presently, or he will come home by himself. +Come and have some food, Lucy." + +Miss Haldean shook her head. "I can't, Mrs. Hanshaw--really I can't," +she said; and, seeing that she was in a state of utter exhaustion, I +poured out a glass of wine and made her drink it. + +Mrs. Haldean darted from the room, and returned immediately, putting on +her hat. "You have got to come with me and show me whore you lost him," +she said. + +"She can't do that, you know," I said rather brusquely. "She will have +to lie down for the present. But I know the place, and will cycle up +with you." + +"Very well," replied Mrs. Haldean, "that will do. What time was it," she +asked, turning to her niece, "when you lost the child? and which way--" + +She paused abruptly, and I looked at her in surprise. She had suddenly +turned ashen and ghastly; her face had set like a mask of stone, with +parted lips and staring eyes that were fixed in horror on her niece. + +There was a deathly silence for a few seconds. Then, in a terrible +voice, she demanded: "What is that on your dress, Lucy?" And, after a +pause, her voice rose into a shriek. "What have you done to my boy?" + +I glanced in astonishment at the dazed and terrified girl, and then I +saw what her aunt had seen--a good-sized blood-stain halfway down the +front of her skirt, and another smaller one on her right sleeve. The +girl herself looked down at the sinister patch of red and then up at her +aunt. "It looks like--like blood," she stammered. "Yes, it is--I +think--of course it is. He struck his nose--and it bled--" + +"Come," interrupted Mrs. Haldean, "let us go," and she rushed from the +room, leaving me to follow. + +I lifted Miss Haldean, who was half fainting with fatigue and agitation, +on to the sofa, and, whispering a few words of encouragement into her +ear, turned to Mrs. Hanshaw. + +"I can't stay with Mrs. Haldean," I said. "There are two visits to be +made at Rebworth. Will you send the dogcart up the road with somebody to +take my place?" + +"Yes," she answered. "I will send Giles, or come myself if Lucy is fit +to be left." + +I ran to the stables for my bicycle, and as I pedalled out into the road +I could see Mrs. Haldean already far ahead, driving her machine at +frantic speed. I followed at a rapid pace, but it was not until we +approached the commencement of the wood, when she slowed down somewhat, +that I overtook her. + +"This is the place," I said, as we reached the spot where I had parted +from Miss Haldean. We dismounted and wheeled our bicycles through the +gate, and laying them down beside the hedge, crossed the meadow and +entered the wood. + +It was a terrible experience, and one that I shall never forget--the +white-faced, distracted woman, tramping in her flimsy house-shoes over +the rough ground, bursting through the bushes, regardless of the thorny +branches that dragged at skin and hair and dainty clothing, and sending +forth from time to time a tremulous cry, so dreadfully pathetic in its +mingling of terror and coaxing softness, that a lump rose in my throat, +and I could barely keep my self-control. + +"Freddy! Freddy-boy! Mummy's here, darling!" The wailing cry sounded +through the leafy solitude; but no answer came save the whirr of wings +or the chatter of startled birds. But even more shocking than that +terrible cry--more disturbing and eloquent with dreadful suggestion--was +the way in which she peered, furtively, but with fearful expectation, +among the roots of the bushes, or halted to gaze upon every molehill and +hummock, every depression or disturbance of the ground. + +So we stumbled on for a while, with never a word spoken, until we came +to a beaten track or footpath leading across the wood. Here I paused to +examine the footprints, of which several were visible in the soft earth, +though none seemed very recent; but, proceeding a little way down the +track, I perceived, crossing it, a set of fresh imprints, which I +recognized at once as Miss Haldean's. She was wearing, as I knew, a pair +of brown golf-boots, with rubber pads in the leather soles, and the +prints made by them were unmistakable. + +"Miss Haldean crossed the path here," I said, pointing to the +footprints. + +"Don't speak of her before me!" exclaimed Mrs. Haldean; but she gazed +eagerly at the footprints, nevertheless, and immediately plunged into +the wood to follow the tracks. + +"You are very unjust to your niece, Mrs. Haldean," I ventured to +protest. + +She halted, and faced me with an angry frown. + +"You don't understand!" she exclaimed. "You don't know, perhaps, that +if my poor child is really dead, Lucy Haldean will be a rich woman, and +may marry to-morrow if she chooses?" + +"I did not know that," I answered, "but if I had, I should have said the +same." + +"Of course you would," she retorted bitterly. "A pretty face can muddle +any man's judgment." + +She turned away abruptly to resume her pursuit, and I followed in +silence. The trail which we were following zigzagged through the +thickest part of the wood, but its devious windings eventually brought +us out on to an open space on the farther side. Here we at once +perceived traces of another kind. A litter of dirty rags, pieces of +paper, scraps of stale bread, bones and feathers, with hoof-marks, wheel +ruts, and the ashes of a large wood fire, pointed clearly to a gipsy +encampment recently broken up. I laid my hand on the heap of ashes, and +found it still warm, and on scattering it with my foot a layer of +glowing cinders appeared at the bottom. + +"These people have only been gone an hour or two," I said. "It would be +well to have them followed without delay." + +A gleam of hope shone on the drawn, white face as the bereaved mother +caught eagerly at my suggestion. + +"Yes," she exclaimed breathlessly; "she may have bribed them to take him +away. Let us see which way they went." + +We followed the wheel tracks down to the road, and found that they +turned towards London. At the same time I perceived the dogcart in the +distance, with Mrs. Hanshaw standing beside it; and, as the coachman +observed me, he whipped up his horse and approached. + +"I shall have to go," I said, "but Mrs. Hanshaw will help you to +continue the search." + +"And you will make inquiries about the gipsies, won't you?" she said. + +I promised to do so, and as the dogcart now came up, I climbed to the +seat, and drove off briskly up the London Road. + +The extent of a country doctor's round is always an unknown quantity. On +the present occasion I picked up three additional patients, and as one +of them was a case of incipient pleurisy, which required to have the +chest strapped, and another was a neglected dislocation of the shoulder, +a great deal of time was taken up. Moreover, the gipsies, whom I ran to +earth on Rebworth Common, delayed me considerably, though I had to leave +the rural constable to carry out the actual search, and, as a result, +the clock of Burling Church was striking six as I drove through the +village on my way home. + +I got down at the front gate, leaving the coachman to take the dogcart +round, and walked up the drive; and my astonishment may be imagined +when, on turning the corner, I came suddenly upon the inspector of the +local police in earnest conversation with no less a person than John +Thorndyke. + +"What on earth has brought you here?" I exclaimed, my surprise getting +the better of my manners. + +"The ultimate motive-force," he replied, "was an impulsive lady named +Mrs. Haldean. She telegraphed for me--in your name." + +"She oughtn't to have done that," I said. + +"Perhaps not. But the ethics of an agitated woman are not worth +discussing, and she has done something much worse--she has applied to +the local J.P. (a retired Major-General), and our gallant and unlearned +friend has issued a warrant for the arrest of Lucy Haldean on the charge +of murder." + +"But there has been no murder!" I exclaimed. + +"That," said Thorndyke, "is a legal subtlety that he does not +appreciate. He has learned his law in the orderly-room, where the +qualifications to practise are an irritable temper and a loud voice. +However, the practical point is, inspector, that the warrant is +irregular. You can't arrest people for hypothetical crimes." + +The officer drew a deep breath of relief. He knew all about the +irregularity, and now joyfully took refuge behind Thorndyke's great +reputation. + +When he had departed--with a brief note from my colleague to the +General--Thorndyke slipped his arm through mine, and we strolled towards +the house. + +"This is a grim business, Jervis," said he. "That boy has got to be +found for everybody's sake. Can you come with me when you have had some +food?" + +"Of course I can. I have been saving myself all the afternoon with a +view to continuing the search." + +"Good," said Thorndyke. "Then come in and feed." + +A nondescript meal, half tea and half dinner, was already prepared, and +Mrs. Hanshaw, grave but self-possessed, presided at the table. + +"Mabel is still out with Giles, searching for the boy," she said. "You +have heard what she has done!" + +I nodded. + +"It was dreadful of her," continued Mrs. Hanshaw, "but she is half mad, +poor thing. You might run up and say a few kind words to poor Lucy while +I make the tea." + +I went up at once and knocked at Miss Haldean's door, and, being bidden +to enter, found her lying on the sofa, red-eyed and pale, the very ghost +of the merry, laughing girl who had gone out with me in the morning. I +drew up a chair, and sat down by her side, and as I took the hand she +held out to me, she said: + +"It is good of you to come and see a miserable wretch like me. And Jane +has been so sweet to me, Dr. Jervis; but Aunt Mabel thinks I have killed +Freddy--you know she does--and it was really my fault that he was lost. +I shall never forgive myself!" + +She burst into a passion of sobbing, and I proceeded to chide her +gently. + +"You are a silly little woman," I said, "to take this nonsense to heart +as you are doing. Your aunt is not responsible just now, as you must +know; but when we bring the boy home she shall make you a handsome +apology. I will see to that." + +She pressed my hand gratefully, and as the bell now rang for tea, I bade +her have courage and went downstairs. + +"You need not trouble about the practice," said Mrs. Hanshaw, as I +concluded my lightning repast, and Thorndyke went off to get our +bicycles. "Dr. Symons has heard of our trouble, and has called to say +that he will take anything that turns up; so we shall expect you when we +see you." + +"How do you like Thorndyke?" I asked. + +"He is quite charming," she replied enthusiastically; "so tactful and +kind, and so handsome, too. You didn't tell us that. But here he is. +Good-bye, and good luck." + +She pressed my hand, and I went out into the drive, where Thorndyke and +the coachman were standing with three bicycles. + +"I see you have brought your outfit," I said as we turned into the road; +for Thorndyke's machine bore a large canvas-covered case strapped on to +a strong bracket. + +"Yes; there are many things that we may want on a quest of this kind. +How did you find Miss Haldean?" + +"Very miserable, poor girl. By the way, have you heard anything about +her pecuniary interest in the child's death?" + +"Yes," said Thorndyke. "It appears that the late Mr. Haldean used up all +his brains on his business, and had none left for the making of his +will--as often happens. He left almost the whole of his property--about +eighty thousand pounds--to his son, the widow to have a life-interest in +it. He also left to his late brother's daughter, Lucy, fifty pounds a +year, and to his surviving brother Percy, who seems to have been a +good-for-nothing, a hundred a year for life. But--and here is the utter +folly of the thing--if the son should die, the property was to be +equally divided between the brother and the niece, with the exception of +five hundred a year for life to the widow. It was an insane +arrangement." + +"Quite," I agreed, "and a very dangerous one for Lucy Haldean, as things +are at present." + +"Very; especially if anything should have happened to the child." + +"What are you going to do now?" I inquired, seeing that Thorndyke rode +on as if with a definite purpose. + +"There is a footpath through the wood," he replied. "I want to examine +that. And there is a house behind the wood which I should like to see." + +"The house of the mysterious stranger," I suggested. + +"Precisely. Mysterious and solitary strangers invite inquiry." + +We drew up at the entrance to the footpath, leaving Willett the coachman +in charge of the three machines, and proceeded up the narrow track. As +we went, Thorndyke looked back at the prints of our feet, and nodded +approvingly. + +"This soft loam," he remarked, "yields beautifully clear impressions, +and yesterday's rain has made it perfect." + +We had not gone far when we perceived a set of footprints which I +recognized, as did Thorndyke also, for he remarked: "Miss +Haldean--running, and alone." Presently we met them again, crossing in +the opposite direction, together with the prints of small shoes with +very high heels. "Mrs. Haldean on the track of her niece," was +Thorndyke's comment; and a minute later we encountered them both again, +accompanied by my own footprints. + +"The boy does not seem to have crossed the path at all," I remarked as +we walked on, keeping off the track itself to avoid confusing the +footprints. + +"We shall know when we have examined the whole length," replied +Thorndyke, plodding on with his eyes on the ground. "Ha! here is +something new," he added, stopping short and stooping down eagerly--"a +man with a thick stick--a smallish man, rather lame. Notice the +difference between the two feet, and the peculiar way in which he uses +his stick. Yes, Jervis, there is a great deal to interest us in these +footprints. Do you notice anything very suggestive about them?" + +"Nothing but what you have mentioned," I replied. "What do you mean?" + +"Well, first there is the very singular character of the prints +themselves, which we will consider presently. You observe that this man +came down the path, and at this point turned off into the wood; then he +returned from the wood and went up the path again. The imposition of the +prints makes that clear. But now look at the two sets of prints, and +compare them. Do you notice any difference?" + +"The returning footprints seem more distinct--better impressions." + +"Yes; they are noticeably deeper. But there is something else." He +produced a spring tape from his pocket, and took half a dozen +measurements. "You see," he said, "the first set of footprints have a +stride of twenty-one inches from heel to heel--a short stride; but he is +a smallish man, and lame; the returning ones have a stride of only +nineteen and a half inches; hence the returning footprints are deeper +than the others, and the steps are shorter. What do you make of that?" + +"It would suggest that he was carrying a burden when he returned," I +replied. + +"Yes; and a heavy one, to make that difference in the depth. I think I +will get you to go and fetch Willett and the bicycles." + +I strode off down the path to the entrance, and, taking possession of +Thorndyke's machine, with its precious case of instruments, bade Willett +follow with the other two. + +When I returned, my colleague was standing with his hands behind him, +gazing with intense preoccupation at the footprints. He looked up +sharply as we approached, and called out to us to keep off the path if +possible. + +"Stay here with the machines, Willett," said he. "You and I, Jervis, +must go and see where our friend went to when he left the path, and what +was the burden that he picked up." + +We struck off into the wood, where last year's dead leaves made the +footprints almost indistinguishable, and followed the faint double track +for a long distance between the dense clumps of bushes. Suddenly my eye +caught, beside the double trail, a third row of tracks, smaller in size +and closer together. Thorndyke had seen them, too, and already his +measuring-tape was in his hand. + +"Eleven and a half inches to the stride," said he. "That will be the +boy, Jervis. But the light is getting weak. We must press on quickly, or +we shall lose it." + +Some fifty yards farther on, the man's tracks ceased abruptly, but the +small ones continued alone; and we followed them as rapidly as we could +in the fading light. + +"There can be no reasonable doubt that these are the child's tracks," +said Thorndyke; "but I should like to find a definite footprint to make +the identification absolutely certain." + +A few seconds later he halted with an exclamation, and stooped on one +knee. A little heap of fresh earth from the surface-burrow of a mole had +been thrown up over the dead leaves; and fairly planted on it was the +clean and sharp impression of a diminutive foot, with a rubber heel +showing a central star. Thorndyke drew from his pocket a tiny shoe, and +pressed it on the soft earth beside the footprint; and when he raised it +the second impression was identical with the first. + +"The boy had two pairs of shoes exactly alike," he said, "so I borrowed +one of the duplicate pair." + +He turned, and began to retrace his steps rapidly, following our own +fresh tracks, and stopping only once to point out the place where the +unknown man had picked the child up. When we regained the path we +proceeded without delay until we emerged from the wood within a hundred +yards of the cottage. + +"I see Mrs. Haldean has been here with Giles," remarked Thorndyke, as he +pushed open the garden-gate. "I wonder if they saw anybody." + +He advanced to the door, and having first rapped with his knuckles and +then kicked at it vigorously, tried the handle. + +"Locked," he observed, "but I see the key is in the lock, so we can get +in if we want to. Let us try the back." + +The back door was locked, too, but the key had been removed. + +"He came out this way, evidently," said Thorndyke, "though he went in at +the front, as I suppose you noticed. Let us see where he went." + +The back garden was a small, fenced patch of ground, with an earth path +leading down to the back gate. A little way beyond the gate was a small +barn or outhouse. + +"We are in luck," Thorndyke remarked, with a glance at the path. +"Yesterday's rain has cleared away all old footprints, and prepared the +surface for new ones. You see there are three sets of excellent +impressions--two leading away from the house, and one set towards it. +Now, you notice that both of the sets leading _from_ the house are +characterized by deep impressions and short steps, while the set leading +_to_ the house has lighter impressions and longer steps. The obvious +inference is that he went down the path with a heavy burden, came back +empty-handed, and went down again--and finally--with another heavy +burden. You observe, too, that he walked with his stick on each +occasion." + +By this time we had reached the bottom of the garden. Opening the gate, +we followed the tracks towards the outhouse, which stood beside a +cart-track; but as we came round the corner we both stopped short and +looked at one another. On the soft earth were the very distinct +impressions of the tyres of a motor-car leading from the wide door of +the outhouse. Finding that the door was unfastened, Thorndyke opened it, +and looked in, to satisfy himself that the place was empty. Then he fell +to studying the tracks. + +"The course of events is pretty plain," he observed. "First the fellow +brought down his luggage, started the engine, and got the car out--you +can see where it stood, both by the little pool of oil, and by the +widening and blurring of the wheel-tracks from the vibration of the free +engine; then he went back and fetched the boy--carried him pick-a-back, +I should say, judging by the depth of the toe-marks in the last set of +footprints. That was a tactical mistake. He should have taken the boy +straight into the shed." + +He pointed as he spoke to one of the footprints beside the wheel-tracks, +from the toe of which projected a small segment of the print of a little +rubber heel. + +We now made our way back to the house, where we found Willett pensively +rapping at the front door with a cycle-spanner. Thorndyke took a last +glance, with his hand in his pocket, at an open window above, and then, +to the coachman's intense delight, brought forth what looked uncommonly +like a small bunch of skeleton keys. One of these he inserted into the +keyhole, and as he gave it a turn, the lock clicked, and the door stood +open. + +The little sitting-room, which we now entered, was furnished with the +barest necessaries. Its centre was occupied by an oilcloth-covered +table, on which I observed with surprise a dismembered "Bee" clock (the +works of which had been taken apart with a tin-opener that lay beside +them) and a box-wood bird-call. At these objects Thorndyke glanced and +nodded, as though they fitted into some theory that he had formed; +examined carefully the oilcloth around the litter of wheels and pinions, +and then proceeded on a tour of inspection round the room, peering +inquisitively into the kitchen and store-cupboard. + +"Nothing very distinctive or personal here," he remarked. "Let us go +upstairs." + +There were three bedrooms on the upper floor, of which two were +evidently disused, though the windows were wide open. The third bedroom +showed manifest traces of occupation, though it was as bare as the +others, for the water still stood in the wash-hand basin, and the bed +was unmade. To the latter Thorndyke advanced, and, having turned back +the bedclothes, examined the interior attentively, especially at the +foot and the pillow. The latter was soiled--not to say grimy--though the +rest of the bed-linen was quite clean. + +"Hair-dye," remarked Thorndyke, noting my glance at it; then he turned +and looked out of the open window. "Can you see the place where Miss +Haldean was sitting to sketch?" he asked. + +"Yes," I replied; "there is the place well in view, and you can see +right up the road. I had no idea this house stood so high. From the +three upper windows you can see all over the country excepting through +the wood." + +"Yes," Thorndyke rejoined, "and he has probably been in the habit of +keeping watch up here with a telescope or a pair of field-glasses. Well, +there is not much of interest in this room. He kept his effects in a +cabin trunk which stood there under the window. He shaved this morning. +He has a white beard, to judge by the stubble on the shaving-paper, and +that is all. Wait, though. There is a key hanging on that nail. He must +have overlooked that, for it evidently does not belong to this house. It +is an ordinary town latchkey." + +He took the key down, and having laid a sheet of notepaper, from his +pocket, on the dressing-table, produced a pin, with which he began +carefully to probe the interior of the key-barrel. Presently there came +forth, with much coaxing, a large ball of grey fluff, which Thorndyke +folded up in the paper with infinite care. + +"I suppose we mustn't take away the key," he said, "but I think we will +take a wax mould of it." + +He hurried downstairs, and, unstrapping the case from his bicycle, +brought it in and placed it on the table. As it was now getting dark, he +detached the powerful acetylene lamp from his machine, and, having +lighted it, proceeded to open the mysterious case. First he took from it +a small insufflator, or powder-blower, with which he blew a cloud of +light yellow powder over the table around the remains of the clock. The +powder settled on the table in an even coating, but when he blew at it +smartly with his breath, it cleared off, leaving, however, a number of +smeary impressions which stood out in strong yellow against the black +oilcloth. To one of these impressions he pointed significantly. It was +the print of a child's hand. + +He next produced a small, portable microscope and some glass slides and +cover-slips, and having opened the paper and tipped the ball of fluff +from the key-barrel on to a slide, set to work with a pair of mounted +needles to tease it out into its component parts. Then he turned the +light of the lamp on to the microscope mirror and proceeded to examine +the specimen. + +"A curious and instructive assortment this, Jervis," he remarked, with +his eye at the microscope: "woollen fibres--no cotton or linen; he is +careful of his health to have woollen pockets--and two hairs; very +curious ones, too. Just look at them, and observe the root bulbs." + +I applied my eye to the microscope, and saw, among other things, two +hairs--originally white, but encrusted with a black, opaque, glistening +stain. The root bulbs, I noticed, were shrivelled and atrophied. + +"But how on earth," I exclaimed, "did the hairs get into his pocket?" + +"I think the hairs themselves answer that question," he replied, "when +considered with the other curios. The stain is obviously lead sulphide; +but what else do you see?" + +"I see some particles of metal--a white metal apparently--and a number +of fragments of woody fibre and starch granules, but I don't recognize +the starch. It is not wheat-starch, nor rice, nor potato. Do you make +out what it is?" + +[Illustration: FLUFF FROM KEY-BARREL, MAGNIFIED 77 DIAMETERS.] + +Thorndyke chuckled. "Experientia does it," said he. "You will have, +Jervis, to study the minute properties of dust and dirt. Their +evidential value is immense. Let us have another look at that starch; it +is all alike, I suppose." + +It was; and Thorndyke had just ascertained the fact when the door burst +open and Mrs. Haldean entered the room, followed by Mrs. Hanshaw and the +police inspector. The former lady regarded my colleague with a glance of +extreme disfavour. + +"We heard that you had come here, sir," said she, "and we supposed you +were engaged in searching for my poor child. But it seems we were +mistaken, since we find you here amusing yourselves fiddling with these +nonsensical instruments." + +"Perhaps, Mabel," said Mrs. Hanshaw stiffly, "it would be wiser, and +infinitely more polite, to ask if Dr. Thorndyke has any news for us." + +"That is undoubtedly so, madam," agreed the inspector, who had +apparently suffered also from Mrs. Haldean's impulsiveness. + +"Then perhaps," the latter lady suggested, "you will inform us if you +have discovered anything." + +"I will tell you." replied Thorndyke, "all that we know. The child was +abducted by the man who occupied this house, and who appears to have +watched him from an upper window, probably through a glass. This man +lured the child into the wood by blowing this bird-call; he met him in +the wood, and induced him--by some promises, no doubt--to come with him. +He picked the child up and carried him--on his back, I think--up to the +house, and brought him in through the front door, which he locked after +him. He gave the boy this clock and the bird-call to amuse him while he +went upstairs and packed his trunk. He took the trunk out through the +back door and down the garden to the shed there, in which he had a +motor-car. He got the car out and came back for the boy, whom he carried +down to the car, locking the back door after him. Then he drove away." + +"You know he has gone," cried Mrs. Haldean, "and yet you stay here +playing with these ridiculous toys. Why are you not following him?" + +"We have just finished ascertaining the facts," Thorndyke replied +calmly, "and should by now be on the road if you had not come." + +Here the inspector interposed anxiously. "Of course, sir, you can't give +any description of the man. You have no clue to his identity, I +suppose?" + +"We have only his footprints," Thorndyke answered, "and this fluff which +I raked out of the barrel of his latchkey, and have just been examining. +From these data I conclude that he is a rather short and thin man, and +somewhat lame. He walks with the aid of a thick stick, which has a knob, +not a crook, at the top, and which he carries in his left hand. I think +that his left leg has been amputated above the knee, and that he wears +an artificial limb. He is elderly, he shaves his beard, has white hair +dyed a greyish black, is partly bald, and probably combs a wisp of hair +over the bald place; he takes snuff, and carries a leaden comb in his +pocket." + +As Thorndyke's description proceeded, the inspector's mouth gradually +opened wider and wider, until he appeared the very type and symbol of +astonishment. But its effect on Mrs. Haldean was much more remarkable. +Rising from her chair, she leaned on the table and stared at Thorndyke +with an expression of awe--even of terror; and as he finished she sank +back into her chair, with her hands clasped, and turned to Mrs. Hanshaw. + +"Jane!" she gasped, "it is Percy--my brother-in-law! He has described +him exactly, even to his stick and his pocket-comb. But I thought he was +in Chicago." + +"If that is so," said Thorndyke, hastily repacking his case, "we had +better start at once." + +"We have the dogcart in the road," said Mrs. Hanshaw. + +"Thank you," replied Thorndyke. "We will ride on our bicycles, and the +inspector can borrow Willett's. We go out at the back by the cart-track, +which joins the road farther on." + +"Then we will follow in the dogcart," said Mrs. Haldean. "Come, Jane." + +The two ladies departed down the path, while we made ready our bicycles +and lit our lamps. + +"With your permission, inspector," said Thorndyke, "we will take the key +with us." + +"It's hardly legal, sir," objected the officer. "We have no authority." + +"It is quite illegal," answered Thorndyke; "but it is necessary; and +necessity--like your military J.P.--knows no law." + +The inspector grinned and went out, regarding me with a quivering eyelid +as Thorndyke locked the door with his skeleton key. As we turned into +the road, I saw the light of the dogcart behind us, and we pushed +forward at a swift pace, picking up the trail easily on the soft, moist +road. + +"What beats me," said the inspector confidentially, as we rode along, +"is how he knew the man was bald. Was it the footprints or the +latchkey? And that comb, too, that was a regular knock-out." + +These points were, by now, pretty clear to me. I had seen the hairs with +their atrophied bulbs--such as one finds at the margin of a bald patch; +and the comb was used, evidently, for the double purpose of keeping the +bald patch covered and blackening the sulphur-charged hair. But the +knobbed stick and the artificial limb puzzled me so completely that I +presently overtook Thorndyke to demand an explanation. + +"The stick," said he, "is perfectly simple. The ferrule of a knobbed +stick wears evenly all round; that of a crooked stick wears on one +side--the side opposite the crook. The impressions showed that the +ferrule of this one was evenly convex; therefore it had no crook. The +other matter is more complicated. To begin with, an artificial foot +makes a very characteristic impression, owing to its purely passive +elasticity, as I will show you to-morrow. But an artificial leg fitted +below the knee is quite secure, whereas one fitted above the knee--that +is, with an artificial knee-joint worked by a spring--is much less +reliable. Now, this man had an artificial foot, and he evidently +distrusted his knee-joint, as is shown by his steadying it with his +stick on the same side. If he had merely had a weak leg, he would have +used the stick with his right hand--with the natural swing of the arm, +in fact--unless he had been very lame, which he evidently was not. +Still, it was only a question of probability, though the probability was +very great. Of course, you understand that those particles of woody +fibre and starch granules were disintegrated snuff-grains." + +This explanation, like the others, was quite simple when one had heard +it, though it gave me material for much thought as we pedalled on along +the dark road, with Thorndyke's light flickering in front, and the +dogcart pattering in our wake. But there was ample time for reflection; +for our pace rather precluded conversation, and we rode on, mile after +mile, until my legs ached with fatigue. On and on we went through +village after village, now losing the trail in some frequented street, +but picking it up again unfailingly as we emerged on to the country +road, until at last, in the paved High Street of the little town of +Horsefield, we lost it for good. We rode on through the town out on to +the country road; but although there were several tracks of motors, +Thorndyke shook his head at them all. "I have been studying those tyres +until I know them by heart," he said. "No; either he is in the town, or +he has left it by a side road." + +There was nothing for it but to put up the horse and the machines at the +hotel, while we walked round to reconnoitre; and this we did, tramping +up one street and down another, with eyes bent on the ground, +fruitlessly searching for a trace of the missing car. + +Suddenly, at the door of a blacksmith's shop, Thorndyke halted. The shop +had been kept open late for the shoeing of a carriage horse, which was +just being led away, and the smith had come to the door for a breath of +air. Thorndyke accosted him genially. + +"Good-evening. You are just the man I wanted to see. I have mislaid the +address of a friend of mine, who, I think, called on you this +afternoon--a lame gentleman who walks with a stick. I expect he wanted +you to pick a lock or make him a key." + +"Oh, I remember him!" said the man. "Yes, he had lost his latchkey, and +wanted the lock picked before he could get into his house. Had to leave +his motor-car outside while he came here. But I took some keys round +with me, and fitted one to his latch." + +He then directed us to a house at the end of a street close by, and, +having thanked him, we went off in high spirits. + +"How did you know he had been there?" I asked. + +"I didn't; but there was the mark of a stick and part of a left foot on +the soft earth inside the doorway, and the thing was inherently +probable, so I risked a false shot." + +The house stood alone at the far end of a straggling street, and was +enclosed by a high wall, in which, on the side facing the street, was a +door and a wide carriage-gate. Advancing to the former, Thorndyke took +from his pocket the purloined key, and tried it in the lock. It fitted +perfectly, and when he had turned it and pushed open the door, we +entered a small courtyard. Crossing this, we came to the front door of +the house, the latch of which fortunately fitted the same key; and this +having been opened by Thorndyke, we trooped into the hall. Immediately +we heard the sound of an opening door above, and a reedy, nasal voice +sang out: + +"Hello, there! Who's that below?" + +The voice was followed by the appearance of a head projecting over the +baluster rail. + +"You are Mr. Percy Haldean, I think," said the inspector. + +At the mention of this name, the head was withdrawn, and a quick tread +was heard, accompanied by the tapping of a stick on the floor. We +started to ascend the stairs, the inspector leading, as the authorized +official; but we had only gone up a few steps, when a fierce, wiry +little man danced out on to the landing, with a thick stick in one +hand and a very large revolver in the other. + +"Move another step, either of you," he shouted, pointing the weapon at +the inspector, "and I let fly; and mind you, when I shoot I hit." + +[Illustration: THE STRANGER IS RUN TO EARTH.] + +He looked as if he meant it, and we accordingly halted with remarkable +suddenness, while the inspector proceeded to parley. + +"Now, what's the good of this, Mr. Haldean?" said he. "The game's up, +and you know it." + +"You clear out of my house, and clear out sharp," was the inhospitable +rejoinder, "or you'll give me the trouble of burying you in the garden." + +I looked round to consult with Thorndyke, when, to my amazement, I found +that he had vanished--apparently through the open hall-door. I was +admiring his discretion when the inspector endeavoured to reopen +negotiations, but was cut short abruptly. + +"I am going to count fifty," said Mr. Haldean, "and if you aren't gone +then, I shall shoot." + +He began to count deliberately, and the inspector looked round at me in +complete bewilderment. The flight of stairs was a long one, and well +lighted by gas, so that to rush it was an impossibility. Suddenly my +heart gave a bound and I held my breath, for out of an open door behind +our quarry, a figure emerged slowly and noiselessly on to the landing. +It was Thorndyke, shoeless, and in his shirt-sleeves. + +Slowly and with cat-like stealthiness, he crept across the landing until +he was within a yard of the unconscious fugitive, and still the nasal +voice droned on, monotonously counting out the allotted seconds. + +"Forty-one, forty-two, forty-three--" + +There was a lightning-like movement--a shout--a flash--a bang--a shower +of falling plaster, and then the revolver came clattering down the +stairs. The inspector and I rushed up, and in a moment the sharp click +of the handcuffs told Mr. Percy Haldean that the game was really up. + + * * * * * + +Five minutes later Freddy-boy, half asleep, but wholly cheerful, was +borne on Thorndyke's shoulders into the private sitting-room of the +Black Horse Hotel. A shriek of joy saluted his entrance, and a shower of +maternal kisses brought him to the verge of suffocation. Finally, the +impulsive Mrs. Haldean, turning suddenly to Thorndyke, seized both his +hands, and for a moment I hoped that she was going to kiss him, too. But +he was spared, and I have not yet recovered from the disappointment. + + + + +III + +THE ANTHROPOLOGIST AT LARGE + + +Thorndyke was not a newspaper reader. He viewed with extreme disfavour +all scrappy and miscellaneous forms of literature, which, by presenting +a disorderly series of unrelated items of information, tended, as he +considered, to destroy the habit of consecutive mental effort. + +"It is most important," he once remarked to me, "habitually to pursue a +definite train of thought, and to pursue it to a finish, instead of +flitting indolently from one uncompleted topic to another, as the +newspaper reader is so apt to do. Still, there is no harm in a daily +paper--so long as you don't read it." + +Accordingly, he patronized a morning paper, and his method of dealing +with it was characteristic. The paper was laid on the table after +breakfast, together with a blue pencil and a pair of office shears. A +preliminary glance through the sheets enabled him to mark with the +pencil those paragraphs that were to be read, and these were presently +cut out and looked through, after which they were either thrown away or +set aside to be pasted in an indexed book. + +The whole proceeding occupied, on an average, a quarter of an hour. + +On the morning of which I am now speaking he was thus engaged. The +pencil had done its work, and the snick of the shears announced the +final stage. Presently he paused with a newly-excised cutting between +his fingers, and, after glancing at it for a moment, he handed it to me. + +"Another art robbery," he remarked. "Mysterious affairs, these--as to +motive, I mean. You can't melt down a picture or an ivory carving, and +you can't put them on the market as they stand. The very qualities that +give them their value make them totally unnegotiable." + +"Yet I suppose," said I, "the really inveterate collector--the pottery +or stamp maniac, for instance--will buy these contraband goods even +though he dare not show them." + +"Probably. No doubt the _cupiditas habendi_, the mere desire to possess, +is the motive force rather than any intelligent purpose--" + +The discussion was at this point interrupted by a knock at the door, and +a moment later my colleague admitted two gentlemen. One of these I +recognized as a Mr. Marchmont, a solicitor, for whom we had occasionally +acted; the other was a stranger--a typical Hebrew of the blonde +type--good-looking, faultlessly dressed, carrying a bandbox, and +obviously in a state of the most extreme agitation. + +"Good-morning to you, gentlemen," said Mr. Marchmont, shaking hands +cordially. "I have brought a client of mine to see you, and when I tell +you that his name is Solomon Löwe, it will be unnecessary for me to say +what our business is." + +"Oddly enough," replied Thorndyke, "we were, at the very moment when you +knocked, discussing the bearings of his case." + +"It is a horrible affair!" burst in Mr. Löwe. "I am distracted! I am +ruined! I am in despair!" + +He banged the bandbox down on the table, and flinging himself into a +chair, buried his face in his hands. + +"Come, come," remonstrated Marchmont, "we must be brave, we must be +composed. Tell Dr. Thorndyke your story, and let us hear what he thinks +of it." + +He leaned back in his chair, and looked at his client with that air of +patient fortitude that comes to us all so easily when we contemplate the +misfortunes of other people. + +"You must help us, sir," exclaimed Löwe, starting up again--"you must, +indeed, or I shall go mad. But I shall tell you what has happened, and +then you must act at once. Spare no effort and no expense. Money is no +object--at least, not in reason," he added, with native caution. He sat +down once more, and in perfect English, though with a slight German +accent, proceeded volubly: "My brother Isaac is probably known to you by +name." + +Thorndyke nodded. + +"He is a great collector, and to some extent a dealer--that is to say, +he makes his hobby a profitable hobby." + +"What does he collect?" asked Thorndyke. + +"Everything," replied our visitor, flinging his hands apart with a +comprehensive gesture--"everything that is precious and +beautiful--pictures, ivories, jewels, watches, objects of art and +_vertu_--everything. He is a Jew, and he has that passion for things +that are rich and costly that has distinguished our race from the time +of my namesake Solomon onwards. His house in Howard Street, Piccadilly, +is at once a museum and an art gallery. The rooms are filled with cases +of gems, of antique jewellery, of coins and historic relics--some of +priceless value--and the walls are covered with paintings, every one of +which is a masterpiece. There is a fine collection of ancient weapons +and armour, both European and Oriental; rare books, manuscripts, papyri, +and valuable antiquities from Egypt, Assyria, Cyprus, and elsewhere. You +see, his taste is quite catholic, and his knowledge of rare and curious +things is probably greater than that of any other living man. He is +never mistaken. No forgery deceives him, and hence the great prices that +he obtains; for a work of art purchased from Isaac Löwe is a work +certified as genuine beyond all cavil." + +He paused to mop his face with a silk handkerchief, and then, with the +same plaintive volubility, continued: + +"My brother is unmarried. He lives for his collection, and he lives with +it. The house is not a very large one, and the collection takes up most +of it; but he keeps a suite of rooms for his own occupation, and has two +servants--a man and wife--to look after him. The man, who is a retired +police sergeant, acts as caretaker and watchman; the woman as +housekeeper and cook, if required, but my brother lives largely at his +club. And now I come to this present catastrophe." + +He ran his fingers through his hair, took a deep breath, and continued: + +"Yesterday morning Isaac started for Florence by way of Paris, but his +route was not certain, and he intended to break his journey at various +points as circumstances determined. Before leaving, he put his +collection in my charge, and it was arranged that I should occupy his +rooms in his absence. Accordingly, I sent my things round and took +possession. + +"Now, Dr. Thorndyke, I am closely connected with the drama, and it is my +custom to spend my evenings at my club, of which most of the members are +actors. Consequently, I am rather late in my habits; but last night I +was earlier than usual in leaving my club, for I started for my +brother's house before half-past twelve. I felt, as you may suppose, the +responsibility of the great charge I had undertaken; and you may, +therefore, imagine my horror, my consternation, my despair, when, on +letting myself in with my latchkey, I found a police-inspector, a +sergeant, and a constable in the hall. There had been a robbery, sir, in +my brief absence, and the account that the inspector gave of the affair +was briefly this: + +"While taking the round of his district, he had noticed an empty hansom +proceeding in leisurely fashion along Howard Street. There was nothing +remarkable in this, but when, about ten minutes later, he was returning, +and met a hansom, which he believed to be the same, proceeding along the +same street in the same direction, and at the same easy pace, the +circumstance struck him as odd, and he made a note of the number of the +cab in his pocket-book. It was 72,863, and the time was 11.35. + +"At 11.45 a constable coming up Howard Street noticed a hansom standing +opposite the door of my brother's house, and, while he was looking at +it, a man came out of the house carrying something, which he put in the +cab. On this the constable quickened his pace, and when the man returned +to the house and reappeared carrying what looked like a portmanteau, and +closing the door softly behind him, the policeman's suspicions were +aroused, and he hurried forward, hailing the cabman to stop. + +"The man put his burden into the cab, and sprang in himself. The cabman +lashed his horse, which started off at a gallop, and the policeman broke +into a run, blowing his whistle and flashing his lantern on to the cab. +He followed it round the two turnings into Albemarle Street, and was +just in time to see it turn into Piccadilly, where, of course, it was +lost. However, he managed to note the number of the cab, which was +72,863, and he describes the man as short and thick-set, and thinks he +was not wearing any hat. + +"As he was returning, he met the inspector and the sergeant, who had +heard the whistle, and on his report the three officers hurried to the +house, where they knocked and rang for some minutes without any result. +Being now more than suspicious, they went to the back of the house, +through the mews, where, with great difficulty, they managed to force a +window and effect an entrance into the house. + +"Here their suspicions were soon changed to certainty, for, on reaching +the first-floor, they heard strange muffled groans proceeding from one +of the rooms, the door of which was locked, though the key had not been +removed. They opened the door, and found the caretaker and his wife +sitting on the floor, with their backs against the wall. Both were bound +hand and foot, and the head of each was enveloped in a green-baize bag; +and when the bags were taken off, each was found to be lightly but +effectively gagged. + +"Each told the same story. The caretaker, fancying he heard a noise, +armed himself with a truncheon, and came downstairs to the first-floor, +where he found the door of one of the rooms open, and a light burning +inside. He stepped on tiptoe to the open door, and was peering in, when +he was seized from behind, half suffocated by a pad held over his mouth, +pinioned, gagged, and blindfolded with the bag. + +"His assailant--whom he never saw--was amazingly strong and skilful, and +handled him with perfect ease, although he--the caretaker--is a powerful +man, and a good boxer and wrestler. The same thing happened to the wife, +who had come down to look for her husband. She walked into the same +trap, and was gagged, pinioned, and blindfolded without ever having seen +the robber. So the only description that we have of this villain is that +furnished by the constable." + +"And the caretaker had no chance of using his truncheon?" said +Thorndyke. + +"Well, he got in one backhanded blow over his right shoulder, which he +thinks caught the burglar in the face; but the fellow caught him by the +elbow, and gave his arm such a twist that he dropped the truncheon on +the floor." + +"Is the robbery a very extensive one?" + +"Ah!" exclaimed Mr. Löwe, "that is just what we cannot say. But I fear +it is. It seems that my brother had quite recently drawn out of his bank +four thousand pounds in notes and gold. These little transactions are +often carried out in cash rather than by cheque"--here I caught a +twinkle in Thorndyke's eye--"and the caretaker says that a few days ago +Isaac brought home several parcels, which were put away temporarily in a +strong cupboard. He seemed to be very pleased with his new acquisitions, +and gave the caretaker to understand that they were of extraordinary +rarity and value. + +"Now, this cupboard has been cleared out. Not a vestige is left in it +but the wrappings of the parcels, so, although nothing else has been +touched, it is pretty clear that goods to the value of four thousand +pounds have been taken; but when we consider what an excellent buyer my +brother is, it becomes highly probable that the actual value of those +things is two or three times that amount, or even more. It is a +dreadful, dreadful business, and Isaac will hold me responsible for it +all." + +"Is there no further clue?" asked Thorndyke. "What about the cab, for +instance?" + +"Oh, the cab," groaned Löwe--"that clue failed. The police must have +mistaken the number. They telephoned immediately to all the police +stations, and a watch was set, with the result that number 72,863 was +stopped as it was going home for the night. But it then turned out that +the cab had not been off the rank since eleven o'clock, and the driver +had been in the shelter all the time with several other men. But there +is a clue; I have it here." + +Mr. Löwe's face brightened for once as he reached out for the bandbox. + +"The houses in Howard Street," he explained, as he untied the fastening, +"have small balconies to the first-floor windows at the back. Now, the +thief entered by one of these windows, having climbed up a rain-water +pipe to the balcony. It was a gusty night, as you will remember, and +this morning, as I was leaving the house, the butler next door called to +me and gave me this; he had found it lying in the balcony of his house." + +He opened the bandbox with a flourish, and brought forth a rather shabby +billycock hat. + +"I understand," said he, "that by examining a hat it is possible to +deduce from it, not only the bodily characteristics of the wearer, but +also his mental and moral qualities, his state of health, his pecuniary +position, his past history, and even his domestic relations and the +peculiarities of his place of abode. Am I right in this supposition?" + +The ghost of a smile flitted across Thorndyke's face as he laid the hat +upon the remains of the newspaper. "We must not expect too much," he +observed. "Hats, as you know, have a way of changing owners. Your own +hat, for instance" (a very spruce, hard felt), "is a new one, I think." + +"Got it last week," said Mr. Löwe. + +"Exactly. It is an expensive hat, by Lincoln and Bennett, and I see you +have judiciously written your name in indelible marking-ink on the +lining. Now, a new hat suggests a discarded predecessor. What do you do +with your old hats?" + +"My man has them, but they don't fit him. I suppose he sells them or +gives them away." + +"Very well. Now, a good hat like yours has a long life, and remains +serviceable long after it has become shabby; and the probability is that +many of your hats pass from owner to owner; from you to the +shabby-genteel, and from them to the shabby ungenteel. And it is a fair +assumption that there are, at this moment, an appreciable number of +tramps and casuals wearing hats by Lincoln and Bennett, marked in +indelible ink with the name S. Löwe; and anyone who should examine those +hats, as you suggest, might draw some very misleading deductions as to +the personal habits of S. Löwe." + +Mr. Marchmont chuckled audibly, and then, remembering the gravity of +the occasion, suddenly became portentously solemn. + +"So you think that the hat is of no use, after all?" said Mr. Löwe, in a +tone of deep disappointment. + +"I won't say that," replied Thorndyke. "We may learn something from it. +Leave it with me, at any rate; but you must let the police know that I +have it. They will want to see it, of course." + +"And you will try to get those things, won't you?" pleaded Löwe. + +"I will think over the case. But you understand, or Mr. Marchmont does, +that this is hardly in my province. I am a medical jurist, and this is +not a medico-legal case." + +"Just what I told him," said Marchmont. "But you will do me a great +kindness if you will look into the matter. Make it a medico-legal case," +he added persuasively. + +Thorndyke repeated his promise, and the two men took their departure. + +For some time after they had left, my colleague remained silent, +regarding the hat with a quizzical smile. "It is like a game of +forfeits," he remarked at length, "and we have to find the owner of +'this very pretty thing.'" He lifted it with a pair of forceps into a +better light, and began to look at it more closely. + +"Perhaps," said he, "we have done Mr. Löwe an injustice, after all. This +is certainly a very remarkable hat." + +"It is as round as a basin," I exclaimed. "Why, the fellow's head must +have been turned in a lathe!" + +Thorndyke laughed. "The point," said he, "is this. This is a hard hat, +and so must have fitted fairly, or it could not have been worn; and it +was a cheap hat, and so was not made to measure. But a man with a head +that shape has got to come to a clear understanding with his hat. No +ordinary hat would go on at all. + +"Now, you see what he has done--no doubt on the advice of some friendly +hatter. He has bought a hat of a suitable size, and he has made it +hot--probably steamed it. Then he has jammed it, while still hot and +soft, on to his head, and allowed it to cool and set before removing it. +That is evident from the distortion of the brim. The important corollary +is, that this hat fits his head exactly--is, in fact, a perfect mould of +it; and this fact, together with the cheap quality of the hat, furnishes +the further corollary that it has probably only had a single owner. + +"And now let us turn it over and look at the outside. You notice at once +the absence of old dust. Allowing for the circumstance that it had been +out all night, it is decidedly clean. Its owner has been in the habit of +brushing it, and is therefore presumably a decent, orderly man. But if +you look at it in a good light, you see a kind of bloom on the felt, and +through this lens you can make out particles of a fine white powder +which has worked into the surface." + +He handed me his lens, through which I could distinctly see the +particles to which he referred. + +"Then," he continued, "under the curl of the brim and in the folds of +the hatband, where the brush has not been able to reach it, the powder +has collected quite thickly, and we can see that it is a very fine +powder, and very white, like flour. What do you make of that?" + +"I should say that it is connected with some industry. He may be +engaged in some factory or works, or, at any rate, may live near a +factory, and have to pass it frequently." + +"Yes; and I think we can distinguish between the two possibilities. For, +if he only passes the factory, the dust will be on the outside of the +hat only; the inside will be protected by his head. But if he is engaged +in the works, the dust will be inside, too, as the hat will hang on a +peg in the dust-laden atmosphere, and his head will also be powdered, +and so convey the dust to the inside." + +He turned the hat over once more, and as I brought the powerful lens to +bear upon the dark lining, I could clearly distinguish a number of white +particles in the interstices of the fabric. + +"The powder is on the inside, too," I said. + +He took the lens from me, and, having verified my statement, proceeded +with the examination. "You notice," he said, "that the leather +head-lining is stained with grease, and this staining is more pronounced +at the sides and back. His hair, therefore, is naturally greasy, or he +greases it artificially; for if the staining were caused by +perspiration, it would be most marked opposite the forehead." + +He peered anxiously into the interior of the hat, and eventually turned +down the head-lining; and immediately there broke out upon his face a +gleam of satisfaction. + +"Ha!" he exclaimed. "This is a stroke of luck. I was afraid our neat and +orderly friend had defeated us with his brush. Pass me the small +dissecting forceps, Jervis." + +I handed him the instrument, and he proceeded to pick out daintily from +the space behind the head-lining some half a dozen short pieces of +hair, which he laid, with infinite tenderness, on a sheet of white +paper. + +"There are several more on the other side," I said, pointing them out to +him. + +"Yes, but we must leave some for the police," he answered, with a smile. +"They must have the same chance as ourselves, you know." + +"But surely," I said, as I bent down over the paper, "these are pieces +of horsehair!" + +"I think not," he replied; "but the microscope will show. At any rate, +this is the kind of hair I should expect to find with a head of that +shape." + +"Well, it is extraordinarily coarse," said I, "and two of the hairs are +nearly white." + +"Yes; black hairs beginning to turn grey. And now, as our preliminary +survey has given such encouraging results, we will proceed to more exact +methods; and we must waste no time, for we shall have the police here +presently to rob us of our treasure." + +He folded up carefully the paper containing the hairs, and taking the +hat in both hands, as though it were some sacred vessel, ascended with +me to the laboratory on the next floor. + +"Now, Polton," he said to his laboratory assistant, "we have here a +specimen for examination, and time is precious. First of all, we want +your patent dust-extractor." + +The little man bustled to a cupboard and brought forth a singular +appliance, of his own manufacture, somewhat like a miniature vacuum +cleaner. It had been made from a bicycle foot-pump, by reversing the +piston-valve, and was fitted with a glass nozzle and a small detachable +glass receiver for collecting the dust, at the end of a flexible metal +tube. + +"We will sample the dust from the outside first," said Thorndyke, laying +the hat upon the work-bench. "Are you ready, Polton?" + +The assistant slipped his foot into the stirrup of the pump and worked +the handle vigorously, while Thorndyke drew the glass nozzle slowly +along the hat-brim under the curled edge. And as the nozzle passed +along, the white coating vanished as if by magic, leaving the felt +absolutely clean and black, and simultaneously the glass receiver became +clouded over with a white deposit. + +"We will leave the other side for the police," said Thorndyke, and as +Polton ceased pumping he detached the receiver, and laid it on a sheet +of paper, on which he wrote in pencil, "Outside," and covered it with a +small bell-glass. A fresh receiver having been fitted on, the nozzle was +now drawn over the silk lining of the hat, and then through the space +behind the leather head-lining on one side; and now the dust that +collected in the receiver was much of the usual grey colour and fluffy +texture, and included two more hairs. + +"And now," said Thorndyke, when the second receiver had been detached +and set aside, "we want a mould of the inside of the hat, and we must +make it by the quickest method; there is no time to make a paper mould. +It is a most astonishing head," he added, reaching down from a nail a +pair of large callipers, which he applied to the inside of the hat; "six +inches and nine-tenths long by six and six-tenths broad, which gives +us"--he made a rapid calculation on a scrap of paper--"the +extraordinarily high cephalic index of 95·6." + +Polton now took possession of the hat, and, having stuck a band of wet +tissue-paper round the inside, mixed a small bowl of plaster-of-Paris, +and very dexterously ran a stream of the thick liquid on to the +tissue-paper, where it quickly solidified. A second and third +application resulted in a broad ring of solid plaster an inch thick, +forming a perfect mould of the inside of the hat, and in a few minutes +the slight contraction of the plaster in setting rendered the mould +sufficiently loose to allow of its being slipped out on to a board to +dry. + +We were none too soon, for even as Polton was removing the mould, the +electric bell, which I had switched on to the laboratory, announced a +visitor, and when I went down I found a police-sergeant waiting with a +note from Superintendent Miller, requesting the immediate transfer of +the hat. + +"The next thing to be done," said Thorndyke, when the sergeant had +departed with the bandbox, "is to measure the thickness of the hairs, +and make a transverse section of one, and examine the dust. The section +we will leave to Polton--as time is an object, Polton, you had better +imbed the hair in thick gum and freeze it hard on the microtome, and be +very careful to cut the section at right angles to the length of the +hair--meanwhile, we will get to work with the microscope." + +The hairs proved on measurement to have the surprisingly large diameter +of 1/135 of an inch--fully double that of ordinary hairs, although they +were unquestionably human. As to the white dust, it presented a problem +that even Thorndyke was unable to solve. The application of reagents +showed it to be carbonate of lime, but its source for a time remained a +mystery. + +"The larger particles," said Thorndyke, with his eye applied to the +microscope, "appear to be transparent, crystalline, and distinctly +laminated in structure. It is not chalk, it is not whiting, it is not +any kind of cement. What can it be?" + +"Could it be any kind of shell?" I suggested. "For instance--" + +"Of course!" he exclaimed, starting up; "you have hit it, Jervis, as you +always do. It must be mother-of-pearl. Polton, give me a pearl +shirt-button out of your oddments box." + +The button was duly produced by the thrifty Polton, dropped into an +agate mortar, and speedily reduced to powder, a tiny pinch of which +Thorndyke placed under the microscope. + +"This powder," said he, "is, naturally, much coarser than our specimen, +but the identity of character is unmistakable. Jervis, you are a +treasure. Just look at it." + +I glanced down the microscope, and then pulled out my watch. "Yes," I +said, "there is no doubt about it, I think; but I must be off. Anstey +urged me to be in court by 11.30 at the latest." + +With infinite reluctance I collected my notes and papers and departed, +leaving Thorndyke diligently copying addresses out of the Post Office +Directory. + +My business at the court detained me the whole of the day, and it was +near upon dinner-time when I reached our chambers. Thorndyke had not yet +come in, but he arrived half an hour later, tired and hungry, and not +very communicative. + +"What have I done?" he repeated, in answer to my inquiries. "I have +walked miles of dirty pavement, and I have visited every pearl-shell +cutter's in London, with one exception, and I have not found what I +was looking for. The one mother-of-pearl factory that remains, however, +is the most likely, and I propose to look in there to-morrow morning. +Meanwhile, we have completed our data, with Polton's assistance. Here is +a tracing of our friend's skull taken from the mould; you see it is an +extreme type of brachycephalic skull, and markedly unsymmetrical. Here +is a transverse section of his hair, which is quite circular--unlike +yours or mine, which would be oval. We have the mother-of-pearl dust +from the outside of the hat, and from the inside similar dust mixed with +various fibres and a few granules of rice starch. Those are our data." + +[Illustration: TRANSVERSE SECTIONS OF HUMAN HAIR: _A_, OF A NEGRO; _B_, +OF AN ENGLISHMAN; _C_, OF THE BURGLAR. ALL MAGNIFIED 600 DIAMETERS.] + +"Supposing the hat should not be that of the burglar after all?" I +suggested. + +"That would be annoying. But I think it is his, and I think I can guess +at the nature of the art treasures that were stolen." + +"And you don't intend to enlighten me?" + +"My dear fellow," he replied, "you have all the data. Enlighten yourself +by the exercise of your own brilliant faculties. Don't give way to +mental indolence." + +I endeavoured, from the facts in my possession, to construct the +personality of the mysterious burglar, and failed utterly; nor was I +more successful in my endeavour to guess at the nature of the stolen +property; and it was not until the following morning, when we had set +out on our quest and were approaching Limehouse, that Thorndyke would +revert to the subject. + +"We are now," he said, "going to the factory of Badcomb and Martin, +shell importers and cutters, in the West India Dock Road. If I don't +find my man there, I shall hand the facts over to the police, and waste +no more time over the case." + +"What is your man like?" I asked. + +"I am looking for an elderly Japanese, wearing a new hat or, more +probably, a cap, and having a bruise on his right cheek or temple. I am +also looking for a cab-yard; but here we are at the works, and as it is +now close on the dinner-hour, we will wait and see the hands come out +before making any inquiries." + +We walked slowly past the tall, blank-faced building, and were just +turning to re-pass it when a steam whistle sounded, a wicket opened in +the main gate, and a stream of workmen--each powdered with white, like a +miller--emerged into the street. We halted to watch the men as they came +out, one by one, through the wicket, and turned to the right or left +towards their homes or some adjacent coffee-shop; but none of them +answered to the description that my friend had given. + +The outcoming stream grew thinner, and at length ceased; the wicket was +shut with a bang, and once more Thorndyke's quest appeared to have +failed. + +"Is that all of them, I wonder?" he said, with a shade of disappointment +in his tone; but even as he spoke the wicket opened again, and a leg +protruded. The leg was followed by a back and a curious globular head, +covered with iron-grey hair, and surmounted by a cloth cap, the whole +appertaining to a short, very thick-set man, who remained thus, +evidently talking to someone inside. + +Suddenly he turned his head to look across the street; and immediately I +recognized, by the pallid yellow complexion and narrow eye-slits, the +physiognomy of a typical Japanese. The man remained talking for nearly +another minute; then, drawing out his other leg, he turned towards us; +and now I perceived that the right side of his face, over the prominent +cheekbone, was discoloured as though by a severe bruise. + +"Ha!" said Thorndyke, turning round sharply as the man approached, +"either this is our man or it is an incredible coincidence." He walked +away at a moderate pace, allowing the Japanese to overtake us slowly, +and when the man had at length passed us, he increased his speed +somewhat, so as to maintain the distance. + +Our friend stepped along briskly, and presently turned up a side street, +whither we followed at a respectful distance, Thorndyke holding open his +pocket-book, and appearing to engage me in an earnest discussion, but +keeping a sharp eye on his quarry. + +"There he goes!" said my colleague, as the man suddenly +disappeared--"the house with the green window-sashes. That will be +number thirteen." + +It was; and, having verified the fact, we passed on, and took the next +turning that would lead us back to the main road. + +Some twenty minutes later, as we were strolling past the door of a +coffee-shop, a man came out, and began to fill his pipe with an air of +leisurely satisfaction. His hat and clothes were powdered with white +like those of the workmen whom we had seen come out of the factory. +Thorndyke accosted him. + +"Is that a flour-mill up the road there?" + +"No, sir; pearl-shell. I work there myself." + +"Pearl-shell, eh?" said Thorndyke. "I suppose that will be an industry +that will tend to attract the aliens. Do you find it so?" + +"No, sir; not at all. The work's too hard. We've only got one foreigner +in the place, and he ain't an alien--he's a Jap." + +"A Jap!" exclaimed Thorndyke. "Really. Now, I wonder if that would +chance to be our old friend Kotei--you remember Kotei?" he added, +turning to me. + +"No, sir; this man's name is Futashima. There was another Jap in the +works, a chap named Itu, a pal of Futashima's, but he's left." + +"Ah! I don't know either of them. By the way, usen't there to be a +cab-yard just about here?" + +"There's a yard up Rankin Street where they keep vans and one or two +cabs. That chap Itu works there now. Taken to horseflesh. Drives a van +sometimes. Queer start for a Jap." + +"Very." Thorndyke thanked the man for his information, and we sauntered +on towards Rankin Street. The yard was at this time nearly deserted, +being occupied only by an ancient and crazy four-wheeler and a very +shabby hansom. + +"Curious old houses, these that back on to the yard," said Thorndyke, +strolling into the enclosure. "That timber gable, now," pointing to a +house, from a window of which a man was watching us suspiciously, "is +quite an interesting survival." + +"What's your business, mister?" demanded the man in a gruff tone. + +"We are just having a look at these quaint old houses," replied +Thorndyke, edging towards the back of the hansom, and opening his +pocket-book, as though to make a sketch. + +"Well, you can see 'em from outside," said the man. + +[Illustration: THORNDYKE'S STRATEGY.] + +"So we can," said Thorndyke suavely, "but not so well, you know." + +At this moment the pocket-book slipped from his hand and fell, +scattering a number of loose papers about the ground under the hansom, +and our friend at the window laughed joyously. + +"No hurry," murmured Thorndyke, as I stooped to help him to gather up +the papers--which he did in the most surprisingly slow and clumsy +manner. "It is fortunate that the ground is dry." He stood up with the +rescued papers in his hand, and, having scribbled down a brief note, +slipped the book in his pocket. + +"Now you'd better mizzle," observed the man at the window. + +"Thank you," replied Thorndyke, "I think we had;" and, with a pleasant +nod at the custodian, he proceeded to adopt the hospitable suggestion. + + * * * * * + +"Mr. Marchmont has been here, sir, with Inspector Badger and another +gentleman," said Polton, as we entered our chambers. "They said they +would call again about five." + +"Then," replied Thorndyke, "as it is now a quarter to five, there is +just time for us to have a wash while you get the tea ready. The +particles that float in the atmosphere of Limehouse are not all +mother-of-pearl." + +Our visitors arrived punctually, the third gentleman being, as we had +supposed, Mr. Solomon Löwe. Inspector Badger I had not seen before, and +he now impressed me as showing a tendency to invert the significance of +his own name by endeavouring to "draw" Thorndyke; in which, however, he +was not brilliantly successful. + +"I hope you are not going to disappoint Mr. Löwe, sir," he commenced +facetiously. "You have had a good look at that hat--we saw your marks on +it--and he expects that you will be able to point us out the man, name +and address all complete." He grinned patronizingly at our unfortunate +client, who was looking even more haggard and worn than he had been on +the previous morning. + +"Have you--have you made any--discovery?" Mr Löwe asked with pathetic +eagerness. + +"We examined the hat very carefully, and I think we have established a +few facts of some interest." + +"Did your examination of the hat furnish any information as to the +nature of the stolen property, sir?" inquired the humorous inspector. + +Thorndyke turned to the officer with a face as expressionless as a +wooden mask. + +"We thought it possible," said he, "that it might consist of works of +Japanese art, such as netsukes, paintings, and such like." + +Mr. Löwe uttered an exclamation of delighted astonishment, and the +facetiousness faded rather suddenly from the inspector's countenance. + +"I don't know how you can have found out," said he. "We have only known +it half an hour ourselves, and the wire came direct from Florence to +Scotland Yard." + +"Perhaps you can describe the thief to us," said Mr. Löwe, in the same +eager tone. + +"I dare say the inspector can do that," replied Thorndyke. + +"Yes, I think so," replied the officer. "He is a short strong man, with +a dark complexion and hair turning grey. He has a very round head, and +he is probably a workman engaged at some whiting or cement works. That +is all we know; if you can tell us any more, sir, we shall be very glad +to hear it." + +"I can only offer a few suggestions," said Thorndyke, "but perhaps you +may find them useful. For instance, at 13, Birket Street, Limehouse, +there is living a Japanese gentleman named Futashima, who works at +Badcomb and Martin's mother-of-pearl factory. I think that if you were +to call on him, and let him try on the hat that you have, it would +probably fit him." + +The inspector scribbled ravenously in his notebook, and Mr. +Marchmont--an old admirer of Thorndyke's--leaned back in his chair, +chuckling softly and rubbing his hands. + +"Then," continued my colleague, "there is in Rankin Street, Limehouse, a +cab-yard, where another Japanese gentleman named Itu is employed. You +might find out where Itu was the night before last; and if you should +chance to see a hansom cab there--number 22,481--have a good look at it. +In the frame of the number-plate you will find six small holes. Those +holes may have held brads, and the brads may have held a false number +card. At any rate, you might ascertain where that cab was at 11.30 the +night before last. That is all I have to suggest." + +Mr. Löwe leaped from his chair. "Let us go--now--at once--there is no +time to be lost. A thousand thanks to you, doctor--a thousand million +thanks. Come!" + +He seized the inspector by the arm and forcibly dragged him towards the +door, and a few moments later we heard the footsteps of our visitors +clattering down the stairs. + +"It was not worth while to enter into explanations with them," said +Thorndyke, as the footsteps died away--"nor perhaps with you?" + +"On the contrary," I replied, "I am waiting to be fully enlightened." + +"Well, then, my inferences in this case were perfectly simple ones, +drawn from well-known anthropological facts. The human race, as you +know, is roughly divided into three groups--the black, the white, and +the yellow races. But apart from the variable quality of colour, these +races have certain fixed characteristics associated especially with the +shape of the skull, of the eye-sockets, and the hair. + +"Thus in the black races the skull is long and narrow, the eye-sockets +are long and narrow, and the hair is flat and ribbon-like, and usually +coiled up like a watch-spring. In the white races the skull is oval, the +eye-sockets are oval, and the hair is slightly flattened or oval in +section, and tends to be wavy; while in the yellow or Mongol races, the +skull is short and round, the eye-sockets are short and round, and the +hair is straight and circular in section. So that we have, in the black +races, long skull, long orbits, flat hair; in the white races, oval +skull, oval orbits, oval hair; and in the yellow races, round skull, +round orbits, round hair. + +"Now, in this case we had to deal with a very short round skull. But you +cannot argue from races to individuals; there are many short-skulled +Englishmen. But when I found, associated with that skull, hairs which +were circular in section, it became practically certain that the +individual was a Mongol of some kind. The mother-of-pearl dust and the +granules of rice starch from the inside of the hat favoured this view, +for the pearl-shell industry is specially connected with China and +Japan, while starch granules from the hat of an Englishman would +probably be wheat starch. + +"Then as to the hair: it was, as I mentioned to you, circular in +section, and of very large diameter. Now, I have examined many thousands +of hairs, and the thickest that I have ever seen came from the heads of +Japanese; but the hairs from this hat were as thick as any of them. But +the hypothesis that the burglar was a Japanese received confirmation in +various ways. Thus, he was short, though strong and active, and the +Japanese are the shortest of the Mongol races, and very strong and +active. + +"Then his remarkable skill in handling the powerful caretaker--a retired +police-sergeant--suggested the Japanese art of ju-jitsu, while the +nature of the robbery was consistent with the value set by the Japanese +on works of art. Finally, the fact that only a particular collection was +taken, suggested a special, and probably national, character in the +things stolen, while their portability--you will remember that goods of +the value of from eight to twelve thousand pounds were taken away in two +hand-packages--was much more consistent with Japanese than Chinese +works, of which the latter tend rather to be bulky and ponderous. Still, +it was nothing but a bare hypothesis until we had seen Futashima--and, +indeed, is no more now. I may, after all, be entirely mistaken." + +He was not, however; and at this moment there reposes in my drawing-room +an ancient netsuke, which came as a thank-offering from Mr. Isaac Löwe +on the recovery of the booty from a back room in No. 13, Birket Street, +Limehouse. The treasure, of course, was given in the first place to +Thorndyke, but transferred by him to my wife on the pretence that but +for my suggestion of shell-dust the robber would never have been traced. +Which is, on the face of it, preposterous. + + + + +IV + +THE BLUE SEQUIN + + +Thorndyke stood looking up and down the platform with anxiety that +increased as the time drew near for the departure of the train. + +"This is very unfortunate," he said, reluctantly stepping into an empty +smoking compartment as the guard executed a flourish with his green +flag. "I am afraid we have missed our friend." He closed the door, and, +as the train began to move, thrust his head out of the window. + +"Now I wonder if that will be he," he continued. "If so, he has caught +the train by the skin of his teeth, and is now in one of the rear +compartments." + +The subject of Thorndyke's speculations was Mr. Edward Stopford, of the +firm of Stopford and Myers, of Portugal Street, solicitors, and his +connection with us at present arose out of a telegram that had reached +our chambers on the preceding evening. It was reply-paid, and ran thus: + + "Can you come here to-morrow to direct defence? Important case. All + costs undertaken by us.--STOPFORD AND MYERS." + +Thorndyke's reply had been in the affirmative, and early on this present +morning a further telegram--evidently posted overnight--had been +delivered: + + "Shall leave for Woldhurst by 8.25 from Charing Cross. Will call + for you if possible.--EDWARD STOPFORD." + +He had not called, however, and, since he was unknown personally to us +both, we could not judge whether or not he had been among the passengers +on the platform. + +"It is most unfortunate," Thorndyke repeated, "for it deprives us of +that preliminary consideration of the case which is so invaluable." He +filled his pipe thoughtfully, and, having made a fruitless inspection of +the platform at London Bridge, took up the paper that he had bought at +the bookstall, and began to turn over the leaves, running his eye +quickly down the columns, unmindful of the journalistic baits in +paragraph or article. + +"It is a great disadvantage," he observed, while still glancing through +the paper, "to come plump into an inquiry without preparation--to be +confronted with the details before one has a chance of considering the +case in general terms. For instance--" + +He paused, leaving the sentence unfinished, and as I looked up +inquiringly I saw that he had turned over another page, and was now +reading attentively. + +"This looks like our case, Jervis," he said presently, handing me the +paper and indicating a paragraph at the top of the page. It was quite +brief, and was headed "Terrible Murder in Kent," the account being as +follows: + +"A shocking crime was discovered yesterday morning at the little town of +Woldhurst, which lies on the branch line from Halbury Junction. The +discovery was made by a porter who was inspecting the carriages of the +train which had just come in. On opening the door of a first-class +compartment, he was horrified to find the body of a fashionably-dressed +woman stretched upon the floor. Medical aid was immediately summoned, +and on the arrival of the divisional surgeon, Dr. Morton, it was +ascertained that the woman had not been dead more than a few minutes. + +[Illustration: THE DISCOVERY.] + +"The state of the corpse leaves no doubt that a murder of a most brutal +kind has been perpetrated, the cause of death being a penetrating wound +of the head, inflicted with some pointed implement, which must have been +used with terrible violence, since it has perforated the skull and +entered the brain. That robbery was not the motive of the crime is made +clear by the fact that an expensively fitted dressing-bag was found on +the rack, and that the dead woman's jewellery, including several +valuable diamond rings, was untouched. It is rumoured that an arrest has +been made by the local police." + +"A gruesome affair," I remarked, as I handed back the paper, "but the +report does not give us much information." + +"It does not," Thorndyke agreed, "and yet it gives us something to +consider. Here is a perforating wound of the skull, inflicted with some +pointed implement--that is, assuming that it is not a bullet wound. Now, +what kind of implement would be capable of inflicting such an injury? +How would such an implement be used in the confined space of a +railway-carriage, and what sort of person would be in possession of such +an implement? These are preliminary questions that are worth +considering, and I commend them to you, together with the further +problems of the possible motive--excluding robbery--and any +circumstances other than murder which might account for the injury." + +"The choice of suitable implements is not very great," I observed. + +"It is very limited, and most of them, such as a plasterer's pick or a +geological hammer, are associated with certain definite occupations. You +have a notebook?" + +I had, and, accepting the hint, I produced it and pursued my further +reflections in silence, while my companion, with his notebook also on +his knee, gazed steadily out of the window. And thus he remained, +wrapped in thought, jotting down an entry now and again in his book, +until the train slowed down at Halbury Junction, where we had to change +on to a branch line. + +As we stepped out, I noticed a well-dressed man hurrying up the platform +from the rear and eagerly scanning the faces of the few passengers who +had alighted. Soon he espied us, and, approaching quickly, asked, as he +looked from one of us to the other: + +"Dr. Thorndyke?" + +"Yes," replied my colleague, adding: "And you, I presume, are Mr. Edward +Stopford?" + +The solicitor bowed. "This is a dreadful affair," he said, in an +agitated manner. "I see you have the paper. A most shocking affair. I am +immensely relieved to find you here. Nearly missed the train, and feared +I should miss you." + +"There appears to have been an arrest," Thorndyke began. + +"Yes--my brother. Terrible business. Let us walk up the platform; our +train won't start for a quarter of an hour yet." + +We deposited our joint Gladstone and Thorndyke's travelling-case in an +empty first-class compartment, and then, with the solicitor between us, +strolled up to the unfrequented end of the platform. + +"My brother's position," said Mr. Stopford, "fills me with dismay--but +let me give you the facts in order, and you shall judge for yourself. +This poor creature who has been murdered so brutally was a Miss Edith +Grant. She was formerly an artist's model, and as such was a good deal +employed by my brother, who is a painter--Harold Stopford, you know, +A.R.A. now--" + +"I know his work very well, and charming work it is." + +"I think so, too. Well, in those days he was quite a youngster--about +twenty--and he became very intimate with Miss Grant, in quite an +innocent way, though not very discreet; but she was a nice respectable +girl, as most English models are, and no one thought any harm. However, +a good many letters passed between them, and some little presents, +amongst which was a beaded chain carrying a locket, and in this he was +fool enough to put his portrait and the inscription, 'Edith, from +Harold.' + +"Later on Miss Grant, who had a rather good voice, went on the stage, in +the comic opera line, and, in consequence, her habits and associates +changed somewhat; and, as Harold had meanwhile become engaged, he was +naturally anxious to get his letters back, and especially to exchange +the locket for some less compromising gift. The letters she eventually +sent him, but refused absolutely to part with the locket. + +"Now, for the last month Harold has been staying at Halbury, making +sketching excursions into the surrounding country, and yesterday +morning he took the train to Shinglehurst, the third station from here, +and the one before Woldhurst. + +"On the platform here he met Miss Grant, who had come down from London, +and was going on to Worthing. They entered the branch train together, +having a first-class compartment to themselves. It seems she was wearing +his locket at the time, and he made another appeal to her to make an +exchange, which she refused, as before. The discussion appears to have +become rather heated and angry on both sides, for the guard and a porter +at Munsden both noticed that they seemed to be quarrelling; but the +upshot of the affair was that the lady snapped the chain, and tossed it +together with the locket to my brother, and they parted quite amiably at +Shinglehurst, where Harold got out. He was then carrying his full +sketching kit, including a large holland umbrella, the lower joint of +which is an ash staff fitted with a powerful steel spike for driving +into the ground. + +"It was about half-past ten when he got out at Shinglehurst; by eleven +he had reached his pitch and got to work, and he painted steadily for +three hours. Then he packed up his traps, and was just starting on his +way back to the station, when he was met by the police and arrested. + +"And now, observe the accumulation of circumstantial evidence against +him. He was the last person seen in company with the murdered woman--for +no one seems to have seen her after they left Munsden; he appeared to be +quarrelling with her when she was last seen alive, he had a reason for +possibly wishing for her death, he was provided with an implement--a +spiked staff--capable of inflicting the injury which caused her death, +and, when he was searched, there was found in his possession the locket +and broken chain, apparently removed from her person with violence. + +"Against all this is, of course, his known character--he is the gentlest +and most amiable of men--and his subsequent conduct--imbecile to the +last degree if he had been guilty; but, as a lawyer, I can't help seeing +that appearances are almost hopelessly against him." + +"We won't say 'hopelessly,'" replied Thorndyke, as we took our places in +the carriage, "though I expect the police are pretty cocksure. When does +the inquest open?" + +"To-day at four. I have obtained an order from the coroner for you to +examine the body and be present at the _post-mortem_." + +"Do you happen to know the exact position of the wound?" + +"Yes; it is a little above and behind the left ear--a horrible round +hole, with a ragged cut or tear running from it to the side of the +forehead." + +"And how was the body lying?" + +"Right along the floor, with the feet close to the off-side door." + +"Was the wound on the head the only one?" + +"No; there was a long cut or bruise on the right cheek--a contused wound +the police surgeon called it, which he believes to have been inflicted +with a heavy and rather blunt weapon. I have not heard of any other +wounds or bruises." + +"Did anyone enter the train yesterday at Shinglehurst?" Thorndyke asked. + +"No one entered the train after it left Halbury." + +Thorndyke considered these statements in silence, and presently fell +into a brown study, from which he roused only as the train moved out of +Shinglehurst station. + +"It would be about here that the murder was committed," said Mr. +Stopford; "at least, between here and Woldhurst." + +Thorndyke nodded rather abstractedly, being engaged at the moment in +observing with great attention the objects that were visible from the +windows. + +"I notice," he remarked presently, "a number of chips scattered about +between the rails, and some of the chair-wedges look new. Have there +been any platelayers at work lately?" + +"Yes," answered Stopford, "they are on the line now, I believe--at +least, I saw a gang working near Woldhurst yesterday, and they are said +to have set a rick on fire; I saw it smoking when I came down." + +"Indeed; and this middle line of rails is, I suppose, a sort of siding?" + +"Yes; they shunt the goods trains and empty trucks on to it. There are +the remains of the rick--still smouldering, you see." + +Thorndyke gazed absently at the blackened heap until an empty +cattle-truck on the middle track hid it from view. This was succeeded by +a line of goods-waggons, and these by a passenger coach, one compartment +of which--a first-class--was closed up and sealed. The train now began +to slow down rather suddenly, and a couple of minutes later we brought +up in Woldhurst station. + +It was evident that rumours of Thorndyke's advent had preceded us, for +the entire staff--two porters, an inspector, and the +station-master--were waiting expectantly on the platform, and the latter +came forward, regardless of his dignity, to help us with our luggage. + +"Do you think I could see the carriage?" Thorndyke asked the solicitor. + +"Not the inside, sir," said the station-master, on being appealed to. +"The police have sealed it up. You would have to ask the inspector." + +"Well, I can have a look at the outside, I suppose?" said Thorndyke, and +to this the station-master readily agreed, and offered to accompany us. + +"What other first-class passengers were there?" Thorndyke asked. + +"None, sir. There was only one first-class coach, and the deceased was +the only person in it. It has given us all a dreadful turn, this affair +has," he continued, as we set off up the line. "I was on the platform +when the train came in. We were watching a rick that was burning up the +line, and a rare blaze it made, too; and I was just saying that we +should have to move the cattle-truck that was on the mid-track, because, +you see, sir, the smoke and sparks were blowing across, and I thought it +would frighten the poor beasts. And Mr. Felton he don't like his beasts +handled roughly. He says it spoils the meat." + +"No doubt he is right," said Thorndyke. "But now, tell me, do you think +it is possible for any person to board or leave the train on the +off-side unobserved? Could a man, for instance, enter a compartment on +the off-side at one station and drop off as the train was slowing down +at the next, without being seen?" + +"I doubt it," replied the station-master. "Still, I wouldn't say it is +impossible." + +"Thank you. Oh, and there's another question. You have a gang of men at +work on the line, I see. Now, do those men belong to the district?" + +"No, sir; they are strangers, every one, and pretty rough diamonds some +of 'em are. But I shouldn't say there was any real harm in 'em. If you +was suspecting any of 'em of being mixed up in this--" + +"I am not," interrupted Thorndyke rather shortly. "I suspect nobody; but +I wish to get all the facts of the case at the outset." + +"Naturally, sir," replied the abashed official; and we pursued our way +in silence. + +"Do you remember, by the way," said Thorndyke, as we approached the +empty coach, "whether the off-side door of the compartment was closed +and locked when the body was discovered?" + +"It was closed, sir, but not locked. Why, sir, did you think--?" + +"Nothing, nothing. The sealed compartment is the one, of course?" + +Without waiting for a reply, he commenced his survey of the coach, while +I gently restrained our two companions from shadowing him, as they were +disposed to do. The off-side footboard occupied his attention specially, +and when he had scrutinized minutely the part opposite the fatal +compartment, he walked slowly from end to end with his eyes but a few +inches from its surface, as though he was searching for something. + +Near what had been the rear end he stopped, and drew from his pocket a +piece of paper; then, with a moistened finger-tip he picked up from the +footboard some evidently minute object, which he carefully transferred +to the paper, folding the latter and placing it in his pocket-book. + +He next mounted the footboard, and, having peered in through the window +of the sealed compartment, produced from his pocket a small insufflator +or powder-blower, with which he blew a stream of impalpable smoke-like +powder on to the edges of the middle window, bestowing the closest +attention on the irregular dusty patches in which it settled, and even +measuring one on the jamb of the window with a pocket-rule. At length he +stepped down, and, having carefully looked over the near-side footboard, +announced that he had finished for the present. + +As we were returning down the line, we passed a working man, who seemed +to be viewing the chairs and sleepers with more than casual interest. + +"That, I suppose, is one of the plate-layers?" Thorndyke suggested to +the station-master. + +"Yes, the foreman of the gang," was the reply. + +"I'll just step back and have a word with him, if you will walk on +slowly." And my colleague turned back briskly and overtook the man, with +whom he remained in conversation for some minutes. + +"I think I see the police inspector on the platform," remarked +Thorndyke, as we approached the station. + +"Yes, there he is," said our guide. "Come down to see what you are +after, sir, I expect." Which was doubtless the case, although the +officer professed to be there by the merest chance. + +"You would like to see the weapon, sir, I suppose?" he remarked, when he +had introduced himself. + +"The umbrella-spike," Thorndyke corrected. "Yes, if I may. We are going +to the mortuary now." + +"Then you'll pass the station on the way; so, if you care to look in, I +will walk up with you." + +This proposition being agreed to, we all proceeded to the +police-station, including the station-master, who was on the very tiptoe +of curiosity. + +"There you are, sir," said the inspector, unlocking his office, and +ushering us in. "Don't say we haven't given every facility to the +defence. There are all the effects of the accused, including the very +weapon the deed was done with." + +"Come, come," protested Thorndyke; "we mustn't be premature." He took +the stout ash staff from the officer, and, having examined the +formidable spike through a lens, drew from his pocket a steel +calliper-gauge, with which he carefully measured the diameter of the +spike, and the staff to which it was fixed. "And now," he said, when he +had made a note of the measurements in his book, "we will look at the +colour-box and the sketch. Ha! a very orderly man, your brother. Mr. +Stopford. Tubes all in their places, palette-knives wiped clean, palette +cleaned off and rubbed bright, brushes wiped--they ought to be washed +before they stiffen--all this is very significant." He unstrapped the +sketch from the blank canvas to which it was pinned, and, standing it on +a chair in a good light, stepped back to look at it. + +"And you tell me that that is only three hours' work!" he exclaimed, +looking at the lawyer. "It is really a marvellous achievement." + +"My brother is a very rapid worker," replied Stopford dejectedly. + +"Yes, but this is not only amazingly rapid; it is in his very happiest +vein--full of spirit and feeling. But we mustn't stay to look at it +longer." He replaced the canvas on its pins, and having glanced at the +locket and some other articles that lay in a drawer, thanked the +inspector for his courtesy and withdrew. + +"That sketch and the colour-box appear very suggestive to me," he +remarked, as we walked up the street. + +"To me also," said Stopford gloomily, "for they are under lock and key, +like their owner, poor old fellow." + +He sighed heavily, and we walked on in silence. + +The mortuary-keeper had evidently heard of our arrival, for he was +waiting at the door with the key in his hand, and, on being shown the +coroner's order, unlocked the door, and we entered together; but, after +a momentary glance at the ghostly, shrouded figure lying upon the slate +table, Stopford turned pale and retreated, saying that he would wait for +us outside with the mortuary-keeper. + +As soon as the door was closed and locked on the inside, Thorndyke +glanced curiously round the bare, whitewashed building. A stream of +sunlight poured in through the skylight, and fell upon the silent form +that lay so still under its covering-sheet, and one stray beam glanced +into a corner by the door, where, on a row of pegs and a deal table, the +dead woman's clothing was displayed. + +"There is something unspeakably sad in these poor relics, Jervis," said +Thorndyke, as we stood before them. "To me they are more tragic, more +full of pathetic suggestion, than the corpse itself. See the smart, +jaunty hat, and the costly skirts hanging there, so desolate and +forlorn; the dainty _lingerie_ on the table, neatly folded--by the +mortuary-man's wife, I hope--the little French shoes and open-work silk +stockings. How pathetically eloquent they are of harmless, womanly +vanity, and the gay, careless life, snapped short in the twinkling of an +eye. But we must not give way to sentiment. There is another life +threatened, and it is in our keeping." + +He lifted the hat from its peg, and turned it over in his hand. It was, +I think, what is called a "picture-hat"--a huge, flat, shapeless mass of +gauze and ribbon and feather, spangled over freely with dark-blue +sequins. In one part of the brim was a ragged hole, and from this the +glittering sequins dropped off in little showers when the hat was moved. + +"This will have been worn tilted over on the left side," said Thorndyke, +"judging by the general shape and the position of the hole." + +"Yes," I agreed. "Like that of the Duchess of Devonshire in +Gainsborough's portrait." + +"Exactly." + +He shook a few of the sequins into the palm of his hand, and, replacing +the hat on its peg, dropped the little discs into an envelope, on which +he wrote, "From the hat," and slipped it into his pocket. Then, stepping +over to the table, he drew back the sheet reverently and even tenderly +from the dead woman's face, and looked down at it with grave pity. It +was a comely face, white as marble, serene and peaceful in expression, +with half-closed eyes, and framed with a mass of brassy, yellow hair; +but its beauty was marred by a long linear wound, half cut, half bruise, +running down the right cheek from the eye to the chin. + +"A handsome girl," Thorndyke commented--"a dark-haired blonde. What a +sin to have disfigured herself so with that horrible peroxide." He +smoothed the hair back from her forehead, and added: "She seems to have +applied the stuff last about ten days ago. There is about a quarter of +an inch of dark hair at the roots. What do you make of that wound on the +cheek?" + +"It looks as if she had struck some sharp angle in falling, though, as +the seats are padded in first-class carriages, I don't see what she +could have struck." + +"No. And now let us look at the other wound. Will you note down the +description?" He handed me his notebook, and I wrote down as he +dictated: "A clean-punched circular hole in skull, an inch behind and +above margin of left ear--diameter, an inch and seven-sixteenths; +starred fracture of parietal bone; membranes perforated, and brain +entered deeply; ragged scalp-wound, extending forward to margin of left +orbit; fragments of gauze and sequins in edges of wound. That will do +for the present. Dr. Morton will give us further details if we want +them." + +He pocketed his callipers and rule, drew from the bruised scalp one or +two loose hairs, which he placed in the envelope with the sequins, and, +having looked over the body for other wounds or bruises (of which there +were none), replaced the sheet, and prepared to depart. + +As we walked away from the mortuary, Thorndyke was silent and deeply +thoughtful, and I gathered that he was piecing together the facts that +he had acquired. At length Mr. Stopford, who had several times looked at +him curiously, said: + +"The _post-mortem_ will take place at three, and it is now only +half-past eleven. What would you like to do next?" + +Thorndyke, who, in spite of his mental preoccupation, had been looking +about him in his usual keen, attentive way, halted suddenly. + +"Your reference to the _post-mortem_," said he, "reminds me that I +forgot to put the ox-gall into my case." + +"Ox-gall!" I exclaimed, endeavouring vainly to connect this substance +with the technique of the pathologist. "What were you going to do +with--" + +But here I broke off, remembering my friend's dislike of any discussion +of his methods before strangers. + +"I suppose," he continued, "there would hardly be an artist's colourman +in a place of this size?" + +"I should think not," said Stopford. "But couldn't you got the stuff +from a butcher? There's a shop just across the road." + +"So there is," agreed Thorndyke, who had already observed the shop. "The +gall ought, of course, to be prepared, but we can filter it +ourselves--that is, if the butcher has any. We will try him, at any +rate." + +He crossed the road towards the shop, over which the name "Felton" +appeared in gilt lettering, and, addressing himself to the proprietor, +who stood at the door, introduced himself and explained his wants. + +"Ox-gall?" said the butcher. "No, sir, I haven't any just now; but I am +having a beast killed this afternoon, and I can let you have some then. +In fact," he added, after a pause, "as the matter is of importance, I +can have one killed at once if you wish it." + +"That is very kind of you," said Thorndyke, "and it would greatly oblige +me. Is the beast perfectly healthy?" + +"They're in splendid condition, sir. I picked them out of the herd +myself. But you shall see them--ay, and choose the one that you'd like +killed." + +"You are really very good," said Thorndyke warmly. "I will just run into +the chemist's next door, and get a suitable bottle, and then I will +avail myself of your exceedingly kind offer." + +He hurried into the chemist's shop, from which he presently emerged, +carrying a white paper parcel; and we then followed the butcher down a +narrow lane by the side of his shop. It led to an enclosure containing a +small pen, in which were confined three handsome steers, whose glossy, +black coats contrasted in a very striking manner with their long, +greyish-white, nearly straight horns. + +"These are certainly very fine beasts, Mr. Felton," said Thorndyke, as +we drew up beside the pen, "and in excellent condition, too." + +He leaned over the pen and examined the beasts critically, especially as +to their eyes and horns; then, approaching the nearest one, he raised +his stick and bestowed a smart tap on the under-side of the right horn, +following it by a similar tap on the left one, a proceeding that the +beast viewed with stolid surprise. + +"The state of the horns," explained Thorndyke, as he moved on to the +next steer, "enables one to judge, to some extent, of the beast's +health." + +"Lord bless you, sir," laughed Mr. Felton, "they haven't got no feeling +in their horns, else what good 'ud their horns be to 'em?" + +Apparently he was right, for the second steer was as indifferent to a +sounding rap on either horn as the first. Nevertheless, when Thorndyke +approached the third steer, I unconsciously drew nearer to watch; and I +noticed that, as the stick struck the horn, the beast drew back in +evident alarm, and that when the blow was repeated, it became manifestly +uneasy. + +"He don't seem to like that," said the butcher. "Seems as if--Hullo, +that's queer!" + +Thorndyke had just brought his stick up against the left horn, and +immediately the beast had winced and started back, shaking his head and +moaning. There was not, however, room for him to back out of reach, and +Thorndyke, by leaning into the pen, was able to inspect the sensitive +horn, which he did with the closest attention, while the butcher looked +on with obvious perturbation. + +"You don't think there's anything wrong with this beast, sir, I hope," +said he. + +"I can't say without a further examination," replied Thorndyke. "It may +be the horn only that is affected. If you will have it sawn off close to +the head, and sent up to me at the hotel, I will look at it and tell +you. And, by way of preventing any mistakes, I will mark it and cover it +up, to protect it from injury in the slaughter-house." + +He opened his parcel and produced from it a wide-mouthed bottle labelled +"Ox-gall," a sheet of gutta-percha tissue, a roller bandage, and a stick +of sealing-wax. Handing the bottle to Mr. Felton, he encased the distal +half of the horn in a covering by means of the tissue and the bandage, +which he fixed securely with the sealing-wax. + +"I'll saw the horn off and bring it up to the hotel myself, with the +ox-gall," said Mr. Felton. "You shall have them in half an hour." + +He was as good as his word, for in half an hour Thorndyke was seated at +a small table by the window of our private sitting-room in the Black +Bull Hotel. The table was covered with newspaper, and on it lay the long +grey horn and Thorndyke's travelling-case, now open and displaying a +small microscope and its accessories. The butcher was seated solidly in +an armchair waiting, with a half-suspicious eye on Thorndyke for the +report; and I was endeavouring by cheerful talk to keep Mr. Stopford +from sinking into utter despondency, though I, too, kept a furtive +watch on my colleague's rather mysterious proceedings. + +I saw him unwind the bandage and apply the horn to his ear, bending it +slightly to and fro. I watched him, as he scanned the surface closely +through a lens, and observed him as he scraped some substance from the +pointed end on to a glass slide, and, having applied a drop of some +reagent, began to tease out the scraping with a pair of mounted needles. +Presently he placed the slide under the microscope, and, having observed +it attentively for a minute or two, turned round sharply. + +"Come and look at this, Jervis," said he. + +I wanted no second bidding, being on tenterhooks of curiosity, but came +over and applied my eye to the instrument. + +"Well, what is it?" he asked. + +"A multipolar nerve corpuscle--very shrivelled, but unmistakable." + +"And this?" + +He moved the slide to a fresh spot. + +"Two pyramidal nerve corpuscles and some portions of fibres." + +"And what do you say the tissue is?" + +"Cortical brain substance, I should say, without a doubt." + +"I entirely agree with you. And that being so," he added, turning to Mr. +Stopford, "we may say that the case for the defence is practically +complete." + +"What, in Heaven's name, do you mean?" exclaimed Stopford, starting up. + +"I mean that we can now prove when and where and how Miss Grant met her +death. Come and sit down here, and I will explain. No, you needn't go +away, Mr. Felton. We shall have to subpoena you. Perhaps," he +continued, "we had better go over the facts and see what they suggest. +And first we note the position of the body, lying with the feet close to +the off-side door, showing that, when she fell, the deceased was +sitting, or more probably standing, close to that door. Next there is +this." He drew from his pocket a folded paper, which he opened, +displaying a tiny blue disc. "It is one of the sequins with which her +hat was trimmed, and I have in this envelope several more which I took +from the hat itself. + +"This single sequin I picked up on the rear end of the off side +footboard, and its presence there makes it nearly certain that at some +time Miss Grant had put her head out of the window on that side. + +"The next item of evidence I obtained by dusting the margins of the +off-side window with a light powder, which made visible a greasy +impression three and a quarter inches long on the sharp corner of the +right-hand jamb (right-hand from the inside, I mean). + +"And now as to the evidence furnished by the body. The wound in the +skull is behind and above the left ear, is roughly circular, and +measures one inch and seven-sixteenths at most, and a ragged scalp-wound +runs from it towards the left eye. On the right cheek is a linear +contused wound three and a quarter inches long. There are no other +injuries. + +"Our next facts are furnished by this." He took up the horn and tapped +it with his finger, while the solicitor and Mr. Felton stared at him in +speechless wonder. "You notice it is a left horn, and you remember that +it was highly sensitive. If you put your ear to it while I strain it, +you will hear the grating of a fracture in the bony core. Now look at +the pointed end, and you will see several deep scratches running +lengthwise, and where those scratches end the diameter of the horn is, +as you see by this calliper-gauge, one inch and seven-sixteenths. +Covering the scratches is a dry blood-stain, and at the extreme tip is a +small mass of a dried substance which Dr. Jervis and I have examined +with the microscope and are satisfied is brain tissue." + +"Good God!" exclaimed Stopford eagerly. "Do you mean to say--" + +"Let us finish with the facts, Mr. Stopford," Thorndyke interrupted. +"Now, if you look closely at that blood-stain, you will see a short +piece of hair stuck to the horn, and through this lens you can make out +the root-bulb. It is a golden hair, you notice, but near the root it is +black, and our calliper-gauge shows us that the black portion is +fourteen sixty-fourths of an inch long. Now, in this envelope are some +hairs that I removed from the dead woman's head. They also are golden +hairs, black at the roots, and when I measure the black portion I find +it to be fourteen sixty-fourths of an inch long. Then, finally, there is +this." + +He turned the horn over, and pointed to a small patch of dried blood. +Embedded in it was a blue sequin. + +Mr. Stopford and the butcher both gazed at the horn in silent amazement; +then the former drew a deep breath and looked up at Thorndyke. + +"No doubt," said he, "you can explain this mystery, but for my part I am +utterly bewildered, though you are filling me with hope." + +"And yet the matter is quite simple," returned Thorndyke, "even with +these few facts before us, which are only a selection from the body of +evidence in our possession. But I will state my theory, and you shall +judge." He rapidly sketched a rough plan on a sheet of paper, and +continued: "These were the conditions when the train was approaching +Woldhurst: Here was the passenger-coach, here was the burning rick, and +here was a cattle-truck. This steer was in that truck. Now my hypothesis +is that at that time Miss Grant was standing with her head out of the +off-side window, watching the burning rick. Her wide hat, worn on the +left side, hid from her view the cattle-truck which she was approaching, +and then this is what happened." He sketched another plan to a larger +scale. "One of the steers--this one--had thrust its long horn out +through the bars. The point of that horn struck the deceased's head, +driving her face violently against the corner of the window, and then, +in disengaging, ploughed its way through the scalp, and suffered a +fracture of its core from the violence of the wrench. This hypothesis is +inherently probable, it fits all the facts, and those facts admit of no +other explanation." + +The solicitor sat for a moment as though dazed; then he rose impulsively +and seized Thorndyke's hands. "I don't know what to say to you," he +exclaimed huskily, "except that you have saved my brother's life, and +for that may God reward you!" + +The butcher rose from his chair with a slow grin. + +"It seems to me," said he, "as if that ox-gall was what you might call a +blind, eh, sir?" + +And Thorndyke smiled an inscrutable smile. + + * * * * * + +When we returned to town on the following day we were a party of four, +which included Mr. Harold Stopford. The verdict of "Death by +misadventure," promptly returned by the coroner's jury, had been +shortly followed by his release from custody, and he now sat with his +brother and me, listening with rapt attention to Thorndyke's analysis of +the case. + +"So, you see," the latter concluded, "I had six possible theories of the +cause of death worked out before I reached Halbury, and it only remained +to select the one that fitted the facts. And when I had seen the +cattle-truck, had picked up that sequin, had heard the description of +the steers, and had seen the hat and the wounds, there was nothing left +to do but the filling in of details." + +"And you never doubted my innocence?" asked Harold Stopford. + +Thorndyke smiled at his quondam client. + +"Not after I had seen your colour-box and your sketch," said he, "to say +nothing of the spike." + + + + +V + +THE MOABITE CIPHER + + +A large and motley crowd lined the pavements of Oxford Street as +Thorndyke and I made our way leisurely eastward. Floral decorations and +drooping bunting announced one of those functions inaugurated from time +to time by a benevolent Government for the entertainment of fashionable +loungers and the relief of distressed pickpockets. For a Russian Grand +Duke, who had torn himself away, amidst valedictory explosions, from a +loving if too demonstrative people, was to pass anon on his way to the +Guildhall; and a British Prince, heroically indiscreet, was expected to +occupy a seat in the ducal carriage. + +Near Rathbone Place Thorndyke halted and drew my attention to a +smart-looking man who stood lounging in a doorway, cigarette in hand. + +"Our old friend Inspector Badger," said Thorndyke. "He seems mightily +interested in that gentleman in the light overcoat. How d'ye do, +Badger?" for at this moment the detective caught his eye and bowed. "Who +is your friend?" + +"That's what I want to know, sir," replied the inspector. "I've been +shadowing him for the last half-hour, but I can't make him out, though I +believe I've seen him somewhere. He don't look like a foreigner, but he +has got something bulky in his pocket, so I must keep him in sight until +the Duke is safely past. I wish," he added gloomily, "these beastly +Russians would stop at home. They give us no end of trouble." + +"Are you expecting any--occurrences, then?" asked Thorndyke. + +"Bless you, sir," exclaimed Badger, "the whole route is lined with +plain-clothes men. You see, it is known that several desperate +characters followed the Duke to England, and there are a good many +exiles living here who would like to have a rap at him. Hallo! What's he +up to now?" + +The man in the light overcoat had suddenly caught the inspector's too +inquiring eye, and forthwith dived into the crowd at the edge of the +pavement. In his haste he trod heavily on the foot of a big, +rough-looking man, by whom he was in a moment hustled out into the road +with such violence that he fell sprawling face downwards. It was an +unlucky moment. A mounted constable was just then backing in upon the +crowd, and before he could gather the meaning of the shout that arose +from the bystanders, his horse had set down one hind-hoof firmly on the +prostrate man's back. + +The inspector signalled to a constable, who forthwith made a way for us +through the crowd; but even as we approached the injured man, he rose +stiffly and looked round with a pale, vacant face. + +"Are you hurt?" Thorndyke asked gently, with an earnest look into the +frightened, wondering eyes. + +"No, sir," was the reply; "only I feel queer--sinking--just here." + +He laid a trembling hand on his chest, and Thorndyke, still eyeing him +anxiously, said in a low voice to the inspector: "Cab or ambulance, as +quickly as you can." + +A cab was led round from Newman Street, and the injured man put into it. +Thorndyke, Badger, and I entered, and we drove off up Rathbone Place. As +we proceeded, our patient's face grew more and more ashen, drawn, and +anxious; his breathing was shallow and uneven, and his teeth chattered +slightly. The cab swung round into Goodge Street, and then--suddenly, in +the twinkling of an eye--there came a change. The eyelids and jaw +relaxed, the eyes became filmy, and the whole form subsided into the +corner in a shrunken heap, with the strange gelatinous limpness of a +body that is dead as a whole, while its tissues are still alive. + +"God save us! The man's dead!" exclaimed the inspector in a shocked +voice--for even policemen have their feelings. He sat staring at the +corpse, as it nodded gently with the jolting of the cab, until we drew +up inside the courtyard of the Middlesex Hospital, when he got out +briskly, with suddenly renewed cheerfulness, to help the porter to place +the body on the wheeled couch. + +"We shall know who he is now, at any rate," said he, as we followed the +couch to the casualty-room. Thorndyke nodded unsympathetically. The +medical instinct in him was for the moment stronger than the legal. + +The house-surgeon leaned over the couch, and made a rapid examination as +he listened to our account of the accident. Then he straightened himself +up and looked at Thorndyke. + +"Internal hæmorrhage, I expect," said he. "At any rate, he's dead, poor +beggar!--as dead as Nebuchadnezzar. Ah! here comes a bobby; it's his +affair now." + +A sergeant came into the room, breathing quickly, and looked in surprise +from the corpse to the inspector. But the latter, without loss of time, +proceeded to turn out the dead man's pockets, commencing with the bulky +object that had first attracted his attention; which proved to be a +brown-paper parcel tied up with red tape. + +"Pork-pie, begad!" he exclaimed with a crestfallen air as he cut the +tape and opened the package. "You had better go through his other +pockets, sergeant." + +The small heap of odds and ends that resulted from this process tended, +with a single exception, to throw little light on the man's identity; +the exception being a letter, sealed, but not stamped, addressed in an +exceedingly illiterate hand to Mr. Adolf Schönberg, 213, Greek Street, +Soho. + +"He was going to leave it by hand, I expect," observed the inspector, +with a wistful glance at the sealed envelope. "I think I'll take it +round myself, and you had better come with me, sergeant." + +He slipped the letter into his pocket, and, leaving the sergeant to take +possession of the other effects, made his way out of the building. + +"I suppose, Doctor," said he, as we crossed into Berners Street, "you +are not coming our way! Don't want to see Mr. Schönberg, h'm?" + +Thorndyke reflected for a moment. "Well, it isn't very far, and we may +as well see the end of the incident. Yes; let us go together." + +No. 213, Greek Street, was one of those houses that irresistibly suggest +to the observer the idea of a church organ, either jamb of the doorway +being adorned with a row of brass bell-handles corresponding to the +stop-knobs. + +These the sergeant examined with the air of an expert musician, and +having, as it were, gauged the capacity of the instrument, selected the +middle knob on the right-hand side and pulled it briskly; whereupon a +first-floor window was thrown up and a head protruded. But it afforded +us a momentary glimpse only, for, having caught the sergeant's upturned +eye, it retired with surprising precipitancy, and before we had time to +speculate on the apparition, the street-door was opened and a man +emerged. He was about to close the door after him when the inspector +interposed. + +"Does Mr. Adolf Schönberg live here?" + +The new-comer, a very typical Jew of the red-haired type, surveyed us +thoughtfully through his gold-rimmed spectacles as he repeated the name. + +"Schönberg--Schönberg? Ah, yes! I know. He lives on the third-floor. I +saw him go up a short time ago. Third-floor back;" and indicating the +open door with a wave of the hand, he raised his hat and passed into the +street. + +"I suppose we had better go up," said the inspector, with a dubious +glance at the row of bell-pulls. He accordingly started up the stairs, +and we all followed in his wake. + +There were two doors at the back on the third-floor, but as the one was +open, displaying an unoccupied bedroom, the inspector rapped smartly on +the other. It flew open almost immediately, and a fierce-looking little +man confronted us with a hostile stare. + +"Well?" said he. + +"Mr. Adolf Schönberg?" inquired the inspector. + +"Well? What about him?" snapped our new acquaintance. + +"I wished to have a few words with him," said Badger. + +"Then what the deuce do you come banging at _my_ door for?" demanded the +other. + +"Why, doesn't he live here?" + +"No. First-floor front," replied our friend, preparing to close the +door. + +"Pardon me," said Thorndyke, "but what is Mr. Schönberg like? I mean--" + +"Like?" interrupted the resident. "He's like a blooming Sheeny, with a +carroty beard and gold gig-lamps!" and, having presented this +impressionist sketch, he brought the interview to a definite close by +slamming the door and turning the key. + +With a wrathful exclamation, the inspector turned towards the stairs, +down which the sergeant was already clattering in hot haste, and made +his way back to the ground-floor, followed, as before, by Thorndyke and +me. On the doorstep we found the sergeant breathlessly interrogating a +smartly-dressed youth, whom I had seen alight from a hansom as we +entered the house, and who now stood with a notebook tucked under his +arm, sharpening a pencil with deliberate care. + +"Mr. James saw him come out, sir," said the sergeant. "He turned up +towards the Square." + +"Did he seem to hurry?" asked the inspector. + +"Rather," replied the reporter. "As soon as you were inside, he went off +like a lamplighter. You won't catch him now." + +"We don't want to catch him," the detective rejoined gruffly; then, +backing out of earshot of the eager pressman, he said in a lower tone: +"That was Mr. Schönberg, beyond a doubt, and it is clear that he has +some reason for making himself scarce; so I shall consider myself +justified in opening that note." + +He suited the action to the word, and, having cut the envelope open with +official neatness, drew out the enclosure. + +"My hat!" he exclaimed, as his eye fell upon the contents. "What in +creation is this? It isn't shorthand, but what the deuce is it?" + +He handed the document to Thorndyke, who, having held it up to the light +and felt the paper critically, proceeded to examine it with keen +interest. It consisted of a single half-sheet of thin notepaper, both +sides of which were covered with strange, crabbed characters, written +with a brownish-black ink in continuous lines, without any spaces to +indicate the divisions into words; and, but for the modern material +which bore the writing, it might have been a portion of some ancient +manuscript or forgotten codex. + +"What do you make of it, Doctor?" inquired the inspector anxiously, +after a pause, during which Thorndyke had scrutinized the strange +writing with knitted brows. + +"Not a great deal," replied Thorndyke. "The character is the Moabite or +Phoenician--primitive Semitic, in fact--and reads from right to left. +The language I take to be Hebrew. At any rate, I can find no Greek +words, and I see here a group of letters which _may_ form one of the few +Hebrew words that I know--the word _badim_, 'lies.' But you had better +get it deciphered by an expert." + +"If it is Hebrew," said Badger, "we can manage it all right. There are +plenty of Jews at our disposal." + +"You had much better take the paper to the British Museum," said +Thorndyke, "and submit it to the keeper of the Phoenician antiquities +for decipherment." + +Inspector Badger smiled a foxy smile as he deposited the paper in his +pocket-book. "We'll see what we can make of it ourselves first," he +said; "but many thanks for your advice, all the same, Doctor. No, Mr. +James, I can't give you any information just at present; you had better +apply at the hospital." + +"I suspect," said Thorndyke, as we took our way homewards, "that Mr. +James has collected enough material for his purpose already. He must +have followed us from the hospital, and I have no doubt that he has his +report, with 'full details,' mentally arranged at this moment. And I am +not sure that he didn't get a peep at the mysterious paper, in spite of +the inspector's precautions." + +"By the way," I said, "what do you make of the document?" + +"A cipher, most probably," he replied. "It is written in the primitive +Semitic alphabet, which, as you know, is practically identical with +primitive Greek. It is written from right to left, like the Phoenician, +Hebrew, and Moabite, as well as the earliest Greek, inscriptions. The +paper is common cream-laid notepaper, and the ink is ordinary indelible +Chinese ink, such as is used by draughtsmen. Those are the facts, and +without further study of the document itself, they don't carry us very +far." + +"Why do you think it is a cipher rather than a document in +straightforward Hebrew?" + +"Because it is obviously a secret message of some kind. Now, every +educated Jew knows more or less Hebrew, and, although he is able to read +and write only the modern square Hebrew character, it is so easy to +transpose one alphabet into another that the mere language would afford +no security. Therefore, I expect that, when the experts translate this +document, the translation or transliteration will be a mere farrago of +unintelligible nonsense. But we shall see, and meanwhile the facts that +we have offer several interesting suggestions which are well worth +consideration." + +"As, for instance--?" + +"Now, my dear Jervis," said Thorndyke, shaking an admonitory forefinger +at me, "don't, I pray you, give way to mental indolence. You have these +few facts that I have mentioned. Consider them separately and +collectively, and in their relation to the circumstances. Don't attempt +to suck my brain when you have an excellent brain of your own to suck." + +On the following morning the papers fully justified my colleague's +opinion of Mr. James. All the events which had occurred, as well as a +number that had not, were given in the fullest and most vivid detail, a +lengthy reference being made to the paper "found on the person of the +dead anarchist," and "written in a private shorthand or cryptogram." + +The report concluded with the gratifying--though untrue--statement that +"in this intricate and important case, the police have wisely secured +the assistance of Dr. John Thorndyke, to whose acute intellect and vast +experience the portentous cryptogram will doubtless soon deliver up its +secret." + +"Very flattering," laughed Thorndyke, to whom I read the extract on his +return from the hospital, "but a little awkward if it should induce our +friends to deposit a few trifling mementoes in the form of +nitro-compounds on our main staircase or in the cellars. By the way, I +met Superintendent Miller on London Bridge. The 'cryptogram,' as Mr. +James calls it, has set Scotland Yard in a mighty ferment." + +"Naturally. What have they done in the matter?" + +"They adopted my suggestion, after all, finding that they could make +nothing of it themselves, and took it to the British Museum. The Museum +people referred them to Professor Poppelbaum, the great palæographer, to +whom they accordingly submitted it." + +"Did he express any opinion about it?" + +"Yes, provisionally. After a brief examination, he found it to consist +of a number of Hebrew words sandwiched between apparently meaningless +groups of letters. He furnished the Superintendent off-hand with a +translation of the words, and Miller forthwith struck off a number of +hectograph copies of it, which he has distributed among the senior +officials of his department; so that at present"--here Thorndyke gave +vent to a soft chuckle--"Scotland Yard is engaged in a sort of missing +word--or, rather, missing sense--competition. Miller invited me to join +in the sport, and to that end presented me with one of the hectograph +copies on which to exercise my wits, together with a photograph of the +document." + +"And shall you?" I asked. + +"Not I," he replied, laughing. "In the first place, I have not been +formally consulted, and consequently am a passive, though interested, +spectator. In the second place, I have a theory of my own which I shall +test if the occasion arises. But if you would like to take part in the +competition, I am authorized to show you the photograph and the +translation. I will pass them on to you, and I wish you joy of them." + +He handed me the photograph and a sheet of paper that he had just taken +from his pocket-book, and watched me with grim amusement as I read out +the first few lines. + +[Illustration: THE CIPHER.] + +"Woe, city, lies, robbery, prey, noise, whip, rattling, wheel, horse, +chariot, day, darkness, gloominess, clouds, darkness, morning, mountain, +people, strong, fire, them, flame." + +"It doesn't look very promising at first sight," I remarked. "What is +the Professor's theory?" + +"His theory--provisionally, of course--is that the words form the +message, and the groups of letters represent mere filled-up spaces +between the words." + +"But surely," I protested, "that would be a very transparent device." + +Thorndyke laughed. "There is a childlike simplicity about it," said he, +"that is highly attractive--but discouraging. It is much more probable +that the words are dummies, and that the letters contain the message. +Or, again, the solution may lie in an entirely different direction. But +listen! Is that cab coming here?" + +It was. It drew up opposite our chambers, and a few moments later a +brisk step ascending the stairs heralded a smart rat-tat at our door. +Flinging open the latter, I found myself confronted by a well-dressed +stranger, who, after a quick glance at me, peered inquisitively over my +shoulder into the room. + +"I am relieved, Dr. Jervis," said he, "to find you and Dr. Thorndyke at +home, as I have come on somewhat urgent professional business. My name," +he continued, entering in response to my invitation, "is Barton, but you +don't know me, though I know you both by sight. I have come to ask you +if one of you--or, better still, both--could come to-night and see my +brother." + +"That," said Thorndyke, "depends on the circumstances and on the +whereabouts of your brother." + +"The circumstances," said Mr. Barton, "are, in my opinion, highly +suspicious, and I will place them before you--of course, in strict +confidence." + +Thorndyke nodded and indicated a chair. + +"My brother," continued Mr. Barton, taking the profferred seat, "has +recently married for the second time. His age is fifty-five, and that of +his wife twenty-six, and I may say that the marriage has been--well, by +no means a success. Now, within the last fortnight, my brother has been +attacked by a mysterious and extremely painful affection of the stomach, +to which his doctor seems unable to give a name. It has resisted all +treatment hitherto. Day by day the pain and distress increase, and I +feel that, unless something decisive is done, the end cannot be far +off." + +"Is the pain worse after taking food?" inquired Thorndyke. + +"That's just it!" exclaimed our visitor. "I see what is in your mind, +and it has been in mine, too; so much so that I have tried repeatedly to +obtain samples of the food that he is taking. And this morning I +succeeded." Here he took from his pocket a wide-mouthed bottle, which, +disengaging from its paper wrappings, he laid on the table. "When I +called, he was taking his breakfast of arrowroot, which he complained +had a gritty taste, supposed by his wife to be due to the sugar. Now I +had provided myself with this bottle, and, during the absence of his +wife, I managed unobserved to convey a portion of the arrowroot that he +had left into it, and I should be greatly obliged if you would examine +it and tell me if this arrowroot contains anything that it should not." + +He pushed the bottle across to Thorndyke, who carried it to the window, +and, extracting a small quantity of the contents with a glass rod, +examined the pasty mass with the aid of a lens; then, lifting the +bell-glass cover from the microscope, which stood on its table by the +window, he smeared a small quantity of the suspected matter on to a +glass slip, and placed it on the stage of the instrument. + +"I observe a number of crystalline particles in this," he said, after a +brief inspection, "which have the appearance of arsenious acid." + +"Ah!" ejaculated Mr. Barton, "just what I feared. But are you certain?" + +"No," replied Thorndyke; "but the matter is easily tested." + +He pressed the button of the bell that communicated with the laboratory, +a summons that brought the laboratory assistant from his lair with +characteristic promptitude. + +"Will you please prepare a Marsh's apparatus, Polton," said Thorndyke. + +"I have a couple ready, sir," replied Polton. + +"Then pour the acid into one and bring it to me, with a tile." + +As his familiar vanished silently, Thorndyke turned to Mr. Barton. + +"Supposing we find arsenic in this arrowroot, as we probably shall, what +do you want us to do?" + +"I want you to come and see my brother," replied our client. + +"Why not take a note from me to his doctor?" + +"No, no; I want you to come--I should like you both to come--and put a +stop at once to this dreadful business. Consider! It's a matter of life +and death. You won't refuse! I beg you not to refuse me your help in +these terrible circumstances." + +"Well," said Thorndyke, as his assistant reappeared, "let us first see +what the test has to tell us." + +Polton advanced to the table, on which he deposited a small flask, the +contents of which were in a state of brisk effervescence, a bottle +labelled "calcium hypochlorite," and a white porcelain tile. The flask +was fitted with a safety-funnel and a glass tube drawn out to a fine +jet, to which Polton cautiously applied a lighted match. Instantly there +sprang from the jet a tiny, pale violet flame. Thorndyke now took the +tile, and held it in the flame for a few seconds, when the appearance of +the surface remained unchanged save for a small circle of condensed +moisture. His next proceeding was to thin the arrowroot with distilled +water until it was quite fluid, and then pour a small quantity into the +funnel. It ran slowly down the tube into the flask, with the bubbling +contents of which it became speedily mixed. Almost immediately a change +began to appear in the character of the flame, which from a pale violet +turned gradually to a sickly blue, while above it hung a faint cloud of +white smoke. Once more Thorndyke held the tile above the jet, but this +time, no sooner had the pallid flame touched the cold surface of the +porcelain, than there appeared on the latter a glistening black stain. + +"That is pretty conclusive," observed Thorndyke, lifting the stopper out +of the reagent bottle, "but we will apply the final test." He dropped a +few drops of the hypochlorite solution on to the tile, and immediately +the black stain faded away and vanished. "We can now answer your +question, Mr. Barton," said he, replacing the stopper as he turned to +our client. "The specimen that you brought us certainly contains +arsenic, and in very considerable quantities." + +"Then," exclaimed Mr. Barton, starting from his chair, "you will come +and help me to rescue my brother from this dreadful peril. Don't refuse +me, Dr. Thorndyke, for mercy's sake, don't refuse." + +Thorndyke reflected for a moment. + +"Before we decide," said he, "we must see what engagements we have." + +With a quick, significant glance at me, he walked into the office, +whither I followed in some bewilderment, for I knew that we had no +engagements for the evening. + +"Now, Jervis," said Thorndyke, as he closed the office door, "what are +we to do?" + +"We must go, I suppose," I replied. "It seems a pretty urgent case." + +"It does," he agreed. "Of course, the man may be telling the truth, +after all." + +"You don't think he is, then?" + +"No. It is a plausible tale, but there is too much arsenic in that +arrowroot. Still, I think I ought to go. It is an ordinary professional +risk. But there is no reason why you should put your head into the +noose." + +"Thank you," said I, somewhat huffily. "I don't see what risk there is, +but if any exists I claim the right to share it." + +"Very well," he answered with a smile, "we will both go. I think we can +take care of ourselves." + +He re-entered the sitting-room, and announced his decision to Mr. +Barton, whose relief and gratitude were quite pathetic. + +"But," said Thorndyke, "you have not yet told us where your brother +lives." + +"Rexford," was the reply--"Rexford, in Essex. It is an out-of-the-way +place, but if we catch the seven-fifteen train from Liverpool Street, we +shall be there in an hour and a half." + +"And as to the return? You know the trains, I suppose?" + +"Oh yes," replied our client; "I will see that you don't miss your +train back." + +"Then I will be with you in a minute," said Thorndyke; and, taking the +still-bubbling flask, he retired to the laboratory, whence he returned +in a few minutes carrying his hat and overcoat. + +The cab which had brought our client was still waiting, and we were soon +rattling through the streets towards the station, where we arrived in +time to furnish ourselves with dinner-baskets and select our compartment +at leisure. + +During the early part of the journey our companion was in excellent +spirits. He despatched the cold fowl from the basket and quaffed the +rather indifferent claret with as much relish as if he had not had a +single relation in the world, and after dinner he became genial to the +verge of hilarity. But, as time went on, there crept into his manner a +certain anxious restlessness. He became silent and preoccupied, and +several times furtively consulted his watch. + +"The train is confoundedly late!" he exclaimed irritably. "Seven minutes +behind time already!" + +"A few minutes more or less are not of much consequence," said +Thorndyke. + +"No, of course not; but still--Ah, thank Heaven, here we are!" + +He thrust his head out of the off-side window, and gazed eagerly down +the line; then, leaping to his feet, he bustled out on to the platform +while the train was still moving. + +Even as we alighted a warning bell rang furiously on the up-platform, +and as Mr. Barton hurried us through the empty booking-office to the +outside of the station, the rumble of the approaching train could be +heard above the noise made by our own train moving off. + +"My carriage doesn't seem to have arrived yet," exclaimed Mr. Barton, +looking anxiously up the station approach. "If you will wait here a +moment, I will go and make inquiries." + +He darted back into the booking-office and through it on to the +platform, just as the up-train roared into the station. Thorndyke +followed him with quick but stealthy steps, and, peering out of the +booking-office door, watched his proceedings; then he turned and +beckoned to me. + +"There he goes," said he, pointing to an iron footbridge that spanned +the line; and, as I looked, I saw, clearly defined against the dim night +sky, a flying figure racing towards the "up" side. + +It was hardly two-thirds across when the guard's whistle sang out its +shrill warning. + +"Quick, Jervis," exclaimed Thorndyke; "she's off!" + +He leaped down on to the line, whither I followed instantly, and, +crossing the rails, we clambered up together on to the foot-board +opposite an empty first-class compartment. Thorndyke's magazine knife, +containing, among other implements, a railway-key, was already in his +hand. The door was speedily unlocked, and, as we entered, Thorndyke ran +through and looked out on to the platform. + +"Just in time!" he exclaimed. "He is in one of the forward +compartments." + +He relocked the door, and, seating himself, proceeded to fill his pipe. + +"And now," said I, as the train moved out of the station, "perhaps you +will explain this little comedy." + +"With pleasure," he replied, "if it needs any explanation. But you can +hardly have forgotten Mr. James's flattering remarks in his report of +the Greek Street incident, clearly giving the impression that the +mysterious document was in my possession. When I read that, I knew I +must look out for some attempt to recover it, though I hardly expected +such promptness. Still, when Mr. Barton called without credentials or +appointment, I viewed him with some suspicion. That suspicion deepened +when he wanted us both to come. It deepened further when I found an +impossible quantity of arsenic in his sample, and it gave place to +certainty when, having allowed him to select the trains by which we were +to travel, I went up to the laboratory and examined the time-table; for +I then found that the last train for London left Rexford ten minutes +after we were due to arrive. Obviously this was a plan to get us both +safely out of the way while he and some of his friends ransacked our +chambers for the missing document." + +"I see; and that accounts for his extraordinary anxiety at the lateness +of the train. But why did you come, if you knew it was a 'plant'?" + +"My dear fellow," said Thorndyke, "I never miss an interesting +experience if I can help it. There are possibilities in this, too, don't +you see?" + +"But supposing his friends have broken into our chambers already?" + +"That contingency has been provided for; but I think they will wait for +Mr. Barton--and us." + +Our train, being the last one up, stopped at every station, and crawled +slothfully in the intervals, so that it was past eleven o'clock when we +reached Liverpool Street. Here we got out cautiously, and, mingling with +the crowd, followed the unconscious Barton up the platform, through the +barrier, and out into the street. He seemed in no special hurry, for, +after pausing to light a cigar, he set off at an easy pace up New Broad +Street. + +Thorndyke hailed a hansom, and, motioning me to enter, directed the +cabman to drive to Clifford's Inn Passage. + +"Sit well back," said he, as we rattled away up New Broad Street. "We +shall be passing our gay deceiver presently--in fact, there he is, a +living, walking illustration of the folly of underrating the +intelligence of one's adversary." + +At Clifford's Inn Passage we dismissed the cab, and, retiring into the +shadow of the dark, narrow alley, kept an eye on the gate of Inner +Temple Lane. In about twenty minutes we observed our friend approaching +on the south side of Fleet Street. He halted at the gate, plied the +knocker, and after a brief parley with the night-porter vanished through +the wicket. We waited yet five minutes more, and then, having given him +time to get clear of the entrance, we crossed the road. + +The porter looked at us with some surprise. + +"There's a gentleman just gone down to your chambers, sir," said he. "He +told me you were expecting him." + +"Quite right," said Thorndyke, with a dry smile, "I was. Good-night." + +We slunk down the lane, past the church, and through the gloomy +cloisters, giving a wide berth to all lamps and lighted entries, until, +emerging into Paper Buildings, we crossed at the darkest part to King's +Bench Walk, where Thorndyke made straight for the chambers of our friend +Anstey, which were two doors above our own. + +"Why are we coming here?" I asked, as we ascended the stairs. + +But the question needed no answer when we reached the landing, for +through the open door of our friend's chambers I could see in the +darkened room Anstey himself with two uniformed constables and a couple +of plain-clothes men. + +"There has been no signal yet, sir," said one of the latter, whom I +recognized as a detective-sergeant of our division. + +"No," said Thorndyke, "but the M.C. has arrived. He came in five minutes +before us." + +"Then," exclaimed Anstey, "the ball will open shortly, ladies and gents. +The boards are waxed, the fiddlers are tuning up, and--" + +"Not quite so loud, if you please, sir," said the sergeant. "I think +there is somebody coming up Crown Office Row." + +The ball had, in fact, opened. As we peered cautiously out of the open +window, keeping well back in the darkened room, a stealthy figure crept +out of the shadow, crossed the road, and stole noiselessly into the +entry of Thorndyke's chambers. It was quickly followed by a second +figure, and then by a third, in which I recognized our elusive client. + +"Now listen for the signal," said Thorndyke. "They won't waste time. +Confound that clock!" + +The soft-voiced bell of the Inner Temple clock, mingling with the +harsher tones of St. Dunstan's and the Law Courts, slowly told out the +hour of midnight; and as the last reverberations were dying away, some +metallic object, apparently a coin, dropped with a sharp clink on to the +pavement under our window. + +At the sound the watchers simultaneously sprang to their feet. + +"You two go first," said the sergeant, addressing the uniformed men, who +thereupon stole noiselessly, in their rubber-soled boots, down the stone +stairs and along the pavement. The rest of us followed, with less +attention to silence, and as we ran up to Thorndyke's chambers, we were +aware of quick but stealthy footsteps on the stairs above. + +"They've been at work, you see," whispered one of the constables, +flashing his lantern on to the iron-bound outer door of our +sitting-room, on which the marks of a large jemmy were plainly visible. + +The sergeant nodded grimly, and, bidding the constables to remain on the +landing, led the way upwards. + +As we ascended, faint rustlings continued to be audible from above, and +on the second-floor landing we met a man descending briskly, but without +hurry, from the third. It was Mr. Barton, and I could not but admire the +composure with which he passed the two detectives. But suddenly his +glance fell on Thorndyke, and his composure vanished. With a wild stare +of incredulous horror, he halted as if petrified; then he broke away and +raced furiously down the stairs, and a moment later a muffled shout and +the sound of a scuffle told us that he had received a check. On the next +flight we met two more men, who, more hurried and less self-possessed, +endeavoured to push past; but the sergeant barred the way. + +"Why, bless me!" exclaimed the latter, "it's Moakey; and isn't that Tom +Harris?" + +"It's all right, sergeant," said Moakey plaintively, striving to escape +from the officer's grip. "We've come to the wrong house, that's all." + +The sergeant smiled indulgently. "I know," he replied. "But you're +always coming to the wrong house, Moakey; and now you're just coming +along with me to the right house." + +He slipped his hand inside his captive's coat, and adroitly fished out a +large, folding jemmy; whereupon the discomforted burglar abandoned all +further protest. + +On our return to the first-floor, we found Mr. Barton sulkily awaiting +us, handcuffed to one of the constables, and watched by Polton with +pensive disapproval. + +"I needn't trouble you to-night, Doctor," said the sergeant, as he +marshalled his little troop of captors and captives. "You'll hear from +us in the morning. Good-night, sir." + +The melancholy procession moved off down the stairs, and we retired into +our chambers with Anstey to smoke a last pipe. + +"A capable man, that Barton," observed Thorndyke--"ready, plausible, and +ingenious, but spoilt by prolonged contact with fools. I wonder if the +police will perceive the significance of this little affair." + +"They will be more acute than I am if they do," said I. + +"Naturally," interposed Anstey, who loved to "cheek" his revered senior, +"because there isn't any. It's only Thorndyke's bounce. He is really in +a deuce of a fog himself." + +However this may have been, the police were a good deal puzzled by the +incident, for, on the following morning, we received a visit from no +less a person than Superintendent Miller, of Scotland Yard. + +"This is a queer business," said he, coming to the point at once--"this +burglary, I mean. Why should they want to crack your place, right here +in the Temple, too? You've got nothing of value here, have you? No +'hard stuff,' as they call it, for instance?" + +"Not so much as a silver teaspoon," replied Thorndyke, who had a +conscientious objection to plate of all kinds. + +"It's odd," said the superintendent, "deuced odd. When we got your note, +we thought these anarchist idiots had mixed you up with the case--you +saw the papers, I suppose--and wanted to go through your rooms for some +reason. We thought we had our hands on the gang, instead of which we +find a party of common crooks that we're sick of the sight of. I tell +you, sir, it's annoying when you think you've hooked a salmon, to bring +up a blooming eel." + +"It must be a great disappointment," Thorndyke agreed, suppressing a +smile. + +"It is," said the detective. "Not but what we're glad enough to get +these beggars, especially Halkett, or Barton, as he calls himself--a +mighty slippery customer is Halkett, and mischievous, too--but we're not +wanting any disappointments just now. There was that big jewel job in +Piccadilly, Taplin and Horne's; I don't mind telling you that we've not +got the ghost of a clue. Then there's this anarchist affair. We're all +in the dark there, too." + +"But what about the cipher?" asked Thorndyke. + +"Oh, hang the cipher!" exclaimed the detective irritably. "This +Professor Poppelbaum may be a very learned man, but he doesn't help _us_ +much. He says the document is in Hebrew, and he has translated it into +Double Dutch. Just listen to this!" He dragged out of his pocket a +bundle of papers, and, dabbing down a photograph of the document before +Thorndyke, commenced to read the Professor's report. "'The document is +written in the characters of the well-known inscription of Mesha, King +of Moab' (who the devil's he? Never heard of him. Well known, indeed!) +'The language is Hebrew, and the words are separated by groups of +letters, which are meaningless, and obviously introduced to mislead and +confuse the reader. The words themselves are not strictly consecutive, +but, by the interpellation of certain other words, a series of +intelligible sentences is obtained, the meaning of which is not very +clear, but is no doubt allegorical. The method of decipherment is shown +in the accompanying tables, and the full rendering suggested on the +enclosed sheet. It is to be noted that the writer of this document was +apparently quite unacquainted with the Hebrew language, as appears from +the absence of any grammatical construction.' That's the Professor's +report, Doctor, and here are the tables showing how he worked it out. It +makes my head spin to look at 'em." + +He handed to Thorndyke a bundle of ruled sheets, which my colleague +examined attentively for a while, and then passed on to me. + +"This is very systematic and thorough," said he. "But now let us see the +final result at which he arrives." + +"It may be all very systematic," growled the superintendent, sorting out +his papers, "but I tell you, sir, it's all BOSH!" The latter word he +jerked out viciously, as he slapped down on the table the final product +of the Professor's labours. "There," he continued, "that's what he calls +the 'full rendering,' and I reckon it'll make your hair curl. It might +be a message from Bedlam." + +Thorndyke took up the first sheet, and as he compared the constructed +renderings with the literal translation, the ghost of a smile stole +across his usually immovable countenance. + +"The meaning is certainly a little obscure," he observed, "though the +reconstruction is highly ingenious; and, moreover, I think the Professor +is probably right. That is to say, the words which he has supplied are +probably the omitted parts of the passages from which the words of the +cryptogram were taken. What do you think, Jervis?" + +[Illustration: THE PROFESSOR'S ANALYSIS. + +Handwritten: Analysis of the cipher with translation into modern square +Hebrew characters + a translation into English. N.B. The cipher reads +from right to left.] + +He handed me the two papers, of which one gave the actual words of the +cryptogram, and the other a suggested reconstruction, with omitted words +supplied. The first read: + + "Woe city lies robbery prey noise whip + rattling wheel horse chariot day darkness + gloominess cloud darkness morning mountain + people strong fire them flame." + +Turning to the second paper, I read out the suggested rendering: + +"'Woe _to the bloody_ city! _It is full of_ lies _and_ robbery; _the_ +prey _departeth not_. _The_ noise _of a_ whip, _and the noise of the_ +rattling _of the_ wheel_s_, _and of the prancing_ horse_s_, _and of the +jumping_ chariot_s_. + +"'_A_ day _of_ darkness _and of_ gloominess, _a day of_ cloud_s_, _and +of thick_ darkness, _as the_ morning _spread upon the_ mountain_s_, _a +great_ people _and a_ strong. + +"'_A_ fire _devoureth before_ them, _and behind them a_ flame +_burneth_.'" + +Here the first sheet ended, and, as I laid it down, Thorndyke looked at +me inquiringly. + +"There is a good deal of reconstruction in proportion to the original +matter," I objected. "The Professor has 'supplied' more than +three-quarters of the final rendering." + +"Exactly," burst in the superintendent; "it's all Professor and no +cryptogram." + +"Still, I think the reading is correct," said Thorndyke. "As far as it +goes, that is." + +"Good Lord!" exclaimed the dismayed detective. "Do you mean to tell me, +sir, that that balderdash is the real meaning of the thing?" + +"I don't say that," replied Thorndyke. "I say it is correct as far as it +goes; but I doubt its being the solution of the cryptogram." + +"Have you been studying that photograph that I gave you?" demanded +Miller, with sudden eagerness. + +"I have looked at it," said Thorndyke evasively, "but I should like to +examine the original if you have it with you." + +"I have," said the detective. "Professor Poppelbaum sent it back with +the solution. You can have a look at it, though I can't leave it with +you without special authority." + +He drew the document from his pocket-book and handed it to Thorndyke, +who took it over to the window and scrutinized it closely. From the +window he drifted into the adjacent office, closing the door after him; +and presently the sound of a faint explosion told me that he had lighted +the gas-fire. + +"Of course," said Miller, taking up the translation again, "this +gibberish is the sort of stuff you might expect from a parcel of +crack-brained anarchists; but it doesn't seem to mean anything." + +"Not to us," I agreed; "but the phrases may have some pre-arranged +significance. And then there are the letters between the words. It is +possible that they may really form a cipher." + +"I suggested that to the Professor," said Miller, "but he wouldn't hear +of it. He is sure they are only dummies." + +"I think he is probably mistaken, and so, I fancy, does my colleague. +But we shall hear what he has to say presently." + +"Oh, I know what he will say," growled Miller. "He will put the thing +under the microscope, and tell us who made the paper, and what the ink +is composed of, and then we shall be just where we were." The +superintendent was evidently deeply depressed. + +We sat for some time pondering in silence on the vague sentences of the +Professor's translation, until, at length, Thorndyke reappeared, holding +the document in his hand. He laid it quietly on the table by the +officer, and then inquired: + +"Is this an official consultation?" + +"Certainly," replied Miller. "I was authorized to consult you respecting +the translation, but nothing was said about the original. Still, if you +want it for further study, I will get it for you." + +"No, thank you," said Thorndyke. "I have finished with it. My theory +turned out to be correct." + +"Your theory!" exclaimed the superintendent, eagerly. "Do you mean to +say--?" + +"And, as you are consulting me officially, I may as well give you this." + +He held out a sheet of paper, which the detective took from him and +began to read. + +"What is this?" he asked, looking up at Thorndyke with a puzzled frown. +"Where did it come from?" + +"It is the solution of the cryptogram," replied Thorndyke. + +The detective re-read the contents of the paper, and, with the frown of +perplexity deepening, once more gazed at my colleague. + +"This is a joke, sir; you are fooling me," he said sulkily. + +"Nothing of the kind," answered Thorndyke. "That is the genuine +solution." + +"But it's impossible!" exclaimed Miller. "Just look at it, Dr. Jervis." + +I took the paper from his hand, and, as I glanced at it, I had no +difficulty in understanding his surprise. It bore a short inscription in +printed Roman capitals, thus: + +"THE PICKERDILLEY STUF IS UP THE CHIMBLY 416 WARDOUR ST 2ND FLOUR BACK +IT WAS HID BECOS OF OLD MOAKEYS JOOD MOAKEY IS A BLITER." + +"Then that fellow wasn't an anarchist at all?" I exclaimed. + +"No," said Miller. "He was one of Moakey's gang. We suspected Moakey of +being mixed up with that job, but we couldn't fix it on him. By Jove!" +he added, slapping his thigh, "if this is right, and I can lay my hands +on the loot! Can you lend me a bag, doctor? I'm off to Wardour Street +this very moment." + +We furnished him with an empty suit-case, and, from the window, watched +him making for Mitre Court at a smart double. + +"I wonder if he will find the booty," said Thorndyke. "It just depends +on whether the hiding-place was known to more than one of the gang. +Well, it has been a quaint case, and instructive, too. I suspect our +friend Barton and the evasive Schönberg were the collaborators who +produced that curiosity of literature." + +"May I ask how you deciphered the thing?" I said. "It didn't appear to +take long." + +"It didn't. It was merely a matter of testing a hypothesis; and you +ought not to have to ask that question," he added, with mock severity, +"seeing that you had what turn out to have been all the necessary facts, +two days ago. But I will prepare a document and demonstrate to you +to-morrow morning." + + * * * * * + +"So Miller was successful in his quest," said Thorndyke, as we smoked +our morning pipes after breakfast. "The 'entire swag,' as he calls it, +was 'up the chimbly,' undisturbed." + +He handed me a note which had been left, with the empty suit-case, by a +messenger, shortly before, and I was about to read it when an agitated +knock was heard at our door. The visitor, whom I admitted, was a rather +haggard and dishevelled elderly gentleman, who, as he entered, peered +inquisitively through his concave spectacles from one of us to the +other. + +"Allow me to introduce myself, gentlemen," said he. "I am Professor +Poppelbaum." + +Thorndyke bowed and offered a chair. + +"I called yesterday afternoon," our visitor continued, "at Scotland +Yard, where I heard of your remarkable decipherment and of the +convincing proof of its correctness. Thereupon I borrowed the +cryptogram, and have spent the entire night in studying it, but I cannot +connect your solution with any of the characters. I wonder if you would +do me the great favour of enlightening me as to your method of +decipherment, and so save me further sleepless nights? You may rely on +my discretion." + +"Have you the document with you?" asked Thorndyke. + +The Professor produced it from his pocket-book, and passed it to my +colleague. + +"You observe, Professor," said the latter, "that this is a laid paper, +and has no water-mark?" + +"Yes, I noticed that." + +"And that the writing is in indelible Chinese ink?" + +"Yes, yes," said the savant impatiently; "but it is the inscription that +interests me, not the paper and ink." + +"Precisely," said Thorndyke. "Now, it was the ink that interested me +when I caught a glimpse of the document three days ago. 'Why,' I asked +myself, 'should anyone use this troublesome medium'--for this appears to +be stick ink--'when good writing ink is to be had?' What advantages has +Chinese ink over writing ink? It has several advantages as a drawing +ink, but for writing purposes it has only one: it is quite unaffected +by wet. The obvious inference, then, was that this document was, for +some reason, likely to be exposed to wet. But this inference instantly +suggested another, which I was yesterday able to put to the test--thus." + +He filled a tumbler with water, and, rolling up the document, dropped it +in. Immediately there began to appear on it a new set of characters of a +curious grey colour. In a few seconds Thorndyke lifted out the wet +paper, and held it up to the light, and now there was plainly visible an +inscription in transparent lettering, like a very distinct water-mark. +It was in printed Roman capitals, written across the other writing, and +read: + +"THE PICKERDILLEY STUF IS UP THE CHIMBLY 416 WARDOUR ST 2ND FLOUR BACK +IT WAS HID BECOS OF OLD MOAKEYS JOOD MOAKEY IS A BLITER." + +The Professor regarded the inscription with profound disfavour. + +"How do you suppose this was done?" he asked gloomily. + +"I will show you," said Thorndyke. "I have prepared a piece of paper to +demonstrate the process to Dr. Jervis. It is exceedingly simple." + +He fetched from the office a small plate of glass, and a photographic +dish in which a piece of thin notepaper was soaking in water. + +"This paper," said Thorndyke, lifting it out and laying it on the glass, +"has been soaking all night, and is now quite pulpy." + +He spread a dry sheet of paper over the wet one, and on the former wrote +heavily with a hard pencil, "Moakey is a bliter." On lifting the upper +sheet, the writing was seen to be transferred in a deep grey to the wet +paper, and when the latter was held up to the light the inscription +stood out clear and transparent as if written with oil. + +"When this dries," said Thorndyke, "the writing will completely +disappear, but it will reappear whenever the paper is again wetted." + +The Professor nodded. + +"Very ingenious," said he--"a sort of artificial palimpsest, in fact. +But I do not understand how that illiterate man could have written in +the difficult Moabite script." + +"He did not," said Thorndyke. "The 'cryptogram' was probably written by +one of the leaders of the gang, who, no doubt, supplied copies to the +other members to use instead of blank paper for secret communications. +The object of the Moabite writing was evidently to divert attention from +the paper itself, in case the communication fell into the wrong hands, +and I must say it seems to have answered its purpose very well." + +The Professor started, stung by the sudden recollection of his labours. + +"Yes," he snorted; "but I am a scholar, sir, not a policeman. Every man +to his trade." + +He snatched up his hat, and with a curt "Good-morning," flung out of the +room in dudgeon. + +Thorndyke laughed softly. + +"Poor Professor!" he murmured. "Our playful friend Barton has much to +answer for." + + + + +VI + +THE MANDARIN'S PEARL + + +Mr. Brodribb stretched out his toes on the kerb before the blazing fire +with the air of a man who is by no means insensible to physical comfort. + +"You are really an extraordinarily polite fellow, Thorndyke," said he. + +He was an elderly man, rosy-gilled, portly, and convivial, to whom a +mass of bushy, white hair, an expansive double chin, and a certain prim +sumptuousness of dress imparted an air of old-world distinction. Indeed, +as he dipped an amethystine nose into his wine-glass, and gazed +thoughtfully at the glowing end of his cigar, he looked the very type of +the well-to-do lawyer of an older generation. + +"You are really an extraordinarily polite fellow, Thorndyke," said Mr. +Brodribb. + +"I know," replied Thorndyke. "But why this reference to an admitted +fact?" + +"The truth has just dawned on me," said the solicitor. "Here am I, +dropping in on you, uninvited and unannounced, sitting in your own +armchair before your fire, smoking your cigars, drinking your +Burgundy--and deuced good Burgundy, too, let me add--and you have not +dropped a single hint of curiosity as to what has brought me here." + +"I take the gifts of the gods, you see, and ask no questions," said +Thorndyke. + +"Devilish handsome of you, Thorndyke--unsociable beggar like you, too," +rejoined Mr. Brodribb, a fan of wrinkles spreading out genially from the +corners of his eyes; "but the fact is I have come, in a sense, on +business--always glad of a pretext to look you up, as you know--but I +want to take your opinion on a rather queer case. It is about young +Calverley. You remember Horace Calverley? Well, this is his son. Horace +and I were schoolmates, you know, and after his death the boy, Fred, +hung on to me rather. We're near neighbours down at Weybridge, and very +good friends. I like Fred. He's a good fellow, though cranky, like all +his people." + +"What has happened to Fred Calverley?" Thorndyke asked, as the solicitor +paused. + +"Why, the fact is," said Mr. Brodribb, "just lately he seems to be going +a bit queer--not mad, mind you--at least, I think not--but undoubtedly +queer. Now, there is a good deal of property, and a good many highly +interested relatives, and, as a natural consequence, there is some talk +of getting him certified. They're afraid he may do something involving +the estate or develop homicidal tendencies, and they talk of possible +suicide--you remember his father's death--but I say that's all bunkum. +The fellow is just a bit cranky, and nothing more." + +"What are his symptoms?" asked Thorndyke. + +"Oh, he thinks he is being followed about and watched, and he has +delusions; sees himself in the glass with the wrong face, and that sort +of thing, you know." + +"You are not highly circumstantial," Thorndyke remarked. + +Mr. Brodribb looked at me with a genial smile. + +"What a glutton for facts this fellow is, Jervis. But you're right, +Thorndyke; I'm vague. However, Fred will be here presently. We travel +down together, and I took the liberty of asking him to call for me. +We'll get him to tell you about his delusions, if you don't mind. He's +not shy about them. And meanwhile I'll give you a few preliminary facts. +The trouble began about a year ago. He was in a railway accident, and +that knocked him all to pieces. Then he went for a voyage to recruit, +and the ship broke her propeller-shaft in a storm and became helpless. +That didn't improve the state of his nerves. Then he went down the +Mediterranean, and after a month or two, back he came, no better than +when he started. But here he is, I expect." + +He went over to the door and admitted a tall, frail young man whom +Thorndyke welcomed with quiet geniality, and settled in a chair by the +fire. I looked curiously at our visitor. He was a typical +neurotic--slender, fragile, eager. Wide-open blue eyes with broad +pupils, in which I could plainly see the characteristic "hippus"--that +incessant change of size that marks the unstable nervous +equilibrium--parted lips, and wandering taper fingers, were as the +stigmata of his disorder. He was of the stuff out of which prophets and +devotees, martyrs, reformers, and third-rate poets are made. + +"I have been telling Dr. Thorndyke about these nervous troubles of +yours," said Mr. Brodribb presently. "I hope you don't mind. He is an +old friend, you know, and he is very much interested." + +"It is very good of him," said Calverley. Then he flushed deeply, and +added: "But they are not really nervous, you know. They can't be merely +subjective." + +"You think they can't be?" said Thorndyke. + +"No, I am sure they are not." He flushed again like a girl, and looked +earnestly at Thorndyke with his big, dreamy eyes. "But you doctors," he +said, "are so dreadfully sceptical of all spiritual phenomena. You are +such materialists." + +"Yes," said Mr. Brodribb; "the doctors are not hot on the supernatural, +and that's the fact." + +"Supposing you tell us about your experiences," said Thorndyke +persuasively. "Give us a chance to believe, if we can't explain away." + +Calverley reflected for a few moments; then, looking earnestly at +Thorndyke, he said: + +"Very well; if it won't bore you, I will. It is a curious story." + +"I have told Dr. Thorndyke about your voyage and your trip down the +Mediterranean," said Mr. Brodribb. + +"Then," said Calverley, "I will begin with the events that are actually +connected with these strange visitations. The first of these occurred in +Marseilles. I was in a curio-shop there, looking over some Algerian and +Moorish tilings, when my attention was attracted by a sort of charm or +pendant that hung in a glass case. It was not particularly beautiful, +but its appearance was quaint and curious, and took my fancy. It +consisted of an oblong block of ebony in which was set a single +pear-shaped pearl more than three-quarters of an inch long. The sides of +the ebony block were lacquered--probably to conceal a joint--and bore a +number of Chinese characters, and at the top was a little gold image +with a hole through it, presumably for a string to suspend it by. +Excepting for the pearl, the whole thing was uncommonly like one of +those ornamental tablets of Chinese ink. + +"Now, I had taken a fancy to the thing, and I can afford to indulge my +fancies in moderation. The man wanted five pounds for it; he assured me +that the pearl was a genuine one of fine quality, and obviously did not +believe it himself. To me, however, it looked like a real pearl, and I +determined to take the risk; so I paid the money, and he bowed me out +with a smile--I may almost say a grin--of satisfaction. He would not +have been so well pleased if he had followed me to a jeweller's to whom +I took it for an expert opinion; for the jeweller pronounced the pearl +to be undoubtedly genuine, and worth anything up to a thousand pounds. + +"A day or two later, I happened to show my new purchase to some men whom +I knew, who had dropped in at Marseilles in their yacht. They were +highly amused at my having bought the thing, and when I told them what I +had paid for it, they positively howled with derision. + +"'Why, you silly guffin,' said one of them, a man named Halliwell, 'I +could have had it ten days ago for half a sovereign, or probably five +shillings. I wish now I had bought it; then I could have sold it to +you.' + +"It seemed that a sailor had been hawking the pendant round the harbour, +and had been on board the yacht with it. + +"'Deuced anxious the beggar was to get rid of it, too,' said Halliwell, +grinning at the recollection. 'Swore it was a genuine pearl of priceless +value, and was willing to deprive himself of it for the trifling sum of +half a jimmy. But we'd heard that sort of thing before. However, the +curio-man seems to have speculated on the chance of meeting with a +greenhorn, and he seems to have pulled it off. Lucky curio man!' + +"I listened patiently to their gibes, and when they had talked +themselves out I told them about the jeweller. They were most +frightfully sick; and when we had taken the pendant to a dealer in gems +who happened to be staying in the town, and he had offered me five +hundred pounds for it, their language wasn't fit for a divinity +students' debating club. Naturally the story got noised abroad, and when +I left, it was the talk of the place. The general opinion was that the +sailor, who was traced to a tea-ship that had put into the harbour, had +stolen it from some Chinese passenger; and no less than seventeen +different Chinamen came forward to claim it as their stolen property. + +"Soon after this I returned to England, and, as my nerves were still in +a very shaky state, I came to live with my cousin Alfred, who has a +large house at Weybridge. At this time he had a friend staying with him, +a certain Captain Raggerton, and the two men appeared to be on very +intimate terms. I did not take to Raggerton at all. He was a +good-looking man, pleasant in his manners, and remarkably plausible. But +the fact is--I am speaking in strict confidence, of course--he was a bad +egg. He had been in the Guards, and I don't quite know why he left; but +I do know that he played bridge and baccarat pretty heavily at several +clubs, and that he had a reputation for being a rather uncomfortably +lucky player. He did a good deal at the race-meetings, too, and was in +general such an obvious undesirable that I could never understand my +cousin's intimacy with him, though I must say that Alfred's habits had +changed somewhat for the worse since I had left England. + +"The fame of my purchase seems to have preceded me, for when, one day, I +produced the pendant to show them, I found that they knew all about it. +Raggerton had heard the story from a naval man, and I gathered vaguely +that he had heard something that I had not, and that he did not care to +tell me; for when my cousin and he talked about the pearl, which they +did pretty often, certain significant looks passed between them, and +certain veiled references were made which I could not fail to notice. + +"One day I happened to be telling them of a curious incident that +occurred on my way home. I had travelled to England on one of Holt's big +China boats, not liking the crowd and bustle of the regular +passenger-lines. Now, one afternoon, when we had been at sea a couple of +days, I took a book down to my berth, intending to have a quiet read +till tea-time. Soon, however, I dropped off into a doze, and must have +remained asleep for over an hour. I awoke suddenly, and as I opened my +eyes, I perceived that the door of the state-room was half-open, and a +well-dressed Chinaman, in native costume, was looking in at me. He +closed the door immediately, and I remained for a few moments paralyzed +by the start that he had given me. Then I leaped from my bunk, opened +the door, and looked out. But the alley-way was empty. The Chinaman had +vanished as if by magic. + +"This little occurrence made me quite nervous for a day or two, which +was very foolish of me; but my nerves were all on edge--and I am afraid +they are still." + +"Yes," said Thorndyke. "There was nothing mysterious about the affair. +These boats carry a Chinese crew, and the man you saw was probably a +Serang, or whatever they call the gang-captains on these vessels. Or he +may have been a native passenger who had strayed into the wrong part of +the ship." + +"Exactly," agreed our client. "But to return to Raggerton. He listened +with quite extraordinary interest as I was telling this story, and when +I had finished he looked very queerly at my cousin. + +"'A deuced odd thing, this, Calverley,' said he. 'Of course, it may be +only a coincidence, but it really does look as if there was something, +after all, in that--' + +"'Shut up, Raggerton,' said my cousin. 'We don't want any of that rot.' + +"'What is he talking about?" I asked. + +"'Oh, it's only a rotten, silly yarn that he has picked up somewhere. +You're not to tell him, Raggerton.' + +"'I don't see why I am not to be told,' I said, rather sulkily. 'I'm not +a baby.' + +"'No,' said Alfred, 'but you're an invalid. You don't want any horrors.' + +"In effect, he refused to go into the matter any further, and I was left +on tenter-hooks of curiosity. + +"However, the very next day I got Raggerton alone in the smoking-room, +and had a little talk with him. He had just dropped a hundred pounds on +a double event that hadn't come off, and I expected to find him pliable. +Nor was I disappointed, for, when we had negotiated a little loan, he +was entirely at my service, and willing to tell me everything, on my +promising not to give him away to Alfred. + +"'Now, you understand,' he said, 'that this yarn about your pearl is +nothing but a damn silly fable that's been going the round in +Marseilles. I don't know where it came from, or what sort of demented +rotter invented it; I had it from a Johnnie in the Mediterranean +Squadron, and you can have a copy of his letter if you want it.' + +"I said that I did want it. Accordingly, that same evening he handed me +a copy of the narrative extracted from his friend's letter, the +substance of which was this: + +"About four months ago there was lying in Canton Harbour a large English +barque. Her name is not mentioned, but that is not material to the +story. She had got her cargo stowed and her crew signed on, and was only +waiting for certain official formalities to be completed before putting +to sea on her homeward voyage. Just ahead of her, at the same quay, was +a Danish ship that had been in collision outside, and was now laid up +pending the decision of the Admiralty Court. She had been unloaded, and +her crew paid off, with the exception of one elderly man, who remained +on board as ship-keeper. Now, a considerable part of the cargo of the +English barque was the property of a certain wealthy mandarin, and this +person had been about the vessel a good deal while she was taking in her +lading. + +"One day, when the mandarin was on board the barque, it happened that +three of the seamen were sitting in the galley smoking and chatting with +the cook--an elderly Chinaman named Wo-li--and the latter, pointing out +the mandarin to the sailors, expatiated on his enormous wealth, assuring +them that he was commonly believed to carry on his person articles of +sufficient value to buy up the entire lading of a ship. + +"Now, unfortunately for the mandarin, it chanced that these three +sailors were about the greatest rascals on board; which is saying a good +deal when one considers the ordinary moral standard that prevails in the +forecastle of a sailing-ship. Nor was Wo-li himself an angel; in fact, +he was a consummate villain, and seems to have been the actual +originator of the plot which was presently devised to rob the mandarin. + +"This plot was as remarkable for its simplicity as for its cold-blooded +barbarity. On the evening before the barque sailed, the three seamen, +Nilsson, Foucault, and Parratt, proceeded to the Danish ship with a +supply of whisky, made the ship-keeper royally drunk, and locked him up +in an empty berth. Meanwhile Wo-li made a secret communication to the +mandarin to the effect that certain stolen property, believed to be his, +had been secreted in the hold of the empty ship. Thereupon the mandarin +came down hot-foot to the quay-side, and was received on board by the +three seamen, who had got the covers off the after-hatch in readiness. +Parratt now ran down the iron ladder to show the way, and the mandarin +followed; but when they reached the lower deck, and looked down the +hatch into the black darkness of the lower hold, he seems to have taken +fright, and begun to climb up again. Meanwhile Nilsson had made a +running bowline in the end of a loose halyard that was rove through a +block aloft, and had been used for hoisting out the cargo. As the +mandarin came up, he leaned over the coaming of the hatch, dropped the +noose over the Chinaman's head, jerked it tight, and then he and +Foucault hove on the fall of the rope. The unfortunate Chinaman was +dragged from the ladder, and, as he swung clear, the two rascals let go +the rope, allowing him to drop through the hatches into the lower hold. +Then they belayed the rope, and went down below. Parratt had already +lighted a slush-lamp, by the glimmer of which they could see the +mandarin swinging to and fro like a pendulum within a few feet of the +ballast, and still quivering and twitching in his death-throes. They +were now joined by Wo-li, who had watched the proceedings from the quay, +and the four villains proceeded, without loss of time, to rifle the body +as it hung. To their surprise and disgust, they found nothing of value +excepting an ebony pendant set with a single large pearl; but Wo-li, +though evidently disappointed at the nature of the booty, assured his +comrades that this alone was well worth the hazard, pointing out the +great size and exceptional beauty of the pearl. As to this, the seamen +know nothing about pearls, but the thing was done, and had to be made +the best of; so they made the rope fast to the lower deck-beams, cut off +the remainder and unrove it from the block, and went back to their ship. + +"It was twenty-four hours before the ship-keeper was sufficiently sober +to break out of the berth in which he had been locked, by which time the +barque was well out to sea; and it was another three days before the +body of the mandarin was found. An active search was then made for the +murderers, but as they were strangers to the ship-keeper, no clues to +their whereabouts could be discovered. + +"Meanwhile, the four murderers were a good deal exercised as to the +disposal of the booty. Since it could not be divided, it was evident +that it must be entrusted to the keeping of one of them. The choice in +the first place fell upon Wo-li, in whose chest the pendant was +deposited as soon as the party came on board, it being arranged that the +Chinaman should produce the jewel for inspection by his confederates +whenever called upon. + +"For six weeks nothing out of the common occurred; but then a very +singular event befell. The four conspirators were sitting outside the +galley one evening, when suddenly the cook uttered a cry of amazement +and horror. The other three turned to see what it was that had so +disturbed their comrade, and then they, too, were struck dumb with +consternation; for, standing at the door of the companion-hatch--the +barque was a flush-decked vessel--was the mandarin whom they had left +for dead. He stood quietly regarding them for fully a minute, while they +stared at him transfixed with terror. Then he beckoned to them, and went +below. + +"So petrified were they with astonishment and mortal fear that they +remained for a long time motionless and dumb. At last they plucked up +courage, and began to make furtive inquiries among the crew; but no +one--not even the steward--knew anything of any passengers, or, indeed, +of any Chinaman, on board the ship, excepting Wo-li. + +"At day-break the next morning, when the cook's mate went to the galley +to fill the coppers, he found Wo-li hanging from a hook in the ceiling. +The cook's body was stiff and cold, and had evidently been hanging +several hours. The report of the tragedy quickly spread through the +ship, and the three conspirators hurried off to remove the pearl from +the dead man's chest before the officers should come to examine it. The +cheap lock was easily picked with a bent wire, and the jewel +abstracted; but now the question arose as to who should take charge of +it. The eagerness to be the actual custodian of the precious bauble, +which had been at first displayed, now gave place to equally strong +reluctance. But someone had to take charge of it, and after a long and +angry discussion Nilsson was prevailed upon to stow it in his chest. + +"A fortnight passed. The three conspirators went about their duties +soberly, like men burdened with some secret anxiety, and in their +leisure moments they would sit and talk with bated breath of the +apparition at the companion-hatch, and the mysterious death of their +late comrade. + +"At last the blow fell. + +"It was at the end of the second dog-watch that the hands were gathered +on the forecastle, preparing to make sail after a spell of bad weather. +Suddenly Nilsson gave a husky shout, and rushed at Parratt, holding out +the key of his chest. + +"'Here you, Parratt,' he exclaimed, 'go below and take that accursed +thing out of my chest.' + +"'What for?' demanded Parratt; and then he and Foucault, who was +standing close by, looked aft to see what Nilsson was staring at. + +"Instantly they both turned white as ghosts, and fell trembling so that +they could hardly stand; for there was the mandarin, standing calmly by +the companion, returning with a steady, impassive gaze their looks of +horror. And even as they looked he beckoned and went below. + +"'D'ye hear, Parratt?' gasped Nilsson; 'take my key and do what I say, +or else--' + +"But at this moment the order was given to go aloft and set all plain +sail; the three men went off to their respective posts, Nilsson going +up the fore-topmast rigging, and the other two to the main-top. Having +finished their work aloft, Foucault and Parratt who were both in the +port watch, came down on deck, and then, it being their watch below, +they went and turned in. + +"When they turned out with their watch at midnight, they looked about +for Nilsson, who was in the starboard watch, but he was nowhere to be +seen. Thinking he might have slipped below unobserved, they made no +remark, though they were very uneasy about him; but when the starboard +watch came on deck at four o'clock, and Nilsson did not appear with his +mates, the two men became alarmed, and made inquiries about him. It was +now discovered that no one had seen him since eight o'clock on the +previous evening, and, this being reported to the officer of the watch, +the latter ordered all hands to be called. But still Nilsson did not +appear. A thorough search was now instituted, both below and aloft, and +as there was still no sign of the missing man, it was concluded that he +had fallen overboard. + +"But at eight o'clock two men were sent aloft to shake out the +fore-royal. They reached the yard almost simultaneously, and were just +stepping on to the foot-ropes when one of them gave a shout; then the +pair came sliding down a backstay, with faces as white as tallow. As +soon as they reached the deck, they took the officer of the watch +forward, and, standing on the heel of the bowsprit, pointed aloft. +Several of the hands, including Foucault and Parratt, had followed, and +all looked up; and there they saw the body of Nilsson, hanging on the +front of the fore-topgallant sail. He was dangling at the end of a +gasket, and bouncing up and down on the taut belly of the sail as the +ship rose and fell to the send of the sea. + +"The two survivors were now in some doubt about having anything further +to do with the pearl. But the great value of the jewel, and the +consideration that it was now to be divided between two instead of four, +tempted them. They abstracted it from Nilsson's chest, and then, as they +could not come to an agreement in any other way, they decided to settle +who should take charge of it by tossing a coin. The coin was accordingly +spun, and the pearl went to Foucault's chest. + +"From this moment Foucault lived in a state of continual apprehension. +When on deck, his eyes were for ever wandering towards the companion +hatch, and during his watch below, when not asleep, he would sit moodily +on his chest, lost in gloomy reflection. But a fortnight passed, then +three weeks, and still nothing happened. Land was sighted, the Straits +of Gibraltar passed, and the end of the voyage was but a matter of days. +And still the dreaded mandarin made no sign. + +"At length the ship was within twenty-four hours of Marseilles, to which +port a large part of the cargo was consigned. Active preparations were +being made for entering the port, and among other things the shore +tackle was being overhauled. A share in this latter work fell to +Foucault and Parratt, and about the middle of the second +dog-watch--seven o'clock in the evening--they were sitting on the deck +working an eye-splice in the end of a large rope. Suddenly Foucault, who +was facing forward, saw his companion turn pale and stare aft with an +expression of terror. He immediately turned and looked over his shoulder +to see what Parratt was staring at. It was the mandarin, standing by +the companion, gravely watching them; and as Foucault turned and met his +gaze, the Chinaman beckoned and went below. + +"For the rest of that day Parratt kept close to his terrified comrade, +and during their watch below he endeavoured to remain awake, that he +might keep his friend in view. Nothing happened through the night, and +the following morning, when they came on deck for the forenoon watch, +their port was well in sight. The two men now separated for the first +time, Parratt going aft to take his trick at the wheel, and Foucault +being set to help in getting ready the ground tackle. + +"Half an hour later Parratt saw the mate stand on the rail and lean +outboard, holding on to the mizzen-shrouds while he stared along the +ship's side. Then he jumped on to the deck and shouted angrily: +'Forward, there! What the deuce is that man up to under the starboard +cat-head?' + +"The men on the forecastle rushed to the side and looked over; two of +them leaned over the rail with the bight of a rope between them, and a +third came running aft to the mate. 'It's Foucault, sir,' Parratt heard +him say. 'He's hanged hisself from the cat-head.' + +"As soon as he was off duty, Parratt made his way to his dead comrade's +chest, and, opening it with his pick-lock, took out the pearl. It was +now his sole property, and, as the ship was within an hour or two of her +destination, he thought he had little to fear from its murdered owner. +As soon as the vessel was alongside the wharf, he would slip ashore and +get rid of the jewel, even if he sold it at a comparatively low price. +The thing looked perfectly simple. + +"In actual practice, however, it turned out quite otherwise. He began +by accosting a well-dressed stranger and offering the pendant for fifty +pounds; but the only reply that he got was a knowing smile and a shake +of the head. When this experience had been repeated a dozen times or +more, and he had been followed up and down the streets for nearly an +hour by a suspicious gendarme, he began to grow anxious. He visited +quite a number of ships and yachts in the harbour, and at each refusal +the price of his treasure came down, until he was eager to sell it for a +few francs. But still no one would have it. Everyone took it for granted +that the pearl was a sham, and most of the persons whom he accosted +assumed that it had been stolen. The position was getting desperate. +Evening was approaching--the time of the dreaded dog-watches--and still +the pearl was in his possession. Gladly would he now have given it away +for nothing, but he dared not try, for this would lay him open to the +strongest suspicion. + +"At last, in a by-street, he came upon the shop of a curio-dealer. +Putting on a careless and cheerful manner, he entered and offered the +pendant for ten francs. The dealer looked at it, shook his head, and +handed it back. + +"'What will you give me for it?' demanded Parratt, breaking out into a +cold sweat at the prospect of a final refusal. + +"The dealer felt in his pocket, drew out a couple of francs, and held +them out. + +"'Very well,' said Parratt. He took the money as calmly as he could, and +marched out of the shop, with a gasp of relief, leaving the pendant in +the dealer's hand. + +"The jewel was hung up in a glass case, and nothing more was thought +about it until some ten days later, when an English tourist, who came +into the shop, noticed it and took a liking to it. Thereupon the dealer +offered it to him for five pounds, assuring him that it was a genuine +pearl, a statement that, to his amazement, the stranger evidently +believed. He was then deeply afflicted at not having asked a higher +price, but the bargain had been struck, and the Englishman went off with +his purchase. + +"This was the story told by Captain Raggerton's friend, and I have given +it to you in full detail, having read the manuscript over many times +since it was given to me. No doubt you will regard it as a mere +traveller's tale, and consider me a superstitious idiot for giving any +credence to it." + +"It certainly seems more remarkable for picturesqueness than for +credibility," Thorndyke agreed. "May I ask," he continued, "whether +Captain Raggerton's friend gave any explanation as to how this singular +story came to his knowledge, or to that of anybody else?" + +"Oh yes," replied Calverley; "I forgot to mention that the seaman, +Parratt, very shortly after he had sold the pearl, fell down the hatch +into the hold as the ship was unloading, and was very badly injured. He +was taken to the hospital, where he died on the following day; and it +was while he was lying there in a dying condition that he confessed to +the murder, and gave this circumstantial account of it." + +"I see," said Thorndyke; "and I understand that you accept the story as +literally true?" + +"Undoubtedly." Calverley flushed defiantly as he returned Thorndyke's +look, and continued: "You see, I am not a man of science: therefore my +beliefs are not limited to things that can be weighed and measured. +There are things, Dr. Thorndyke, which are outside the range of our puny +intellects; things that science, with its arrogant materialism, puts +aside and ignores with close-shut eyes. I prefer to believe in things +which obviously exist, even though I cannot explain them. It is the +humbler and, I think, the wiser attitude." + +"But, my dear Fred," protested Mr. Brodribb, "this is a rank +fairy-tale." + +Calverley turned upon the solicitor. "If you had seen what I have seen, +you would not only believe: you would _know_." + +"Tell us what you have seen, then," said Mr. Brodribb. + +"I will, if you wish to hear it," said Calverley. "I will continue the +strange history of the Mandarin's Pearl." + +He lit a fresh cigarette and continued: + +"The night I came to Beech-hurst--that is my cousin's house, you know--a +rather absurd thing happened, which I mention on account of its +connection with what has followed. I had gone to my room early, and sat +for some time writing letters before getting ready for bed. When I had +finished my letters, I started on a tour of inspection of my room. I was +then, you must remember, in a very nervous state, and it had become my +habit to examine the room in which I was to sleep before undressing, +looking under the bed, and in any cupboards and closets that there +happened to be. Now, on looking round my new room, I perceived that +there was a second door, and I at once proceeded to open it to see where +it led to. As soon as I opened the door, I got a terrible start. I +found myself looking into a narrow closet or passage, lined with pegs, +on which the servant had hung some of my clothes; at the farther end was +another door, and, as I stood looking into the closet, I observed, with +startled amazement, a man standing holding the door half-open, and +silently regarding me. I stood for a moment staring at him, with my +heart thumping and my limbs all of a tremble; then I slammed the door +and ran off to look for my cousin. + +"He was in the billiard-room with Raggerton, and the pair looked up +sharply as I entered. + +"'Alfred,' I said, 'where does that passage lead to out of my room?' + +"'Lead to?' said he. 'Why, it doesn't lead anywhere. It used to open +into a cross corridor, but when the house was altered, the corridor was +done away with, and this passage closed up. It is only a cupboard now.' + +"'Well, there's a man in it--or there was just now.' + +"'Nonsense!' he exclaimed; 'impossible! Let us go and look at the +place.' + +"He and Raggerton rose, and we went together to my room. As we flung +open the door of the closet and looked in, we all three burst into a +laugh. There were three men now looking at us from the open door at the +other end, and the mystery was solved. A large mirror had been placed at +the end of the closet to cover the partition which cut it off from the +cross corridor. + +"This incident naturally exposed me to a good deal of chaff from my +cousin and Captain Raggerton; but I often wished that the mirror had not +been placed there, for it happened over and over again that, going to +the cupboard hurriedly, and not thinking of the mirror, I got quite a +bad shock on being confronted by a figure apparently coming straight at +me through an open door. In fact, it annoyed me so much, in my nervous +state, that I even thought of asking my cousin to give me a different +room; but, happening to refer to the matter when talking to Raggerton, I +found the Captain so scornful of my cowardice that my pride was touched, +and I let the affair drop. + +[Illustration: THE APPARITION IN THE MIRROR] + +"And now I come to a very strange occurrence, which I shall relate quite +frankly, although I know beforehand that you will set me down as a liar +or a lunatic. I had been away from home for a fortnight, and as I +returned rather late at night, I went straight to my room. Having partly +undressed, I took my clothes in one hand and a candle in the other, and +opened the cupboard door. I stood for a moment looking nervously at my +double, standing, candle in hand, looking at me through the open door at +the other end of the passage; then I entered, and, setting the candle on +a shelf, proceeded to hang up my clothes. I had hung them up, and had +just reached up for the candle, when my eye was caught by something +strange in the mirror. It no longer reflected the candle in my hand, but +instead of it, a large coloured paper lantern. I stood petrified with +astonishment, and gazed into the mirror; and then I saw that my own +reflection was changed, too; that, in place of my own figure, was that +of an elderly Chinaman, who stood regarding me with stony calm. + +"I must have stood for near upon a minute, unable to move and scarce +able to breathe, face to face with that awful figure. At length I turned +to escape, and, as I turned, he turned also, and I could see him, over +my shoulder, hurrying away. As I reached the door, I halted for a +moment, looking back with the door in my hand, holding the candle above +my head; and even so _he_ halted, looking back at me, with his hand upon +the door and his lantern held above his head. + +"I was so much upset that I could not go to bed for some hours, but +continued to pace the room, in spite of my fatigue. Now and again I was +impelled, irresistibly, to peer into the cupboard, but nothing was to be +seen in the mirror save my own figure, candle in hand, peeping in at me +through the half-open door. And each time that I looked into my own +white, horror-stricken face, I shut the door hastily and turned away +with a shudder; for the pegs, with the clothes hanging on them, seemed +to call to me. I went to bed at last, and before I fell asleep I formed +the resolution that, if I was spared until the next day, I would write +to the British Consul at Canton, and offer to restore the pearl to the +relatives of the murdered mandarin. + +"On the following day I wrote and despatched the letter, after which I +felt more composed, though I was haunted continually by the recollection +of that stony, impassive figure; and from time to time I felt an +irresistible impulse to go and look in at the door of the closet, at the +mirror and the pegs with the clothes hanging from them. I told my cousin +of the visitation that I had received, but he merely laughed, and was +frankly incredulous; while the Captain bluntly advised me not to be a +superstitious donkey. + +"For some days after this I was left in peace, and began to hope that my +letter had appeased the spirit of the murdered man; but on the fifth +day, about six o'clock in the evening, happening to want some papers +that I had left in the pocket of a coat which was hanging in the +closet, I went in to get them. I took in no candle, as it was not yet +dark, but left the door wide open to light me. The coat that I wanted +was near the end of the closet, not more than four paces from the +mirror, and as I went towards it I watched my reflection rather +nervously as it advanced to meet me. I found my coat, and as I felt for +the papers, I still kept a suspicious eye on my double. And, even as I +looked, a most strange phenomenon appeared: the mirror seemed for an +instant to darken or cloud over, and then, as it cleared again, I saw, +standing dark against the light of the open door behind him, the figure +of the mandarin. After a single glance, I ran out of the closet, shaking +with agitation; but as I turned to shut the door, I noticed that it was +my own figure that was reflected in the glass. The Chinaman had vanished +in an instant. + +"It now became evident that my letter had not served its purpose, and I +was plunged in despair; the more so since, on this day, I felt again the +dreadful impulse to go and look at the pegs on the walls of the closet. +There was no mistaking the meaning of that impulse, and each time that I +went, I dragged myself away reluctantly, though shivering with horror. +One circumstance, indeed, encouraged me a little; the mandarin had not, +on either occasion, beckoned to me as he had done to the sailors, so +that perhaps some way of escape yet lay open to me. + +"During the next few days I considered very earnestly what measures I +could take to avert the doom that seemed to be hanging over me. The +simplest plan, that of passing the pearl on to some other person, was +out of the question; it would be nothing short of murder. On the other +hand, I could not wait for an answer to my letter; for even if I +remained alive, I felt that my reason would have given way long before +the reply reached me. But while I was debating what I should do, the +mandarin appeared to me again; and then, after an interval of only two +days, he came to me once more. That was last night. I remained gazing at +him, fascinated, with my flesh creeping, as he stood, lantern in hand, +looking steadily in my face. At last he held out his hand to me, as if +asking me to give him the pearl; then the mirror darkened, and he +vanished in a flash; and in the place where he had stood there was my +own reflection looking at me out of the glass. + +"That last visitation decided me. When I left home this morning the +pearl was in my pocket, and as I came over Waterloo Bridge, I leaned +over the parapet and flung the thing into the water. After that I felt +quite relieved for a time; I had shaken the accursed thing off without +involving anyone in the curse that it carried. But presently I began to +feel fresh misgivings, and the conviction has been growing upon me all +day that I have done the wrong thing. I have only placed it for ever +beyond the reach of its owner, whereas I ought to have burnt it, after +the Chinese fashion, so that its non-material essence could have joined +the spiritual body of him to whom it had belonged when both were clothed +with material substance. + +"But it can't be altered now. For good or for evil, the thing is done, +and God alone knows what the end of it will be." + +As he concluded, Calverley uttered a deep sigh, and covered his face +with his slender, delicate hands. For a space we were all silent and, I +think, deeply moved; for, grotesquely unreal as the whole thing was, +there was a pathos, and even a tragedy, in it that we all felt to be +very real indeed. + +Suddenly Mr. Brodribb started and looked at his watch. + +"Good gracious, Calverley, we shall lose our train." + +The young man pulled himself together and stood up. "We shall just do it +if we go at once," said he. "Good-bye," he added, shaking Thorndyke's +hand and mine. "You have been very patient, and I have been rather +prosy, I am afraid. Come along, Mr. Brodribb." + +Thorndyke and I followed them out on to the landing, and I heard my +colleague say to the solicitor in a low tone, but very earnestly: "Get +him away from that house, Brodribb, and don't let him out of your sight +for a moment." + +I did not catch the solicitor's reply, if he made any, but when we were +back in our room I noticed that Thorndyke was more agitated than I had +ever seen him. + +"I ought not to have let them go," he exclaimed. "Confound me! If I had +had a grain of wit, I should have made them lose their train." + +He lit his pipe and fell to pacing the room with long strides, his eyes +bent on the floor with an expression sternly reflective. At last, +finding him hopelessly taciturn, I knocked out my pipe and went to bed. + + * * * * * + +As I was dressing on the following morning, Thorndyke entered my room. +His face was grave even to sternness, and he held a telegram in his +hand. + +"I am going to Weybridge this morning," he said shortly, holding the +"flimsy" out to me. "Shall you come?" + +I took the paper from him, and read: + + "Come, for God's sake! F. C. is dead. You will + understand.--BRODRIBB." + +I handed him back the telegram, too much shocked for a moment to speak. +The whole dreadful tragedy summed up in that curt message rose before me +in an instant, and a wave of deep pity swept over me at this miserable +end to the sad, empty life. + +"What an awful thing, Thorndyke!" I exclaimed at length. "To be killed +by a mere grotesque delusion." + +"Do you think so?" he asked dryly. "Well, we shall see; but you will +come?" + +"Yes," I replied; and as he retired, I proceeded hurriedly to finish +dressing. + +Half an hour later, as we rose from a rapid breakfast, Polton came into +the room, carrying a small roll-up case of tools and a bunch of skeleton +keys. + +"Will you have them in a bag, sir?" he asked. + +"No," replied Thorndyke; "in my overcoat pocket. Oh, and here is a note, +Polton, which I want you to take round to Scotland Yard. It is to the +Assistant Commissioner, and you are to make sure that it is in the right +hands before you leave. And here is a telegram to Mr. Brodribb." + +He dropped the keys and the tool-case into his pocket, and we went down +together to the waiting hansom. + +At Weybridge Station we found Mr. Brodribb pacing the platform in a +state of extreme dejection. He brightened up somewhat when he saw us, +and wrung our hands with emotional heartiness. + +"It was very good of you both to come at a moment's notice," he said +warmly, "and I feel your kindness very much. You understood, of course, +Thorndyke?" + +"Yes," Thorndyke replied. "I suppose the mandarin beckoned to him." + +Mr. Brodribb turned with a look of surprise. "How did you guess that?" +he asked; and then, without waiting for a reply, he took from his pocket +a note, which he handed to my colleague. "The poor old fellow left this +for me," he said. "The servant found it on his dressing-table." + +Thorndyke glanced through the note and passed it to me. It consisted of +but a few words, hurriedly written in a tremulous hand. + + "He has beckoned to me, and I must go. Good-bye, dear old friend." + +"How does his cousin take the matter?" asked Thorndyke. + +"He doesn't know of it yet," replied the lawyer. "Alfred and Raggerton +went out after an early breakfast, to cycle over to Guildford on some +business or other, and they have not returned yet. The catastrophe was +discovered soon after they left. The maid went to his room with a cup of +tea, and was astonished to find that his bed had not been slept in. She +ran down in alarm and reported to the butler, who went up at once and +searched the room; but he could find no trace of the missing one, except +my note, until it occurred to him to look in the cupboard. As he opened +the door he got rather a start from his own reflection in the mirror; +and then he saw poor Fred hanging from one of the pegs near the end of +the closet, close to the glass. It's a melancholy affair--but here is +the house, and here is the butler waiting for us. Mr. Alfred is not back +yet, then, Stevens?" + +"No, sir." The white-faced, frightened-looking man had evidently been +waiting at the gate from distaste of the house, and he now walked back +with manifest relief at our arrival. When we entered the house, he +ushered us without remark up on to the first-floor, and, preceding us +along a corridor, halted near the end. "That's the room, sir," said he; +and without another word he turned and went down the stairs. + +We entered the room, and Mr. Brodribb followed on tiptoe, looking about +him fearfully, and casting awe-struck glances at the shrouded form on +the bed. To the latter Thorndyke advanced, and gently drew back the +sheet. + +"You'd better not look, Brodribb," said he, as he bent over the corpse. +He felt the limbs and examined the cord, which still remained round the +neck, its raggedly-severed end testifying to the terror of the servants +who had cut down the body. Then he replaced the sheet and looked at his +watch. "It happened at about three o'clock in the morning," said he. "He +must have struggled with the impulse for some time, poor fellow! Now let +us look at the cupboard." + +We went together to a door in the corner of the room, and, as we opened +it, we were confronted by three figures, apparently looking in at us +through an open door at the other end. + +"It is really rather startling," said the lawyer, in a subdued voice, +looking almost apprehensively at the three figures that advanced to meet +us. "The poor lad ought never to have been here." + +It was certainly an eerie place, and I could not but feel, as we walked +down the dark, narrow passage, with those other three dimly-seen figures +silently coming towards us, and mimicking our every gesture, that it was +no place for a nervous, superstitious man like poor Fred Calverley. +Close to the end of the long row of pegs was one from which hung an end +of stout box-cord, and to this Mr. Brodribb pointed with an awe-struck +gesture. But Thorndyke gave it only a brief glance, and then walked up +to the mirror, which he proceeded to examine minutely. It was a very +large glass, nearly seven feet high, extending the full width of the +closet, and reaching to within a foot of the floor; and it seemed to +have been let into the partition from behind, for, both above and below, +the woodwork was in front of it. While I was making these observations, +I watched Thorndyke with no little curiosity. First he rapped his +knuckles on the glass; then he lighted a wax match, and, holding it +close to the mirror, carefully watched the reflection of the flame. +Finally, laying his cheek on the glass, he held the match at arm's +length, still close to the mirror, and looked at the reflection along +the surface. Then he blew out the match and walked back into the room, +shutting the cupboard door as we emerged. + +"I think," said he, "that as we shall all undoubtedly be subpoenaed by +the coroner, it would be well to put together a few notes of the facts. +I see there is a writing-table by the window, and I would propose that +you, Brodribb, just jot down a _précis_ of the statement that you heard +last night, while Jervis notes down the exact condition of the body. +While you are doing this, I will take a look round." + +"We might find a more cheerful place to write in," grumbled Mr. +Brodribb; "however--" + +Without finishing the sentence, he sat down at the table, and, having +found some sermon paper, dipped a pen in the ink by way of encouraging +his thoughts. At this moment Thorndyke quietly slipped out of the room, +and I proceeded to make a detailed examination of the body: in which +occupation I was interrupted at intervals by requests from the lawyer +that I should refresh his memory. + +We had been occupied thus for about a quarter of an hour, when a quick +step was heard outside, the door was opened abruptly, and a man burst +into the room. Brodribb rose and held out his hand. + +"This is a sad home-coming for you, Alfred," said he. + +"Yes, my God!" the newcomer exclaimed. "It's awful." + +He looked askance at the corpse on the bed, and wiped his forehead with +his handkerchief. Alfred Calverley was not extremely prepossessing. Like +his cousin, he was obviously neurotic, but there were signs of +dissipation in his face, which, just now, was pale and ghastly, and wore +an expression of abject fear. Moreover, his entrance was accompanied by +that of a perceptible odour of brandy. + +He had walked over, without noticing me, to the writing-table, and as he +stood there, talking in subdued tones with the lawyer, I suddenly found +Thorndyke at my side. He had stolen in noiselessly through the door that +Calverley had left open. + +"Show him Brodribb's note," he whispered, "and then make him go in and +look at the peg." + +With this mysterious request, he slipped out of the room as silently as +he had come, unperceived either by Calverley or the lawyer. + +"Has Captain Raggerton returned with you?" Brodribb was inquiring. + +"No, he has gone into the town," was the reply; "but he won't be long. +This will be a frightful shock to him." + +At this point I stepped forward. "Have you shown Mr. Calverley the +extraordinary letter that the deceased left for you?" I asked. + +"What letter was that?" demanded Calverley, with a start. + +Mr. Brodribb drew forth the note and handed it to him. As he read it +through, Calverley turned white to the lips, and the paper trembled in +his hand. + +"'He has beckoned to me, and I must go,'" he read. Then, with a furtive +glance at the lawyer: "Who had beckoned? What did he mean?" + +Mr. Brodribb briefly explained the meaning of the allusion, adding: "I +thought you knew all about it." + +"Yes, yes," said Calverley, with some confusion; "I remember the matter +now you mention it. But it's all so dreadful and bewildering." + +At this point I again interposed. "There is a question," I said, "that +may be of some importance. It refers to the cord with which the poor +fellow hanged himself. Can you identify that cord, Mr. Calverley?" + +"I!" he exclaimed, staring at me, and wiping the sweat from his white +face; "how should I? Where is the cord?" + +"Part of it is still hanging from the peg in the closet. Would you mind +looking at it?" + +"If you would very kindly fetch it--you know I--er--naturally--have a--" + +"It must not be disturbed before the inquest," said I; "but surely you +are not afraid--" + +"I didn't say I was afraid," he retorted angrily. "Why should I be?" + +With a strange, tremulous swagger, he strode across to the closet, flung +open the door, and plunged in. + +A moment later we heard a shout of horror, and he rushed out, livid and +gasping. + +"What is it, Calverley?" exclaimed Mr. Brodribb, starting up in alarm. + +But Calverley was incapable of speech. Dropping limply into a chair, he +gazed at us for a while in silent terror; then he fell back uttering a +wild shriek of laughter. + +Mr. Brodribb looked at him in amazement. "What is it, Calverley?" he +asked again. + +As no answer was forthcoming, he stepped across to the open door of the +closet and entered, peering curiously before him. Then he, too, uttered +a startled exclamation, and backed out hurriedly, looking pale and +flurried. + +"Bless my soul!" he ejaculated. "Is the place bewitched?" + +He sat down heavily and stared at Calverley, who was still shaking with +hysteric laughter; while I, now consumed with curiosity, walked over to +the closet to discover the cause of their singular behaviour. As I flung +open the door, which the lawyer had closed, I must confess to being very +considerably startled; for though the reflection of the open door was +plain enough in the mirror, my own reflection was replaced by that of a +Chinaman. After a momentary pause of astonishment, I entered the closet +and walked towards the mirror; and simultaneously the figure of the +Chinaman entered and walked towards me. I had advanced more than halfway +down the closet when suddenly the mirror darkened; there was a whirling +flash, the Chinaman vanished in an instant, and, as I reached the glass, +my own reflection faced me. + +I turned back into the room pretty completely enlightened, and looked at +Calverley with a new-born distaste. He still sat facing the bewildered +lawyer, one moment sobbing convulsively, the next yelping with hysteric +laughter. He was not an agreeable spectacle, and when, a few moments +later, Thorndyke entered the room, and halted by the door with a stare +of disgust, I was moved to join him. But at this juncture a man pushed +past Thorndyke, and, striding up to Calverley, shook him roughly by the +arm. + +"Stop that row!" he exclaimed furiously. "Do you hear? Stop it!" + +"I can't help it, Raggerton," gasped Calverley. "He gave me such a +turn--the mandarin, you know." + +"What!" ejaculated Raggerton. + +He dashed across to the closet, looked in, and turned upon Calverley +with a snarl. Then he walked out of the room. + +"Brodribb," said Thorndyke, "I should like to have a word with you and +Jervis outside." Then, as we followed him out on to the landing, he +continued: "I have something rather interesting to show you. It is in +here." + +He softly opened an adjoining door, and we looked into a small +unfurnished room. A projecting closet occupied one side of it, and at +the door of the closet stood Captain Raggerton, with his hand upon the +key. He turned upon us fiercely, though with a look of alarm, and +demanded: + +"What is the meaning of this intrusion? and who the deuce are you? Do +you know that this is my private room?" + +"I suspected that it was," Thorndyke replied quietly. "Those will be +your properties in the closet, then?" + +Raggerton turned pale, but continued to bluster. "Do I understand that +you have dared to break into my private closet?" he demanded. + +"I have inspected it," replied Thorndyke, "and I may remark that it is +useless to wrench at that key, because I have hampered the lock." + +"The devil you have!" shouted Raggerton. + +"Yes; you see, I am expecting a police-officer with a search warrant, so +I wished to keep everything intact." + +Raggerton turned livid with mingled fear and rage. He stalked up to +Thorndyke with a threatening air, but, suddenly altering his mind, +exclaimed, "I must see to this!" and flung out of the room. + +Thorndyke took a key from his pocket, and, having locked the door, +turned to the closet. Having taken out the key to unhamper the lock with +a stout wire, he reinserted it and unlocked the door. As we entered, we +found ourselves in a narrow closet, similar to the one in the other +room, but darker, owing to the absence of a mirror. A few clothes hung +from the pegs, and when Thorndyke had lit a candle that stood on a +shelf, we could see more of the details. + +"Here are some of the properties," said Thorndyke. He pointed to a peg +from which hung a long, blue silk gown of Chinese make, a mandarin's +cap, with a pigtail attached to it, and a beautifully-made papier-màché +mask. "Observe," said Thorndyke, taking the latter down and exhibiting a +label on the inside, marked "Renouard à Paris," "no trouble has been +spared." + +He took off his coat, slipped on the gown, the mask, and the cap, and +was, in a moment, in that dim light, transformed into the perfect +semblance of a Chinaman. + +"By taking a little more time," he remarked, pointing to a pair of +Chinese shoes and a large paper lantern, "the make-up could be rendered +more complete; but this seems to have answered for our friend Alfred." + +"But," said Mr. Brodribb, as Thorndyke shed the disguise, "still, I +don't understand--" + +"I will make it clear to you in a moment," said Thorndyke. He walked to +the end of the closet, and, tapping the right-hand wall, said: "This is +the back of the mirror. You see that it is hung on massive well-oiled +hinges, and is supported on this large, rubber-tyred castor, which +evidently has ball bearings. You observe three black cords running along +the wall, and passing through those pulleys above. Now, when I pull this +cord, notice what happens." + +He pulled one cord firmly, and immediately the mirror swung noiselessly +inwards on its great castor, until it stood diagonally across the +closet, where it was stopped by a rubber buffer. + +"Bless my soul!" exclaimed Mr. Brodribb. "What an extraordinary thing!" + +The effect was certainly very strange, for, the mirror being now exactly +diagonal to the two closets they appeared to be a single, continuous +passage, with a door at either end. On going up to the mirror, we found +that the opening which it had occupied was filled by a sheet of plain +glass, evidently placed there as a precaution to prevent any person from +walking through from one closet into the other, and so discovering the +trick. + +"It's all very puzzling," said Mr. Brodribb; "I don't clearly understand +it now." + +"Let us finish here," replied Thorndyke, "and then I will explain. +Notice this black curtain. When I pull the second cord, it slides across +the closet and cuts off the light. The mirror now reflects nothing into +the other closet; it simply appears dark. And now I pull the third +cord." + +He did so, and the mirror swung noiselessly back into its place. + +"There is only one other thing to observe before we go out," said +Thorndyke, "and that is this other mirror standing with its face to the +wall. This, of course, is the one that Fred Calverley originally saw at +the end of the closet; it has since been removed, and the larger +swinging glass put in its place. And now," he continued, when we came +out into the room, "let me explain the mechanism in detail. It was +obvious to me, when I heard poor Fred Calverley's story, that the mirror +was 'faked,' and I drew a diagram of the probable arrangement, which +turns out to be correct. Here it is." He took a sheet of paper from his +pocket and handed it to the lawyer. "There are two sketches. Sketch 1 +shows the mirror in its ordinary position, closing the end of the +closet. A person standing at A, of course, sees his reflection facing +him at, apparently, A 1. Sketch 2 shows the mirror swung across. Now a +person standing at A does not see his own reflection at all; but if some +other person is standing in the other closet at B, A sees the reflection +of B apparently at B 1--that is, in the identical position that his own +reflection occupied when the mirror was straight across." + +"I see now," said Brodribb; "but who set up this apparatus, and why was +it done?" + +"Let me ask you a question," said Thorndyke. "Is Alfred Calverley the +next-of-kin?" + +"No; there is Fred's younger brother. But I may say that Fred has made +a will quite recently very much in Alfred's favour." + +"There is the explanation, then," said Thorndyke. "These two scoundrels +have conspired to drive the poor fellow to suicide, and Raggerton was +clearly the leading spirit. He was evidently concocting some story with +which to work on poor Fred's superstitions when the mention of the +Chinaman on the steamer gave him his cue. He then invented the very +picturesque story of the murdered mandarin and the stolen pearl. You +remember that these 'visitations' did not begin until after that story +had been told, and Fred had been absent from the house on a visit. +Evidently, during his absence, Raggerton took down the original mirror, +and substituted this swinging arrangement; and at the same time procured +the Chinaman's dress and mask from the theatrical property dealers. No +doubt he reckoned on being able quietly to remove the swinging glass and +other properties and replace the original mirror before the inquest." + +"By God!" exclaimed Mr. Brodribb, "it's the most infamous, cowardly plot +I have ever heard of. They shall go to gaol for it, the villains, as +sure as I am alive." + +But in this Mr. Brodribb was mistaken; for immediately on finding +themselves detected, the two conspirators had left the house, and by +nightfall were safely across the Channel; and the only satisfaction that +the lawyer obtained was the setting aside of the will on facts disclosed +at the inquest. + +As to Thorndyke, he has never to this day forgiven himself for having +allowed Fred Calverley to go home to his death. + + + + +VII + +THE ALUMINIUM DAGGER + + +The "urgent call"--the instant, peremptory summons to professional +duty--is an experience that appertains to the medical rather than the +legal practitioner, and I had supposed, when I abandoned the clinical +side of my profession in favour of the forensic, that henceforth I +should know it no more; that the interrupted meal, the broken leisure, +and the jangle of the night-bell, were things of the past; but in +practice it was otherwise. The medical jurist is, so to speak, on the +borderland of the two professions, and exposed to the vicissitudes of +each calling, and so it happened from time to time that the professional +services of my colleague or myself were demanded at a moment's notice. +And thus it was in the case that I am about to relate. + +The sacred rite of the "tub" had been duly performed, and the +freshly-dried person of the present narrator was about to be insinuated +into the first instalment of clothing, when a hurried step was heard +upon the stair, and the voice of our laboratory assistant, Polton, arose +at my colleague's door. + +"There's a gentleman downstairs, sir, who says he must see you instantly +on most urgent business. He seems to be in a rare twitter, sir--" + +Polton was proceeding to descriptive particulars, when a second and +more hurried step became audible, and a strange voice addressed +Thorndyke. + +"I have come to beg your immediate assistance, sir; a most dreadful +thing has happened. A horrible murder has been committed. Can you come +with me now?" + +"I will be with you almost immediately," said Thorndyke. "Is the victim +quite dead?" + +"Quite. Cold and stiff. The police think--" + +"Do the police know that you have come for me?" interrupted Thorndyke. + +"Yes. Nothing is to be done until you arrive." + +"Very well. I will be ready in a few minutes." + +"And if you would wait downstairs, sir," Polton added persuasively, "I +could help the doctor to get ready." + +With this crafty appeal, he lured the intruder back to the sitting-room, +and shortly after stole softly up the stairs with a small breakfast +tray, the contents of which he deposited firmly in our respective rooms, +with a few timely words on the folly of "undertaking murders on an empty +stomach." Thorndyke and I had meanwhile clothed ourselves with a +celerity known only to medical practitioners and quick-change artists, +and in a few minutes descended the stairs together, calling in at the +laboratory for a few appliances that Thorndyke usually took with him on +a visit of investigation. + +As we entered the sitting-room, our visitor, who was feverishly pacing +up and down, seized his hat with a gasp of relief. "You are ready to +come?" he asked. "My carriage is at the door;" and, without waiting for +an answer, he hurried out, and rapidly preceded us down the stairs. + +The carriage was a roomy brougham, which fortunately accommodated the +three of us, and as soon as we had entered and shut the door, the +coachman whipped up his horse and drove off at a smart trot. + +"I had better give you some account of the circumstances, as we go," +said our agitated friend. "In the first place, my name is Curtis, Henry +Curtis; here is my card. Ah! and here is another card, which I should +have given you before. My solicitor, Mr. Marchmont, was with me when I +made this dreadful discovery, and he sent me to you. He remained in the +rooms to see that nothing is disturbed until you arrive." + +"That was wise of him," said Thorndyke. "But now tell us exactly what +has occurred." + +"I will," said Mr. Curtis. "The murdered man was my brother-in-law, +Alfred Hartridge, and I am sorry to say he was--well, he was a bad man. +It grieves me to speak of him thus--_de mortuis_, you know--but, still, +we must deal with the facts, even though they be painful." + +"Undoubtedly," agreed Thorndyke. + +"I have had a great deal of very unpleasant correspondence with +him--Marchmont will tell you about that--and yesterday I left a note for +him, asking for an interview, to settle the business, naming eight +o'clock this morning as the hour, because I had to leave town before +noon. He replied, in a very singular letter, that he would see me at +that hour, and Mr. Marchmont very kindly consented to accompany me. +Accordingly, we went to his chambers together this morning, arriving +punctually at eight o'clock. We rang the bell several times, and knocked +loudly at the door, but as there was no response, we went down and +spoke to the hall-porter. This man, it seems, had already noticed, from +the courtyard, that the electric lights were full on in Mr. Hartridge's +sitting-room, as they had been all night, according to the statement of +the night-porter; so now, suspecting that something was wrong, he came +up with us, and rang the bell and battered at the door. Then, as there +was still no sign of life within, he inserted his duplicate key and +tried to open the door--unsuccessfully, however, as it proved to be +bolted on the inside. Thereupon the porter fetched a constable, and, +after a consultation, we decided that we were justified in breaking open +the door; the porter produced a crowbar, and by our unified efforts the +door was eventually burst open. We entered, and--my God! Dr. Thorndyke, +what a terrible sight it was that met our eyes! My brother-in-law was +lying dead on the floor of the sitting-room. He had been +stabbed--stabbed to death; and the dagger had not even been withdrawn. +It was still sticking out of his back." + +He mopped his face with his handkerchief, and was about to continue his +account of the catastrophe when the carriage entered a quiet side-street +between Westminster and Victoria, and drew up before a block of tall, +new, red-brick buildings. A flurried hall-porter ran out to open the +door, and we alighted opposite the main entrance. + +"My brother-in-law's chambers are on the second-floor," said Mr. Curtis. +"We can go up in the lift." + +The porter had hurried before us, and already stood with his hand upon +the rope. We entered the lift, and in a few seconds were discharged on +to the second floor, the porter, with furtive curiosity, following us +down the corridor. At the end of the passage was a half-open door, +considerably battered and bruised. Above the door, painted in white +lettering, was the inscription, "Mr. Hartridge"; and through the doorway +protruded the rather foxy countenance of Inspector Badger. + +"I am glad you have come, sir," said he, as he recognized my colleague. +"Mr. Marchmont is sitting inside like a watch-dog, and he growls if any +of us even walks across the room." + +The words formed a complaint, but there was a certain geniality in the +speaker's manner which made me suspect that Inspector Badger was already +navigating his craft on a lee shore. + +We entered a small lobby or hall, and from thence passed into the +sitting-room, where we found Mr. Marchmont keeping his vigil, in company +with a constable and a uniformed inspector. The three rose softly as we +entered, and greeted us in a whisper; and then, with one accord, we all +looked towards the other end of the room, and so remained for a time +without speaking. + +There was, in the entire aspect of the room, something very grim and +dreadful. An atmosphere of tragic mystery enveloped the most commonplace +objects; and sinister suggestions lurked in the most familiar +appearances. Especially impressive was the air of suspense--of ordinary, +every-day life suddenly arrested--cut short in the twinkling of an eye. +The electric lamps, still burning dim and red, though the summer +sunshine streamed in through the windows; the half-emptied tumbler and +open book by the empty chair, had each its whispered message of swift +and sudden disaster, as had the hushed voices and stealthy movements of +the waiting men, and, above all, an awesome shape that was but a few +hours since a living man, and that now sprawled, prone and motionless, +on the floor. + +"This is a mysterious affair," observed Inspector Badger, breaking the +silence at length, "though it is clear enough up to a certain point. The +body tells its own story." + +We stepped across and looked down at the corpse. It was that of a +somewhat elderly man, and lay, on an open space of floor before the +fireplace, face downwards, with the arms extended. The slender hilt of a +dagger projected from the back below the left shoulder, and, with the +exception of a trace of blood upon the lips, this was the only +indication of the mode of death. A little way from the body a clock-key +lay on the carpet, and, glancing up at the clock on the mantelpiece, I +perceived that the glass front was open. + +"You see," pursued the inspector, noting my glance, "he was standing in +front of the fireplace, winding the clock. Then the murderer stole up +behind him--the noise of the turning key must have covered his +movements--and stabbed him. And you see, from the position of the dagger +on the left side of the back, that the murderer must have been +left-handed. That is all clear enough. What is not clear is how he got +in, and how he got out again." + +"The body has not been moved, I suppose," said Thorndyke. + +"No. We sent for Dr. Egerton, the police-surgeon, and he certified that +the man was dead. He will be back presently to see you and arrange about +the post-mortem." + +"Then," said Thorndyke, "we will not disturb the body till he comes, +except to take the temperature and dust the dagger-hilt." + +He took from his bag a long, registering chemical thermometer and an +insufflator or powder-blower. The former he introduced under the dead +man's clothing against the abdomen, and with the latter blew a stream of +fine yellow powder on to the black leather handle of the dagger. +Inspector Badger stooped eagerly to examine the handle, as Thorndyke +blew away the powder that had settled evenly on the surface. + +"No finger-prints," said he, in a disappointed tone. "He must have worn +gloves. But that inscription gives a pretty broad hint." + +He pointed, as he spoke, to the metal guard of the dagger, on which was +engraved, in clumsy lettering, the single word, "TRADITORE." + +"That's the Italian for 'traitor,'" continued the inspector, "and I got +some information from the porter that fits in with that suggestion. +We'll have him in presently, and you shall hear." + +"Meanwhile," said Thorndyke, "as the position of the body may be of +importance in the inquiry, I will take one or two photographs and make a +rough plan to scale. Nothing has been moved, you say? Who opened the +windows?" + +"They were open when we came in," said Mr. Marchmont. "Last night was +very hot, you remember. Nothing whatever has been moved." + +Thorndyke produced from his bag a small folding camera, a telescopic +tripod, a surveyor's measuring-tape, a boxwood scale, and a +sketch-block. He set up the camera in a corner, and exposed a plate, +taking a general view of the room, and including the corpse. Then he +moved to the door and made a second exposure. + +"Will you stand in front of the clock, Jervis," he said, "and raise +your hand as if winding it? Thanks; keep like that while I expose a +plate." + +I remained thus, in the position that the dead man was assumed to have +occupied at the moment of the murder, while the plate was exposed, and +then, before I moved, Thorndyke marked the position of my feet with a +blackboard chalk. He next set up the tripod over the chalk marks, and +took two photographs from that position, and finally photographed the +body itself. + +The photographic operations being concluded, he next proceeded, with +remarkable skill and rapidity, to lay out on the sketch-block a +ground-plan of the room, showing the exact position of the various +objects, on a scale of a quarter of an inch to the foot--a process that +the inspector was inclined to view with some impatience. + +"You don't spare trouble, Doctor," he remarked; "nor time either," he +added, with a significant glance at his watch. + +"No," answered Thorndyke, as he detached the finished sketch from the +block; "I try to collect all the facts that may bear on a case. They may +prove worthless, or they may turn out of vital importance; one never +knows beforehand, so I collect them all. But here, I think, is Dr. +Egerton." + +The police-surgeon greeted Thorndyke with respectful cordiality, and we +proceeded at once to the examination of the body. Drawing out the +thermometer, my colleague noted the reading, and passed the instrument +to Dr. Egerton. + +"Dead about ten hours," remarked the latter, after a glance at it. "This +was a very determined and mysterious murder." + +"Very," said Thorndyke. "Feel that dagger, Jervis." + +I touched the hilt, and felt the characteristic grating of bone. + +"It is through the edge of a rib!" I exclaimed. + +"Yes; it must have been used with extraordinary force. And you notice +that the clothing is screwed up slightly, as if the blade had been +rotated as it was driven in. That is a very peculiar feature, especially +when taken together with the violence of the blow." + +"It is singular, certainly," said Dr. Egerton, "though I don't know that +it helps us much. Shall we withdraw the dagger before moving the body?" + +"Certainly," replied Thorndyke, "or the movement may produce fresh +injuries. But wait." He took a piece of string from his pocket, and, +having drawn the dagger out a couple of inches, stretched the string in +a line parallel to the flat of the blade. Then, giving me the ends to +hold, he drew the weapon out completely. As the blade emerged, the twist +in the clothing disappeared. "Observe," said he, "that the string gives +the direction of the wound, and that the cut in the clothing no longer +coincides with it. There is quite a considerable angle, which is the +measure of the rotation of the blade." + +"Yes, it is odd," said Dr. Egerton, "though, as I said, I doubt that it +helps us." + +"At present," Thorndyke rejoined dryly, "we are noting the facts." + +"Quite so," agreed the other, reddening slightly; "and perhaps we had +better move the body to the bedroom, and make a preliminary inspection +of the wound." + +We carried the corpse into the bedroom, and, having examined the wound +without eliciting anything new, covered the remains with a sheet, and +returned to the sitting-room. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the inspector, "you have examined the body and +the wound, and you have measured the floor and the furniture, and taken +photographs, and made a plan, but we don't seem much more forward. +Here's a man murdered in his rooms. There is only one entrance to the +flat, and that was bolted on the inside at the time of the murder. The +windows are some forty feet from the ground; there is no rain-pipe near +any of them; they are set flush in the wall, and there isn't a foothold +for a fly on any part of that wall. The grates are modern, and there +isn't room for a good-sized cat to crawl up any of the chimneys. Now, +the question is, How did the murderer get in, and how did he get out +again?" + +"Still," said Mr. Marchmont, "the fact is that he did get in, and that +he is not here now; and therefore he must have got out; and therefore it +must have been possible for him to get out. And, further, it must be +possible to discover how he got out." + +The inspector smiled sourly, but made no reply. + +"The circumstances," said Thorndyke, "appear to have been these: The +deceased seems to have been alone; there is no trace of a second +occupant of the room, and only one half-emptied tumbler on the table. He +was sitting reading when apparently he noticed that the clock had +stopped--at ten minutes to twelve; he laid his book, face downwards, on +the table, and rose to wind the clock, and as he was winding it he met +his death." + +"By a stab dealt by a left-handed man, who crept up behind him on +tiptoe," added the inspector. + +Thorndyke nodded. "That would seem to be so," he said. "But now let us +call in the porter, and hear what he has to tell us." + +The custodian was not difficult to find, being, in fact, engaged at that +moment in a survey of the premises through the slit of the letter-box. + +"Do you know what persons visited these rooms last night?" Thorndyke +asked him, when he entered looking somewhat sheepish. + +"A good many were in and out of the building," was the answer, "but I +can't say if any of them came to this flat. I saw Miss Curtis pass in +about nine." + +"My daughter!" exclaimed Mr. Curtis, with a start. "I didn't know that." + +"She left about nine-thirty," the porter added. + +"Do you know what she came about?" asked the inspector. + +"I can guess," replied Mr. Curtis. + +"Then don't say," interrupted Mr. Marchmont. "Answer no questions." + +"You're very close, Mr. Marchmont," said the inspector; "we are not +suspecting the young lady. We don't ask, for instance, if she is +left-handed." + +He glanced craftily at Mr. Curtis as he made this remark, and I noticed +that our client suddenly turned deathly pale, whereupon the inspector +looked away again quickly, as though he had not observed the change. + +"Tell us about those Italians again," he said, addressing the porter. +"When did the first of them come here?" + +"About a week ago," was the reply. "He was a common-looking man--looked +like an organ-grinder--and he brought a note to my lodge. It was in a +dirty envelope, and was addressed 'Mr. Hartridge, Esq., Brackenhurst +Mansions,' in a very bad handwriting. The man gave me the note and asked +me to give it to Mr. Hartridge; then he went away, and I took the note +up and dropped it into the letter-box." + +"What happened next?" + +"Why, the very next day an old hag of an Italian woman--one of them +fortune-telling swines with a cage of birds on a stand--came and set up +just by the main doorway. I soon sent her packing, but, bless you! she +was back again in ten minutes, birds and all. I sent her off again--I +kept on sending her off, and she kept on coming back, until I was +reg'lar wore to a thread." + +"You seem to have picked up a bit since then," remarked the inspector +with a grin and a glance at the sufferer's very pronounced bow-window. + +"Perhaps I have," the custodian replied haughtily. "Well, the next day +there was a ice-cream man--a reg'lar waster, _he_ was. Stuck outside as +if he was froze to the pavement. Kept giving the errand-boys tasters, +and when I tried to move him on, he told me not to obstruct his +business. Business, indeed! Well, there them boys stuck, one after the +other, wiping their tongues round the bottoms of them glasses, until I +was fit to bust with aggravation. And _he_ kept me going all day. + +"Then, the day after that there was a barrel-organ, with a mangy-looking +monkey on it. He was the worst of all. Profane, too, _he_ was. Kept +mixing up sacred tunes and comic songs: 'Rock of Ages,' 'Bill Bailey,' +'Cujus Animal,' and 'Over the Garden Wall.' And when I tried to move him +on, that little blighter of a monkey made a run at my leg; and then the +man grinned and started playing, 'Wait till the Clouds roll by.' I tell +you, it was fair sickening." + +He wiped his brow at the recollection, and the inspector smiled +appreciatively. + +"And that was the last of them?" said the latter; and as the porter +nodded sulkily, he asked: "Should you recognize the note that the +Italian gave you?" + +"I should," answered the porter with frosty dignity. + +The inspector bustled out of the room, and returned a minute later with +a letter-case in his hand. + +"This was in his breast-pocket," said he, laying the bulging case on the +table, and drawing up a chair. "Now, here are three letters tied +together. Ah! this will be the one." He untied the tape, and held out a +dirty envelope addressed in a sprawling, illiterate hand to "Mr. +Hartridge, Esq." "Is that the note the Italian gave you?" + +The porter examined it critically. "Yes," said he; "that is the one." + +The inspector drew the letter out of the envelope, and, as he opened it, +his eyebrows went up. + +"What do you make of that, Doctor?" he said, handing the sheet to +Thorndyke. + +Thorndyke regarded it for a while in silence, with deep attention. Then +he carried it to the window, and, taking his lens from his pocket, +examined the paper closely, first with the low power, and then with the +highly magnifying Coddington attachment. + +"I should have thought you could see that with the naked eye," said the +inspector, with a sly grin at me. "It's a pretty bold design." + +"Yes," replied Thorndyke; "a very interesting production. What do you +say, Mr. Marchmont?" + +The solicitor took the note, and I looked over his shoulder. It was +certainly a curious production. Written in red ink, on the commonest +notepaper, and in the same sprawling hand as the address, was the +following message: "You are given six days to do what is just. By the +sign above, know what to expect if you fail." The sign referred to was a +skull and crossbones, very neatly, but rather unskilfully, drawn at the +top of the paper. + +"This," said Mr. Marchmont, handing the document to Mr. Curtis, +"explains the singular letter that he wrote yesterday. You have it with +you, I think?" + +"Yes," replied Mr. Curtis; "here it is." + +He produced a letter from his pocket, and read aloud: + + "'Yes: come if you like, though it is an ungodly hour. Your + threatening letters have caused me great amusement. They are worthy + of Sadler's Wells in its prime. + + "'ALFRED HARTRIDGE.'" + +"Was Mr. Hartridge ever in Italy?" asked Inspector Badger. + +"Oh yes," replied Mr. Curtis. "He stayed at Capri nearly the whole of +last year." + +"Why, then, that gives us our clue. Look here. Here are these two other +letters; E.C. postmark--Saffron Hill is E.C. And just look at that!" + +He spread out the last of the mysterious letters, and we saw that, +besides the _memento mori_, it contained only three words: "Beware! +Remember Capri!" + +"If you have finished, Doctor, I'll be off and have a look round Little +Italy. Those four Italians oughtn't to be difficult to find, and we've +got the porter here to identify them." + +"Before you go," said Thorndyke, "there are two little matters that I +should like to settle. One is the dagger: it is in your pocket, I think. +May I have a look at it?" + +The inspector rather reluctantly produced the dagger and handed it to my +colleague. + +"A very singular weapon, this," said Thorndyke, regarding the dagger +thoughtfully, and turning it about to view its different parts. +"Singular both in shape and material. I have never seen an aluminium +hilt before, and bookbinder's morocco is a little unusual." + +"The aluminium was for lightness," explained the inspector, "and it was +made narrow to carry up the sleeve, I expect." + +"Perhaps so," said Thorndyke. + +He continued his examination, and presently, to the inspector's delight, +brought forth his pocket lens. + +"I never saw such a man!" exclaimed the jocose detective. "His motto +ought to be, 'We magnify thee.' I suppose he'll measure it next." + +The inspector was not mistaken. Having made a rough sketch of the weapon +on his block, Thorndyke produced from his bag a folding rule and a +delicate calliper-gauge. With these instruments he proceeded, with +extraordinary care and precision, to take the dimensions of the various +parts of the dagger, entering each measurement in its place on the +sketch, with a few brief, descriptive details. + +"The other matter," said he at length, handing the dagger back to the +inspector, "refers to the houses opposite." + +He walked to the window, and looked out at the backs of a row of tall +buildings similar to the one we were in. They were about thirty yards +distant, and were separated from us by a piece of ground, planted with +shrubs and intersected by gravel paths. + +"If any of those rooms were occupied last night," continued Thorndyke, +"we might obtain an actual eyewitness of the crime. This room was +brilliantly lighted, and all the blinds were up, so that an observer at +any of those windows could see right into the room, and very distinctly, +too. It might be worth inquiring into." + +"Yes, that's true," said the inspector; "though I expect, if any of them +have seen anything, they will come forward quick enough when they read +the report in the papers. But I must be off now, and I shall have to +lock you out of the rooms." + +As we went down the stairs, Mr. Marchmont announced his intention of +calling on us in the evening, "unless," he added, "you want any +information from me now." + +"I do," said Thorndyke. "I want to know who is interested in this man's +death." + +"That," replied Marchmont, "is rather a queer story. Let us take a turn +in that garden that we saw from the window. We shall be quite private +there." + +He beckoned to Mr. Curtis, and, when the inspector had departed with the +police-surgeon, we induced the porter to let us into the garden. + +"The question that you asked," Mr. Marchmont began, looking up curiously +at the tall houses opposite, "is very simply answered. The only person +immediately interested in the death of Alfred Hartridge is his executor +and sole legatee, a man named Leonard Wolfe. He is no relation of the +deceased, merely a friend, but he inherits the entire estate--about +twenty thousand pounds. The circumstances are these: Alfred Hartridge +was the elder of two brothers, of whom the younger, Charles, died before +his father, leaving a widow and three children. Fifteen years ago the +father died, leaving the whole of his property to Alfred, with the +understanding that he should support his brother's family and make the +children his heirs." + +"Was there no will?" asked Thorndyke. + +"Under great pressure from the friends of his son's widow, the old man +made a will shortly before he died; but he was then very old and rather +childish, so the will was contested by Alfred, on the grounds of undue +influence, and was ultimately set aside. Since then Alfred Hartridge has +not paid a penny towards the support of his brother's family. If it had +not been for my client, Mr. Curtis, they might have starved; the whole +burden of the support of the widow and the education of the children has +fallen upon him. + +"Well, just lately the matter has assumed an acute form, for two +reasons. The first is that Charles's eldest son, Edmund, has come of +age. Mr. Curtis had him articled to a solicitor, and, as he is now fully +qualified, and a most advantageous proposal for a partnership has been +made, we have been putting pressure on Alfred to supply the necessary +capital in accordance with his father's wishes. This he had refused to +do, and it was with reference to this matter that we were calling on him +this morning. The second reason involves a curious and disgraceful +story. There is a certain Leonard Wolfe, who has been an intimate friend +of the deceased. He is, I may say, a man of bad character, and their +association has been of a kind creditable to neither. There is also a +certain woman named Hester Greene, who had certain claims upon the +deceased, which we need not go into at present. Now, Leonard Wolfe and +the deceased, Alfred Hartridge, entered into an agreement, the terms of +which were these: (1) Wolfe was to marry Hester Greene, and in +consideration of this service (2) Alfred Hartridge was to assign to +Wolfe the whole of his property, absolutely, the actual transfer to take +place on the death of Hartridge." + +"And has this transaction been completed?" asked Thorndyke. + +"Yes, it has, unfortunately. But we wished to see if anything could be +done for the widow and the children during Hartridge's lifetime. No +doubt, my client's daughter, Miss Curtis, called last night on a similar +mission--very indiscreetly, since the matter was in our hands; but, you +know, she is engaged to Edmund Hartridge--and I expect the interview was +a pretty stormy one." + +Thorndyke remained silent for a while, pacing slowly along the gravel +path, with his eyes bent on the ground: not abstractedly, however, but +with a searching, attentive glance that roved amongst the shrubs and +bushes, as though he were looking for something. + +"What sort of man," he asked presently, "is this Leonard Wolfe? +Obviously he is a low scoundrel, but what is he like in other respects? +Is he a fool, for instance?" + +"Not at all, I should say," said Mr. Curtis. "He was formerly an +engineer, and, I believe, a very capable mechanician. Latterly he has +lived on some property that came to him, and has spent both his time and +his money in gambling and dissipation. Consequently, I expect he is +pretty short of funds at present." + +"And in appearance?" + +"I only saw him once," replied Mr. Curtis, "and all I can remember of +him is that he is rather short, fair, thin, and clean-shaven, and that +he has lost the middle finger of his left hand." + +"And he lives at?" + +"Eltham, in Kent. Morton Grange, Eltham," said Mr. Marchmont. "And now, +if you have all the information that you require, I must really be off, +and so must Mr. Curtis." + +The two men shook our hands and hurried away, leaving Thorndyke gazing +meditatively at the dingy flower-beds. + +"A strange and interesting case, this, Jervis," said he, stooping to +peer under a laurel-bush. "The inspector is on a hot scent--a most +palpable red herring on a most obvious string; but that is his business. +Ah, here comes the porter, intent, no doubt, on pumping us, whereas--" +He smiled genially at the approaching custodian, and asked: "Where did +you say those houses fronted?" + +"Cotman Street, sir," answered the porter. "They are nearly all +offices." + +"And the numbers? That open second-floor window, for instance?" + +"That is number six; but the house opposite Mr. Hartridge's rooms is +number eight." + +"Thank you." + +Thorndyke was moving away, but suddenly turned again to the porter. + +"By the way," said he, "I dropped something out of the window just +now--a small flat piece of metal, like this." He made on the back of his +visiting card a neat sketch of a circular disc, with a hexagonal hole +through it, and handed the card to the porter. "I can't say where it +fell," he continued; "these flat things scale about so; but you might +ask the gardener to look for it. I will give him a sovereign if he +brings it to my chambers, for, although it is of no value to anyone +else, it is of considerable value to me." + +The porter touched his hat briskly, and as we turned out at the gate, I +looked back and saw him already wading among the shrubs. + +The object of the porter's quest gave me considerable mental occupation. +I had not seen Thorndyke drop any thing, and it was not his way to +finger carelessly any object of value. I was about to question him on +the subject, when, turning sharply round into Cotman Street, he drew up +at the doorway of number six, and began attentively to read the names of +the occupants. + +"'Third-floor,'" he read out, "'Mr. Thomas Barlow, Commission Agent.' +Hum! I think we will look in on Mr. Barlow." + +He stepped quickly up the stone stairs, and I followed, until we +arrived, somewhat out of breath, on the third-floor. Outside the +Commission Agent's door he paused for a moment, and we both listened +curiously to an irregular sound of shuffling feet from within. Then he +softly opened the door and looked into the room. After remaining thus +for nearly a minute, he looked round at me with a broad smile, and +noiselessly set the door wide open. Inside, a lanky youth of fourteen +was practising, with no mean skill, the manipulation of an appliance +known by the appropriate name of diabolo; and so absorbed was he in his +occupation that we entered and shut the door without being observed. At +length the shuttle missed the string and flew into a large waste-paper +basket; the boy turned and confronted us, and was instantly covered +with confusion. + +"Allow me," said Thorndyke, rooting rather unnecessarily in the +waste-paper basket, and handing the toy to its owner. "I need not ask if +Mr. Barlow is in," he added, "nor if he is likely to return shortly." + +"He won't be back to-day," said the boy, perspiring with embarrassment; +"he left before I came. I was rather late." + +"I see," said Thorndyke. "The early bird catches the worm, but the late +bird catches the diabolo. How did you know he would not be back?" + +"He left a note. Here it is." + +He exhibited the document, which was neatly written in red ink. +Thorndyke examined it attentively, and then asked: + +"Did you break the inkstand yesterday?" + +The boy stared at him in amazement. "Yes, I did," he answered. "How did +you know?" + +"I didn't, or I should not have asked. But I see that he has used his +stylo to write this note." + +The boy regarded Thorndyke distrustfully, as he continued: + +"I really called to see if your Mr. Barlow was a gentleman whom I used +to know; but I expect you can tell me. My friend was tall and thin, +dark, and clean-shaved." + +"This ain't him, then," said the boy. "He's thin, but he ain't tall or +dark. He's got a sandy beard, and he wears spectacles and a wig. I know +a wig when I see one," he added cunningly, "'cause my father wears one. +He puts it on a peg to comb it, and he swears at me when I larf." + +"My friend had injured his left hand," pursued Thorndyke. + +"I dunno about that," said the youth. "Mr. Barlow nearly always wears +gloves; he always wears one on his left hand, anyhow." + +"Ah well! I'll just write him a note on the chance, if you will give me +a piece of notepaper. Have you any ink?" + +"There's some in the bottle. I'll dip the pen in for you." + +He produced, from the cupboard, an opened packet of cheap notepaper and +a packet of similar envelopes, and, having dipped the pen to the bottom +of the ink-bottle, handed it to Thorndyke, who sat down and hastily +scribbled a short note. He had folded the paper, and was about to +address the envelope, when he appeared suddenly to alter his mind. + +"I don't think I will leave it, after all," he said, slipping the folded +paper into his pocket. "No. Tell him I called--Mr. Horace Budge--and say +I will look in again in a day or two." + +The youth watched our exit with an air of perplexity, and he even came +out on to the landing, the better to observe us over the balusters; +until, unexpectedly catching Thorndyke's eye, he withdrew his head with +remarkable suddenness, and retired in disorder. + +To tell the truth, I was now little less perplexed than the office-boy +by Thorndyke's proceedings; in which I could discover no relevancy to +the investigation that I presumed he was engaged upon: and the last +straw was laid upon the burden of my curiosity when he stopped at a +staircase window, drew the note out of his pocket, examined it with his +lens, held it up to the light, and chuckled aloud. + +"Luck," he observed, "though no substitute for care and intelligence, is +a very pleasant addition. Really, my learned brother, we are doing +uncommonly well." + +When we reached the hall, Thorndyke stopped at the housekeeper's box, +and looked in with a genial nod. + +"I have just been up to see Mr. Barlow," said he. "He seems to have left +quite early." + +"Yes, sir," the man replied. "He went away about half-past eight." + +"That was very early; and presumably he came earlier still?" + +"I suppose so," the man assented, with a grin; "but I had only just come +on when he left." + +"Had he any luggage with him?" + +"Yes, sir. There was two cases, a square one and a long, narrow one, +about five foot long. I helped him to carry them down to the cab." + +"Which was a four-wheeler, I suppose?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Mr. Barlow hasn't been here very long, has he?" Thorndyke inquired. + +"No. He only came in last quarter-day--about six weeks ago." + +"Ah well! I must call another day. Good-morning;" and Thorndyke strode +out of the building, and made directly for the cab-rank in the adjoining +street. Here he stopped for a minute or two to parley with the driver of +a four-wheeled cab, whom he finally commissioned to convey us to a shop +in New Oxford Street. Having dismissed the cabman with his blessing and +a half-sovereign, he vanished into the shop, leaving me to gaze at the +lathes, drills, and bars of metal displayed in the window. Presently he +emerged with a small parcel, and explained, in answer to my inquiring +look: "A strip of tool steel and a block of metal for Polton." + +His next purchase was rather more eccentric. We were proceeding along +Holborn when his attention was suddenly arrested by the window of a +furniture shop, in which was displayed a collection of obsolete French +small-arms--relics of the tragedy of 1870--which were being sold for +decorative purposes. After a brief inspection, he entered the shop, and +shortly reappeared carrying a long sword-bayonet and an old Chassepôt +rifle. + +"What may be the meaning of this martial display?" I asked, as we turned +down Fetter Lane. + +"House protection," he replied promptly. "You will agree that a +discharge of musketry, followed by a bayonet charge, would disconcert +the boldest of burglars." + +I laughed at the absurd picture thus drawn of the strenuous +house-protector, but nevertheless continued to speculate on the meaning +of my friend's eccentric proceedings, which I felt sure were in some way +related to the murder in Brackenhurst Chambers, though I could not trace +the connection. + +After a late lunch, I hurried out to transact such of my business as had +been interrupted by the stirring events of the morning, leaving +Thorndyke busy with a drawing-board, squares, scale, and compasses, +making accurate, scaled drawings from his rough sketches; while Polton, +with the brown-paper parcel in his hand, looked on at him with an air of +anxious expectation. + +As I was returning homeward in the evening by way of Mitre Court, I +overtook Mr. Marchmont, who was also bound for our chambers, and we +walked on together. + +"I had a note from Thorndyke," he explained, "asking for a specimen of +handwriting, so I thought I would bring it along myself, and hear if he +has any news." + +When we entered the chambers, we found Thorndyke in earnest consultation +with Polton, and on the table before them I observed, to my great +surprise, the dagger with which the murder had been committed. + +[Illustration: THE ALUMINIUM DAGGER.] + +"I have got you the specimen that you asked for," said Marchmont. "I +didn't think I should be able to, but, by a lucky chance, Curtis kept +the only letter he ever received from the party in question." + +He drew the letter from his wallet, and handed it to Thorndyke, who +looked at it attentively and with evident satisfaction. + +"By the way," said Marchmont, taking up the dagger, "I thought the +inspector took this away with him." + +"He took the original," replied Thorndyke. "This is a duplicate, which +Polton has made, for experimental purposes, from my drawings." + +"Really!" exclaimed Marchmont, with a glance of respectful admiration at +Polton; "it is a perfect replica--and you have made it so quickly, too." + +"It was quite easy to make," said Polton, "to a man accustomed to work +in metal." + +"Which," added Thorndyke, "is a fact of some evidential value." + +At this moment a hansom drew up outside. A moment later flying footsteps +were heard on the stairs. There was a furious battering at the door, +and, as Polton threw it open, Mr. Curtis burst wildly into the room. + +"Here is a frightful thing, Marchmont!" he gasped. "Edith--my +daughter--arrested for the murder. Inspector Badger came to our house +and took her. My God! I shall go mad!" + +Thorndyke laid his hand on the excited man's shoulder. "Don't distress +yourself, Mr. Curtis," said he. "There is no occasion, I assure you. I +suppose," he added, "your daughter is left-handed?" + +"Yes, she is, by a most disastrous coincidence. But what are we to do? +Good God! Dr. Thorndyke, they have taken her to prison--to prison--think +of it! My poor Edith!" + +"We'll soon have her out," said Thorndyke. "But listen; there is someone +at the door." + +A brisk rat-tat confirmed his statement; and when I rose to open the +door, I found myself confronted by Inspector Badger. There was a moment +of extreme awkwardness, and then both the detective and Mr. Curtis +proposed to retire in favour of the other. + +"Don't go, inspector," said Thorndyke; "I want to have a word with you. +Perhaps Mr. Curtis would look in again, say, in an hour. Will you? We +shall have news for you by then, I hope." + +Mr. Curtis agreed hastily, and dashed out of the room with his +characteristic impetuosity. When he had gone, Thorndyke turned to the +detective, and remarked dryly: + +"You seem to have been busy, inspector?" + +"Yes," replied Badger; "I haven't let the grass grow under my feet; and +I've got a pretty strong case against Miss Curtis already. You see, she +was the last person seen in the company of the deceased; she had a +grievance against him; she is left-handed, and you remember that the +murder was committed by a left-handed person." + +"Anything else?" + +"Yes. I have seen those Italians, and the whole thing was a put-up job. +A woman, in a widow's dress and veil, paid them to go and play the fool +outside the building, and she gave them the letter that was left with +the porter. They haven't identified her yet, but she seems to agree in +size with Miss Curtis." + +"And how did she get out of the chambers, with the door bolted on the +inside?" + +"Ah, there you are! That's a mystery at present--unless you can give us +an explanation." The inspector made this qualification with a faint +grin, and added: "As there was no one in the place when we broke into +it, the murderer must have got out somehow. You can't deny that." + +"I do deny it, nevertheless," said Thorndyke. "You look surprised," he +continued (which was undoubtedly true), "but yet the whole thing is +exceedingly obvious. The explanation struck me directly I looked at the +body. There was evidently no practicable exit from the flat, and there +was certainly no one in it when you entered. Clearly, then, _the +murderer had never been in the place at all_." + +"I don't follow you in the least," said the inspector. + +"Well," said Thorndyke, "as I have finished with the case, and am +handing it over to you, I will put the evidence before you _seriatim_. +Now, I think we are agreed that, at the moment when the blow was struck, +the deceased was standing before the fireplace, winding the clock. The +dagger entered obliquely from the left, and, if you recall its position, +you will remember that its hilt pointed directly towards an open +window." + +"Which was forty feet from the ground." + +"Yes. And now we will consider the very peculiar character of the weapon +with which the crime was committed." + +He had placed his hand upon the knob of a drawer, when we were +interrupted by a knock at the door. I sprang up, and, opening it, +admitted no less a person than the porter of Brackenhurst Chambers. The +man looked somewhat surprised on recognizing our visitors, but advanced +to Thorndyke, drawing a folded paper from his pocket. + +"I've found the article you were looking for, sir," said he, "and a rare +hunt I had for it. It had stuck in the leaves of one of them shrubs." + +Thorndyke opened the packet, and, having glanced inside, laid it on the +table. + +"Thank you," said he, pushing a sovereign across to the gratified +official. "The inspector has your name, I think?" + +"He have, sir," replied the porter; and, pocketing his fee, he departed, +beaming. + +"To return to the dagger," said Thorndyke, opening the drawer. "It was a +very peculiar one, as I have said, and as you will see from this model, +which is an exact duplicate." Here he exhibited Polton's production to +the astonished detective. "You see that it is extraordinarily slender, +and free from projections, and of unusual materials. You also see that +it was obviously not made by an ordinary dagger-maker; that, in spite of +the Italian word scrawled on it, there is plainly written all over it +'British mechanic.' The blade is made from a strip of common +three-quarter-inch tool steel; the hilt is turned from an aluminium rod; +and there is not a line of engraving on it that could not be produced in +a lathe by any engineer's apprentice. Even the boss at the top is +mechanical, for it is just like an ordinary hexagon nut. Then, notice +the dimensions, as shown on my drawing. The parts A and B, which just +project beyond the blade, are exactly similar in diameter--and such +exactness could hardly be accidental. They are each parts of a circle +having a diameter of 10.9 millimetres--a dimension which happens, by a +singular coincidence, to be exactly the calibre of the old Chassepôt +rifle, specimens of which are now on sale at several shops in London. +Here is one, for instance." + +He fetched the rifle that he had bought, from the corner in which it was +standing, and, lifting the dagger by its point, slipped the hilt into +the muzzle. When he let go, the dagger slid quietly down the barrel, +until its hilt appeared in the open breech. + +"Good God!" exclaimed Marchmont. "You don't suggest that the dagger was +shot from a gun?" + +"I do, indeed; and you now see the reason for the aluminium hilt--to +diminish the weight of the already heavy projectile--and also for this +hexagonal boss on the end?" + +"No, I do not," said the inspector; "but I say that you are suggesting +an impossibility." + +"Then," replied Thorndyke, "I must explain and demonstrate. To begin +with, this projectile had to travel point foremost; therefore it had to +be made to spin--and it certainly was spinning when it entered the body, +as the clothing and the wound showed us. Now, to make it spin, it had to +be fired from a rifled barrel; but as the hilt would not engage in the +rifling, it had to be fitted with something that would. That something +was evidently a soft metal washer, which fitted on to this hexagon, and +which would be pressed into the grooves of the rifling, and so spin the +dagger, but would drop off as soon as the weapon left the barrel. Here +is such a washer, which Polton has made for us." + +He laid on the table a metal disc, with a hexagonal hole through it. + +"This is all very ingenious," said the inspector, "but I say it is +impossible and fantastic." + +"It certainly sounds rather improbable," Marchmont agreed. + +"We will see," said Thorndyke. "Here is a makeshift cartridge of +Polton's manufacture, containing an eighth charge of smokeless powder +for a 20-bore gun." + +He fitted the washer on to the boss of the dagger in the open breech of +the rifle, pushed it into the barrel, inserted the cartridge, and closed +the breech. Then, opening the office-door, he displayed a target of +padded strawboard against the wall. + +"The length of the two rooms," said he, "gives us a distance of +thirty-two feet. Will you shut the windows, Jervis?" + +I complied, and he then pointed the rifle at the target. There was a +dull report--much less loud than I had expected--and when we looked at +the target, we saw the dagger driven in up to its hilt at the margin of +the bull's-eye. + +"You see," said Thorndyke, laying down the rifle, "that the thing is +practicable. Now for the evidence as to the actual occurrence. First, on +the original dagger there are linear scratches which exactly correspond +with the grooves of the rifling. Then there is the fact that the dagger +was certainly spinning from left to right--in the direction of the +rifling, that is--when it entered the body. And then there is this, +which, as you heard, the porter found in the garden." + +He opened the paper packet. In it lay a metal disc, perforated by a +hexagonal hole. Stepping into the office, he picked up from the floor +the washer that he had put on the dagger, and laid it on the paper +beside the other. The two discs were identical in size, and the margin +of each was indented with identical markings, corresponding to the +rifling of the barrel. + +The inspector gazed at the two discs in silence for a while; then, +looking up at Thorndyke, he said: + +"I give in, Doctor. You're right, beyond all doubt; but how you came to +think of it beats me into fits. The only question now is, Who fired the +gun, and why wasn't the report heard?" + +"As to the latter," said Thorndyke, "it is probable that he used a +compressed-air attachment, not only to diminish the noise, but also to +prevent any traces of the explosive from being left on the dagger. As to +the former, I think I can give you the murderer's name; but we had +better take the evidence in order. You may remember," he continued, +"that when Dr. Jervis stood as if winding the clock, I chalked a mark on +the floor where he stood. Now, standing on that marked spot, and looking +out of the open window, I could see two of the windows of a house nearly +opposite. They were the second- and third-floor windows of No. 6, +Cotman Street. The second-floor is occupied by a firm of architects; the +third-floor by a commission agent named Thomas Barlow. I called on Mr. +Barlow, but before describing my visit, I will refer to another matter. +You haven't those threatening letters about you, I suppose?" + +"Yes, I have," said the inspector; and he drew forth a wallet from his +breast-pocket. + +"Lot us take the first one, then," said Thorndyke. "You see that the +paper and envelope are of the very commonest, and the writing +illiterate. But the ink does not agree with this. Illiterate people +usually buy their ink in penny bottles. Now, this envelope is addressed +with Draper's dichroic ink--a superior office ink, sold only in large +bottles--and the red ink in which the note is written is an unfixed, +scarlet ink, such as is used by draughtsmen, and has been used, as you +can see, in a stylographic pen. But the most interesting thing about +this letter is the design drawn at the top. In an artistic sense, the +man could not draw, and the anatomical details of the skull are +ridiculous. Yet the drawing is very neat. It has the clean, wiry line of +a machine drawing, and is done with a steady, practised hand. It is also +perfectly symmetrical; the skull, for instance, is exactly in the +centre, and, when we examine it through a lens, we see why it is so, for +we discover traces of a pencilled centre-line and ruled cross-lines. +Moreover, the lens reveals a tiny particle of draughtsman's soft, red, +rubber, with which the pencil lines were taken out; and all these facts, +taken together, suggest that the drawing was made by someone accustomed +to making accurate mechanical drawings. And now we will return to Mr. +Barlow. He was out when I called, but I took the liberty of glancing +round the office, and this is what I saw. On the mantelshelf was a +twelve-inch flat boxwood rule, such as engineers use, a piece of soft, +red rubber, and a stone bottle of Draper's dichroic ink. I obtained, by +a simple ruse, a specimen of the office notepaper and the ink. We will +examine it presently. I found that Mr. Barlow is a new tenant, that he +is rather short, wears a wig and spectacles, and always wears a glove on +his left hand. He left the office at 8.30 this morning, and no one saw +him arrive. He had with him a square case, and a narrow, oblong one +about five feet in length; and he took a cab to Victoria, and apparently +caught the 8.51 train to Chatham." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the inspector. + +"But," continued Thorndyke, "now examine those three letters, and +compare them with this note that I wrote in Mr. Barlow's office. You see +that the paper is of the same make, with the same water-mark, but that +is of no great significance. What is of crucial importance is this: You +see, in each of these letters, two tiny indentations near the bottom +corner. Somebody has used compasses or drawing-pins over the packet of +notepaper, and the points have made little indentations, which have +marked several of the sheets. Now, notepaper is cut to its size after it +is folded, and if you stick a pin into the top sheet of a section, the +indentations on all the underlying sheets will be at exactly similar +distances from the edges and corners of the sheet. But you see that +these little dents are all at the same distance from the edges and the +corner." He demonstrated the fact with a pair of compasses. "And now +look at this sheet, which I obtained at Mr. Barlow's office. There are +two little indentations--rather faint, but quite visible--near the +bottom corner, and when we measure them with the compasses, we find that +they are exactly the same distance apart as the others, and the same +distance from the edges and the bottom corner. The irresistible +conclusion is that these four sheets came from the same packet." + +The inspector started up from his chair, and faced Thorndyke. "Who is +this Mr. Barlow?" he asked. + +"That," replied Thorndyke, "is for you to determine; but I can give you +a useful hint. There is only one person who benefits by the death of +Alfred Hartridge, but he benefits to the extent of twenty thousand +pounds. His name is Leonard Wolfe, and I learn from Mr. Marchmont that +he is a man of indifferent character--a gambler and a spendthrift. By +profession he is an engineer, and he is a capable mechanician. In +appearance he is thin, short, fair, and clean-shaven, and he has lost +the middle finger of his left hand. Mr. Barlow is also short, thin, and +fair, but wears a wig, a beard, and spectacles, and always wears a glove +on his left hand. I have seen the handwriting of both these gentlemen, +and should say that it would be difficult to distinguish one from the +other." + +"That's good enough for me," said the inspector. "Give me his address, +and I'll have Miss Curtis released at once." + + * * * * * + +The same night Leonard Wolfe was arrested at Eltham, in the very act of +burying in his garden a large and powerful compressed-air rifle. He was +never brought to trial, however, for he had in his pocket a more +portable weapon--a large-bore Derringer pistol--with which he managed +to terminate an exceedingly ill-spent life. + +"And, after all," was Thorndyke's comment, when he heard of the event, +"he had his uses. He has relieved society of two very bad men, and he +has given us a most instructive case. He has shown us how a clever and +ingenious criminal may take endless pains to mislead and delude the +police, and yet, by inattention to trivial details, may scatter clues +broadcast. We can only say to the criminal class generally, in both +respects, 'Go thou and do likewise.'" + + + + +VIII + +A MESSAGE FROM THE DEEP SEA + + +The Whitechapel Road, though redeemed by scattered relics of a more +picturesque past from the utter desolation of its neighbour the +Commercial Road, is hardly a gay thoroughfare. Especially at its eastern +end, where its sordid modernity seems to reflect the colourless lives of +its inhabitants, does its grey and dreary length depress the spirits of +the wayfarer. But the longest and dullest road can be made delightful by +sprightly discourse seasoned with wit and wisdom, and so it was that, as +I walked westward by the side of my friend John Thorndyke, the long, +monotonous road seemed all too short. + +We had been to the London Hospital to see a remarkable case of +acromegaly, and, as we returned, we discussed this curious affection, +and the allied condition of gigantism, in all their bearings, from the +origin of the "Gibson chin" to the physique of Og, King of Bashan. + +"It would have been interesting," Thorndyke remarked as we passed up +Aldgate High Street, "to have put one's finger into His Majesty's +pituitary fossa--after his decease, of course. By the way, here is +Harrow Alley; you remember Defoe's description of the dead-cart waiting +out here, and the ghastly procession coming down the alley." He took my +arm and led me up the narrow thoroughfare as far as the sharp turn by +the "Star and Still" public-house, where we turned to look back. + +"I never pass this place," he said musingly, "but I seem to hear the +clang of the bell and the dismal cry of the carter--" + +He broke off abruptly. Two figures had suddenly appeared framed in the +archway, and now advanced at headlong speed. One, who led, was a stout, +middle-aged Jewess, very breathless and dishevelled; the other was a +well-dressed young man, hardly less agitated than his companion. As they +approached, the young man suddenly recognized my colleague, and accosted +him in agitated tones. + +"I've just been sent for to a case of murder or suicide. Would you mind +looking at it for me, sir? It's my first case, and I feel rather +nervous." + +Here the woman darted back, and plucked the young doctor by the arm. + +"Hurry! hurry!" she exclaimed, "don't stop to talk." Her face was as +white as lard, and shiny with sweat; her lips twitched, her hands shook, +and she stared with the eyes of a frightened child. + +"Of course I will come, Hart," said Thorndyke; and, turning back, we +followed the woman as she elbowed her way frantically among the +foot-passengers. + +"Have you started in practice here?" Thorndyke asked as we hurried +along. + +"No, sir," replied Dr. Hart; "I am an assistant. My principal is the +police-surgeon, but he is out just now. It's very good of you to come +with me, sir." + +"Tut, tut," rejoined Thorndyke. "I am just coming to see that you do +credit to my teaching. That looks like the house." + +We had followed our guide into a side street, halfway down which we +could see a knot of people clustered round a doorway. They watched us as +we approached, and drew aside to let us enter. The woman whom we were +following rushed into the passage with the same headlong haste with +which she had traversed the streets, and so up the stairs. But as she +neared the top of the flight she slowed down suddenly, and began to +creep up on tiptoe with noiseless and hesitating steps. On the landing +she turned to face us, and pointing a shaking forefinger at the door of +the back room, whispered almost inaudibly, "She's in there," and then +sank half-fainting on the bottom stair of the next flight. + +I laid my hand on the knob of the door, and looked back at Thorndyke. He +was coming slowly up the stairs, closely scrutinizing floor, walls, and +handrail as he came. When he reached the landing, I turned the handle, +and we entered the room together, closing the door after us. The blind +was still down, and in the dim, uncertain light nothing out of the +common was, at first, to be seen. The shabby little room looked trim and +orderly enough, save for a heap of cast-off feminine clothing piled upon +a chair. The bed appeared undisturbed except by the half-seen shape of +its occupant, and the quiet face, dimly visible in its shadowy corner, +might have been that of a sleeper but for its utter stillness and for a +dark stain on the pillow by its side. + +Dr. Hart stole on tiptoe to the bedside, while Thorndyke drew up the +blind; and as the garish daylight poured into the room, the young +surgeon fell back with a gasp of horror. + +"Good God!" he exclaimed; "poor creature! But this is a frightful thing, +sir!" + +The light streamed down upon the white face of a handsome girl of +twenty-five, a face peaceful, placid, and beautiful with the austere and +almost unearthly beauty of the youthful dead. The lips were slightly +parted, the eyes half closed and drowsy, shaded with sweeping lashes; +and a wealth of dark hair in massive plaits served as a foil to the +translucent skin. + +Our friend had drawn back the bedclothes a few inches, and now there was +revealed, beneath the comely face, so serene and inscrutable, and yet so +dreadful in its fixity and waxen pallor, a horrible, yawning wound that +almost divided the shapely neck. + +Thorndyke looked down with stern pity at the plump white face. + +"It was savagely done," said he, "and yet mercifully, by reason of its +very savagery. She must have died without waking." + +"The brute!" exclaimed Hart, clenching his fists and turning crimson +with wrath. "The infernal cowardly beast! He shall hang! By God, he +shall hang!" In his fury the young fellow shook his fists in the air, +even as the moisture welled up into his eyes. + +Thorndyke touched him on the shoulder. "That is what we are here for, +Hart," said he. "Get out your notebook;" and with this he bent down over +the dead girl. + +At the friendly reproof the young surgeon pulled himself together, and, +with open notebook, commenced his investigation, while I, at Thorndyke's +request, occupied myself in making a plan of the room, with a +description of its contents and their arrangements. But this occupation +did not prevent me from keeping an eye on Thorndyke's movements, and +presently I suspended my labours to watch him as, with his +pocket-knife, he scraped together some objects that he had found on the +pillow. + +"What do you make of this?" he asked, as I stepped over to his side. He +pointed with the blade to a tiny heap of what looked like silver sand, +and, as I looked more closely, I saw that similar particles were +sprinkled on other parts of the pillow. + +"Silver sand!" I exclaimed. "I don't understand at all how it can have +got there. Do you?" + +Thorndyke shook his head. "We will consider the explanation later," was +his reply. He had produced from his pocket a small metal box which he +always carried, and which contained such requisites as cover-slips, +capillary tubes, moulding wax, and other "diagnostic materials." He now +took from it a seed-envelope, into which he neatly shovelled the little +pinch of sand with his knife. He had closed the envelope, and was +writing a pencilled description on the outside, when we were startled by +a cry from Hart. + +"Good God, sir! Look at this! It was done by a woman!" + +He had drawn back the bedclothes, and was staring aghast at the dead +girl's left hand. It held a thin tress of long, red hair. + +Thorndyke hastily pocketed his specimen, and, stepping round the little +bedside table, bent over the hand with knitted brows. It was closed, +though not tightly clenched, and when an attempt was made gently to +separate the fingers, they were found to be as rigid as the fingers of a +wooden hand. Thorndyke stooped yet more closely, and, taking out his +lens, scrutinized the wisp of hair throughout its entire length. + +"There is more here than meets the eye at the first glance," he +remarked. "What say you, Hart?" He held out his lens to his quondam +pupil, who was about to take it from him when the door opened, and three +men entered. One was a police-inspector, the second appeared to be a +plain-clothes officer, while the third was evidently the divisional +surgeon. + +"Friends of yours, Hart?" inquired the latter, regarding us with some +disfavour. + +Thorndyke gave a brief explanation of our presence to which the newcomer +rejoined: + +"Well, sir, your _locus standi_ here is a matter for the inspector. My +assistant was not authorized to call in outsiders. You needn't wait, +Hart." + +With this he proceeded to his inspection, while Thorndyke withdrew the +pocket-thermometer that he had slipped under the body, and took the +reading. + +The inspector, however, was not disposed to exercise the prerogative at +which the surgeon had hinted; for an expert has his uses. + +"How long should you say she'd been dead, sir?" he asked affably. + +"About ten hours," replied Thorndyke. + +The inspector and the detective simultaneously looked at their watches. +"That fixes it at two o'clock this morning," said the former. "What's +that, sir?" + +The surgeon was pointing to the wisp of hair in the dead girl's hand. + +"My word!" exclaimed the inspector. "A woman, eh? She must be a tough +customer. This looks like a soft job for you, sergeant." + +"Yes," said the detective. "That accounts for that box with the hassock +on it at the head of the bed. She had to stand on them to reach over. +But she couldn't have been very tall." + +"She must have been mighty strong, though," said the inspector; "why, +she has nearly cut the poor wench's head off." He moved round to the +head of the bed, and, stooping over, peered down at the gaping wound. +Suddenly he began to draw his hand over the pillow, and then rub his +fingers together. "Why," he exclaimed, "there's sand on the +pillow--silver sand! Now, how can that have come there?" + +The surgeon and the detective both came round to verify this discovery, +and an earnest consultation took place as to its meaning. + +"Did you notice it, sir?" the inspector asked Thorndyke. + +"Yes," replied the latter; "it's an unaccountable thing, isn't it?" + +"I don't know that it is, either," said the detective, he ran over to +the washstand, and then uttered a grunt of satisfaction. "It's quite a +simple matter, after all, you see," he said, glancing complacently at my +colleague. "There's a ball of sand-soap on the washstand, and the basin +is full of blood-stained water. You see, she must have washed the blood +off her hands, and off the knife, too--a pretty cool customer she must +be--and she used the sand-soap. Then, while she was drying her hands, +she must have stood over the head of the bed, and let the sand fall on +to the pillow. I think that's clear enough." + +"Admirably clear," said Thorndyke; "and what do you suppose was the +sequence of events?" + +The gratified detective glanced round the room. "I take it," said he, +"that the deceased read herself to sleep. There is a book on the table +by the bed, and a candlestick with nothing in it but a bit of burnt wick +at the bottom of the socket. I imagine that the woman came in quietly, +lit the gas, put the box and the hassock at the bedhead, stood on them, +and cut her victim's throat. Deceased must have waked up and clutched +the murderess's hair--though there doesn't seem to have been much of a +struggle; but no doubt she died almost at once. Then the murderess +washed her hands, cleaned the knife, tidied up the bed a bit, and went +away. That's about how things happened, I think, but how she got in +without anyone hearing, and how she got out, and where she went to, are +the things that we've got to find out." + +"Perhaps," said the surgeon, drawing the bedclothes over the corpse, "we +had better have the landlady in and make a few inquiries." He glanced +significantly at Thorndyke, and the inspector coughed behind his hand. +My colleague, however, chose to be obtuse to these hints: opening the +door, he turned the key backwards and forwards several times, drew it +out, examined it narrowly, and replaced it. + +"The landlady is outside on the landing," he remarked, holding the door +open. + +Thereupon the inspector went out, and we all followed to hear the result +of his inquiries. + +"Now, Mrs. Goldstein," said the officer, opening his notebook, "I want +you to tell us all that you know about this affair, and about the girl +herself. What was her name?" + +The landlady, who had been joined by a white-faced, tremulous man, wiped +her eyes, and replied in a shaky voice: "Her name, poor child, was Minna +Adler. She was a German. She came from Bremen about two years ago. She +had no friends in England--no relatives, I mean. She was a waitress at a +restaurant in Fenchurch Street, and a good, quiet, hard-working girl." + +"When did you discover what had happened?" + +"About eleven o'clock. I thought she had gone to work as usual, but my +husband noticed from the back yard that her blind was still down. So I +went up and knocked, and when I got no answer, I opened the door and +went in, and then I saw--" Here the poor soul, overcome by the dreadful +recollection, burst into hysterical sobs. + +"Her door was unlocked, then; did she usually lock it?" + +"I think so," sobbed Mrs. Goldstein. "The key was always inside." + +"And the street door; was that secure when you came down this morning?" + +"It was shut. We don't bolt it because some of the lodgers come home +rather late." + +"And now tell us, had she any enemies? Was there anyone who had a grudge +against her?" + +"No, no, poor child! Why should anyone have a grudge against her? No, +she had no quarrel--no real quarrel--with anyone; not even with Miriam." + +"Miriam!" inquired the inspector. "Who is she?" + +"That was nothing," interposed the man hastily. "That was not a +quarrel." + +"Just a little unpleasantness, I suppose, Mr. Goldstein?" suggested the +inspector. + +"Just a little foolishness about a young man," said Mr. Goldstein. "That +was all. Miriam was a little jealous. But it was nothing." + +"No, no. Of course. We all know that young women are apt to--" + +A soft footstep had been for some time audible, slowly descending the +stair above, and at this moment a turn of the staircase brought the +newcomer into view. And at that vision the inspector stopped short as if +petrified, and a tense, startled silence fell upon us all. Down the +remaining stairs there advanced towards us a young woman, powerful +though short, wild-eyed, dishevelled, horror-stricken, and of a ghastly +pallor: and her hair was a fiery red. + +Stock still and speechless we all stood as this apparition came slowly +towards us; but suddenly the detective slipped back into the room, +closing the door after him, to reappear a few moments later holding a +small paper packet, which, after a quick glance at the inspector, he +placed in his breast pocket. + +"This is my daughter Miriam that we spoke about, gentlemen," said Mr. +Goldstein. "Miriam, those are the doctors and the police." + +The girl looked at us from one to the other. "You have seen her, then," +she said in a strange, muffled voice, and added: "She isn't dead, is +she? Not really dead?" The question was asked in a tone at once coaxing +and despairing, such as a distracted mother might use over the corpse of +her child. It filled me with vague discomfort, and, unconsciously, I +looked round towards Thorndyke. + +To my surprise he had vanished. + +Noiselessly backing towards the head of the stairs, where I could +command a view of the hall, or passage, I looked down, and saw him in +the act of reaching up to a shelf behind the street door. He caught my +eye, and beckoned, whereupon I crept away unnoticed by the party on the +landing. When I reached the hall, he was wrapping up three small +objects, each in a separate cigarette-paper; and I noticed that he +handled them with more than ordinary tenderness. + +"We didn't want to see that poor devil of a girl arrested," said he, as +he deposited the three little packets gingerly in his pocket-box. "Let +us be off." He opened the door noiselessly, and stood for a moment, +turning the latch backwards and forwards, and closely examining its +bolt. + +I glanced up at the shelf behind the door. On it were two flat china +candlesticks, in one of which I had happened to notice, as we came in, a +short end of candle lying in the tray, and I now looked to see if that +was what Thorndyke had annexed; but it was still there. + +I followed my colleague out into the street, and for some time we walked +on without speaking. "You guessed what the sergeant had in that paper, +of course," said Thorndyke at length. + +"Yes. It was the hair from the dead woman's hand; and I thought that he +had much better have left it there." + +"Undoubtedly. But that is the way in which well-meaning policemen +destroy valuable evidence. Not that it matters much in this particular +instance; but it might have been a fatal mistake." + +"Do you intend to take any active part in this case?" I asked. + +"That depends on circumstances. I have collected some evidence, but what +it is worth I don't yet know. Neither do I know whether the police have +observed the same set of facts; but I need not say that I shall do +anything that seems necessary to assist the authorities. That is a +matter of common citizenship." + +The inroads made upon our time by the morning's adventures made it +necessary that we should go each about his respective business without +delay; so, after a perfunctory lunch at a tea-shop, we separated, and I +did not see my colleague again until the day's work was finished, and I +turned into our chambers just before dinner-time. + +Here I found Thorndyke seated at the table, and evidently full of +business. A microscope stood close by, with a condenser throwing a spot +of light on to a pinch of powder that had been sprinkled on to the +slide; his collecting-box lay open before him, and he was engaged, +rather mysteriously, in squeezing a thick white cement from a tube on to +three little pieces of moulding-wax. + +"Useful stuff, this Fortafix," he remarked; "it makes excellent casts, +and saves the trouble and mess of mixing plaster, which is a +consideration for small work like this. By the way, if you want to know +what was on that poor girl's pillow, just take a peep through the +microscope. It is rather a pretty specimen." + +I stepped across, and applied my eye to the instrument. The specimen +was, indeed, pretty in more than a technical sense. Mingled with +crystalline grains of quartz, glassy spicules, and water-worn fragments +of coral, were a number of lovely little shells, some of the texture of +fine porcelain, others like blown Venetian glass. + +[Illustration: THE SAND FROM THE MURDERED WOMAN'S PILLOW, MAGNIFIED 25 +DIAMETERS.] + +"These are Foraminifera!" I exclaimed. + +"Yes." + +"Then it is not silver sand, after all?" + +"Certainly not." + +"But what is it, then?" + +Thorndyke smiled. "It is a message to us from the deep sea, Jervis; +from the floor of the Eastern Mediterranean." + +"And can you read the message?" + +"I think I can," he replied, "but I shall know soon, I hope." + +I looked down the microscope again, and wondered what message these tiny +shells had conveyed to my friend. Deep-sea sand on a dead woman's +pillow! What could be more incongruous? What possible connection could +there be between this sordid crime in the east of London and the deep +bed of the "tideless sea"? + +Meanwhile Thorndyke squeezed out more cement on to the three little +pieces of moulding-wax (which I suspected to be the objects that I had +seen him wrapping up with such care in the hall of the Goldsteins' +house); then, laying one of them down on a glass slide, with its +cemented side uppermost, he stood the other two upright on either side +of it. Finally he squeezed out a fresh load of the thick cement, +apparently to bind the three objects together, and carried the slide +very carefully to a cupboard, where he deposited it, together with the +envelope containing the sand and the slide from the stage of the +microscope. + +He was just locking the cupboard when a sharp rat-tat on our knocker +sent him hurriedly to the door. A messenger-boy, standing on the +threshold, held out a dirty envelope. + +"Mr. Goldstein kept me a awful long time, sir," said he; "I haven't been +a-loitering." + +Thorndyke took the envelope over to the gas-light, and, opening it, drew +forth a sheet of paper, which he scanned quickly and almost eagerly; +and, though his face remained as inscrutable as a mask of stone, I felt +a conviction that the paper had told him something that he wished to +know. + +The boy having been sent on his way rejoicing, Thorndyke turned to the +bookshelves, along which he ran his eye thoughtfully until it alighted +on a shabbily-bound volume near one end. This he reached down, and as he +laid it open on the table, I glanced at it, and was surprised to observe +that it was a bi-lingual work, the opposite pages being apparently in +Russian and Hebrew. + +"The Old Testament in Russian and Yiddish," he remarked, noting my +surprise. "I am going to get Polton to photograph a couple of specimen +pages--is that the postman or a visitor?" + +It turned out to be the postman, and as Thorndyke extracted from the +letter-box a blue official envelope, he glanced significantly at me. + +"This answers your question, I think, Jervis," said he. "Yes; coroner's +subpoena and a very civil letter: 'sorry to trouble you, but I had no +choice under the circumstances'--of course he hadn't--'Dr. Davidson has +arranged to make the autopsy to-morrow at 4 p.m., and I should be glad +if you could be present. The mortuary is in Barker Street, next to the +school.' Well, we must go, I suppose, though Davidson will probably +resent it." He took up the Testament, and went off with it to the +laboratory. + +We lunched at our chambers on the following day, and, after the meal, +drew up our chairs to the fire and lit our pipes. Thorndyke was +evidently preoccupied, for he laid his open notebook on his knee, and, +gazing meditatively into the fire, made occasional entries with his +pencil as though he were arranging the points of an argument. Assuming +that the Aldgate murder was the subject of his cogitations, I ventured +to ask: + +"Have you any material evidence to offer the coroner?" + +He closed his notebook and put it away. "The evidence that I have," he +said, "is material and important; but it is disjointed and rather +inconclusive. If I can join it up into a coherent whole, as I hope to do +before I reach the court, it will be very important indeed--but here is +my invaluable familiar, with the instruments of research." He turned +with a smile towards Polton, who had just entered the room, and master +and man exchanged a friendly glance of mutual appreciation. The +relations of Thorndyke and his assistant were a constant delight to me: +on the one side, service, loyal and whole-hearted; on the other, frank +and full recognition. + +"I should think those will do, sir," said Polton, handing his principal +a small cardboard box such as playing-cards are carried in. Thorndyke +pulled off the lid, and I then saw that the box was fitted internally +with grooves for plates, and contained two mounted photographs. The +latter were very singular productions indeed; they were copies each of a +page of the Testament, one Russian and the other Yiddish; but the +lettering appeared white on a black ground, of which it occupied only +quite a small space in the middle, leaving a broad black margin. Each +photograph was mounted on a stiff card, and each card had a duplicate +photograph pasted on the back. + +Thorndyke exhibited them to me with a provoking smile, holding them +daintily by their edges, before he slid them back into the grooves of +their box. + +"We are making a little digression into philology, you see," he +remarked, as he pocketed the box. "But we must be off now, or we shall +keep Davidson waiting. Thank you, Polton." + +The District Railway carried us swiftly eastward, and we emerged from +Aldgate Station a full half-hour before we were due. Nevertheless, +Thorndyke stepped out briskly, but instead of making directly for the +mortuary, he strayed off unaccountably into Mansell Street, scanning the +numbers of the houses as he went. A row of old houses, picturesque but +grimy, on our right seemed specially to attract him, and he slowed down +as we approached them. + +"There is a quaint survival, Jervis," he remarked, pointing to a crudely +painted, wooden effigy of an Indian standing on a bracket at the door of +a small old-fashioned tobacconist's shop. We halted to look at the +little image, and at that moment the side door opened, and a woman came +out on to the doorstop, where she stood gazing up and down the street. + +Thorndyke immediately crossed the pavement, and addressed her, +apparently with some question, for I heard her answer presently: "A +quarter-past six is his time, sir, and he is generally punctual to the +minute." + +"Thank you," said Thorndyke; "I'll bear that in mind;" and, lifting his +hat, he walked on briskly, turning presently up a side-street which +brought us out into Aldgate. It was now but five minutes to four, so we +strode off quickly to keep our tryst at the mortuary; but although we +arrived at the gate as the hour was striking, when we entered the +building we found Dr. Davidson hanging up his apron and preparing to +depart. + +"Sorry I couldn't wait for you," he said, with no great show of +sincerity, "but a _post-mortem_ is a mere farce in a case like this; you +have seen all that there was to see. However, there is the body; Hart +hasn't closed it up yet." + +With this and a curt "good-afternoon" he departed. + +"I must apologize for Dr. Davidson, sir," said Hart, looking up with a +vexed face from the desk at which he was writing out his notes. + +"You needn't," said Thorndyke; "you didn't supply him with manners; and +don't let me disturb you. I only want to verify one or two points." + +Accepting the hint, Hart and I remained at the desk, while Thorndyke, +removing his hat, advanced to the long slate table, and bent over its +burden of pitiful tragedy. For some time he remained motionless, running +his eye gravely over the corpse, in search, no doubt, of bruises and +indications of a struggle. Then he stooped and narrowly examined the +wound, especially at its commencement and end. Suddenly he drew nearer, +peering intently as if something had attracted his attention, and having +taken out his lens, fetched a small sponge, with which he dried an +exposed process of the spine. Holding his lens before the dried spot, he +again scrutinized it closely, and then, with a scalpel and forceps, +detached some object, which he carefully washed, and then once more +examined through his lens as it lay in the palm of his hand. Finally, as +I expected, he brought forth his "collecting-box," took from it a +seed-envelope, into which he dropped the object--evidently something +quite small--closed up the envelope, wrote on the outside of it, and +replaced it in the box. + +"I think I have seen all that I wanted to see," he said, as he pocketed +the box and took up his hat. "We shall meet to-morrow morning at the +inquest." He shook hands with Hart, and we went out into the relatively +pure air. + +On one pretext or another, Thorndyke lingered about the neighbourhood of +Aldgate until a church bell struck six, when he bent his steps towards +Harrow Alley. Through the narrow, winding passage he walked, slowly and +with a thoughtful mien, along Little Somerset Street and out into +Mansell Street, until just on the stroke of a quarter-past we found +ourselves opposite the little tobacconist's shop. + +Thorndyke glanced at his watch and halted, looking keenly up the street. +A moment later he hastily took from his pocket the cardboard box, from +which he extracted the two mounted photographs which had puzzled me so +much. They now seemed to puzzle Thorndyke equally, to judge by his +expression, for he held them close to his eyes, scrutinizing them with +an anxious frown, and backing by degrees into the doorway at the side of +the tobacconist's. At this moment I became aware of a man who, as he +approached, seemed to eye my friend with some curiosity and more +disfavour; a very short, burly young man, apparently a foreign Jew, +whose face, naturally sinister and unprepossessing, was further +disfigured by the marks of smallpox. + +"Excuse me," he said brusquely, pushing past Thorndyke; "I live here." + +"I am sorry," responded Thorndyke. He moved aside, and then suddenly +asked: "By the way, I suppose you do not by any chance understand +Yiddish?" + +"Why do you ask?" the newcomer demanded gruffly. + +"Because I have just had these two photographs of lettering given to +me. One is in Greek, I think, and one in Yiddish, but I have forgotten +which is which." He held out the two cards to the stranger, who took +them from him, and looked at them with scowling curiosity. + +"This one is Yiddish," said he, raising his right hand, "and this other +is Russian, not Greek." He held out the two cards to Thorndyke, who took +them from him, holding them carefully by the edges as before. + +"I am greatly obliged to you for your kind assistance," said Thorndyke; +but before he had time to finish his thanks, the man had entered, by +means of his latchkey, and slammed the door. + +Thorndyke carefully slid the photographs back into their grooves, +replaced the box in his pocket, and made an entry in his notebook. + +"That," said he, "finishes my labours, with the exception of a small +experiment which I can perform at home. By the way, I picked up a morsel +of evidence that Davidson had overlooked. He will be annoyed, and I am +not very fond of scoring off a colleague; but he is too uncivil for me +to communicate with." + + * * * * * + +The coroner's subpoena had named ten o'clock as the hour at which +Thorndyke was to attend to give evidence, but a consultation with a +well-known solicitor so far interfered with his plans that we were a +quarter of an hour late in starting from the Temple. My friend was +evidently in excellent spirits, though silent and preoccupied, from +which I inferred that he was satisfied with the results of his labours; +but, as I sat by his side in the hansom, I forbore to question him, not +from mere unselfishness, but rather from the desire to hear his +evidence for the first time in conjunction with that of the other +witnesses. + +The room in which the inquest was held formed part of a school adjoining +the mortuary. Its vacant bareness was on this occasion enlivened by a +long, baize-covered table, at the head of which sat the coroner, while +one side was occupied by the jury; and I was glad to observe that the +latter consisted, for the most part, of genuine working men, instead of +the stolid-faced, truculent "professional jurymen" who so often grace +these tribunals. + +A row of chairs accommodated the witnesses, a corner of the table was +allotted to the accused woman's solicitor, a smart dapper gentleman in +gold pince-nez, a portion of one side to the reporters, and several +ranks of benches were occupied by a miscellaneous assembly representing +the public. + +There were one or two persons present whom I was somewhat surprised to +see. There was, for instance, our pock-marked acquaintance of Mansell +Street, who greeted us with a stare of hostile surprise; and there was +Superintendent Miller of Scotland Yard, in whose manner I seemed to +detect some kind of private understanding with Thorndyke. But I had +little time to look about me, for when we arrived, the proceedings had +already commenced. Mrs. Goldstein, the first witness, was finishing her +recital of the circumstances under which the crime was discovered, and, +as she retired, weeping hysterically, she was followed by looks of +commiseration from the sympathetic jurymen. + +The next witness was a young woman named Kate Silver. As she stepped +forward to be sworn she flung a glance of hatred and defiance at Miriam +Goldstein, who, white-faced and wild of aspect, with her red hair +streaming in dishevelled masses on to her shoulders, stood apart in +custody of two policemen, staring about her as if in a dream. + +"You were intimately acquainted with the deceased, I believe?" said the +coroner. + +"I was. We worked at the same place for a long time--the Empire +Restaurant in Fenchurch Street--and we lived in the same house. She was +my most intimate friend." + +"Had she, as far as you know, any friends or relations in England?" + +"No. She came to England from Bremen about three years ago. It was then +that I made her acquaintance. All her relations were in Germany, but she +had many friends here, because she was a very lively, amiable girl." + +"Had she, as far as you know, any enemies--any persons, I mean, who bore +any grudge against her and were likely to do her an injury?" + +"Yes. Miriam Goldstein was her enemy. She hated her." + +"You say Miriam Goldstein hated the deceased. How do you know that?" + +"She made no secret of it. They had had a violent quarrel about a young +man named Moses Cohen. He was formerly Miriam's sweetheart, and I think +they were very fond of one another until Minna Adler came to lodge at +the Goldsteins' house about three months ago. Then Moses took a fancy to +Minna, and she encouraged him, although she had a sweetheart of her own, +a young man named Paul Petrofsky, who also lodged in the Goldsteins' +house. At last Moses broke off with Miriam, and engaged himself to +Minna. Then Miriam was furious, and complained to Minna about what she +called her perfidious conduct; but Minna only laughed, and told her she +could have Petrofsky instead." + +"And what did Minna say to that?" asked the coroner. + +"She was still more angry, because Moses Cohen is a smart, good-looking +young man, while Petrofsky is not much to look at. Besides, Miriam did +not like Petrofsky; he had been rude to her, and she had made her father +send him away from the house. So they were not friends, and it was just +after that that the trouble came." + +"The trouble?" + +"I mean about Moses Cohen. Miriam is a very passionate girl, and she was +furiously jealous of Minna, so when Petrofsky annoyed her by taunting +her about Moses Cohen and Minna, she lost her temper, and said dreadful +things about both of them." + +"As, for instance--?" + +"She said that she would kill them both, and that she would like to cut +Minna's throat." + +"When was this?" + +"It was the day before the murder." + +"Who heard her say these things besides you?" + +"Another lodger named Edith Bryant and Petrofsky. We were all standing +in the hall at the time." + +"But I thought you said Petrofsky had been turned away from the house." + +"So he had, a week before; but he had left a box in his room, and on +this day he had come to fetch it. That was what started the trouble. +Miriam had taken his room for her bedroom, and turned her old one into a +workroom. She said he should not go to her room to fetch his box." + +"And did he?" + +"I think so. Miriam and Edith and I went out, leaving him in the hall. +When we came back the box was gone, and, as Mrs. Goldstein was in the +kitchen and there was nobody else in the house, he must have taken it." + +"You spoke of Miriam's workroom. What work did she do?" + +"She cut stencils for a firm of decorators." + +Here the coroner took a peculiarly shaped knife from the table before +him, and handed it to the witness. + +"Have you ever seen that knife before?" he asked. + +"Yes. It belongs to Miriam Goldstein. It is a stencil-knife that she +used in her work." + +This concluded the evidence of Kate Silver, and when the name of the +next witness, Paul Petrofsky, was called, our Mansell Street friend came +forward to be sworn. His evidence was quite brief, and merely +corroborative of that of Kate Silver, as was that of the next witness, +Edith Bryant. When these had been disposed of, the coroner announced: + +"Before taking the medical evidence, gentlemen, I propose to hear that +of the police-officers, and first we will call Detective-sergeant Alfred +Bates." + +The sergeant stepped forward briskly, and proceeded to give his evidence +with official readiness and precision. + +"I was called by Constable Simmonds at eleven-forty-nine, and reached +the house at two minutes to twelve in company with Inspector Harris and +Divisional Surgeon Davidson. When I arrived Dr. Hart, Dr. Thorndyke, and +Dr. Jervis were already in the room. I found the deceased woman, Minna +Adler, lying in bed with her throat cut. She was dead and cold. There +were no signs of a struggle, and the bed did not appear to have been +disturbed. There was a table by the bedside on which was a book and an +empty candlestick. The candle had apparently burnt out, for there was +only a piece of charred wick at the bottom of the socket. A box had been +placed on the floor at the head of the bed and a hassock stood on it. +Apparently the murderer had stood on the hassock and leaned over the +head of the bed to commit the murder. This was rendered necessary by the +position of the table, which could not have been moved without making +some noise and perhaps disturbing the deceased. I infer from the +presence of the box and hassock that the murderer is a short person." + +"Was there anything else that seemed to fix the identity of the +murderer?" + +"Yes. A tress of a woman's red hair was grasped in the left hand of the +deceased." + +As the detective uttered this statement, a simultaneous shriek of horror +burst from the accused woman and her mother. Mrs. Goldstein sank +half-fainting on to a bench, while Miriam, pale as death, stood as one +petrified, fixing the detective with a stare of terror, as he drew from +his pocket two small paper packets, which he opened and handed to the +coroner. + +"The hair in the packet marked _A_," said he, "is that which was found +in the hand of the deceased; that in the packet marked _B_ is the hair +of Miriam Goldstein." + +Here the accused woman's solicitor rose. "Where did you obtain the hair +in the packet marked _B_?" he demanded. + +"I took it from a bag of combings that hung on the wall of Miriam +Goldstein's bedroom," answered the detective. + +"I object to this," said the solicitor. "There is no evidence that the +hair from that bag was the hair of Miriam Goldstein at all." + +Thorndyke chuckled softly. "The lawyer is as dense as the policeman," he +remarked to me in an undertone. "Neither of them seems to see the +significance of that bag in the least." + +"Did you know about the bag, then?" I asked in surprise. + +"No. I thought it was the hair-brush." + +I gazed at my colleague in amazement, and was about to ask for some +elucidation of this cryptic reply, when he held up his finger and turned +again to listen. + +"Very well, Mr. Horwitz," the coroner was saying, "I will make a note of +your objection, but I shall allow the sergeant to continue his +evidence." + +The solicitor sat down, and the detective resumed his statement. + +"I have examined and compared the two samples of hair, and it is my +opinion that they are from the head of the same person. The only other +observation that I made in the room was that there was a small quantity +of silver sand sprinkled on the pillow around the deceased woman's +head." + +"Silver sand!" exclaimed the coroner. "Surely that is a very singular +material to find on a woman's pillow?" + +"I think it is easily explained," replied the sergeant. "The wash-hand +basin was full of bloodstained water, showing that the murderer had +washed his--or her--hands, and probably the knife, too, after the crime. +On the washstand was a ball of sand-soap, and I imagine that the +murderer used this to cleanse his--or her--hands, and, while drying +them, must have stood over the head of the bed and let the sand +sprinkle down on to the pillow." + +"A simple but highly ingenious explanation," commented the coroner +approvingly, and the jurymen exchanged admiring nods and nudges. + +"I searched the rooms occupied by the accused woman, Miriam Goldstein, +and found there a knife of the kind used by stencil cutters, but larger +than usual. There were stains of blood on it which the accused explained +by saying that she cut her finger some days ago. She admitted that the +knife was hers." + +This concluded the sergeant's evidence, and he was about to sit down +when the solicitor rose. + +"I should like to ask this witness one or two questions," said he, and +the coroner having nodded assent, he proceeded: "Has the finger of the +accused been examined since her arrest?" + +"I believe not," replied the sergeant. "Not to my knowledge, at any +rate." + +The solicitor noted the reply, and then asked: "With reference to the +silver sand, did you find any at the bottom of the wash-hand basin?" + +The sergeant's face reddened. "I did not examine the wash-hand basin," +he answered. + +"Did anybody examine it?" + +"I think not." + +"Thank you." Mr. Horwitz sat down, and the triumphant squeak of his +quill pen was heard above the muttered disapproval of the jury. + +"We shall now take the evidence of the doctors, gentlemen," said the +coroner, "and we will begin with that of the divisional surgeon. You saw +the deceased, I believe, Doctor," he continued, when Dr. Davidson had +been sworn, "soon after the discovery of the murder, and you have since +then made an examination of the body?" + +"Yes. I found the body of the deceased lying in her bed, which had +apparently not been disturbed. She had been dead about ten hours, and +rigidity was complete in the limbs but not in the trunk. The cause of +death was a deep wound extending right across the throat and dividing +all the structures down to the spine. It had been inflicted with a +single sweep of a knife while deceased was lying down, and was evidently +homicidal. It was not possible for the deceased to have inflicted the +wound herself. It was made with a single-edged knife, drawn from left to +right; the assailant stood on a hassock placed on a box at the head of +the bed and leaned over to strike the blow. The murderer is probably +quite a short person, very muscular, and right-handed. There was no sign +of a struggle, and, judging by the nature of the injuries, I should say +that death was almost instantaneous. In the left hand of the deceased +was a small tress of a woman's red hair. I have compared that hair with +that of the accused, and am of opinion that it is her hair." + +"You were shown a knife belonging to the accused?" + +"Yes; a stencil-knife. There were stains of dried blood on it which I +have examined and find to be mammalian blood. It is probably human +blood, but I cannot say with certainty that it is." + +"Could the wound have been inflicted with this knife?" + +"Yes, though it is a small knife to produce so deep a wound. Still, it +is quite possible." + +The coroner glanced at Mr. Horwitz. "Do you wish to ask this witness any +questions?" he inquired. + +"If you please, sir," was the reply. The solicitor rose, and, having +glanced through his notes, commenced: "You have described certain +blood-stains on this knife. But we have heard that there was +blood-stained water in the wash-hand basin, and it is suggested, most +reasonably, that the murderer washed his hands and the knife. But if the +knife was washed, how do you account for the bloodstains on it?" + +"Apparently the knife was not washed, only the hands." + +"But is not that highly improbable?" + +"No, I think not." + +"You say that there was no struggle, and that death was practically +instantaneous, but yet the deceased had torn out a lock of the +murderess's hair. Are not those two statements inconsistent with one +another?" + +"No. The hair was probably grasped convulsively at the moment of death. +At any rate, the hair was undoubtedly in the dead woman's hand." + +"Is it possible to identify positively the hair of any individual?" + +"No. Not with certainty. But this is very peculiar hair." + +The solicitor sat down, and, Dr. Hart having been called, and having +briefly confirmed the evidence of his principal, the coroner announced: +"The next witness, gentleman, is Dr. Thorndyke, who was present almost +accidentally, but was actually the first on the scene of the murder. He +has since made an examination of the body, and will, no doubt, be able +to throw some further light on this horrible crime." + +Thorndyke stood up, and, having been sworn, laid on the table a small +box with a leather handle. Then, in answer to the coroner's questions, +he described himself as the lecturer on Medical Jurisprudence at St. +Margaret's Hospital, and briefly explained his connection with the +case. At this point the foreman of the jury interrupted to ask that his +opinion might be taken on the hair and the knife, as these were matters +of contention, and the objects in question were accordingly handed to +him. + +"Is the hair in the packet marked _A_ in your opinion from the same +person as that in the packet marked _B_?" the coroner asked. + +"I have no doubt that they are from the same person," was the reply. + +"Will you examine this knife and tell us if the wound on the deceased +might have been inflicted with it?" + +Thorndyke examined the blade attentively, and then handed the knife back +to the coroner. + +"The wound might have been inflicted with this knife," said he, "but I +am quite sure it was not." + +"Can you give us your reasons for that very definite opinion?" + +"I think," said Thorndyke, "that it will save time if I give you the +facts in a connected order." The coroner bowed assent, and he proceeded: +"I will not waste your time by reiterating facts already stated. +Sergeant Bates has fully described the state of the room, and I have +nothing to add on that subject. Dr. Davidson's description of the body +covers all the facts: the woman had been dead about ten hours, the wound +was unquestionably homicidal, and was inflicted in the manner that he +has described. Death was apparently instantaneous, and I should say that +the deceased never awakened from her sleep." + +"But," objected the coroner, "the deceased held a lock of hair in her +hand." + +"That hair," replied Thorndyke, "was not the hair of the murderer. It +was placed in the hand of the corpse for an obvious purpose; and the +fact that the murderer had brought it with him shows that the crime was +premeditated, and that it was committed by someone who had had access to +the house and was acquainted with its inmates." + +As Thorndyke made this statement, coroner, jurymen, and spectators alike +gazed at him in open-mouthed amazement. There was an interval of intense +silence, broken by a wild, hysteric laugh from Mrs. Goldstein, and then +the coroner asked: + +"How did you know that the hair in the hand of the corpse was not that +of the murderer?" + +"The inference was very obvious. At the first glance the peculiar and +conspicuous colour of the hair struck me as suspicious. But there were +three facts, each of which was in itself sufficient to prove that the +hair was probably not that of the murderer. + +"In the first place there was the condition of the hand. When a person, +at the moment of death, grasps any object firmly, there is set up a +condition known as cadaveric spasm. The muscular contraction passes +immediately into _rigor mortis_, or death-stiffening, and the object +remains grasped by the dead hand until the rigidity passes off. In this +case the hand was perfectly rigid, but it did not grasp the hair at all. +The little tress lay in the palm quite loosely and the hand was only +partially closed. Obviously the hair had been placed in it after death. +The other two facts had reference to the condition of the hair itself. +Now, when a lock of hair is torn from the head, it is evident that all +the roots will be found at the same end of the lock. But in the present +instance this was not the case; the lock of hair which lay in the dead +woman's hand had roots at both ends, and so could not have been torn +from the head of the murderer. But the third fact that I observed was +still more conclusive. The hairs of which that little tress was composed +had not been pulled out at all. They had fallen out spontaneously. They +were, in fact, shed hairs--probably combings. Let me explain the +difference. When a hair is shed naturally, it drops out of the little +tube in the skin called the root sheath, having been pushed out by the +young hair growing up underneath; the root end of such a shed hair shows +nothing but a small bulbous enlargement--the root bulb. But when a hair +is forcibly pulled out, its root drags out the root sheath with it, and +this can be plainly seen as a glistening mass on the end of the hair. If +Miriam Goldstein will pull out a hair and pass it to me, I will show you +the great difference between hair which is pulled out and hair which is +shed." + +[Illustration: _A_, SHED HAIRS SHOWING THE NAKED BULB, MAGNIFIED 32 +DIAMETERS. + +_B_, HAIRS PLUCKED FROM SCALP, SHOWING THE ADHERENT ROOT-SHEATHS, +MAGNIFIED 20 DIAMETERS.] + +The unfortunate Miriam needed no pressing. In a twinkling she had +tweaked out a dozen hairs, which a constable handed across to Thorndyke, +by whom they were at once fixed in a paper-clip. A second clip being +produced from the box, half a dozen hairs taken from the tress which had +been found in the dead woman's hand were fixed in it. Then Thorndyke +handed the two clips, together with a lens, to the coroner. + +"Remarkable!" exclaimed the latter, "and most conclusive." He passed the +objects on to the foreman, and there was an interval of silence while +the jury examined them with breathless interest and much facial +contortion. + +"The next question," resumed Thorndyke, "was, Whence did the murderer +obtain these hairs? I assumed that they had been taken from Miriam +Goldstein's hair-brush; but the sergeant's evidence makes it pretty +clear that they were obtained from the very bag of combings from which +he took a sample for comparison." + +"I think, Doctor," remarked the coroner, "you have disposed of the hair +clue pretty completely. May I ask if you found anything that might throw +any light on the identity of the murderer?" + +"Yes," replied Thorndyke, "I observed certain things which determine the +identity of the murderer quite conclusively." He turned a significant +glance on Superintendent Miller, who immediately rose, stepped quietly +to the door, and then returned, putting something into his pocket. "When +I entered the hall," Thorndyke continued, "I noted the following facts: +Behind the door was a shelf on which were two china candlesticks. Each +was fitted with a candle, and in one was a short candle-end, about an +inch long, lying in the tray. On the floor, close to the mat, was a spot +of candle-wax and some faint marks of muddy feet. The oil-cloth on the +stairs also bore faint footmarks, made by wet goloshes. They were +ascending the stairs, and grew fainter towards the top. There were two +more spots of candle-wax on the stairs, and one on the handrail; a burnt +end of a wax match halfway up the stairs, and another on the landing. +There were no descending footmarks, but one of the spots of wax close to +the balusters had been trodden on while warm and soft, and bore the mark +of the front of the heel of a golosh descending the stairs. The lock of +the street door had been recently oiled, as had also that of the bedroom +door, and the latter had been unlocked from outside with a bent wire, +which had made a mark on the key. Inside the room I made two further +observations. One was that the dead woman's pillow was lightly sprinkled +with sand, somewhat like silver sand, but greyer and less gritty. I +shall return to this presently. + +"The other was that the candlestick on the bedside table was empty. It +was a peculiar candlestick, having a skeleton socket formed of eight +flat strips of metal. The charred wick of a burnt-out candle was at the +bottom of the socket, but a little fragment of wax on the top edge +showed that another candle had been stuck in it and had been taken out, +for otherwise that fragment would have been melted. I at once thought of +the candle-end in the hall, and when I went down again I took that end +from the tray and examined it. On it I found eight distinct marks +corresponding to the eight bars of the candlestick in the bedroom. It +had been carried in the right hand of some person, for the warm, soft +wax had taken beautifully clear impressions of a right thumb and +forefinger. I took three moulds of the candle-end in moulding wax, and +from these moulds have made this cement cast, which shows both the +fingerprints and the marks of the candlestick." He took from his box a +small white object, which he handed to the coroner. + +"And what do you gather from these facts?" asked the coroner. + +"I gather that at about a quarter to two on the morning of the crime, a +man (who had, on the previous day visited the house to obtain the tress +of hair and oil the locks) entered the house by means of a latchkey. We +can fix the time by the fact that it rained on that morning from +half-past one to a quarter to two, this being the only rain that has +fallen for a fortnight, and the murder was committed at about two +o'clock. The man lit a wax match in the hall and another halfway up the +stairs. He found the bedroom door locked, and turned the key from +outside with a bent wire. He entered, lit the candle, placed the box and +hassock, murdered his victim, washed his hands and knife, took the +candle-end from the socket and went downstairs, where he blew out the +candle and dropped it into the tray. + +"The next clue is furnished by the sand on the pillow. I took a little +of it, and examined it under the microscope, when it turned out to be +deep-sea sand from the Eastern Mediterranean. It was full of the minute +shells called 'Foraminifera,' and as one of these happened to belong to +a species which is found only in the Levant, I was able to fix the +locality." + +"But this is very remarkable," said the coroner. "How on earth could +deep-sea sand have got on to this woman's pillow?" + +"The explanation," replied Thorndyke, "is really quite simple. Sand of +this kind is contained in considerable quantities in Turkey sponges. The +warehouses in which the sponges are unpacked are often strewn with it +ankle deep; the men who unpack the cases become dusted over with it, +their clothes saturated and their pockets filled with it. If such a +person, with his clothes and pockets full of sand, had committed this +murder, it is pretty certain that in leaning over the head of the bed in +a partly inverted position he would have let fall a certain quantity of +the sand from his pockets and the interstices of his clothing. Now, as +soon as I had examined this sand and ascertained its nature, I sent a +message to Mr. Goldstein asking him for a list of the persons who were +acquainted with the deceased, with their addresses and occupations. He +sent me the list by return, and among the persons mentioned was a man +who was engaged as a packer in a wholesale sponge warehouse in the +Minories. I further ascertained that the new season's crop of Turkey +sponges had arrived a few days before the murder. + +"The question that now arose was, whether this sponge-packer was the +person whose fingerprints I had found on the candle-end. To settle this +point, I prepared two mounted photographs, and having contrived to meet +the man at his door on his return from work, I induced him to look at +them and compare them. He took them from me, holding each one between a +forefinger and thumb. When he returned them to me, I took them home and +carefully dusted each on both sides with a certain surgical +dusting-powder. The powder adhered to the places where his fingers and +thumbs had pressed against the photographs, showing the fingerprints +very distinctly. Those of the right hand were identical with the prints +on the candle, as you will see if you compare them with the cast." He +produced from the box the photograph of the Yiddish lettering, on the +black margin of which there now stood out with startling distinctness a +yellowish-white print of a thumb. + +Thorndyke had just handed the card to the coroner when a very singular +disturbance arose. While my friend had been giving the latter part of +his evidence, I had observed the man Petrofsky rise from his seat and +walk stealthily across to the door. He turned the handle softly and +pulled, at first gently, and then with more force. But the door was +locked. As he realized this, Petrofsky seized the handle with both +hands and tore at it furiously, shaking it to and fro with the violence +of a madman, and his shaking limbs, his starting eyes, glaring insanely +at the astonished spectators, his ugly face, dead white, running with +sweat and hideous with terror, made a picture that was truly shocking. + +Suddenly he let go the handle, and with a horrible cry thrust his hand +under the skirt of his coat and rushed at Thorndyke. But the +superintendent was ready for this. There was a shout and a scuffle, and +then Petrofsky was born down, kicking and biting like a maniac, while +Miller hung on to his right hand and the formidable knife that it +grasped. + +[Illustration: SUPERINTENDENT MILLER RISES TO THE OCCASION.] + +"I will ask you to hand that knife to the coroner," said Thorndyke, when +Petrofsky had been secured and handcuffed, and the superintendent had +readjusted his collar. "Will you kindly examine it, sir," he continued, +"and tell me if there is a notch in the edge, near to the point--a +triangular notch about an eighth of an inch long?" + +The coroner looked at the knife, and then said in a tone of surprise: +"Yes, there is. You have seen this knife before, then?" + +"No, I have not," replied Thorndyke. "But perhaps I had better continue +my statement. There is no need for me to tell you that the fingerprints +on the card and on the candle are those of Paul Petrofsky; I will +proceed to the evidence furnished by the body. + +"In accordance with your order, I went to the mortuary and examined the +corpse of the deceased. The wound has been fully and accurately +described by Dr. Davidson, but I observed one fact which I presume he +had overlooked. Embedded in the bone of the spine--in the left +transverse process of the fourth vertebra--I discovered a small particle +of steel, which I carefully extracted." + +He drew his collecting-box from his pocket, and taking from it a +seed-envelope, handed the latter to the coroner. "That fragment of steel +is in this envelope," he said, "and it is possible that it may +correspond to the notch in the knife-blade." + +Amidst an intense silence the coroner opened the little envelope, and +let the fragment of steel drop on to a sheet of paper. Laying the knife +on the paper, he gently pushed the fragment towards the notch. Then he +looked up at Thorndyke. + +"It fits exactly," said he. + +There was a heavy thud at the other end of the room and we all looked +round. + +Petrofsky had fallen on to the floor insensible. + + * * * * * + +"An instructive case, Jervis," remarked Thorndyke, as we walked +homewards--"a case that reiterates the lesson that the authorities still +refuse to learn." + +"What is that?" I asked. + +"It is this. When it is discovered that a murder has been committed, the +scene of that murder should instantly become as the Palace of the +Sleeping Beauty. Not a grain of dust should be moved, not a soul should +be allowed to approach it, until the scientific observer has seen +everything _in situ_ and absolutely undisturbed. No tramplings of +excited constables, no rummaging by detectives, no scrambling to and fro +of bloodhounds. Consider what would have happened in this case if we had +arrived a few hours later. The corpse would have been in the mortuary, +the hair in the sergeant's pocket, the bed rummaged and the sand +scattered abroad, the candle probably removed, and the stairs covered +with fresh tracks. + +"There would not have been the vestige of a clue." + +"And," I added, "the deep sea would have uttered its message in vain." + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's John Thorndyke's Cases, by R. 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