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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowmarket Mystery, by Louis Tracy
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Stowmarket Mystery
+       Or, A Legacy of Hate
+
+Author: Louis Tracy
+
+Release Date: February 1, 2005 [EBook #14853]
+[Last updated: December 28, 2020]
+
+Language: english
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWMARKET MYSTERY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Bill Tozier, Barbara Tozier, and the PG Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STOWMARKET MYSTERY
+
+Or A Legacy of Hate
+
+
+By LOUIS TRACY
+
+
+AUTHOR OF
+
+"Wings of the Morning,"
+"The Final War,"
+"An American Emperor,"
+"Disappearance of Lady Delia," etc., etc.
+
+
+1904
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+         I. "THE STOWMARKET MYSTERY"
+        II. DAVID HUME'S STORY
+       III. THE DREAM
+        IV. THROUGH THE LIBRARY WINDOW
+         V. FROM BEHIND THE HEDGE
+        VI. AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE
+       VII. HUSBAND AND WIFE
+      VIII. REVELATIONS
+        IX. THE KO-KATANA
+         X. THE BLACK MUSEUM
+        XI. MR. "OKASAKI"
+       XII. WHAT THE STATIONMASTER SAW
+      XIII. TWO WOMEN
+       XIV. MARGARET SPEAKS OUT
+        XV. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR
+       XVI. THE COUSINS
+      XVII. "CHERCHEZ LA FEMME"
+     XVIII. FURTHER COMPLICATIONS
+       XIX. THE THIRD MAN APPEARS
+        XX. THE TRAIL
+       XXI. CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES
+      XXII. THE SECOND ATTACK
+     XXIII. MARGARET'S SECRET
+      XXIV. THE MEETING
+       XXV. WHERE DID MARGARET GO?
+      XXVI. MR. OOMA
+     XXVII. HOLDEN'S STORY
+    XXVIII. MR. AND MRS. JIRO
+      XXIX. MARGARET'S SECRET
+       XXX. HUSBAND AND WIFE
+      XXXI. TO BEECHCROFT
+     XXXII. THE FIGHT
+    XXXIII. THE LAST NOTE IN BRETT'S DIARY
+
+
+
+
+A LEGACY OF HATE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+"THE STOWMARKET MYSTERY"
+
+
+"Mr. David Hume."
+
+Reginald Brett, barrister-detective, twisted round in his easy-chair to
+permit the light to fall clearly on the card handed to him by his
+man-servant.
+
+"What does Mr. David Hume look like, Smith?" he asked.
+
+"A gentleman, sir."
+
+Well-trained servants never make a mistake when they give such a
+description of a visitor. Brett was satisfied.
+
+"Produce him."
+
+Then he examined the card.
+
+"It is odd," he thought. "Mr. David Hume gives no address, and writes his
+own cards. I like his signature, too. Now, I wonder--"
+
+The door was thrown open. A tall, well-proportioned young man entered. He
+was soberly attired in blue serge. His face and hands bore the impress of
+travel and exposure. His expression was pleasing and attractive. In repose
+his features were regular, and marked with lines of thought. A short,
+well-trimmed beard, of the type affected by some naval men, gave him a
+somewhat unusual appearance. Otherwise he carried himself like a British
+cavalry officer in mufti.
+
+He advanced into the room and bowed easily. Brett, who had risen,
+instantly felt that his visitor was one of those people who erect
+invisible barriers between themselves and strangers.
+
+"My errand will occupy some time, perhaps half an hour, to permit of full
+explanation," said Mr. Hume. "May I ask--"
+
+"I am completely at your service. Take that chair. You will find it
+comfortable. Do you smoke? Yes. Well, try those cigarettes. They are
+better than they look."
+
+Mr. Hume seemed to be gratified by this cordial reception. He seated
+himself as requested, in the best light obtainable in a north-side
+Victoria Street flat, and picked up the box of cigarettes.
+
+"Turkish," he announced.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Grown on a slope near Salonica."
+
+"Indeed? You interest me."
+
+"Oh, I know them well. I was there two months ago. I suppose you got these
+as a present from Yildiz Kiosk?"
+
+"Mr. Hume, you asked for half an hour, Make it an hour. You have touched
+upon a subject dear to my heart."
+
+"They are the best cigarettes in the world. No one can buy them. They are
+made for the exclusive use of the Sultan's household. To attempt to export
+them means the bastinado and banishment, at the least. I do not credit you
+with employing agents on such terms, so I assume an Imperial gift."
+
+The barrister had been looking intently at the other man during this short
+colloquy. Suddenly his eyes sparkled. He struck a match and held it to his
+visitor, with the words:
+
+"You are quite right, Mr. David Hume-Frazer."
+
+The person thus addressed neither started, nor sprang to his feet, nor
+gasped in amazement He took the match, lit a cigarette, and said:
+
+"So you know me?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"It is strange. I have never previously met you to my knowledge. Am I
+still a celebrity?"
+
+"To me--yes."
+
+"A sort of distinguished criminal, eh?"
+
+"No man could be such a judge of tobacco and remain commonplace."
+
+"'Pon my honour, Mr. Brett, I think you deserve your reputation. For the
+first time during eighteen months I feel hopeful. Do you know, I passed
+dozens of acquaintances in the streets yesterday and none of them knew me.
+Yet you pick me out at the first glance, so to speak."
+
+"They might do the same if you spoke to them, Mr.--"
+
+"Hume, if you please."
+
+"Certainly. Why have you dropped part of your surname?"
+
+"It is a long story. My lawyers, Flint & Sharp, of Gray's Inn, heard of
+your achievements in the cases of Lady Lyle and the Imperial Diamonds.
+They persuaded me to come to you."
+
+"Though, personally, you have little faith in me?"
+
+"Heaven knows, Mr. Brett, I have had good cause to lose faith. My case
+defies analysis. It savours of the supernatural."
+
+The barrister shoved his chair sideways until he was able to reach a
+bookcase, from which he took a bulky interleaved volume.
+
+"Supernatural," he repeated. "That is new to me. As I remember the affair,
+it was highly sensational, perplexing--a blend of romance and Japanese
+knives--but I do not remember any abnormal element save one, utter absence
+of motive."
+
+"Do you mean to say that you possess a record of the facts?" inquired
+Hume, exhibiting some tokens of excitement in face and voice as he watched
+Brett turning over the leaves of the scrap-book, in which newspaper
+cuttings were neatly pasted, some being freely annotated.
+
+"Yes. The daily press supplies my demands in the way of fiction--a word,
+by the way, often misapplied. Where do you find stranger tales than in the
+records of every-day life? Ah, here we are!"
+
+He searched through a large number of printed extracts. There were
+comments, long reports, and not a few notes, all under the heading: "The
+Stowmarket Mystery."
+
+Hume was now deeply agitated; he evidently restrained his feelings by
+sheer force of will.
+
+"Mr. Brett," he said, and his voice trembled a little, "surely you could
+not have expected my presence here this morning?"
+
+"I no more expected you than the man in the moon," was the reply; "but I
+recognised you at once. I watched your face for many hours whilst you
+stood in the dock. Professional business took me to the Assizes during
+your second trial. At one time I thought of offering my services."
+
+"To me?"
+
+"No, not to you."
+
+"To whom, then?"
+
+"To the police. Winter, the Scotland Yard man who had charge of the
+business, is an old friend of mine."
+
+"What restrained you?"
+
+"Pity, and perhaps doubt. I could see no reason why you should kill your
+cousin."
+
+"But you believed me guilty?"
+
+The barrister looked his questioner straight in the eyes. He saw there the
+glistening terror of a tortured soul. Somehow he expected to find a
+different expression. He was puzzled.
+
+"Why have you come here, Mr. Hume?" he abruptly demanded.
+
+"To implore your assistance. They tell me you are the one man in the world
+able to clear my name from the stain of crime. Will you do it?"
+
+Again their eyes met. Hume was fighting now, fighting for all that a man
+holds dear. He did not plead. He only demanded his rights. Born a few
+centuries earlier, he would have enforced them with cold steel.
+
+"Come, Mr. Brett," he almost shouted. "If you are as good a judge of men
+as you say I am of tobacco, you will not think that the cowardly murderer
+who struck down my cousin would come to you, of all others, and reopen the
+story of a crime closed unwillingly by the law."
+
+Brett could, on occasion, exhibit an obstinate determination not to be
+drawn into expressing an opinion. His visitor's masterful manner annoyed
+him. Hume, metaphorically speaking, took him by the throat and compelled
+his services. He rebelled against this species of compulsion, but mere
+politeness required some display of courteous tolerance.
+
+"It seems to me," he said, "that we are beginning at the end. I may not be
+able to help you. What are the facts?"
+
+The stranger was so agitated that he could not reply. Self-restrained men
+are not ready with language. Their thoughts may be fiery as bottled
+vitriol, but they keep the cork in. The barrister allowed for this
+drawback. His sympathies were aroused, and they overcame his slight
+resentment.
+
+"Try another cigarette," he said, "I have here a summary of the evidence.
+I will read it to you. Do not interrupt. Follow the details closely, and
+correct anything that is wrong when I have ended."
+
+Hume was still volcanic, but he took the proffered box.
+
+"Ah," cried Brett, "though you are angry, your judgment is sound. Now
+listen!"
+
+Then he read the following statement, prepared by himself in an idle
+moment:--
+
+"The Stowmarket Mystery is a strange mixture of the real and the unreal.
+Sir Alan Hume-Frazer, fourth baronet, met his death on the hunting-field.
+His horse blundered at a brook and the rider was impaled on a hidden
+stake, placed in the stream by his own orders to prevent poachers from
+netting trout. His wife, nee Somers, a Bristol family, had pre-deceased
+him.
+
+"There were two children, a daughter, Margaret, aged twenty-five, and a
+son, Alan, aged twenty-three. By his will, Sir Alan left all his real and
+personal estate to his son, with a life charge of L1,000 per annum for the
+daughter. As he was a very wealthy man, almost a millionaire, the
+provision for his daughter was niggardly, which might be accounted for by
+the fact that the girl, several years before her father's death,
+quarrelled with him and left home, residing in London and in Florence.
+Both children, by the way, were born in Italy, where Sir Alan met and
+married Miss Somers.
+
+"The old gentleman, it appeared, allowed Miss Hume-Frazer L5,000 per annum
+during his life. His son voluntarily continued this allowance, but the
+brother and sister continued to live apart, he devoted to travel and
+sport, she to music and art, with a leaning towards the occult--a woman
+divorced from conventionality and filled with a hatred of restraint.
+
+"Beechcroft, the family residence, is situated four miles from Stowmarket,
+close to the small village of Sleagill. After his father's death, the
+young Sir Alan went for a protracted tour round the world. Meanwhile his
+first cousin, Mr. David Hume-Frazer, lived at Beechcroft during the
+shooting season, and incidentally fell in love with Miss Helen Layton,
+daughter of the rector of Sleagill, the Rev. Wilberforce Layton."
+
+Hume stirred uneasily in his chair, and the barrister paused, expecting
+him to say something. But the other only gasped brokenly: "Go on; go on!"
+
+"Love lasts longer than death or crime," mused Brett.
+
+He continued:
+
+"In eighteen months Sir Alan the fifth--all heirs had same name--returned
+to Beechcroft, about Christmas. His cousin had been called away on family
+business, but returned for a New Year's Eve ball, given by Mrs. Eastham, a
+lady of some local importance. Sir Alan and Helen Layton had followed the
+hounds together three times during Christmas week. They were, of course,
+old friends.
+
+"David sent from Scotland--his father's estate was situated close to
+Inverness--some presents to his future wife, his cousin, and others. The
+gift to Sir Alan was noteworthy and fatalistic--a handsomely inlaid
+Japanese sword, with a small dagger inserted in a sheath near the top of
+the scabbard. David reached Beechcroft on the day of the ball. Relations
+between the cousins seemed to the servants to be cool, though the coolness
+lay rather with the baronet, and David, a year older, it may be here
+stated, was evidently taken by surprise by Sir Alan's attitude.
+
+"The three young people went to the ball, and shortly after midnight there
+was something in the nature of a scene. Sir Alan had been dancing with
+Miss Layton. They were in the conservatory when the young lady burst into
+tears, hurried to find David, and asked him to take her at once to her
+carriage. Mrs. Eastham was acting as chaperon to the girl, and some heated
+words passed between her and the two young men.
+
+"Evidence showed that Sir Alan had bitterly upbraided Miss Layton on
+account of her engagement, and hinted that David had taken an unfair
+advantage of his (Alan's) absence to win her affections. This was
+absolutely untrue. It was denied by the two most concerned, and by Mrs.
+Eastham, who, as a privileged friend, knew all the facts. The young men
+were in a state of white heat, but David sensibly withdrew, and walked to
+the Hall.
+
+"Mrs. Eastham's house was close to the lodge gates, and from the lodge a
+straight yew-shaded drive led to the library windows, the main entrance
+being at the side of the house.
+
+"In the library a footman, on duty in the room, maintained a good fire,
+and the French windows were left unfastened, as the young gentlemen would
+probably enter the house that way. David did, in fact, do so. The footman
+quitted the room, and a few minutes later the butler appeared. He was an
+old favourite of David's. He asked if he should send some whisky and soda.
+
+"The young man agreed, adding:
+
+"'Sir Alan and I have commenced the year badly, Ferguson. We quarrelled
+over a silly mistake. I have made up my mind not to sleep on it, so I will
+await his arrival. Let me know if he comes in the other way.'
+
+"The butler hoped that the matter was not a serious one.
+
+"'Under other circumstances it might be,' was the answer, 'but as things
+are, it is simply a wretched mistake, which a little reasonable discussion
+will put right.'
+
+"The footman brought the whisky and soda.
+
+"Twenty minutes later he re-entered the room to attend to the fire. Mr.
+David Hume-Frazer was curled up in an arm-chair asleep, or rather dozing,
+for he stirred a little when the man put some coal in the grate. This was
+at 1 a.m. exactly.
+
+"At 1.10 a.m. the butler thought he heard his master's voice coming from
+the front of the house, and angrily protesting something. Unfortunately he
+could not catch a single word. He imagined that the 'quarrel' spoken of by
+David had been renewed.
+
+"He waited two minutes, not more, but hearing no further sounds, he walked
+round to the library windows, thinking that perhaps he would see Sir Alan
+in the room.
+
+"To his dismay he found his young master stretched on the turf at the side
+of the drive, thirty feet from the house. He rushed into the library,
+where David was still asleep and moving uneasily--muttering, the man
+thought:
+
+"'Come quickly, sir,' he cried, 'I fear something has happened to Sir
+Alan. He is lying on the ground outside the house, and I cannot arouse
+him.'
+
+"Then David Hume-Frazer sprang to his feet and shouted:
+
+"'My God! It was not a dream. He is murdered!'
+
+"Unquestionably--"
+
+But the barrister's cold-blooded synopsis of a thrilling crime proved to
+be too much for his hearer's nerves. Hume stood up. The man was a born
+fighter. He could take his punishment, but only on his feet.
+
+Again he cried in anguish:
+
+"No! It was no dream, but a foul murder. And they blame me!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+DAVID HUME'S STORY
+
+
+Brett closed the book with a snap.
+
+"What good purpose can it serve at this time to reopen the miserable
+story?" he asked.
+
+Curiously enough, Hume paid no heed to the question. His lips quivered,
+his nostrils twitched, and his eyes shot strange gleams. He caught the
+back of his chair with both hands in a grasp that tried to squeeze the
+tough oak.
+
+"What else have you written there?" he said, and Brett could not help but
+admire his forced composure.
+
+"Nothing of any material importance. You were arrested, after an interval
+of some days, as the result of a coroner's warrant. You explained that you
+had a vivid dream, in which you saw your cousin stabbed by a stranger whom
+you did not know, whose face even you never saw. Sir Alan was undoubtedly
+murdered. The dagger-like attachment to your Japanese sword had been
+driven into his breast up to the hilt, actually splitting his heart. To
+deliver such a blow, with such a weapon, required uncommon strength and
+skill. I think I describe it here as 'un-English.'"
+
+Brett referred to his scrap-book. In spite of himself, he felt all his old
+interest reawakening in this remarkable crime.
+
+"Yes?" queried Hume.
+
+The barrister, his lips pursed up and critical, surveyed his concluding
+notes.
+
+"You were tried at the ensuing Assizes, and the jury disagreed. Your
+second trial resulted in an acquittal, though the public attitude towards
+you was dubious. The judge, in summing up, said that the evidence against
+you 'might be deemed insufficient.' In these words he conveyed the popular
+opinion. I see I have noted here that Miss Margaret Hume-Frazer was at a
+Covent Garden Fancy Dress Ball on the night of the murder. But the tragic
+deaths of her father and brother had a marked influence on the young lady.
+She, of course, succeeded to the estates, and decided at once to live at
+Beechcroft. Does she still live there?"
+
+"Yes. I am told she is distinguished for her charity and good works. She
+is married."
+
+"Ah! To whom?"
+
+"To an Italian, named Giovanni Capella."
+
+"His stage name?"
+
+"No; he is really an Italian."
+
+Brett's pleasantry was successful in its object. David Hume regained his
+equanimity and sat down again. After a pause he went on:
+
+"May I ask, Mr. Brett, before I tell you my part of the story, if you
+formed any theories as to the occurrence at the time?"
+
+The barrister consulted his memoranda. Something that met his eyes caused
+him to smile.
+
+"I see," he said, "that Mr. Winter, of Scotland Yard, was convinced of
+your guilt. That is greatly in your favour."
+
+"Why?"
+
+Hume disdained the police, but Brett's remark evoked curiosity.
+
+"Because Mr. Winter is a most excellent officer, whose intellect is
+shackled by handcuffs. 'De l'audace!' says the Frenchman, as a specific
+for human conduct. 'Lock 'em up,' says Mr. Winter, when he is inquiring
+into a crime. Of course, he is right nine times out of ten; but if, in the
+tenth case, intellect conflicts with handcuffs, the handcuffs win, being
+stronger in his instance."
+
+Hume was in no mood to appreciate the humours of Scotland Yard, so the
+other continued:
+
+"The most telling point against you was the fact that not only the butler,
+footman, and two housemaids, but you yourself, at the coroner's inquest,
+swore that the small Japanese knife was in its sheath during the
+afternoon; indeed, the footman said it was there, to the best of his
+belief, at midnight. Then, again, a small drawer in Sir Alan's
+writing-table had been wrenched open whilst you were alone in the room. On
+this point the footman was positive. Near the drawer rested the sword from
+which its viperish companion had been abstracted. Had not the butler found
+Sir Alan's body, still palpitating, and testified beyond any manner of
+doubt that you were apparently sleeping in the library, you would have
+been hanged, Mr. Hume."
+
+"Probably."
+
+"The air of probability attending your execution would have been most
+convincing."
+
+"Is my case, then, so desperate?"
+
+"You cannot be tried again, you know."
+
+"I do not mean that. I want to establish my innocence; to compel society
+to reinstate me as a man profoundly wronged; above all, to marry the woman
+I love."
+
+Brett amused himself by rapidly projecting several rings of smoke through
+a large one.
+
+"So you really are innocent?" he said, after a pause.
+
+David Hume rose from his chair, and reached for his hat, gloves, and
+stick.
+
+"You have crushed my remaining hope of emancipation," he exclaimed
+bitterly. "You have the repute of being able to pluck the heart out of a
+mystery, Mr. Brett, so when you assume that I am guilty--"
+
+"I have assumed nothing of the kind. You seem to possess the faculty of
+self-control. Kindly exercise it, and answer my questions, Did you kill
+your cousin?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Who did kill him?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"Do you suspect anybody?"
+
+"Not in the remotest degree."
+
+"Did he kill himself?"
+
+"That theory was discussed privately, but not brought forward at the
+trial. Three doctors said it was not worthy of a moment's consideration."
+
+"Well, you need not shout your replies, and I would prefer to see you
+comfortably seated, unless, of course, you feel more at ease near the
+door."
+
+A trifle shamefacedly, Hume returned to his former position near the
+fireplace--that shrine to which all the household gods do reverence, even
+in the height of summer. It is impossible to conceive the occupants of a
+room deliberately grouping themselves without reference to the grate.
+
+Brett placed the open scrap-book on his knees, and ran an index finger
+along underlined passages in the manner of counsel consulting a brief.
+
+"Why did you give your cousin this sword?"
+
+"Because he told me he was making a collection of Japanese arms, and I
+remarked that my grandfather on my mother's side, Admiral Cunningham, had
+brought this weapon, with others, from the Far East. It lay for fifty
+years in our gun-room at Glen Tochan."
+
+"So you met Sir Alan soon after his return home?"
+
+"Yes, in London, the day he arrived. Came to town on purpose, in fact.
+Afterwards I travelled North, and he went to Beechcroft."
+
+"How long afterwards? Be particular as to dates."
+
+"It is quite a simple matter, owing to the season. Alan reached Charing
+Cross from Brindisi on December 20. We remained together--that is, lived
+at the same hotel, paid calls in company, visited the same restaurants,
+went to the same theatres--until the night of the 23rd, when we parted. It
+is a tradition of my family that the members of it should spend Christmas
+together."
+
+"A somewhat unusual tradition in Scotland, is it not?"
+
+"Yes, but it was my mother's wish, so my father and I keep the custom up."
+
+"Your father is still living?"
+
+"Yes, thank goodness!"
+
+"He is now the sixth baronet?"
+
+"He is not. Neither he nor I will assume the title while the succession
+bears the taint of crime."
+
+"Did you quarrel with your cousin in London?"
+
+"Not by word or thought. He seemed to be surprised when I told him of my
+engagement to Helen, but he warmly congratulated me. One afternoon he was
+a trifle short-tempered, but not with me."
+
+"Tell me about this."
+
+"His sister is, or was then, a rather rapid young lady. She discovered
+that certain money-lenders would honour her drafts on her brother, and she
+had been going the pace somewhat heavily. Alan went to see her, told her
+to stop this practice, and sent formal notice to the same effect through
+his solicitors to the bill discounters. It annoyed him, not on account of
+the money, but that his sister should act in such a way,"
+
+"Ah, this is important! It was not mentioned at the trial."
+
+"Why should it be?"
+
+"Who can say? I wish to goodness I had helped your butler to raise Sir
+Alan's lifeless body. But about this family dispute. Was there a
+scene--tears, recriminations?"
+
+"Not a bit. You don't know Rita. We used to call her Rita because, as
+boys, we teased her by saying her name was Margharita, and not Margaret"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"She has such a foreign manner and style."
+
+"How did she acquire them?"
+
+"She was a big girl, six years old, and tall for her age, when her parents
+settled down in England. She first spoke Italian, and picked up Italian
+ways from her nurse, an old party who was devotedly attached to her. Even
+Alan was a good Italian linguist, and given to foreign manners when a
+little chap. But Harrow soon knocked them out of him. Rita retained them."
+
+"I see. A curious household. I should have expected this young lady to
+upbraid her brother after the style of the prima donna in grand opera."
+
+"No. He told me she laughed at him, and invited him to witness the trying
+on of a fancy dress costume, the 'Queen of Night,' which she wore at a
+_bal masque_ the night he was murdered."
+
+"When did she get married?"
+
+"Last January, at Naples, very suddenly, and without the knowledge of any
+of her relatives."
+
+"She had been living at Beechcroft nearly a year, then?"
+
+"Yes, she went South in the winter. The reason she gave was that the Hall
+would be depressing on the anniversary of her brother's death. She had
+become most popular in the district. Helen is very fond of her, and was
+quite shocked to hear of her marriage. The local people do not like Signor
+Capella."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"It is difficult to give a reason. Miss Layton does not indulge in
+details, but that is the impression I gather from her letters."
+
+Hume paused, and Brett shot a quick glance at him.
+
+"Finish what you were going to say," he said.
+
+"Only this--Helen and I have mutually released each other from our
+engagement, and in the same breath have refused to be released. That is,
+if you understand--"
+
+The barrister nodded.
+
+"The result is that we are both thoroughly miserable. Our respective
+fathers do not like the idea of our marriage under the circumstances. We
+are simply drifting in the feeble hope that some day a kindly Providence
+will dissipate the cloud that hangs over me. Ah, Mr. Brett, I am a rich
+man. Command the limits of my fortune, but clear me. Prove to Helen that
+her faith in my innocence is justified."
+
+"For goodness' sake light another cigarette," snapped the barrister. "You
+have interfered with my line of thought. It is all wriggly."
+
+Quite a minute elapsed before he began again.
+
+"What caused the trouble at Mrs. Eastham's ball?"
+
+"I think I can explain that. It seems that Alan's father told him to get
+married--"
+
+"Told him!"
+
+"Well, left instructions."
+
+"How?"
+
+"I do not know. I only gathered as much from my cousin's remarks. Well, it
+was not until his final home-coming that he realised what a beautiful
+woman the jolly little girl he knew as a boy had developed into. She was
+just the kind of wife he wanted, and I fancy he imagined I had stolen a
+march on him. But he was a thoroughly straightforward, manly fellow, and
+something very much out of the common must have upset him before he vented
+his anger on me and Helen."
+
+"Have you any notion--"
+
+"Not the least. Pardon me. I suppose you were going to ask if I guessed
+the cause?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"It is quite unfathomable. We parted the best of friends in London,
+although he knew all about the engagement. We met again at 6 p.m. on New
+Year's Eve, and he was very short with me. I can only vaguely assume that
+some feeling of resentment had meanwhile been working up in him, and it
+found expression during his chat with Helen in the conservatory."
+
+"Did you use threats to him during the subsequent wrangle?"
+
+"Threats! Good gracious, no. I was angry with him for spoiling Miss
+Layton's enjoyment. I called him an ass, and said that he had better have
+remained away another year than come back and make mischief. That is all.
+Mrs. Eastham was far more outspoken."
+
+"Indeed. What did she say?"
+
+"She hinted that his temper was a reminiscence of his Southern birth,
+always a sore point with him, and contrasted me with him, to his
+disadvantage. All very unfair, of course, but, you see, she was the
+hostess, and Alan had upset her party very much."
+
+"So you walked home, and resolved to hold out the olive branch?"
+
+"Most decidedly. I was older, perhaps a trifle more sedate. I knew that
+Helen loved me. There were no difficulties in the way of our marriage,
+which was arranged for the following spring. Indeed, my second trial took
+place on the very date we had selected. It was my duty to use poor Alan
+gently. Even his foolish and unreasonable jealousy was a compliment."
+
+Brett threw the scrap-book on to the table. He clasped his hands in front
+of his knees, tucking his heels on the edge of his chair.
+
+"Mr. Hume," he said slowly, gazing fixedly at the other, "I believe you.
+You did not kill your cousin."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE DREAM
+
+
+"Thank you," was the quiet answer.
+
+"You hinted at some supernatural influence in relation to this crime. What
+did you mean?"
+
+"Ah, that is the unpublished part of the affair. We are a Scots family, as
+our name implies. The first Sir Alan Frazer became a baronet owing to his
+services to King George during the '45 Rebellion. There was some trouble
+about a sequestered estate--now our place in Scotland--which belonged to
+his wife's brother, a Hume and a rebel. Anyhow, in 1763, he fought a duel
+with Hume's son, his own nephew by marriage, and was killed."
+
+"Really," broke in Brett, "this ancient history--"
+
+"Is quite to the point. Sir Alan the first fought and died in front of the
+library at Beechcroft."
+
+The barrister commenced to study the moulding in the centre of the
+ceiling.
+
+"He was succeeded by his grandson, a little lad of eight. In 1807, after a
+heavy drinking bout, the second Sir Alan Hume-Frazer cut his throat, and
+chose the scene of his ancestor's duel for the operation."
+
+"A remarkable coincidence!"
+
+"In 1842, during a bread riot, the third baronet was stabbed with a
+pitchfork whilst facing a mob in the same place. Then a long interval
+occurred. Again a small child became the heir. Three years ago the fourth
+baronet expired whilst the library windows were being opened to admit the
+litter on which he was carried from the hunting-field. The fate of the
+fifth you know."
+
+Brett's chair emitted a series of squeaks as he urged it closer to the
+wall. At the proper distance he stretched out his leg and pressed an
+electric bell with his toe.
+
+"Decanters and syphons, Smith," he cried, when the door opened.
+
+"Which do you take, whisky or brandy, Mr. Hume?" he inquired.
+
+"Whisky. But I assure you I am quite serious. These things--"
+
+"Serious! If my name were Hume-Frazer, nothing less than a runaway
+steam-engine would take me to Beechcroft. I have never previously heard
+such a marvellous recital."
+
+"We are a stiff-necked race. My uncle and cousin knew how strangely Fate
+had pursued every heir to the title, yet each hoped that in his person the
+tragic sequence would be broken. Oddly enough, my father holds that the
+family curse, or whatever it is, has now exhausted itself."
+
+"What grounds has he for the belief?"
+
+"None, save a Highlander's readiness to accept signs and portents. Look at
+this seal."
+
+He unfastened from his waistcoat his watch and chain, with a small bunch
+of pendants attached, and handed them to Brett. The latter examined the
+seal with deep interest. It was cut into a bloodstone, and showed a stag's
+head, surmounted by five pointed rays, like a crown of daggers.
+
+"I cannot decipher the motto," he said; "what is it?"
+
+"Fortis et audax."
+
+"Hum! 'Strong and bold.' A stiff-necked legend, too."
+
+He reached to his bookcase for Burke's "General Armoury." After a brief
+search, he asked:
+
+"Do you know anything about heraldry?"
+
+"Nothing whatever."
+
+"Then listen to this. The crest of your, house is: 'A stag's head, erased
+argent, charged with a star of five rays gules.' It is peculiar."
+
+"Yes, so my father says; but why does it appeal to you in that way?"
+
+"Because 'erased' means, in this instance, a stag's head torn forcibly
+from the body, the severed part being jagged like the teeth of a saw. And
+'gules' means 'red.' Now, such heraldic rays are usually azure or blue."
+
+"By Jove, you have hit upon the old man's idea. He contends that those
+five blood-coloured points signify the founder of the baronetcy and his
+four lineal descendants. Moreover, the race is now extinct in the direct
+succession. The title goes to a collateral branch."
+
+Brett stroked his chin thoughtfully.
+
+"It is certainly very strange," he murmured, "that the dry-as-dust
+knowledge of some member of the College of Heralds should evolve these
+armorial bearings with their weird significance. Does this account for
+your allusion to the supernatural?"
+
+"Partly. Do not forget my dream."
+
+"Tell it to me."
+
+"During the trials, my counsel, a very able man, by the way--you know him,
+of course, Mr. Dobbie, K.C.--only referred to the fact that I dreamed my
+cousin was in some mortal danger, and that my exclamation 'He is
+murdered!' was really a startled comment on my part induced by the
+butler's words. That is not correct. I never told Mr. Dobbie the details
+of my dream, or vision."
+
+"Oh, didn't you? Men have been hanged before to-day because they thought
+they could construct a better line of defence than their counsel."
+
+"I had nothing to defend. I was innocent. Moreover, I knew I should not be
+convicted."
+
+The barrister well remembered the view of the case taken by the Bar mess.
+Even the redoubtable Dobbie was afraid of the jury. His face must have
+conveyed dubiety with respect to Hume's last remark, for the other
+continued eagerly:
+
+"It is quite true. Wait until I have concluded. After the footman brought
+the whisky and soda to the library that night I took a small quantity, and
+pulled an easy-chair in front of the fire. I was tired, having travelled
+all the preceding night and part of the day. Hence the warmth and comfort
+soon sent me to sleep. I have a hazy recollection of the man coming in to
+put some coal on the fire. In a sub-conscious fashion I knew that it was
+not my cousin, but a servant. I settled down a trifle more comfortably,
+and everything became a blank. Then I thought I awoke. I looked out
+through the windows, and, to my astonishment, it was broad daylight. The
+trees, too, were covered with leaves, the sun was shining, and there was
+every evidence of a fine day in early summer. In some indefinite way I
+realised that the library was no longer the room which I knew. The
+furniture and carpets were different. The books were old-fashioned. A very
+handsome spinning-wheel stood near the open window. There was no litter of
+newspapers or magazines.
+
+"Before I could begin to piece together these curious discrepancies in the
+normal condition of things, I saw two men riding up the avenue, where the
+yew trees, by the way, were loftier and finer in every way than those
+really existing. The horsemen were dressed in such strange fashion that,
+unfortunately, I paid little heed to their faces. They wore frilled
+waistcoats, redingotes with huge lapels and turned-back cuffs,
+three-cornered hats, and gigantic boots. They dismounted when close to the
+house. One man held both horses; the other advanced. I was just going to
+look him straight in the face when another figure appeared, coming from
+that side of the hall where the entrance is situated. This was a gentleman
+in very elegant garments, hatless, with powdered queue, pink satin coat
+embroidered with lace, pink satin small-clothes, white silk stockings, and
+low shoes. As he walked, a smart cane swung from his left wrist by a silk
+tassel, and he took a pinch of snuff from an ivory box.
+
+"The two men met and seemed to have a heated argument, bitter and
+passionate on one side, studiously scornful on the other. This was all in
+dumb show. Not a word did I hear. My amazed wits were fully taken up with
+noting their clothes, their postures, the trappings of the horses, the
+eighteenth century aspect of the library. Strange, is it not, I did not
+look at their faces?"
+
+Hume paused to gulp down the contents of his tumbler. Brett said not a
+word, but sat intent, absorbed, wondering, with eyes fixed on the speaker.
+
+"All at once the dispute became vehement. The more stylishly attired man
+disappeared, but returned instantly with a drawn sword in his hand. The
+stranger, as we may call him, whipped out a claymore, and the two fought
+fiercely. By Jove, it was no stage combat or French duel. They went for
+each other as if they meant it. There was no stopping to take breath, nor
+drawing apart after a foiled attack. Each man tried to kill the other as
+speedily as possible. Three times they circled round in furious
+sword-play. Then the stranger got his point home. The other, in mortal
+agony, dropped his weapon, and tried with both hands to tear his
+adversary's blade from his breast. He failed, and staggered back, the
+victor still shoving the claymore through his opponent's body. Then, and
+not until then, I saw the face of the man who was wounded, probably
+killed. It was my cousin, Alan Hume-Fraser."
+
+David Hume stopped again. His bronzed face was pale now. With his left
+hand he swept huge drops of perspiration from his brow. But his class
+demands coolness in the most desperate moments. He actually struck a match
+and relighted his cigarette.
+
+"I suppose you occasionally have a nightmare after an indigestible supper,
+Mr. Brett," he went on, "and have experienced a peculiar sensation of dumb
+palsy in the presence of some unknown but terrifying danger? Well, such
+was my exact state at that moment. Alan fell, apparently lifeless. The
+stranger kissed his blood-stained sword, which required a strong tug
+before he could disengage it, rattled it back into the scabbard, rejoined
+his companion, and the two rode off, without once looking back. I can see
+them now, square-shouldered, with hair tied in a knot beneath their quaint
+hats, their hips absurdly swollen by the huge pockets of their coats,
+their boots hanging over their knees. They wore big brass spurs with
+tremendous rowels, and the cantles of their saddles were high and
+brass-bound.
+
+"Alan lay motionless. I could neither speak nor move. Whether I was
+sitting or standing I cannot tell you, nor do I know how I was supposed to
+be attired. A darkness came over my eyes. Then a voice--Helen's
+voice--whispered to me, 'Fear not, dearest; the wrong is avenged.' I
+awoke, to find the trembling butler shouting in my ear that his master was
+lying dead outside the house. Now, Mr. Brett, I ask you, would you have
+submitted that fairy tale to a jury? I was quite assured of a verdict in
+my favour, though the first disagreement almost shook my faith in Helen's
+promise, but I did not want to end my days in a criminal lunatic asylum."
+
+He did not appear to expect an answer. He was quite calm again, and even
+his eyes had lost their intensity. The mere telling of his uncanny
+experience had a soothing effect. He nonchalantly readjusted his watch and
+chain, and noted the time.
+
+"I have gone far beyond my stipulated half hour," he said, forcing a
+deprecatory smile.
+
+"Yes; far beyond, indeed. You carried me back to 1763, but Heaven alone
+knows when you will end."
+
+"Will you take up my case?"
+
+"Can you doubt it? Do you think I would throw aside the most remarkable
+criminal puzzle I have ever tackled?"
+
+"Mr. Brett, I cannot find words to thank you. If you succeed--and you
+inspire me with confidence--Helen and I will strive to merit your lifelong
+friendship."
+
+"Miss Layton knows the whole of your story, of course?"
+
+"Yes; she and my father only. I must inform you that I had never heard the
+full reason of the duel between the first Sir Alan and his nephew. But my
+father knew it fairly well, and the details fitted in exactly with my
+vision. I can hardly call it a dream."
+
+"What was the nephew's name?"
+
+"David Hume!"
+
+Brett jumped up, and paced about the room.
+
+"These coincidences defy analysis," he exclaimed. "Your Christian name is
+David. Your surname joins both families. Why, the thing is a romance of
+the wildest sort."
+
+"Unhappily, it has a tragic side for me."
+
+"Yes; the story cannot end here. You and your _fiancee_ have suffered.
+Miss Layton must be a very estimable young lady--one worth winning. She
+will be a true and loyal wife."
+
+"Do you think you will be able to solve the riddle? Someone murdered my
+cousin."
+
+"That is our only solid fact at present. The family tradition is passing
+strange, but it will not serve in a court of law. I may fail, for the
+first time, but I will try hard. When can you accompany me to Stowmarket?"
+
+The question disconcerted his eager auditor. The young man's countenance
+clouded.
+
+"Is it necessary that I should go there?" he asked.
+
+"Certainly. You must throw aside all delicacy of feeling, sacrifice even
+your own sentiments. That is the one locality where you don't wish to be
+seen, of course?"
+
+"It is indeed."
+
+"I cannot help that. I must have the assistance of your local and family
+knowledge to decide the knotty points sure to arise when I begin the
+inquiry. Can you start this afternoon?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Very well. Come and lunch with me at my club. Then we will separate, to
+meet again at Liverpool Street. Smith! Pack my traps for a week."
+
+Brett was in the hall now, but he suddenly stopped his companion.
+
+"By the way, Hume, you may like to wire to Miss Layton. My man will send
+the telegram for you."
+
+David Hume's barrier of proud reserve vanished from that instant. The
+kindly familiarity of the barrister's words to one who, during many weary
+days, suspected all men of loathing him as a murderer at large, was
+directed by infinite tact.
+
+Hume held out his hand, "You _are_ a good chap," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THROUGH THE LIBRARY WINDOW
+
+
+Hume did not send a telegram to the Sleagill Rectory. He explained that,
+owing to the attitude adopted by the Rev. Wilberforce Layton, Helen
+avoided friction with her father by receiving his (Hume's) letters under
+cover to Mrs. Eastham.
+
+The younger man was quick to note that Brett did not like this
+arrangement. He smilingly protested that there was no deception in the
+matter.
+
+"Helen would never consent to anything that savoured of subterfuge," he
+explained. "Her father knows well that she hears from me constantly. He is
+a studious, reserved old gentleman. He was very much shocked by the
+tragedy, and his daughter's innocent association with it. He told me quite
+plainly that, under the circumstances, I ought to consider the engagement
+at an end. Possibly I resented an imputation not intended by him. I made
+some unfair retort about his hyper-sensitiveness, and promptly sent Helen
+a formal release. She tore it up, and at the same time accepted it so far
+as I was concerned. We met at Mrs. Eastham's house--that good lady has
+remained my firm friend throughout--and I don't mind telling you, Brett,
+that I broke down utterly. Well, we began by sending messages to each
+other through Mrs. Eastham. Then I forwarded to Helen, in the same way, a
+copy of a rough diary of my travels. She wrote to me direct; I replied.
+The position now is that she will not marry me without her father's
+consent, and she will marry no one else. He is aware of our
+correspondence. She always tells him of my movements. The poor old rector
+is worried to know how to act for the best. His daughter's happiness is at
+stake, and so my unhappy affairs have drifted aimlessly for more than a
+year."
+
+"The drifting must cease," said Brett decisively. "Beechcroft Hall will
+probably provide scope for activity."
+
+They reached Stowmarket by a late train. Next morning they drove to
+Sleagill--a pretty village, with a Norman church tower standing squarely
+in the midst of lofty trees, and white-washed cottages and red-tiled
+villa-residences nestling in gardens.
+
+"A bower of orchards and green lanes," murmured the barrister as their
+dog-cart sped rapidly over the smooth highway.
+
+Hume was driving. He pointed out the rectory. His eyes were eagerly
+searching the lawn and the well-trimmed garden, but he was denied a sight
+of his divinity. The few people they encountered gazed at them curiously.
+Hume was seemingly unrecognised.
+
+"Here is Mrs. Eastham's house," he said, checking the horse's pace as they
+approached a roomy, comfortable-looking mansion, occupying an angle where
+the village street sharply bifurcated. "And there is Beechcroft!"
+
+The lodge faced the road along which they were advancing. Beyond the gates
+the yew-lined drive, with its selvages of deep green turf, led straight to
+the Elizabethan house a quarter of a mile distant. The ground in the rear
+rose gently through a mile or more of the home park.
+
+Immediately behind the Hall was a dense plantation of spruce and larch.
+The man who planned the estate evidently possessed both taste and spirit.
+It presented a beautiful and pleasing picture. A sense of homeliness was
+given by a number of Alderney cattle and young hunters grazing in the park
+on both sides of the avenue. Beechcroft had a reputation in metropolitan
+sale-rings. Its two-year-olds were always in demand.
+
+"We will leave the conveyance here," announced Brett "I prefer to walk to
+the house."
+
+The hotel groom went to the horse's head. He did not hear the barrister's
+question:
+
+"I suppose both you and your cousin quitted Mrs. Eastham's house by that
+side-door and entered the park through the wicket?"
+
+"Yes," assented Hume, "though I fail to see why you should hit upon the
+side-door rather than the main entrance."
+
+"Because the ball-room is built out at the back. It was originally a
+granary. The conservatory opens into the garden on the other side. As
+there was a large number of guests, Mrs. Eastham required all her front
+rooms for supper and extra servants, so she asked people to halt their
+carriages at the side-door. I would not be surprised if the gentlemen's
+cloak-room was provided by the saddle-room there, whilst the yard was
+carpeted and covered with an awning."
+
+Brett rattled on in this way, heedless of his companion's blank amazement,
+perhaps secretly enjoying it.
+
+Hume was so taken aback that he stood poised on the step of the vehicle
+and forgot to slip the reins into the catch on the splashboard.
+
+"I told you none of these things," he cried.
+
+"Of course not. They are obvious. But tell this good lady that we are
+going to the Hall."
+
+Both the main gate and wicket were fastened, and the lodge-keeper's wife
+was gazing at them through the bars.
+
+"Hello, Mrs. Crowe, don't you know me?" cried Hume.
+
+"My gracious, It's Mr. David!" gasped the woman.
+
+"Why are the gates locked?"
+
+"Mrs. Capella is not receiving visitors, sir."
+
+"Is she ill?"
+
+"No, sir. Indisposed, I think Mr. Capella said."
+
+"Well, she will receive me, at any rate."
+
+"No doubt, sir, it will be all right."
+
+She hesitatingly unbarred the wicket, and the two men entered. They walked
+slowly up the drive. Hume was restless. Twice he looked behind him.
+
+He stopped.
+
+"It was here," he said, "that the two men dismounted."
+
+Then a few yards farther on:
+
+"Alan came round from the door there, and they fought here. Alan forced
+the stranger on to the turf. When he was stabbed he fell here."
+
+He pointed to a spot where the road commenced to turn to the left to clear
+the house. Brett watched him narrowly. The young man was describing his
+dream, not the actual murder. The vision was far more real to him.
+
+"It was just such a day as this," he continued. "It might have been almost
+this hour. The library windows--"
+
+He ceased and looked fixedly towards the house. Brett, too, gazed in
+silence. They saw a small, pale-faced, exceedingly handsome Italian--a
+young man, with coal-black eyes and a mass of shining black hair--scowling
+at them from within the library.
+
+A black velvet coat and a brilliant tie were the only bizarre features of
+his costume. They served sufficiently to enhance his foreign appearance.
+Such a man would be correctly placed in the marble frame of a Neapolitan
+villa; here he was unusual, _outre_, "un-English," as Brett put it.
+
+But he was evidently master. He flung open the window, and said, with some
+degree of hauteur:
+
+"Whom do you wish to see? Can I be of any assistance?"
+
+His accent was strongly marked, but his words were well chosen and civil
+enough, had his tone accorded with their sense. As it was, he might be
+deemed rude.
+
+Brett advanced.
+
+"Are you Signor Capella?" he inquired.
+
+"Mr. Capella. Yes."
+
+"Then you can, indeed, be of much assistance. This gentleman is Mrs.
+Capella's cousin, Mr. David Hume-Frazer."
+
+"Corpo di Baccho!"
+
+The Italian was completely taken by surprise. His eyebrows suddenly stood
+out in a ridge. His sallow skin could not become more pallid; to show
+emotion he flushed a swarthy red. Beyond the involuntary exclamation in
+his own language, he could not find words.
+
+"Yes," explained the smiling Brett, "he is a near relative of yours by
+marriage. We were told by the lodge-keeper that Mrs. Capella was
+indisposed, but under the circumstances we felt assured that she would
+receive her cousin--unless, that is, she is seriously ill."
+
+"It is an unexpected pleasure, this visit."
+
+Capella replied to the barrister, but looked at Hume. He had an unpleasant
+habit of parting his lips closely to his teeth, like the silent snarl of a
+dog.
+
+"Undoubtedly. We both apologise for not having prepared you."
+
+Brett's smooth, even voice seemed to exasperate the other, who continued
+to block the library window in uncompromising manner.
+
+"And you, sir. May I ask who you are?"
+
+"My name is Brett, Reginald Brett, a friend of Mr. Hume's--who, I may
+mention, does not use his full surname at present."
+
+The Italian was compelled to turn his glittering eyes upon the man who
+addressed him so glibly.
+
+"I am sorry," he said slowly, "but Mrs. Capella is too unwell to meet
+either of you to-day."
+
+"Ah! We share your regrets. Nevertheless, as a preliminary to our purpose,
+you will serve our needs equally well. May we not come in?"
+
+Capella was faced with difficult alternatives. He must either be
+discourteous to two gentlemanly strangers, one of them his wife's
+relative, or admit them with some show of politeness. An Italian may be
+rude, he can never be _gauche_. Having decided, Capella ushered them into
+the library with quick transition to dignified ease.
+
+He asked if he might ring for any refreshments. Hume, who glared at his
+host with uncompromising hostility, and had not taken any part in the
+conversation, shook his head.
+
+Brett surprised both, for different reasons, by readily falling in with
+Capella's suggestion.
+
+"A whisky and soda would be most grateful," he said.
+
+The Italian moved towards the bell.
+
+"Permit me!" cried Brett.
+
+He rose in awkward haste, and upset his chair with a loud crash on the
+parquet floor.
+
+"How stupid of me!" he exclaimed, whilst Hume wondered what had happened
+to flurry the barrister, and Capella smothered a curse.
+
+A distant bell jangled. By tacit consent, there was no further talk until
+a servant appeared. The man was a stranger to Hume.
+
+Oddly enough, Brett took but a very small allowance of the spirit. In
+reality, he hated alcohol in any form during the earlier hours. He was
+wont to declare that it not only disturbed his digestion but destroyed his
+taste for tobacco. Hume did not yet know what a concession to exciting
+circumstances his new-found friend had made the previous day in ordering
+spirits before luncheon.
+
+When the servant vanished, Capella settled himself in his chair with the
+air of a man awaiting explanations. Yet he was restless and disturbed. He
+was afraid of these two. Why? Brett determined to try the effect of
+generalities.
+
+"You probably guess the object of our visit?" he began.
+
+"I? No. How should I guess?"
+
+"As the husband of a lady so closely connected with Mr. Hume--"
+
+But the Italian seemed to be firmly resolved to end the suspense.
+
+"Caramba!" he broke in. "What is it?"
+
+"It is this. Mr. Hume has asked me to help him in the investigation of
+certain--"
+
+The library door swung open, and a lady entered. She was tall, graceful,
+distinguished-looking. Her cousinship to Hume was unmistakable. In both
+there was the air of aristocratic birth. Their eyes, the contour of their
+faces, were alike. But the fresh Anglo-Saxon complexion of the man was
+replaced in the woman by a peach-like skin, whilst her hair and eyebrows
+were darker.
+
+She was strikingly beautiful. A plain black dress set off a figure that
+would have caused a sculptor to dream of chiselled marble.
+
+"A passionate, voluptuous woman," thought Brett. "A woman easily swayed,
+but never to be compelled, the ready-made heroine of a tragedy."
+
+Her first expression was one of polite inquiry, but her glance fell upon
+Hume. Her face, prone to betray each fleeting emotion, exhibited surprise,
+almost consternation.
+
+"You, Davie!" she gasped.
+
+Hume went to meet her.
+
+"Yes, Rita," he said. "I hope you are glad to see me."
+
+Mrs. Capella was profoundly agitated, but she held out her hand and
+summoned the quick smile of an actress.
+
+"Of course I am," she cried. "I did not know you were in England. Why did
+you not let me know, and why are you here?"
+
+"I only returned home three days ago. My journey to Beechcroft was a hasty
+resolve. This is my friend, Mr. Reginald Brett. He was just about to
+explain to Mr. Capella the object of our visit when you came in."
+
+Neither husband nor wife looked at the other. Mrs. Capella was flustered,
+indulging in desperate surmises, but she laughed readily enough.
+
+"I heard a noise in this room, and then the bell rang. I thought something
+had happened. You know--I mean, I thought there was no one here."
+
+"I fear that I am the culprit, Mrs. Capella. Your husband was good enough
+to invite us to enter by the window, and I promptly disturbed the
+household."
+
+Brett's pleasant tones came as a relief. Capella glared at him now with
+undisguised hostility, for the barrister's adroit ruse had outwitted him
+by bringing the lady from the drawing-room, which gave on to the garden
+and lawn at the back of the house.
+
+"Please do not take the blame of my intrusion, Mr. Brett," said Margaret,
+with forced composure. "You will stay for luncheon, will you not? And you,
+Davie? Are you at Mrs. Eastham's?"
+
+Her concluding question was eager, almost wistful. Her cousin answered it
+first.
+
+"No," he said. "We have driven over from Stowmarket."
+
+"And, unfortunately," put in the barrister, "we are pledged to visit Mrs.
+Eastham within an hour."
+
+The announcement seemed to please Mrs. Capella, for some reason at present
+hidden from Brett. Hume, of course, was mystified by the course taken by
+his friend, but held his peace.
+
+Capella brusquely interfered:
+
+"Perhaps, Rita, these gentlemen would now like to make the explanation
+which you prevented."
+
+He moved towards the door. So that his wife could rest under no doubt as
+to his wishes, he held it open for her.
+
+"No, no!" exclaimed Brett. "This matter concerns Mrs. Capella personally.
+You probably forget that we asked to be allowed to see her in the first
+instance, but you told us that she was too unwell to receive us."
+
+For an instant Margaret gazed at the Italian with imperious scorn. Then
+she deliberately turned her back on him, and seated herself close to her
+cousin.
+
+Capella closed the door and walked to the library window.
+
+Hume openly showed his pained astonishment at this little scene. Brett
+treated the incident as a domestic commonplace.
+
+"The fact is," he explained, "that your cousin, Mrs. Capella, has sought
+my assistance in order to clear his name of the odium attached to it by
+the manner of Sir Alan Hume-Frazer's death. At my request he brought me
+here. In this house, in this very room, such an inquiry should have its
+origin, wherever it may lead ultimately."
+
+The lady's cheeks became ashen. Her large eyes dilated.
+
+"Is not that terrible business ended yet?" she cried. "I little dreamed
+that such could be the object of your visit, Davie. What has happened--"
+
+The Italian swung round viciously.
+
+"If you come here as a detective, Mr. Brett," he snapped, "I refer you to
+the police. Mr. Hume-Frazer is known to them."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+FROM BEHIND THE HEDGE
+
+
+The man's swarthy rage added force to the taunt. David Hume leaped up, but
+Brett anticipated him, gripping his arm firmly, and without ostentation.
+
+Margaret, too, had risen. She appeared to be battling with some powerful
+emotion, choking back a fierce impulse. For an instant the situation was
+electrical. Then the woman's clear tones rang through the room.
+
+"I am mistress here," she cried, "Giovanni, remain silent or leave us. How
+dare you, of all men, speak thus to my cousin?"
+
+Certainly the effect of the barrister's straightforward statement was
+unlooked-for. But Brett felt that a family quarrel would not further his
+object at that moment. It was necessary to stop the imminent outburst, for
+David Hume and Giovanni Capella were silently challenging each other to
+mortal combat. What a place of ill-omen to the descendants of the Georgian
+baronet was this sun-lit library with its spacious French windows!
+
+"Of course," said the barrister, speaking as quietly as if he were
+discussing the weather, "such a topic is an unpleasant one. It is,
+however, unavoidable. My young friend here is determined, at all costs, to
+discover the secret of Sir Alan's murder. It is imperative that he should
+do so. The happiness of his whole life depends upon his success. Until
+that mystery is solved he cannot marry the woman he loves."
+
+"Do you mean Helen Layton?" Margaret's syllables might have been so many
+mortal daggers.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Is David still in love with her?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And she with him?"
+
+David Hume broke in:
+
+"Yes, Rita. She has been faithful to the end."
+
+A very forcible Italian oath came from Capella as he passed through the
+window and strode rapidly out of sight, passing to the left of the house,
+where one of the lines of yew trees ended in a group of conservatories.
+
+Margaret was now deadly white. She pressed her hand to her bosom.
+
+"Forgive me," she sobbed. "I do not feel well. You will both be always
+welcome here. Let no one interfere with you. But I must leave you. This
+afternoon--"
+
+She staggered to the door. Her cousin caught her.
+
+"Thank you, Davie," she whispered. "Leave me now. I will be all right
+soon. My heart troubles me. No. Do not ring. Let us keep our miseries from
+the servants."
+
+She passed out, leaving Hume and the barrister uncertain how best to act.
+The situation had developed with a vengeance. Brett was more bewildered
+than ever before in his life.
+
+"That scoundrel killed Alan, and now he wants to kill his own wife!"
+growled Hume, when they were alone.
+
+Brett looked through him rather than at him. He was thinking intently. For
+a long time--minutes it seemed to his fuming companion--he remained
+motionless, with glazed, immovable eyes. Then he awoke to action.
+
+"Quick!" he cried. "Tell me if this room has changed much since you were
+last here. Is the furniture the same? Is that the writing-table? What
+chair did you sit in? Where was it placed? Quick, man! You have wasted
+eighteen months. Give me no opinions, but facts."
+
+Thus admonished, scared somewhat by the barrister's volcanic energy, Hume
+obeyed him.
+
+"There is no material change in the room," he said. "The secretaire is the
+same. You see, here is the drawer which was broken open. It bears the
+marks of the implement used to force the lock. I think I sat in this
+chair, or one like it. It was placed here. My face was turned towards the
+fire, yet in my dream I was looking through the centre window. The
+Japanese sword rested here. I showed you where Alan's body was found."
+
+The young man darted about the room to illustrate each sentence. Brett
+followed his words and actions without comment. He grabbed his hat and
+stick.
+
+"We will return later in the day," he said. "Let us go at once and call on
+Mrs. Eastham."
+
+"Mrs. Eastham! Why?"
+
+"Because I want to see Miss Helen Layton. The old lady can send for her."
+
+Hume needed no urging. He could not walk fast enough. They had gone a
+hundred yards from the house when Brett suddenly stopped and checked his
+companion.
+
+Behind the yew trees on the left, and rendered invisible by a stout hedge,
+a man was running--running at top speed, with the labouring breath of one
+unaccustomed to the exercise. The barrister sprang over the strip of turf,
+passed among the trees, and plunged into the hedge regardless of thorns.
+He came back instantly.
+
+"There is a footpath across the park, leading towards the lodge gates.
+Where does it come out?" he asked, speaking rapidly in a low tone.
+
+"It enters the road near the avenue, close to the gates. It leads from a
+farmhouse."
+
+"A lady is walking through the park towards the lodge. Capella is running
+to intercept her. Come! We may hear something."
+
+Brett set off at a rapid pace along the turf. Hume followed, and soon they
+were near the lodge. Mrs. Crowe saw them, and came out.
+
+"Stop her!" gasped Brett.
+
+Hume signalled the woman not to open the gate. She watched them with
+open-mouthed curiosity. The barrister slowed down and quietly made his way
+to the leafy angle where the avenue hedge joined that which shut off the
+park from the road.
+
+He held up a warning hand. Hume stepped warily behind him, and both men
+looked through a portion of the hedge where briars were supplanted by
+hazel bushes.
+
+Capella was standing panting near a stile. A girl, dressed in muslin, and
+wearing a large straw hat, was approaching.
+
+"Great Heavens! It is Helen!" exclaimed Hume.
+
+Brett grasped his shoulder.
+
+"Restrain yourself," he whispered earnestly. "Luckily, Capella has not
+heard you. I regret the necessity which makes us eavesdroppers, but it is
+a fortunate accident, all the same. Not a word! Remember what is at
+stake."
+
+They could not see the Italian's face. His back was heaving from the
+violence of his exertion. Miss Layton was walking rapidly towards the
+stile. Obviously she had perceived the waiting man, and she was not
+pleased.
+
+Her pretty face, flushed and sunburnt, wore the strained aspect of a woman
+annoyed, but trying to be civil.
+
+It was she who took the initiative.
+
+"Good day, Mr. Capella," she said pleasantly. "Why on earth did you run so
+fast?"
+
+"Because I wished to be here before you, Miss Layton," replied the man,
+his voice tremulous with excitement.
+
+"Then I wish I had known, because I could have beaten you easily if you
+meant to race me."
+
+"That was not my object."
+
+"Well, now you have attained it, whatever it may have been, please allow
+me to get over the stile. I will be late for luncheon. My father wished me
+to ascertain how Farmer Burton is progressing after his spill. He was
+thrown from his dog-cart whilst coming from the Bury St. Edmund's fair."
+
+It was easy for the listeners behind the hedge to gather that the girl's
+affable manner was affected. She was really somewhat alarmed. Her eyes
+wandered to the high road to see if anyone was approaching, and she kept
+at some distance from the Italian.
+
+"Do not play with me, Nellie," said Capella, in agonised accents. "I am
+consumed with love of you. Can you not, at least, give me your pity?"
+
+"Mr. Capella," she cried, and none but one blind to all save his own
+passionate desires could fail to note her lofty disdain, "how can you be
+so base as to use such language to me?"
+
+"Base! To love you!"
+
+"Again I say it--base and unmanly. What have I done that you should
+venture to so insult your charming wife, not to speak of the insult to
+myself? When you so far forgot yourself a fortnight ago as to hint at your
+outrageous ideas regarding me, I forced myself to remember that you were
+not an Englishman, that perhaps in your country there may be a social code
+which permits a man to dishonour his home and to annoy a defenceless
+woman. I cannot forgive you a second time. Let me pass! Let me pass, I
+tell you, or I will strike you!"
+
+Brett, in his admiration for the spirited girl who, notwithstanding her
+protestations, seemed to be anything but "defenceless," momentarily forgot
+his companion.
+
+A convulsive tightening of Hume's muscles, preparatory to a leap through
+the hedge, warned him in time.
+
+"Idiot!" he whispered, as he clutched him again.
+
+Were not the others so taken up with the throbbing influences of the
+moment they must have heard the rustling of the leaves. But they paid
+little heed to external affairs. The Italian was speaking.
+
+"Nellie," he said, "you will drive me mad. But listen, carissima. If I may
+not love you, I can at least defend you. David Hume-Frazer, the man who
+murdered my wife's brother, has returned, and openly boasts that you are
+waiting to marry him."
+
+"Boasts! To whom, pray?"
+
+"To me. I heard him say this not fifteen minutes since."
+
+"Where? You do not know him. He could not be here without my knowledge."
+
+"Then it is true. You do intend to marry this unconvicted felon?"
+
+"Mr. Capella, I really think you are what English people call 'cracked.'"
+
+"But you believe me--that this man has come to Beechcroft?"
+
+"It may be so. He has good reasons, doubtless, for keeping his presence
+here a secret. Whatever they may be, I shall soon know them."
+
+"Helen, he is not worthy of you. He cannot give you a love fierce as mine.
+Nay, I will not be repelled. Hear me. My wife is dying. I will be free in
+a few months. Bid me to hope. I will not trouble you. I will go away, but
+I swear, if you marry Frazer, neither he nor you will long enjoy your
+happiness!"
+
+The girl made no reply, but sprang towards the stile in sheer desperation.
+Capella strove to take her in his arms, not indeed with intent to offer
+her any violence; but she met his lover-like ardour with such a vigorous
+buffet that he lost his temper.
+
+He caught her. She had almost surmounted the stile, but her dress hampered
+her movements. The Italian, vowing his passion in an ardent flow of words,
+endeavoured to kiss her.
+
+Then, with a sigh, for he would have preferred to avoid an open rupture,
+Brett let go his hold on Hume. Indeed, if he had not done so, there must
+have been a fight on both sides of the hedge.
+
+He turned away at once to light a cigarette. What followed immediately had
+no professional interest for him.
+
+But he could not help hearing Helen's shriek of delighted surprise, and
+certain other sounds which denoted that Giovanni was being used as a
+football by his near relative by marriage.
+
+Mrs. Crowe came out of her cottage.
+
+"What's a-goin' on in the park, sir?" she inquired anxiously.
+
+"A great event," he said. "Faust is kicking Mephistopheles."
+
+"Drat them colts!" she cried, adding, after taking thought; "but we
+haven't any horses of them names, sir."
+
+"No! You surprise me. They are of the best Italian pedigree."
+
+Meanwhile, he was achieving his object, which was to drive Mrs. Crowe back
+towards the wicket.
+
+Helen's voice came to them shrilly:
+
+"That will do, Davie! Do you hear me?"
+
+"Why, bless my 'eart, there's Miss Layton," said Mrs. Crowe.
+
+"What a fine little boy this is!" exclaimed Brett, stooping over a
+curly-haired urchin. "Is he the oldest?"
+
+"Good gracious, sir, no. He's the youngest."
+
+"Dear me, I would not have thought so. You must have been married very
+early. Here, my little man, see what you can buy for half-a-crown."
+
+"What a nice gentleman he is, to be sure," thought the lodge-keeper's
+wife, when Brett passed through the smaller gate, assured that the
+struggle in the park had ended.
+
+"Just fancy 'im a-thinkin' Jimmy was the eldest, when I will be a
+grandmother come August if all goes well wi' Kate."
+
+The barrister signed to the groom to wait, and joined the young couple,
+who now appeared in the roadway. A haggard, dishevelled, and furious man
+burst through the avenue hedge and ran across the drive.
+
+"Mrs. Crowe," he almost screamed, "do you see those two men there?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+The good woman was startled by her master's sudden appearance and his
+excited state.
+
+"They are never to be admitted to the grounds again. Do you understand?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Capella turned to rush away up the avenue, but he was compelled to limp.
+Mrs. Crowe watched him wonderingly, and tried to piece together in her
+mind the queer sounds and occurrences of the last two minutes.
+
+She had not long been in the cottage when the butler arrived.
+
+"You let two gentlemen in a while ago?" he said.
+
+"I did."
+
+"One was Mr. David and the other a Mr. Brett?"
+
+"Oh, was that the tall gentleman's name?"
+
+"I expect so. Well, here's the missus's written order that whenever they
+want to come to the 'ouse or go anywheres in the park it's O.K."
+
+Mrs. Crowe was wise enough to keep her own counsel, but when the butler
+retired, she said:
+
+"Then I'll obey the missus, an' master can settle it with her. I don't
+hold by Eye-talians, anyhow."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE
+
+
+Helen was very much upset by the painful scene which had just been
+enacted. Its vulgarity appalled her. In a little old-world hamlet like
+Sleagill, a riotous cow or frightened horse supplied sensation for a week.
+What would happen when it became known that the rector's daughter had been
+attacked by the Squire of Beechcroft in the park meadow, and saved from
+his embraces only after a vigorous struggle, in which her defender was
+David Hume-Frazer, concerning whom the villagers still spoke with bated
+breath?
+
+Of course, the girl imagined that many people must have witnessed the
+occurrence. The appearance of Brett, of the waiting groom, and of a chance
+labourer who now strode up the village street, led her to think so.
+
+She did not realise that the whole affair had barely lasted a minute, that
+Brett was Hume's friend, the man-servant a stranger who had seen nothing
+and heard little, whilst the villager only wondered, when he touched his
+cap, "why Miss Layton was so flustered like."
+
+Brett attributed her agitation to its right cause. He knew that this
+healthy, high-minded, and athletic young woman went under no fear of
+Capella and his ravings.
+
+"What happened when you jumped the hedge?" he said to Hume.
+
+"I handled that scoundrel somewhat roughly," was the answer. "It was
+Nellie here who begged for mercy on his account."
+
+"Ah, well, the incident ended very pleasantly. No one saw what happened
+save the principals, a fortunate thing in itself. We want to prevent a
+nine days' wonder just now."
+
+"Are you quite sure?" asked Miss Layton, overjoyed at this expression of
+opinion, and secretly surprised at the interest taken by the barrister in
+the affair, for Hume had not as yet found time to tell her his friend's
+name.
+
+"Quite sure, Miss Layton," he said, with the smile which made him such a
+prompt favourite with women. "I had nothing to do but observe the
+_mise-en-scene_. The stage was quite clear for the chief actors. And now,
+may I make a suggestion? The longer we remain here the more likely are we
+to attract observation. Mr. Hume and I are going to call on Mrs. Eastham.
+May we expect you in an hour's time?"
+
+"Can't you come in with us now?" exclaimed David eagerly.
+
+She laughed excitedly, being yet flurried. The sudden appearance of her
+lover tried her nerves more than the Italian's passionate avowal.
+
+"No, indeed," she cried. "I must go home. My father will forget all about
+his lunch otherwise, and I am afraid--I--w--ant to cry!"
+
+Without another word she hurried off towards the rectory.
+
+"My dear fellow," murmured Brett to the disconsolate Hume, "don't you
+understand? She cannot bear the constraint imposed by my presence at this
+moment, nor could she meet Mrs. Eastham with any degree of composure. Now,
+this afternoon she will return a mere iceberg. Mrs. Eastham, I am sure,
+has tact. I am going to the Hall. You two will be left alone for hours."
+
+He turned aside to arrange with the groom concerning the care of the
+horse, as they would be detained some time in the village. Then the two
+men approached Mrs. Eastham's residence.
+
+That good person, a motherly old lady of over sixty, was not only
+surprised but delighted by the advent of David Hume.
+
+"My dear boy," she cried, advancing to meet him with outstretched hands
+when he entered the morning-room. "What fortunate wind has blown you
+here?"
+
+"I can hardly tell you, auntie," he said--both Helen and he adopted the
+pleasing fiction of a relationship that did not exist--"you must ask Mr.
+Brett."
+
+Thus appealed to, the barrister set forth, in a few explicit words, the
+object of their visit.
+
+"I hope and believe you will succeed," said Mrs. Eastham impulsively.
+"Providence has guided your steps here at this hour. You cannot imagine
+how miserable that man Capella makes me."
+
+"Why?" cried Hume, darting a look of surprise at Brett.
+
+"Because he is simply pestering Nellie with his attentions. There! I must
+speak plainly. He has gone to extremes that can no longer be
+misinterpreted. In our small community, Mr. Brett," she explained, "though
+we dearly love a little gossip, we are slow to believe that a man married
+to such a charming if somewhat unconventional woman as Margaret
+Hume-Frazer--I cannot train my tongue to call her Mrs. Capella--would
+deliberately neglect his wife and dare to demonstrate his unlawful
+affection for another woman, especially such a girl as Helen Layton."
+
+"How long has this been going on?" inquired Brett, for Hume was too
+furious to speak.
+
+"For some months, but it is only a fortnight ago since Helen first
+complained of it to me I promptly told Mr. Capella that I could not
+receive him again at my house. He discovered that Nellie came here a good
+deal, and managed to call about the same time as she did. Then he found
+that she was interested in Japanese art, and as he is really clever in
+that respect--"
+
+"Clever," interrupted the barrister. "Do you mean that he understands
+lacquer work, Satsuma ware, painting or inlaying? Is he a connoisseur or a
+student?"
+
+"It is all Greek to me!" exclaimed the old lady, "but unquestionably the
+bits of china and queer carvings he often brought here were very
+beautiful. Nellie did not like him personally, but she could not deny his
+knowledge and enthusiasm. Margaret, too, used to invite her to the Hall,
+for Miss Layton has great taste as an amateur gardener, Mr. Brett. But
+this friendship suddenly ceased. Mr. Capella became very strange and
+gloomy in his manner. At last Nellie told me that the wretched man had
+dared to utter words of love to her, hinting that his wife could not live
+long, and that he would come in for her fortune. Now, as my poor girl has
+been the most faithful soul that ever lived, never for an instant doubting
+that some day the cloud would lift from Davie, you may imagine what a
+shock this was to her."
+
+"Mrs. Eastham," said Brett, suddenly switching the conversation away from
+the Italian's fantasy, "you are well acquainted with all the circumstances
+connected with Sir Alan's murder. Have you formed any theory about the
+crime, its motive, or its possible author?"
+
+"God forgive me if I do any man an injury, but in these last few days I
+have had my suspicions," she exclaimed.
+
+"Tell me your reasons."
+
+"It arose out of a chance remark by Nellie. She was discussing with me her
+inexplicable antipathy to Mr. Capella, even during the time when they were
+outwardly good friends. She said that once he showed her a Japanese sword,
+a most wonderful piece of workmanship, with veins of silver and gold let
+into the handle and part of the blade. To the upper part of the scabbard
+was attached a knife--a small dagger--similar--"
+
+"Yes, I understand. An implement like that used to kill Sir Alan
+Hume-Frazer."
+
+"Exactly. Nellie at first hardly realised its significance. Then she
+hastily told Capella to take it away, but not before she noticed that he
+seemed to understand the dreadful thing. It is fastened in its sheath by a
+hidden spring, and he knew exactly how to open it. Any person not
+accustomed to such weapons would endeavour to pull it out by main force."
+
+Brett did not press Mrs. Eastham to pursue her theory. It was plain that
+she regarded the Italian as a man who might conceivably be the murderer of
+his wife's brother. This was enough for feminine logic.
+
+Hume, too, shared the same belief, and had not scrupled to express it
+openly.
+
+There were, it was true, reasons in plenty, why Capella should have
+committed this terrible deed. He was, presumably, affianced to Margaret at
+the time. Apparently her father's will had contemplated the cutting down
+of her annual allowance. The young heir had, on the other hand, made up
+the deficit. But why did these artificial restrictions exist? Why were
+precautions taken by the father to diminish his daughter's income? She had
+been extravagant. Both father and brother quarrelled with her on this
+point. Indeed, there was a slight family disturbance with reference to it
+during Sir Alan's last visit to London. Was Capella mixed up with it?
+
+At last there was a glimmering perception of motive for an otherwise
+fiendishly irrational act. Did it tend to incriminate the Italian?
+
+A summons to luncheon dispelled the momentary gloom of their thoughts.
+Before the meal ended Miss Layton joined them.
+
+Brett looked at his watch. "Fifty minutes!" he said.
+
+Then they all laughed, except Mrs. Eastham, who marvelled at the coolness
+of the meeting between the girl and David. But the old lady was
+quick-witted.
+
+"Have you met before?" she cried.
+
+"Dearest," said the girl, kissing her; "do you mean to say they have not
+told you what happened in the park?"
+
+"That will require a special sitting," said Brett gaily. "Meanwhile, I am
+going to the Hall. I suppose you do not care to accompany me, Hume?"
+
+"I do not."
+
+The reply was so emphatic that it created further merriment.
+
+"Well, tell me quickly what this new secret is," exclaimed Mrs. Eastham,
+"because in five minutes I must have a long talk with my cook. She has to
+prepare pies and pastry sufficient to feed nearly a hundred school
+children next Monday, and it is a matter of much calculation."
+
+Brett took his leave.
+
+"I knew that good old soul would be tactful," he said to himself. "Now I
+wonder how Winter made such a colossal mistake as to imagine that Hume
+murdered his cousin. He was sure of the affections of a delightful girl;
+he could not succeed to the property; he has declined to take up the
+title. What reason could he have for committing such a crime?"
+
+Then a man walked up the road--a man dressed like a farmer or grazier,
+rotund, strongly-built, cheerful-looking. He halted opposite Mrs.
+Eastham's house, where the barrister still stood drawing on his gloves on
+the doorstep.
+
+"Yes," said Brett aloud, "you _are_ an egregious ass, Winter."
+
+"Why, Mr. Brett?" asked the unabashed detective. "Isn't the make-up good?"
+
+"It is the make-up that always leads you astray. You never theorise above
+the level of the _Police Gazette_."
+
+Mr. Winter yielded to not unnatural annoyance. With habitual caution, he
+glanced around to assure himself that no other person was within earshot;
+then he said vehemently:
+
+"I tell you, Mr. Brett, that swine killed Sir Alan Hume-Frazer."
+
+"You use strong language."
+
+"Not stronger than he deserves."
+
+"What are you doing here?"
+
+"I heard he was in London, and watched him. I saw him go to your chambers
+and guessed what was up, so I came down here to see you and tell you what
+I know."
+
+"Out of pure good-nature?"
+
+"You can believe it or not, Mr. Brett. It is the truth."
+
+"He has been tried and acquitted. He cannot be tried again. Does Scotland
+Yard--"
+
+"I'm on my holidays."
+
+Brett laughed heartily.
+
+"I see!" he cried. "A 'bus-driver's holiday! For how long?"
+
+"Fourteen days."
+
+"You are nothing if not professional. I suppose it was not your first
+offence, or they might have let you off with a fine."
+
+The detective enjoyed this departmental joke. He grinned broadly.
+
+"Anyhow, Mr. Brett," he said, "you and I have been engaged on too many
+smart bits of work for me to stand quietly by and let you be made a fool
+of."
+
+The barrister came nearer, and said, in a low tone:
+
+"Winter, you have never been more mistaken in your life. Now, attend to my
+words. If you help me you will, in the first place, be well paid for your
+services. Secondly, you will be able to place your hand on the true
+murderer of Sir Alan Hume-Frazer, or I will score my first failure.
+Thirdly, Scotland Yard will give you another holiday, and I can secure you
+some shooting in Scotland. What say you?"
+
+The detective looked thoughtful. Long experience had taught him not to
+argue with Brett when the latter was in earnest.
+
+"I will do anything in my power," he said, "but there is more in this
+business than perhaps you are aware of--more than ever transpired at the
+Assizes."
+
+"Quite so, and a good deal that has transpired since. Now. Winter, don't
+argue, there's a good fellow. Go and engage the landlord of the local inn
+in a discussion on crops. I am off to Beechcroft Hall. Mr. Hume and I will
+call for you on our way back to Stowmarket. In our private sitting-room at
+the hotel there I will explain everything."
+
+They parted. Brett was promptly admitted by Mrs. Crowe, and walked rapidly
+up the avenue.
+
+Winter watched his retreating figure.
+
+"He's smart, I know he's smart," mused the detective. "But he doesn't know
+everything about this affair. He doesn't know, I'll be bound, that David
+Hume-Frazer waited for his cousin that night outside the library. I didn't
+know it--worse luck!--until after he was acquitted. And he doesn't know
+that Miss Nellie Layton didn't reach home until 1.30 a.m., though she left
+the ball at 12.15, and her house is, so to speak, a minute's walk distant.
+And she was in a carriage. Oh, there's more in this case than meets the
+eye! I can't say which would please me most, to find out the real
+murderer, if Hume didn't do it, or prove Mr. Brett to be in the wrong!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+HUSBAND AND WIFE
+
+
+Brett did not hurry on his way to the Hall. Already things were in a
+whirl, and the confusion was so great that he was momentarily unable to
+map out a definite line of action.
+
+The relations between Capella and his wife were evidently strained almost
+to breaking point, and it was this very fact which caused him the greatest
+perplexity.
+
+They had been married little more than six months. They were an
+extraordinarily handsome couple, apparently well suited to each other by
+temperament and mutual sympathies, whilst their means were ample enough to
+permit them to live under any conditions they might choose, and gratify
+personal hobbies to the fullest extent.
+
+What, then, could have happened to divide them so completely?
+
+Surely not Capella's new-born passion for Helen Layton. Not even a
+hot-blooded Southerner could be guilty of such deliberate rascality, such
+ineffable folly, during the first few months after his marriage to a
+beautiful and wealthy wife.
+
+No, this hypothesis must be rejected. Margaret Capella had drifted apart
+from her husband almost as soon as they reached England on their return as
+man and wife. Capella, miserable and disillusioned, buried alive in a
+country place--for such must existence in Beechcroft mean to a man of his
+inclinations--had discovered a startling contrast between his passionate
+and moody spouse, and the bright, pleasant-mannered girl whose ill-fortune
+it was to create discord between the inmates of the Hall.
+
+This theory did not wholly exonerate the Italian, but it explained a good
+deal. The barrister saw no cause as yet to suspect Capella of the young
+baronet's murder. Were he guilty of that ghastly crime, his motive must
+have been to secure for himself the position he was now deliberately
+imperilling--all for a girl's pretty face.
+
+The explanation would not suffice. Brett had seen much that is hidden from
+public ken in the vagaries of criminals, but he had never yet met a man
+wholly bad, and at the same time in full possession of his senses.
+
+To adopt the hasty judgment arrived at by Hume and Mrs. Eastham, Capella
+must be deemed capable of murdering his wife's brother, of bringing about
+the death of his wife after securing the reversion of her vast property to
+himself, and of falling in love with Helen--all in the same breath. This
+species of criminality was only met with in lunatics, and Capella
+impressed the barrister as an emotional personage, capable of supreme good
+as of supreme evil, but quite sane.
+
+The question to be solved was this: Why did Capella and his wife quarrel
+in the first instance? Perhaps, that way, light might come.
+
+He asked a footman if Mrs. Capella would receive him. The man glanced at
+his card.
+
+"Yes, sir," he said at once. "Madam gave instructions that if either you
+or Mr. David called you were to be taken to her boudoir, where she awaits
+you."
+
+The room was evidently on the first floor, for the servant led him up the
+magnificent oak staircase that climbed two sides of the reception hall.
+
+But this was fated to be a day of interruptions. The barrister, when he
+reached the landing, was confronted by the Italian.
+
+"A word with you, Mr. Brett," was the stiff greeting given to him.
+
+"Certainly. But I am going to Mrs. Capella's room."
+
+"She can wait. She does not know you are here. James, remain outside until
+Mr. Brett returns. Then conduct him to your mistress."
+
+Capella's tone admitted of no argument, nor was it necessary to protest.
+Brett always liked people to talk in the way they deemed best suited to
+their own interests. Without any expostulation, therefore, he followed his
+limping host into a luxuriously furnished dressing-room.
+
+Capella closed the door, and placed himself gently on a couch.
+
+"Does your friend fight?" he said, fixing his dark eyes, blazing with
+anger, intently on the other.
+
+"That is a matter on which your opinion would probably be more valuable
+than mine."
+
+"Spare me your wit. You know well what I mean. Will he meet me on the
+Continent and settle our quarrel like a gentleman, not like a hired
+bravo?"
+
+"What quarrel?"
+
+"Mr. Brett, you are not so stupid. David Hume, notwithstanding his past,
+may still be deemed a man of honour in some respects. He treated me
+grossly this morning. Will he fight me, or must I treat him as a cur?"
+
+Brett, without invitation, seated himself. He produced a cigarette and lit
+it, adding greatly to Capella's irritation by his provoking calmness.
+
+"Really," he said at last, "you amuse me."
+
+"Silence!" he cried imperatively, when the Italian would have broken out
+into a torrent of expostulations. "Listen to me, you vain fool!"
+
+This method of address had the rare merit of achieving its object. Capella
+was reduced to a condition of speechless rage.
+
+"You consider yourself the aggrieved person, I suppose," went on the
+Englishman, subsiding into a state of contemptuous placidity. "You neglect
+your wife, make love to an honourable and pure-minded girl, stoop to the
+use of unworthy taunts and even criminal innuendos, lose such control of
+your passion as to lay sacrilegious hands upon Helen Layton, and yet you
+resent the well-merited punishment administered to you by her affianced
+husband. Were I a surgeon, Mr. Capella, I might take an anatomical
+interest in your brain. As it is, I regard you as a psychological study in
+latter-day blackguardism. Do you understand me?"
+
+"Perfectly. You have not yet answered my question. Will Hume fight?"
+
+"I should say that nothing would give him greater pleasure."
+
+"Then you will arrange this matter? I can send a friend to you?"
+
+"And if you do I will send the police to you, thus possibly anticipating
+matters somewhat."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean that my sole purpose in life just now is to lay hands on the man
+who killed Sir Alan Hume-Frazer. Until that end is achieved, I will take
+good care that your crude ideas of honour are dealt with, as they were
+to-day, by the toe of a boot."
+
+Capella was certainly a singular person. He listened unmoved to Brett's
+threats and insults. He gave that snarling smile of his, and toyed
+impatiently with his moustache.
+
+"Your object in life does not concern me. Your courts tried their best to
+hang the man who was responsible for his cousin's death, and failed. I
+take it you decline this proffered duel?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then I will fight David Hume in my own way. You have rejected the fair
+alternative on his behalf. Caramba! We shall see now who wins. He will
+never marry Helen."
+
+"What did you mean just now when you said that he was 'responsible for his
+cousin's death'? Is that an Italian way of describing a cold-blooded
+murder?"
+
+Capella leaned back and snarled silently again. It was a pity he had
+cultivated that trick. It spoilt an otherwise classically regular set of
+features.
+
+"James!" he shouted.
+
+The footman entered.
+
+"Take this gentleman to your mistress. I have done with him."
+
+"For the present, James," said Brett.
+
+The astonished servant led him along a corridor and knocked at a door
+hidden by a silk curtain. Mrs. Capella rose to receive her visitor. She
+was very pale now, but quite calm and dignified in manner.
+
+"Davie did not come with you?" she said when Brett was seated near to her
+in an alcove formed by an oriel window.
+
+"No. He is with Miss Layton."
+
+"Ah, I am not sorry, I prefer to talk with you alone."
+
+"It is perhaps better. Your cousin is impulsive in some respects, though
+self-contained enough in others."
+
+"It may be so. I like him, although we have not seen much of each other
+since we were children. I knew him this morning principally on account of
+his likeness to Alan. But you are his friend, Mr. Brett, and I can discuss
+with you matters I would not care to broach with him. He is with Helen
+Layton now, you say?"
+
+"Yes, and let me add an explanation. Those two young people are devoted to
+each other. No power on earth could separate them."
+
+"Why do you tell me that?"
+
+"Because I think you wished to be assured of it?"
+
+"You are clever, Mr. Brett. If you can interpret a criminal's designs as
+well as you can read a woman's heart you must be a terror to evil-doers."
+
+A slight colour came into her cheeks. The barrister leaned forward, his
+hands clasped and arms resting on his knees.
+
+"I have just seen your husband," he said.
+
+She exhibited no marked sign of emotion but he thought he detected a
+frightened look in her eyes.
+
+"Again I ask," she exclaimed, "why do you tell me?"
+
+"The reason is obvious. You ought to know all that goes on. There was a
+quarrel this morning between him and David Hume. Your husband wished me to
+arrange a duel. I promised him a visit from the police if I heard any more
+of such nonsense."
+
+"A duel! More bloodshed!" she almost whispered.
+
+"Do not have any alarm for either of them. They are quite safe. I will
+guarantee so much, at any rate. But your husband is a somewhat curious
+person. He is prone to strong and sudden hatreds--and attachments."
+
+Margaret pressed her hands to her face. She could no longer bear the
+torture of make-believe quiescence.
+
+"Oh, what shall I do!" she wailed. "I am the most miserable woman in
+England to-day, and I might have been the happiest."
+
+"Why are you miserable, Mrs. Capella?" asked Brett gently.
+
+"I cannot tell you. Perhaps it is owing to my own folly. Are you sure that
+David and Helen intend to get married?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then, for Heaven's sake, let the wedding take place. Let them leave
+Beechcroft and its associations for ever."
+
+"That cannot be until Hume's character is cleared from the odium attached
+to it."
+
+"You mean my brother's death. But that has been settled by the courts.
+David was declared 'Not guilty.' Surely that will suffice! No good purpose
+can be gained by reopening an inquiry closed by the law."
+
+"I think you are a little unjust to your cousin in this matter, Mrs.
+Capella. He and his future wife feel very grievously the slur cast upon
+his name. You know perfectly well that if half the people in this county
+were asked, 'Who killed Sir Alan Hume-Frazer?' they would say 'David
+Hume.' The other half would shake their heads in dubiety, and prefer not
+to be on visiting terms with David Hume and his wife. No; your brother was
+killed in a particularly foul way. He died needlessly, so far as we can
+learn. His death should be avenged, and this can only be done by tracking
+his murderer and ruthlessly bringing the wretch to justice. Are not these
+your own sentiments when divested of all conflicting desires?"
+
+Brett's concluding sentence seemed to petrify his hearer.
+
+"In what way can I help you?" she murmured, and the words appeared to come
+from a heart of stone.
+
+"There are many items I want cleared up, but I do not wish to distress you
+unduly. Can you not refer me to your solicitors, for instance? I imagine
+they will be able to answer all my queries."
+
+"No. I prefer to deal with the affair myself."
+
+"Very well. I will commence with you personally. Why did you quarrel with
+your brother in London a few days before his death?"
+
+"Because I was living extravagantly. Not only that, but he disapproved of
+my manner of life. In those days I was headstrong and wilful. I loved a
+Bohemian existence combined with absurd luxury, or rather, a wildly
+useless expenditure of money. No one who knows me now could picture me
+then. Yet now I am good and unhappy. Then I was wicked, in some people's
+eyes, and happy. Strange, is it not?"
+
+"Not altogether so unusual as you may think. Was any other person
+interested in what I may term the result of the dispute between your
+brother and yourself?"
+
+"That is a difficult question to answer. I was very careless in money
+matters, but it is clear that the curtailment of my rate of living from
+L15,000 to L5,000 per annum must make considerable difference to all
+connected with me."
+
+"Had you been living at the former rate?"
+
+"Yes, since my father's death. What annoyed Alan was the fact that I had
+borrowed from money-lenders."
+
+"Who else knew of your disagreement with him besides these money-lenders
+and his solicitors?"
+
+"All my friends. I used to laugh at his serious ways, when I, older and
+much more experienced in some respects, treated life as a tiresome joke.
+But none of my friends were commissioned to murder my brother so that I
+might obtain the estate, Mr. Brett."
+
+"Not by you," he said thoughtfully.
+
+He knew well that to endeavour to get Margaret to implicate her husband
+would merely render her an active opponent. She loved this Italian scamp.
+She was profoundly thankful that David Hume had come back to claim the
+hand of Helen Layton, the woman who had been the unwilling object of
+Capella's wayward affections. She would be only too glad to give half her
+property to the young couple if they would settle in New Zealand or
+Peru--far from Beechcroft.
+
+Yet it was impossible to believe that she could love a man whom she
+suspected of murdering her brother. Why, then, had husband and wife
+drifted apart? Assuredly the pieces of the puzzle were inextricably mixed.
+
+"Where did you marry Mr. Capella?" asked Brett suddenly.
+
+"At Naples--a civil ceremony, before the Mayor, and registered by the
+British Consul."
+
+"Had you been long acquainted"
+
+"I met him, oddly enough, in Covent Garden Theatre, the night my brother
+was killed"
+
+It was now Brett's turn to be startled.
+
+"Are you quite certain of this?" he asked, his surprise at the turn taken
+by the conversation almost throwing him off his guard.
+
+"Positive. Were you led to believe that Giovanni was the murderer?"
+
+Her voice was cold, impassive, marvellously under control. It warned him,
+threw him back into the safe role of Hume's adviser and friend.
+
+"I am led to believe nothing at present," he said slowly. "This inquiry
+is, as yet, only twenty-four hours old so far as I am concerned. I am
+seeking information. When I am gorged with facts I proceed to digest
+them."
+
+"Well, what I tell you is true. There are no less than ten people, all
+living, I have no doubt, who can testify to its correctness. I had a box
+at the Fancy Dress Ball that New Year's Eve. I invited nine guests. One of
+them, an attache at the Italian Embassy, brought Giovanni and introduced
+him to me. We were together from midnight until 4.30 a.m. Whilst poor Alan
+was lying here dead, I was revelling at a _bal masque_. Do you think I am
+likely to forget the circumstances?"
+
+The icy tones thrilled with pitiful remembrance. But the barrister's task
+required the unsparing use of the probe. He determined, once and for all,
+to end an unpleasant scene.
+
+"Will you tell me why you and your husband have, shall we say, disagreed
+so soon after your marriage? You were formed by Providence and nature to
+be mated. What has driven you apart?"
+
+The woman flushed scarlet under this direct inquiry.
+
+"I cannot tell you," she said brokenly, "but the cause--in no
+way--concerns--either my brother's death--or David's innocence. It is
+personal--between Giovanni and myself. In God's good time, it may be put
+right."
+
+Brett, singularly enough, was a man of quick impulse. He was moved now by
+a profound pity for the woman who thus bared her heart to him.
+
+"Thank you for your candour, Mrs. Capella," he exclaimed, with a fervour
+that evidently touched her. "May I ask one more question, and I have done
+with a most unpleasant ordeal. Do you suspect any person of being your
+brother's assassin?"
+
+"No," she said. "Indeed I do not."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+REVELATIONS
+
+
+Hume and Winter did not meet on terms that might be strictly described as
+cordial.
+
+Brett, on quitting the Hall, had surrendered himself to a spell of vacant
+bewilderment. He haled the unwilling Hume from Helen's society, and picked
+up the detective at the Wheat Sheaf Inn. Then the barrister, from sheer
+need of mental relief, determined to have some fun with them.
+
+"You two ought to know each other," he said good-humouredly. "At one time
+you took keen interest in matters of mutual concern. Allow me to introduce
+you. Hume--this is Mr. Winter, of Scotland Yard."
+
+David was quite unprepared for the meeting.
+
+"What?" he exclaimed, his upper lip stiffening, "the man who concocted all
+sorts of imaginary evidence against me!"
+
+"'Concocted' is not the right word, 'nor imaginary' either," growled
+Winter.
+
+"Quite right," said Brett. "Really, Hume, you should be more careful in
+your choice of language. Had Winter been as careless in his statements at
+the Assizes, he would certainly have hanged you."
+
+Hume was too happy, after a prolonged _tete-a-tete_ with his beloved, to
+harbour malice against any person.
+
+"What are we supposed to do--shake hands?" he inquired blandly.
+
+"It might be a good preliminary to a better understanding of one another.
+You think Winter is an unscrupulous ruffian. He described you to me as a
+swine not two hours ago. Now, you are both wrong. Winter is the best
+living police detective, and a most fair-minded one. He will be a valuable
+ally. Before many days are over you will be deeply in his debt in every
+sense of the word. On the other hand, you, Hume, are a much-wronged man,
+whom Winter must help to regain his rightful position. This is one of the
+occasions when Justice is compelled to take the bandage off her eyes. She
+may be impartial, but she is often blind. Now be friends, and let us start
+from that basis."
+
+Silently the two men exchanged a hearty grip.
+
+"Excellent!" cried the barrister. "Hume, take Winter with you in front. I
+will seat myself beside the groom, and please oblige me, both of you, by
+not addressing a word to me between here and Stowmarket."
+
+Hume and the detective got along comfortably once the ice was broken.
+Naturally, they steered clear of all reference to the tragedy in the
+presence of the servant. Their talk dealt chiefly with sporting matters.
+
+Brett, carried swiftly along the level road, kept his eyes fixed on
+Beechcroft and its contiguous hamlet until they vanished in the middle
+distance.
+
+"This is the most curious inquiry I was ever engaged in," he communed.
+"Winter, of course, will fasten on to Capella like a horse leech when he
+knows the facts. Yet Capella is neither a coward nor an ordinary villain.
+For some ridiculous reason, I have a sneaking sympathy with him. Had he
+stormed and blustered when I pitched into him to-day I would have thought
+less of him. And his wife! What mysterious workings of Fate brought those
+two together and then disunited them? They become fascinated one with the
+other whilst the brother's corpse is still palpitating beneath that
+terrible stroke. They get married, with not unreasonable haste, but no
+sooner do they reach Beechcroft, a house of evil import if ever bricks and
+mortar had such a character, than they are driven asunder by some malign
+influence.
+
+"And now, after eighteen months, I am asked to take up the tangled clues,
+if such may be said to exist. It is a difficult, perhaps an impossible,
+undertaking. Yet if I have done so much in a day, what may not happen in a
+fortnight!"
+
+Long afterwards, recalling that soliloquy, he wondered whether or not,
+were he suddenly endowed with the gift of prophecy, he would,
+nevertheless, have pursued his quest. He never could tell.
+
+Once securely entrenched in a private sitting-room of the Stowmarket
+Hotel, the three men began to discuss crime and tobacco.
+
+Mr. Winter commenced by being confidential and professional.
+
+"Now, Mr. Hume," he said, "as misunderstandings have been cleared, to some
+extent, by Mr. Brett's remarks, I will, with your permission, ask you a
+few questions."
+
+"Fire away."
+
+"In the first place, your counsel tried to prove--did prove, in fact--that
+you walked straight from the ball-room to the Hall, sat down in the
+library, and did not move from your chair until Fergusson, the butler,
+told you how he had found Sir Alan's body on the lawn."
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"So if a man comes forward now and swears that he watched you for nearly
+ten minutes standing in the shadow of the yews on the left of the house,
+he will not be telling the truth?"
+
+"That is putting it mildly."
+
+"Yet there is such a witness in existence, and I am certain he is not a
+liar in this matter."
+
+"What!"
+
+Brett and Hume ejaculated the word simultaneously; the one surprised,
+because he knew how careful Winter was in matters of fact, the other
+indignant at the seeming disbelief in his statement.
+
+"Please, gentlemen," appealed the detective, secretly gratified by the
+sensation he caused, "wait until I have finished. If I did not fully
+accept Mr. Brett's views on this remarkable case, I would not be sitting
+here this minute. My conscience would not permit it"
+
+"Be virtuous, Winter, but not too virtuous," broke in Brett drily.
+
+"There you go again, sir, questioning my motives. But I am of a forgiving
+disposition. Now, there cannot be the slightest doubt that a poacher named
+John Wise, better known as 'Rabbit Jack,' who resides in this town, chose
+that New Year's Eve as an excellent time to net the meadows behind the
+Hall. He had heard about Mrs. Eastham's dance, and knew that on such a
+night the estate keepers would have more liking for fun with the coachmen
+and maids than for game-watching. He entered the park soon after midnight,
+and saw a gentleman walk up the avenue towards the house. He waited a few
+minutes, and crept quietly along the side of the hedge--in the park, of
+course. Being winter time, the trees and bushes were bare, and he was
+startled to see the same gentleman, with his coat buttoned up, standing in
+the shade of the yews close to the Hall. 'Rabbit Jack' naturally thought
+he had been spotted. He gripped his lurcher's collar and stood still for
+nearly ten minutes. Then it occurred to him that he was mistaken. He had
+not been seen, so he stole off towards the plantation and started
+operations. He is a first-rate poacher, and always works alone. About
+three o'clock he was alarmed by a policeman's lantern--the search of the
+grounds after the murder, you see--and made off. He entered Stowmarket on
+the far side of the town, and ran into a policeman's arms. They fought for
+twenty minutes. The P.C. won, and 'Rabbit Jack' got six months' hard
+labour for being in unlawful possession of game and assaulting the police.
+Consequently, he never heard a syllable about the 'Stowmarket Mystery,' as
+this affair was called by the Press, until long after Mr. Hume's second
+trial and acquittal. Yet the first thing 'Rabbit Jack' did after his
+release was to go straight to the police and tell them what he had seen. I
+think, Mr. Hume, that even you will admit a good deal depended on the
+result of the fight between the poacher and the bobby, for 'Rabbit Jack'
+described a man of your exact appearance and dressed as you were that
+night."
+
+There was silence for a moment when Winter ended his recital.
+
+"It is evident," said Brett, otherwise engaged in making smoke-rings,
+"that 'Rabbit Jack' saw the real murderer."
+
+"A man like me--in evening dress! Who on earth could he be?" was Hume's
+natural exclamation.
+
+"We must test this chap's story," said Brett.
+
+"How?"
+
+"Easily enough. There is a garden outside. Can you bring this human bunny
+here to-night?"
+
+"I think so."
+
+"Very well. Stage him about nine o'clock. Anything else?"
+
+Mr. Winter pondered a little while; then he addressed Hume hesitatingly:
+
+"Does Mr. Brett know everything that happened after the murder?"
+
+"I think so. Yes."
+
+"Everything! Say three-quarters of an hour afterwards?"
+
+The effect of this remark on Hume was very pronounced. His habitual air of
+reserve gave place to a state of decided confusion.
+
+"What are you hinting at?" he cried, striving hard to govern his voice.
+
+"Well, it must out, sooner or later. Why did you go to meet Miss Helen
+Layton in the avenue about 1.30 a.m.--soon after Sir Alan's body had been
+examined by the doctor?'
+
+"Oh, damn it, man, how did you ascertain that?" groaned Hume.
+
+"I knew it all along, but I did not see that it was very material to the
+case, and I wanted to keep the poor young lady's name out of the affair as
+far as possible. I did not want to suggest that she was an accessory after
+the crime."
+
+Hume was blushing like a schoolboy. He glanced miserably at Brett, but the
+barrister was still puffing artistic designs in big and little rings.
+
+"Very well. My reason for concealment disappears now," he blurted out, for
+the young man was both vexed and ashamed. "That wretched night, after she
+returned home, Helen thought she had behaved foolishly in creating a
+scene. She put on a cloak, changed her shoes, and slipped back again to
+Mrs. Eastham's, where she met Alan just coming away. She implored him to
+make up the quarrel with me. He apologised for his conduct, and promised
+to do the same to me when we met. He explained that other matters had
+upset his temper that day, and he had momentarily yielded to an irritated
+belief that everything was against him. Helen watched him enter the park;
+she pretended that she was going in to Mrs. Eastham's. She could see the
+lighted windows of the library, and she wondered why he did not go inside,
+but imagined that at the distance she might easily be mistaken. At last
+she ran off to the rectory. Again she lingered in the garden, devoutly
+wishing that all might be well between Alan and me. Then she became
+conscious that something unusual had taken place, owing to the lights and
+commotion. For a long time she was at a loss to conjecture what could have
+happened. At last, yielding to curiosity, she came back to the lodge. The
+gates were wide open. Mrs. Eastham's dance was still in progress. She is
+not a timid girl, so she walked boldly up the avenue until she met
+Fergusson, the butler, who was then going to tell Mrs. Eastham. When she
+heard his story she was too shocked to credit it, and asked him to bring
+me. I came. By that time I was beginning to realise that I might be
+implicated in the affair, and I begged her to return home at once, alone.
+She did so. Subsequently she asked me not to refer to the escapade, for
+obvious reasons. It was a woman's little secret, Brett, and I was
+compelled to keep it."
+
+"Anything else, Winter?" demanded the barrister, wrapped in a cloud of his
+own creation.
+
+"That is all, sir, except the way in which I heard of Miss Layton's
+meeting with Mr. Hume."
+
+"Not through Fergusson, eh?"
+
+"Not a bit. The old chap is as close as wax. He seems to think that a
+Hume-Frazer must die a violent death outside that library window, and if
+the cause of the trouble is another Hume-Frazer, it is their own blooming
+business, and no other person's. Most extraordinary old chap. Have you met
+him?"
+
+"No. Indeed, I am only just beginning to hear the correct details of the
+story."
+
+Hume winced, but passed no remark.
+
+"Well, my information came through an anonymous letter."
+
+"You don't say so! How interesting! Have you got it?"
+
+"I brought it with me, for a reason other than that which actuates me now,
+I must confess."
+
+He produced a small envelope, frayed at the edges, and closely compressed.
+It bore the type-written address, "Police Office, Scotland Yard," and the
+postal stamp was "West Strand, January 18, 9 p.m."
+
+Within, a small slip of paper, also typed, gave this message:--
+
+    "About Stowmarket. David Hume Frazer
+    killed cousin. Cousin talked girl in road.
+    Girl waited wood. David Hume Frazer met
+    girl in wood after 1 a.m."
+
+Brett jumped up in instant excitement. Ha placed the two documents on a
+table near the window, where the afternoon sun fell directly on them.
+
+"Written by the murderer!" he cried "The result of perusing the evening
+papers containing a report of the first proceedings before the
+magistrates! The production of an illiterate man, who knew neither the use
+of a hyphen nor the correct word to describe the avenue! Not wholly exact
+either, if your story be true, Hume."
+
+"My story is true. Helen herself will tell it you, word for word."
+
+"This is most important. Look at that broken small 'c,' and the bent
+capital 'D.' The letter 'a,' too, is out of gear, and does not register
+accurately. Do you note the irregular spacing in 'market,' 'Frazer,'
+'talked'? You got that letter, Winter, and yet you did not test every
+Remington type-writer in London."
+
+"Oh, of course it's my fault!"
+
+Mr. Winter's _coup_ has fallen on himself, and he knew it.
+
+"Oh, Winter, Winter! Come to me twice a week from six to seven, Tuesdays
+and Fridays, and I will give you a night-school training. Now, I wonder if
+that type-writer has been repaired?"
+
+The detective had seldom seen Brett so thoroughly roused. His eyes were
+brilliant, his nose dilated as if he could smell the very scent of the
+anonymous scribe.
+
+"An illiterate man," he repeated, "in evening dress; the same height and
+appearance as Hume; in a village like Sleagill on a New Year's Eve; four
+miles from everywhere. Was ever clue so simple provided by a careless
+scoundrel! And eighteen months have elapsed. This is positively
+maddening!"
+
+"Look here, old chap," said Hume, still smarting under the recollections
+of Brett's caustic utterance, "say you forgive me for keeping that thing
+back. There is nothing else, believe me. It was for Helen's sake."
+
+"Rubbish!" cried the barrister. "The only wonder is that you are not long
+since assimilated in quicklime in a prison grave. You are all cracked, I
+think--living spooks, human March hares. As for you, Winter, I weep for
+you."
+
+He strode rapidly to and fro along the length of the room, smoking
+prodigiously, with frowning brows and concentrated eyes. The others did
+not speak, but Winter treated Hume to an informing wink, as one might say.
+
+"Now you will hear something."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE KO-KATANA
+
+
+Thinking aloud, rather than addressing his companions, Brett began
+again:--
+
+"The man must have had some place in which to change his clothes, for he
+would not court attention by walking about in evening dress by broad
+daylight He met and spoke with Alan Hume-Frazer that afternoon. The result
+was unsatisfactory. The stranger resolved to visit him again at night--the
+night of the ball. In a country village on such an occasion, a
+swallow-tailed coat was a _passe-partout_, as many gentry had come in from
+the surrounding district."
+
+"Yes, that is so," broke in Hume.
+
+Brett momentarily looked through him, and the detective shook his head to
+deprecate any further interruption.
+
+"He could not enter Mrs. Eastham's house, for there everybody knew
+everybody else. He could not enter the library of the Hall, because the
+footman was on duty for several hours. Is not that so?"
+
+He seemed to bite both men with the question.
+
+"Yes," they answered.
+
+"Then he was compelled to hang about the avenue, watching his
+opportunity--his opportunity for what? Not to commit a murder! He was
+unarmed, or, at any rate, his implement was a haphazard choice, selected
+on the spur of the moment. He saw David Hume leave the dance, and watched
+his brief talk with the butler. He correctly interpreted Hume's
+preparations to await his cousin's arrival. Did Hume's sleepiness suggest
+the crime, and its probable explanation? Perhaps. I cannot determine that
+point now. Assuredly it gave the opportunity to commit a theft. Something
+was stolen from the secretaire. A bold rascal, to force a drawer whilst
+another man was in the room! Did he fear the consequences if he were
+caught? I think not. He succeeded in his object, and went off, but before
+he reached the gates he saw Miss Layton, whom he did not know, talking to
+the baronet. He secreted himself until the baronet entered the park alone.
+For some reason, he made his presence known, and walked with Sir Alan to
+the lawn outside the window, still retaining in his hand the small knife
+used to prise open the lock. There was a short and vehement dispute.
+Possibly the baronet guessed the object of this unexpected appearance.
+There may have been a struggle. Then the knife was sent home, with such
+singular skill that the victim fell without a word, a groan, to arouse
+attention. The murderer made off down the avenue, but he was far too
+cold-blooded to run away and encounter unforeseen dangers. No; he waited
+among the trees to ascertain what would happen when his victim was
+discovered, and frame his plans accordingly. It was then that he saw Helen
+Layton and David Hume. As soon as the news of the murder spread abroad the
+dance broke up. Amidst the wondering crowd, slowly dispersing in their
+carriages, he could easily slip away unseen, for the police, of course,
+were sure that David Hume killed his cousin. Don't you see, Winter?"
+
+The inspector did not see.
+
+"You are making up a fine tale, Mr. Brett," he said doggedly, "but I'm
+blessed if I can follow your reasoning."
+
+"No, of course not. Eighteen months of settled conviction are not to be
+dispelled in an instant. But accept my theory. This man, the guilty man,
+must have resided in Stowmarket for some hours, if not days. Many people
+saw him. He could not live in Sleagill, where even the village dogs would
+suspect him. But the addle-headed police, ready to handcuff David Hume,
+never thought of inquiring about strangers who came and went at Stowmarket
+in those days. Stowmarket is a metropolis, a wilderness of changeful
+beings, to a country policeman. It has a market-day, an occasional drunken
+man--life is a whirl in Stowmarket. Fortunately, people have memories. At
+that time you did not wear a beard, Hume."
+
+"No," was the reply, "though I never told you that."
+
+"Of course you told me, many times. Did not your acquaintances fail to
+recognise you? Had not Mrs. Capella to look twice at you before she knew
+you? Now, Winter, start out. Ascertain, in each hotel in the town, if they
+had any strange guests about the period of the murder. There is a remote
+chance that you may learn something. Describe Mr. Hume without a beard,
+and hint at a reward if information is forthcoming. Money quickens the
+agricultural intellect."
+
+The detective, doubting much, obeyed. Hume, asking if there was any reason
+why he should not drive back to Sleagill for an hour before dinner, was
+sarcastically advised to go a good deal farther. Indeed, the sight of that
+tiny type-written slip had stirred Brett to volcanic activity.
+
+He tramped backwards and forwards, enveloped in smoke. Once he halted and
+tore at the bell.
+
+A waiter came.
+
+"Go to my room, No. 11, and bring me a leather dressing-case, marked
+'R.B.' Run! I give you twenty seconds. After that you lose sixpence a
+second out of your tip."
+
+He pulled out his watch. The man dashed along the corridor, much to the
+amazement of a passing chamber-maid. He returned, bearing the bag in
+triumph.
+
+"Seventeen seconds! By the law of equity you are entitled to
+eighteenpence."
+
+Brett produced the money and led the gaping waiter out of the room,
+promptly shutting the door on him.
+
+"He's a rum gentleman that," said the waiter to the girl.
+
+"He must be, to make you hurry in such fashion. Why, you wouldn't have
+gone faster for a free pint."
+
+"I consider that an impertinent observation." With tilted nose the man
+turned and cannoned against Hume.
+
+"Here!" cried the latter. "Run to the stables and get me a horse and trap.
+If they are ready in two minutes I'll give you two shillings."
+
+"Talk about makin' money!" gasped the waiter, as he flew downstairs, "this
+is coinin'. But, by gum, they _are_ in a hurry."
+
+Brett unlocked his bag and took from it the book of newspaper cuttings.
+
+"Ah!" he said, after a rapid glance at his concluding notes. "I thought
+so. Here is what I wrote when the affair was fresh in my mind:--
+
+"'Why were no inquiries made at Stowmarket to learn what, if any,
+strangers were in the town on New Year's Eve?
+
+"'Most minute investigations should be pursued with reference to Margaret
+Hume-Frazer's friends and associates.
+
+"'Has Fergusson ever been asked if his master received any visitors on the
+day of the murder or during the preceding week? If so, who were they?
+
+"What is the precise purpose of the knife attached to the Japanese sword?
+It appears to be too small to be used as a dagger. In any case, the sword
+scabbard would be an unsuitable place to carry an auxiliary weapon, to
+European ideas.'
+
+"Now, I wonder if Fergusson is still at the Hall? The other matters must
+wait."
+
+Winter returned about the same time as Hume. Brett and the latter dressed
+for dinner, and the adroit detective, not to be beaten, borrowed a
+dress-suit from the landlord, after telegraphing to London for his own
+clothes.
+
+During the progress of the meal the little party scrupulously refrained
+from discussing business, an excellent habit always insisted on by Brett.
+
+They had reached the stage of coffee and cigars when a waiter entered and
+whispered something to the police officer.
+
+"'Rabbit Jack' is here," exclaimed Winter.
+
+"Capital! Tell him to wait."
+
+When the servant had left, Brett detailed his proposed test. He and Hume
+would go into the hotel garden, after donning overcoats and deer-stalker
+hats, for Hume told him that both his cousin and he himself had worn that
+style of headgear.
+
+They would stand, with their faces hidden, beneath the trees, and Winter
+was to bring the poacher towards them, after asking him to pick out the
+man who most resembled the person he had seen standing in the avenue at
+Beechcroft.
+
+The test was most successful. "Rabbit Jack" instantly selected Hume.
+
+"It's either the chap hisself or his dead spit," was the poacher's dictum.
+
+Then he was cautioned to keep his own counsel as to the incident, and he
+went away to get gloriously drunk on half-a-sovereign.
+
+In the seclusion of the sitting-room, Winter related the outcome of his
+inquiries. They were negative.
+
+Landlords and barmaids remembered a few commercial travellers by referring
+to old lodgers, but they one and all united in the opinion that New Year's
+Eve was a most unlikely time for the hotels to contain casual visitors.
+
+"I was afraid it would be a wild-goose chase from the start," opined
+Winter.
+
+"Obviously," replied Brett; "yet ten minutes ago you produced a man who
+actually watched the murderer for a considerable time that night."
+
+Whilst Winter was searching his wits for a suitable argument, the
+barrister continued:
+
+"Where is Fergusson now?"
+
+"I can answer that," exclaimed Hume. "He is my father's butler. When
+Capella came to Beechcroft, the old man wrote and said he could not take
+orders from an Italian. It was like receiving instructions from a French
+cook. So my father brought him to Glen Tochan."
+
+"Then your father must send him to London. He may be very useful. I
+understand he was very many years at Beechcroft?"
+
+"Forty-six, man and boy, as he puts it."
+
+"Write to-morrow and bring him to town. He can stay at your hotel. I will
+not keep him long; just one conversation--no more. Can you or your father
+tell me anything else about that sword?"
+
+"I fear not. Admiral Cunningham--"
+
+"I guess I'm the authority there," broke in Winter. "I got to know all
+about it from Mr. Okasaki."
+
+"And who, pray, is Mr. Okasaki?"
+
+"A Japanese gentleman, who came to Ipswich to hear the first trial. He was
+interested in the case, owing to the curious fact that a murder in a
+little English village should be committed with such a weapon, so he came
+down to listen to the evidence. And, by the way, he took a barmaid back
+with him. There was rather a sensation."
+
+"The Japs are very enterprising. What did he tell you about the sword?"
+
+The detective produced a note-book.
+
+"It is all here," he said, turning over the leaves. "A Japanese Samurai,
+or gentleman, in former days carried two swords, one long blade for use
+against his enemies, and a shorter one for committing suicide if he was
+beaten or disgraced. The sword Mr. Hume gave his cousin was a short one,
+and the knife which accompanied it is called the Ko-Katana, or little
+sword. As well as I could understand Mr. Okasaki, a Jap uses this as a
+pen-knife, and also as a queer sort of visiting-card. If he slays an enemy
+he sticks the Ko-Katana between the other fellow's ribs, or into his ear,
+and leaves it there."
+
+"A P.P.C. card, in fact!"
+
+"You always have some joke against the P.C.'s," growled the detective. "I
+never--"
+
+"You have just made a most excellent one yourself. Please continue,
+Winter. Your researches are valuable."
+
+"That is all. Would you like to see the Ko-Katana that killed Sir Alan?"
+
+"Yes. Where is it?"
+
+"In the Black Museum at Scotland Yard. I will take you there."
+
+"Thank you. By the way, concerning this man, Okasaki. Supposing we should
+want any further information from him on this curious topic, can you find
+him? You say he indulged in some liaison with an Ipswich girl, so I assume
+he has not gone back to Japan."
+
+"The last I heard of him was at that time. Some one told me that he was an
+independent gentleman, noted for his art tastes. The disappearance of the
+girl created a rare old row in Ipswich."
+
+"Make a note of him. We may need his skilled assistance. Was there any
+special design on the Ko-Katana?"
+
+"It was ornamented in some way, but I forget the pattern."
+
+"I can help you in that matter," said Hume. "I remember perfectly that the
+handle, of polished gun-metal, bore a beautiful embossed design in gold
+and silver of a setting sun surmounted by clouds and two birds."
+
+"Correct, Mr. Hume, I recall it now," said the detective. "The same thing
+appears on the handle of the sword."
+
+Brett ruminated silently on this fresh information. Like the other pieces
+in the puzzle, it seemed to have no sort of connection with the cause of
+the crime.
+
+"Why do you say 'setting sun'? How does one distinguish it from the rising
+sun in embossed or inlaid work?" he asked Hume.
+
+"I do not know. I only repeat Alan's remark. I gave the beastly thing to
+him because he became interested in Japanese arms during his Eastern tour,
+you will recollect."
+
+"Ah, well. That is a nice point for Mr. Okasaki to settle if we chance to
+come across him. Don't forget, Winter, I want to see that Ko-Katana. Whom
+did you meet at Sleagill, Hume?"
+
+The young man laughed. "Helen, of course."
+
+"Any other person?"
+
+"No. I told her I might chance to drive out in that direction about five
+o'clock, so--"
+
+"Dear me! You were not at all certain."
+
+"By no means. I am at your orders."
+
+"Excellent! Then my orders are that you shall meet the young lady on every
+possible occasion. You took her for a drive?"
+
+"Well--er--yes, I did. You do not leave me much to tell."
+
+"Did she say anything of importance--bearing upon our inquiry, I mean?"
+
+"Nothing. She had not quitted the rectory since we came away. I asked her
+to pick up any village gossip about the people at the Hall, and let us
+know at the earliest moment if she regarded it as valuable in any way."
+
+"That was thoughtful of you. A great deal may happen there at any moment."
+
+A waiter knocked and entered. He handed a letter to Hume.
+
+"From Nellie," said David hastily.
+
+He opened the envelope and perused a short note, which he gave to Brett.
+It ran:--
+
+    "DEAREST,--I have just heard from Jane, our under-housemaid, that
+    Mr. Capella is leaving the Hall for London by an early train
+    to-morrow. Jane 'walks out' with Mr. Capella's valet, and is in
+    tears. Tell Mr. Brett. I am going to help Mrs. Eastham to select
+    prize books for the school treat to-morrow at eleven.
+
+    "--With love, yours,
+
+    "NELLIE."
+
+"Who brought this note?" inquired Hume from the waiter as he picked up pen
+and paper.
+
+"A man from Sleagill, sir. Any reply?"
+
+"Certainly. Tell him to wait in the tap-room at my expense." He commenced
+to write.
+
+"Any message?" he asked Brett.
+
+"Yes. Give Miss Layton my compliments, and say I regret to hear that Jane
+is in tears. Ask her--Miss Layton--to get Jane to find out from the valet
+what train his master will travel by."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I will go by an earlier one, if possible."
+
+"But what about me! Confound it, I promised--"
+
+"To meet Miss Layton at eleven. Do so, my dear fellow. But come to town
+to-morrow evening. Winter and I may want you."
+
+So the detective sent another telegram to detain that dress suit, and Hume
+seemed to have quickly conquered his disinclination to visit Stowmarket.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE BLACK MUSEUM
+
+
+Winter, who had never seen Capella, was so well posted by Brett as to his
+personal appearance that he experienced no difficulty in picking out the
+Italian when he alighted from the train at Liverpool Street Station next
+morning.
+
+Capella did not conduct himself like a furtive villain. He jumped into a
+hansom. His valet followed in a four-wheeler with the luggage. In each
+instance the address given to the driver was that of a well-known West End
+hotel.
+
+The detective's cab kept pace with Capella's through Old Broad Street,
+Queen Victoria Street, and along the Embankment. At the Mansion House, and
+again at Blackfriars, they halted side by side, and Winter noticed that
+his quarry was looking into space with sullen, vindictive eyes.
+
+"He means mischief to somebody," was Winter's summing up. "I wonder if he
+intends to knife Hume?" for Brett had given his professional _confrere_ a
+synopsis of all that happened before they met, and of his subsequent
+conversation with the "happy couple" in Beechcroft Hall.
+
+He repeated this remark to the barrister when he reached Brett's chambers.
+
+"Capella will do nothing so crude," was the comment. "He is no fool. I do
+not credit him with the murder of Sir Alan, but if I am mistaken in this
+respect, it is impossible to suppose that he can dream of clearing his
+path again by the same drastic method. Of course he means mischief, but he
+will stab reputations, not individuals."
+
+"When will you come to the Black Museum?"
+
+"At once, if you like. But before we set out I want to discuss Mr. Okasaki
+with you. What sort of person is he?"
+
+"A genuine Jap, small, lively, and oval-faced. His eyes are like tiny
+slits in a water melon, and when he laughs his grin goes back to his
+ears."
+
+"Really, Winter, I did not credit you with such a fund of picturesque
+imagery. Would you know him again?"
+
+"I can't be certain. All Japs are very much alike, to my thinking, but if
+I heard him talk I would be almost sure. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because I have been looking up a little information with reference to the
+Ko-Katana and its uses. Now, Okasaki is the name of a Japanese town.
+Family names almost invariably have a topographical foundation, referring
+to some village, river, street, or mountain, and there may be thousands of
+Okasakis. Then, again, it was the custom some years ago for a man to be
+called one name at birth, another when he came of age, a third when he
+obtained some official position, and so on. For instance, you would be
+called Spring when you were born, Summer when you were twenty-one, Autumn
+when you became a policeman, and Winter when you reached your present
+rank."
+
+"Oh, Christopher!" cried the detective. "And if I were made Chief
+Inspector?"
+
+"Then your title would be 'Top Dog' or something of the sort."
+
+Mr. Winter assimilated the foregoing information with a profound
+thankfulness that we in England do these things differently.
+
+"Why are you so interested in Mr. Okasaki?" he inquired.
+
+"I will answer your question by another. Why was he so interested in the
+Ko-Katana?"
+
+"That is hardly what I told you, Mr. Brett. He professed to be interested
+in the crime itself. But now I come to think of it, he did ask me to let
+him see the thing."
+
+"And did you?"
+
+"Yes; I wanted all the information I could get."
+
+"My position exactly. Let us go to Scotland Yard."
+
+The famous Black Museum has so often been the subject of articles in the
+public press that no detailed description is needed here. It contains, in
+glass cases, or hanging on the walls, a weird collection of articles
+famous in the annals of crime. It is not open to the public, and Brett,
+who had not seen the place before, examined its relics with much
+curiosity.
+
+The detective exhibited a pardonable pride in some of them, but his
+companion damped his enthusiasm by saying:
+
+"This is a depressing sight."
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"British rogues are evidently of low intelligence in the average. A
+bludgeon and a halter make up their history."
+
+"There's more than that in a good many cases."
+
+"Ah, I forgot the handcuffs."
+
+"Well, here is the Ko-Katana," said Winter shortly.
+
+The barrister took the fateful weapon, not more deadly than a paper-knife
+in appearance, and scrutinised it closely.
+
+"It has not been cleaned," he said.
+
+"No, it was left untouched after the doctor withdrew it from the poor
+young fellow's breast."
+
+Brett produced a magnifying glass. Beneath the rust on the blade he
+thought he could distinguish some Japanese characters in the quaint
+pictorial script adapted by that singular people from the Chinese system
+of writing.
+
+He brought the knife nearer to the window and carefully focussed it. Then
+he produced a note-book and made a pencil drawing of the following
+inscription:
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Winter watched him with quiet agony. He had never noticed the signs
+before.
+
+"Mr. Okasaki did not tell you what these scratches meant?" inquired the
+barrister.
+
+"No. He did not see them."
+
+"Sure?"
+
+"Quite positive. Of course, it is very smart on your part to hit upon them
+so quickly, but what possible purpose can it serve to find out the meaning
+of something carved in Japan more than fifty years ago, at the very
+least?"
+
+"I do not know. It is very stupid of me, I admit, but I have not the
+faintest notion."
+
+"Does it make the finding of Okasaki more important?"
+
+"To a certain extent. We want to have everything explained. At present we
+have so little of what I regard as really definite evidence."
+
+"May I ask what that little is?"
+
+"Sir Alan Hume-Frazer was murdered with a knife produced by a man like
+David Hume, whom 'Rabbit Jack' saw standing beneath the yews. Not much,
+eh?"
+
+Winter shook his head dubiously.
+
+"If Sir Alan were shot instead of stabbed," went on the barrister, "the
+first thing you would endeavour to determine would be the calibre and
+nature of the bullet. Why not be equally particular about the knife?"
+
+"But this weapon has been for fifty years in Glen Tochan. Its history is
+thoroughly established."
+
+"Is it? Who made it? Whose crest does it bear? What does this motto
+signify? If you wanted to kill a man would you use this toy? Why was not
+the sword itself employed?"
+
+"That string of questions leaves me out, Mr. Brett."
+
+"I am equally uninformed. I can only answer the last one. The sword is
+intended for suicidal purposes, the Ko-Katana for an enemy. This is a case
+of murder, not suicide."
+
+The detective wheeled sharply on his heels, thereby upsetting Charles
+Peace's telescopic ladder.
+
+"You suspect Okasaki!" he cried.
+
+"My dear fellow! Okasaki is, say, five feet nothing. The murderer is five
+feet ten inches in height. Japanese are clever people, but they are
+not--telescopes," and he picked up the ladder.
+
+Winter grinned. "You always make capital out of my blunders," he said.
+
+"Pooh! My banking account is limited. Let us go. The moral atmosphere in
+this room is vile."
+
+Outside the Central Police Office they separated, Brett to pay some
+long-neglected calls, Winter to hunt up Capella's movements and initiate
+inquiries about Okasaki.
+
+The detective came to Brett's chambers at five o'clock, in a great state
+of excitement.
+
+"Thank goodness you are at home, sir." he cried, when Smith admitted him
+to the barrister's sanctum. "Capella is off to Naples."
+
+Naples, the scene of his marriage! What did this journey portend? Naught
+but the gravest considerations would take him so far away from home when
+he knew that David and Helen were reunited.
+
+"How did you discover this fact?" asked Brett, awaking out of a brown
+study.
+
+"Easily enough, as it happened. Ninety-nine per cent. of gentlemen's
+valets are keen sports. Barbers and hotel-porters run them close. I do a
+bit that way myself--"
+
+The barrister groaned.
+
+"Not often, sir, but this is holiday time, you see. Anyhow, I gave the
+hall-porter, whom I know, the wink to come to a neighbouring bar during
+his time off for tea. He actually brought Capella's man--William his name
+is--with him. I told them I had backed the first winner to-day, an eight
+to one chance, and that started them. I offered to put them on a certainty
+next week, and William's face fell. 'It's a beastly nuisance,' he said,
+'I'm off to Naples with my boss to-morrow.' 'Well,' said I, 'if you're not
+going before the night train, perhaps I may be able--' But that made him
+worse, because they leave by the 11 A.M., Victoria."
+
+Brett began to pace the room. He could not make up his mind to visit
+Naples in person. For one thing, he did not speak Italian. But Capella
+must be followed. At last he decided upon a course of action.
+
+"Winter," he said, "do you know a man we can trust, an Italian, or better
+still, an Italian-speaking Englishman, who can undertake this commission
+for us?"
+
+"Would you mind ringing for Smith, sir?" replied the detective, who seemed
+to be mightily pleased with himself.
+
+Smith appeared.
+
+"At the foot of the stairs you will find a gentleman named Holden," said
+Winter. "Ask him to come up, please."
+
+Holden appeared, a sallow personage, long-nosed and shrewd-looking. The
+detective explained that Mr. Holden was an ex-police sergeant, retained
+for many years at headquarters on account of his fluency in the language
+of Tasso. Winter did not mention Tasso. This is figurative.
+
+An arrangement was quickly made. He was to start that evening and meet
+Capella on arrival at Naples; Winter would telegraph the fact of the
+Italian's departure according to programme. Holden was not to spare
+expense in employing local assistance if necessary. He was to report
+everything he could learn about Capella's movements.
+
+Brett wanted to hand him L50, but found that all the money he had in his
+possession at the moment only totalled up to L35.
+
+Winter produced a small bag.
+
+"It was quite true what I said," he smirked. "I did back the first winner,
+and, what's more, I drew it--sixteen of the best."
+
+"I had no idea the police force was so corrupt," sighed Brett, as he
+completed the financial transaction, and Mr. Holden took his departure.
+The detective also went off to search for Okasaki.
+
+About nine o'clock Hume arrived.
+
+"You will be glad to hear," he said, "that the rector invited me to lunch.
+He approves of my project, and will pray for my success. It has been a
+most pleasant day for me, I can assure you."
+
+"The rector retired to his study immediately after lunch, I presume?"
+
+"Yes," said David innocently. "Has anything important occurred in town?"
+
+Brett gave him a resume of events. A chance allusion to Sir Alan caused
+the young man to exclaim:
+
+"By the way, you have never seen his photograph. He and I were very much
+alike, you know, and I have brought from my rooms a few pictures which may
+interest you."
+
+He handed to Brett photographs of himself and his two cousins, and of the
+older Sir Alan and Lady Hume-Frazer, taken singly and in groups.
+
+The barrister examined them minutely.
+
+"Alan and I," pointed out his client, "were photographed during our last
+visit to London. Poor chap! He never saw this picture. The proofs were not
+sent until after his death."
+
+Something seemed to puzzle Brett very considerably. He compared the
+pictures one with the other, and paid heed to every detail.
+
+"Let me understand," Brett said at last. "I think I have it in my notes
+that at the time of the murder you were twenty-seven, Sir Alan
+twenty-four, and Mrs. Capella twenty-six?"
+
+"That is so, approximately. We were born respectively in January, October,
+and December. My twenty-seventh birthday fell on the 11th."
+
+"Stated exactly, you were two years and nine months older than he?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You don't look it."
+
+"I never did. We were always about the same size as boys, but he matured
+at an earlier age than I."
+
+"It is odd. How old were you when this group was taken?"
+
+The photograph depicted a family gathering on the lawn at Beechcroft.
+There were eight persons in it, three being elderly men.
+
+David reflected.
+
+"That was before I left Harrow, and Christmas time. Seventeen almost,
+within a couple of weeks."
+
+"So your cousin Margaret was sixteen?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"She was remarkably tall, well-developed for her age."
+
+"That was a notable characteristic from an early age. We boys used to call
+her 'Mama,' when we wanted to vex her."
+
+"The three old gentlemen are very much alike. This is the baronet. Who are
+the others?"
+
+"My father and uncle."
+
+"What! Do you mean to tell me there is another branch of the family?"
+
+"Well, yes, in a sense. My uncle is dead. His son, my age or a little
+older, for the youngest of the three brothers was married first, was last
+heard of in Argentina."
+
+Brett threw the photograph down with clatter.
+
+"Good Heavens!" he vociferated, "when shall I begin to comprehend this
+business in its entirety? How many more uncles, and aunts, and cousins
+have you?"
+
+Amazed by this outburst, Hume endeavoured to put matters right.
+
+"I never thought--" he commenced.
+
+"You come to me to do the thinking, Hume. For goodness' sake switch your
+memory for five minutes from Miss Layton, and tell me all you know of your
+family history. Have you any other relations?"
+
+"None whatever."
+
+"And this newly-arrived cousin, what of him?"
+
+"He was in the navy, and being of a quarrelsome disposition, was
+court-martialled for some small outbreak. He would not submit to
+discipline, and resigned the service. Then his father died, and Bob went
+off to South America. I have never heard of him since. I know very little
+about my younger uncle's household. Indeed, the occasion recorded by the
+photograph was the last time the old men met in friendship. There was a
+dispute about money matters. My Uncle Charles was in the city, the two
+estates being left by my grandfather to the two oldest sons. Charles
+Hume-Frazer died a poor man, having lost his fortune by speculation."
+
+"Have you seen your cousin Robert? Did he resemble Alan and you?"
+
+"We were all as like as peas. People say that our house is remarkable for
+the unchanging type of its male line. That is readily demonstrated by the
+family portraits. You have not been in the dining-room or picture-gallery
+at Beechcroft, or you must have noticed this instantly."
+
+Brett flung himself into a chair.
+
+"The Argentine!" he muttered. "A nice school for a 'quarrelsome'
+Hume-Frazer."
+
+He had calmed sufficiently to reach for his cigarette-case when Smith
+entered with a note, delivered by a boy messenger.
+
+It was from Winter:
+
+"Have found Okasaki. His name is now Numagawa Jiro, so you were right, as
+usual. He and Mrs. Jiro live at 17 St. John's Mansions, Kensington."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+MR. "OKASAKI"
+
+
+In fifteen minutes Brett was bowling along Knightsbridge in a hansom,
+having left Hume with a strict injunction to rack his brains for any
+further undiscovered facts bearing upon the inquiry, and turn up promptly
+at ten o'clock next morning.
+
+Although the hour was late for calling upon a complete stranger, the
+barrister could not rest until he had inspected the Jiro menage. No. 17
+was a long way from the ground level. Indeed, the cats of Kensington, if
+sufficiently enterprising, inhabitated the floor above.
+
+He rang, and was surveyed with astonishment by a very small maid-servant.
+
+"Is Mr. Numagawa Jiro at home?" he inquired.
+
+"No, sir, but Mrs. Jiro is."
+
+An infantine wail from one of the apartments showed that there was also a
+young Jiro.
+
+The maid neither advanced nor retreated. She simply stood stock still,
+petrified by the sight of a well-dressed visitor.
+
+Brett suggested that she should inform her mistress of his presence.
+
+"Please, sir," whispered the girl, "are you from Ipswich?"
+
+"No; from Victoria Street."
+
+"I only asked, sir, because master is particular about people from
+Ipswich. They upset missus so."
+
+She vanished into the interior, and came back to usher him into the
+drawing-room. The flat was expensively furnished, but very untidy. He at
+once perceived, however, that the "former" Mr. Okasaki was not romancing
+when he boasted of his artistic tastes. The Japanese articles in the room
+were gems of faience and lacquer work.
+
+The entrance of Mrs. Jiro drew the barrister's eyes from surrounding
+objects. He was momentarily stunned. The woman was almost a giantess, and
+amazingly stout. In a tiny flat, waited on by a diminutive servant, and
+married to a Japanese, she was grotesque.
+
+Originally a very tall and fairly good-looking girl, she had evidently
+blossomed out like one of the gorgeous chrysanthemums of her husband's
+favoured land.
+
+Assuredly she had acquired no Japanese traits either in manner or
+appearance. At first she seemed to be in a genuinely British bad temper,
+but Brett excelled in the art of smoothing the ruffled plumes of
+femininity.
+
+"What is it?" she demanded, surveying him suspiciously.
+
+"I wish to see Mr. Jiro," he said, "but permit me to apologise for making
+such an untimely call. As he is not at home, I must not trouble you beyond
+inquiring a likely hour to see him to-morrow."
+
+He smiled so pleasantly that the lady became more complaisant.
+
+"He may not be very long--" she commenced, but the youthful Jiro's voice
+was again heard in fretful complaint.
+
+"My baby is not well to-night," she explained.
+
+"Poor little darling!" said Brett.
+
+He was tempted to add: "What is its name?" but refrained.
+
+"Won't you sit down?" said Mrs. Jiro. "As I was saying, my husband may not
+be very long--"
+
+She was fated not to complete that doubly accurate sentence, for at that
+moment a key rattled in the outer door.
+
+"Here he is," she announced; and Mr. Jiro entered.
+
+It was fortunate that the gravity of his errand, no less than his power of
+self-control, kept Brett from laughing. As it was, he smiled very broadly
+when he greeted the master of the flat, for the little man was small even
+for a Japanese.
+
+The contrast between him and his helpmate was ludicrous. He could not
+possibly kiss her unless she stooped, nor would his arms encircle her
+shoulders.
+
+"And how is my pretty _karasu_?" he asked, regarding his wife fondly.
+
+"Don't call me that, Nummie!" she cried.
+
+Turning to Brett she explained: "He calls me a crow, and says it is a
+compliment, but I don't like it."
+
+"In Japan the clow speaks with the voice of love," grinned Jiro.
+
+"Well, it sounds funny in London, so just attend to this gentleman. He has
+come to see you on business."
+
+Mrs. Jiro forthwith seated herself to listen to the conclave. Brett,
+though warned by the maid's remark, could not help himself, so he went
+straight to the point.
+
+"Over a year ago," he said, "you were in Ipswich."
+
+Instantly a severe chill fell upon his hearers. The man shrank, the woman
+expanded, but before either could utter a word, the barrister continued:
+
+"Personally, I know no one in Ipswich. I have only visited the town twice,
+during an Assize week. It has come to my knowledge that you gave the
+police some information with reference to a Japanese weapon which figured
+in a noted crime, and I have ventured to come here to ask you for
+additional details."
+
+Mrs. Jiro heaved a great sigh of relief.
+
+"My gracious!" she cried, "you did startle me. I can't bear to hear the
+name of Ipswich nowadays. I was married from there."
+
+"Indeed!" said Brett, with polite interest.
+
+"Yes; and my people are always hunting me up and making a row because I
+married Mr. Jiro. Sometimes they make me that ill that I feel half
+inclined to go with him to Japan. He is always worrying me to leave
+London, but the more I hear about Japan the less I fancy it."
+
+"Ah, my own little _gan_--" broke in her husband.
+
+"There you go again," she snapped. "Calling me a _gan_--a goose, indeed!
+Now, Mr. Brett, how would you like to be called a wild goose?"
+
+"I have often deserved it," he said.
+
+"You do not understand," chirped Jiro. "In Japan the goose is beautiful,
+elegant. It flies fast like a white spilit."
+
+His English was almost perfect, but in words containing a rolled "r" he
+often substituted an "l."
+
+"I understand enough to keep away from Japan, a place where they have an
+earthquake every five minutes, and people live in paper houses. Besides,
+look at the size of your women-folk. Just imagine me, Mr. Brett, walking
+about among those little dolls, like a turkey among tom-tits."
+
+"We give fat people much admilation," said Jiro.
+
+"Nummie, I do hate that word fat. I can't help being tall and well
+developed; but it is only short women who become 'fat'."
+
+She hissed the word venomously, as if she possessed the scorpion's fabled
+power to sting herself. Evidently Mrs. Jiro dreaded corpulence more than
+earthquakes.
+
+Brett had never previously met such a strangely assorted couple. He would
+willingly have prolonged his visit for mere amusement, but he was
+compelled to return to the cause of his presence. Unless he asked direct
+questions he would make no progress. He took from his pocket-book the
+drawing made in the Black Museum, and handed it to the Japanese, saying:
+
+"Would you mind telling me the meaning of that?"
+
+Jiro screwed his queer little eyes upon the scrawling characters. The
+methods of writing in the Far East, being pictorial and inexact, require
+scrutiny of the context before a given sentence can be correctly
+interpreted.
+
+The little man made no trouble about it, however.
+
+"They are old chalacters," he said. "In Japan we joke a lot. Evely sign
+has sevelal meanings. This can be lead two ways. It is a plovelb, and
+says, 'A new field gives a small clop,' or 'Human life is but fifty
+years.' Where did you see it?"
+
+"On the blade of the Ko-Katana that killed Sir Alan Hume-Frazer," answered
+Brett.
+
+And now he experienced a fresh difficulty. The Japanese face is
+exceedingly expressive. When a native of the Island Empire smiles or
+scowls, exhibits surprise or fear, he apparently does these things with
+his whole soul. Such facial plasticity provides far more effective
+concealment of real emotions than the phlegmatic indifference of the
+Briton, who, in the words of Emerson, requires "pitchforks or the cry of
+'fire!'" to arouse him.
+
+It is possible to throw an Englishman off his guard by a shrewd thrust;
+but Mr. Numagawa Jiro was one of those persons whose lineaments would
+reveal the same amount of pain over a cut finger as a broken leg.
+
+Nevertheless, Brett's reply did unquestionably make him jump, and even
+Mrs. Jiro's bulging features became anxious.
+
+"Is that possible?" said the Japanese. "It is velly stlange the police
+gentleman did not tell me about it."
+
+"He did not know of it until to-day," explained Brett, "and that is why I
+am here now. It is the motto of some important Japanese family, is it
+not?"
+
+"It is a plovelb," repeated Jiro, who evidently intended to take thought.
+
+"So I understand, but used in this way it represents a family, a clan?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"What! A man so interested in his country's art as to go to an
+out-of-the-way English provincial town merely to see a small knife, must
+surely be able to decide such a trivial matter as the use of mottoes on
+sword blades!"
+
+Mr. Jiro's excellent knowledge of English seemed to fail him, but his wife
+took up the defence.
+
+"My husband had more to think about in Ipswich than a small knife, Mr.
+Brett."
+
+"Very much more, but it was the knife which brought him to the place. He
+carried the major attraction away with him."
+
+Mrs. Jiro thought this sounded nice. She turned to her husband:
+
+"Why don't you tell the gentleman all you know about it, Nummie?"
+
+The little man looked at her curiously before he spoke to the barrister.
+
+"I have nothing to tell," he said. "I told the police all that they asked
+me. That was a velly old Ko-Katana, a hundred yeals old. It was made by a
+famous altist. I have told you the meaning of the liting. That is all I
+know."
+
+"Why did you give your name at Ipswich as Okasaki?" demanded Brett.
+
+"Oh, that is vely easy. Okosaki is my family name. You English people say
+it quicker than Numaguwa Jiro, so I give it. But when I got mallied I used
+my light name. Japanese law does not pelmit the change of names now. My
+ploper name is Numagawa Jiro"--which he pronounced "Jilo."
+
+"You told the detective at Ipswich that the device on the handle
+represented the setting sun. How did you know the sun was setting, and not
+rising?"
+
+It was a haphazard shot. The description was Hume's, not Winter's.
+
+Again the Japanese paused before answering.
+
+"It was shown by the way in which the gold was used. Japanese altists have
+symbols for ideas. That is one."
+
+"Thank you. I imagined you recognised the device, and could speak off-hand
+in the matter. By the way, do you use a type-writer?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Jiro. "My husband is clever at all that sort of thing,
+and when he found the people could not read his writing he bought a
+machine."
+
+"I have sold it again," interfered Jiro, after a hasty glance round the
+room, "and I am going to buy another."
+
+Mrs. Jiro rose to stir the fire unnecessarily.
+
+"They are most useful," said Brett. "Which make do you prefer?"
+
+"They are all vely much alike," answered the Japanese, "but I am going to
+buy a Yost or a Hammond."
+
+"I am very much obliged to you for receiving me at this late hour," said
+the barrister, rising, "but before I go allow me to compliment you on your
+remarkable knowledge of English. I am sure you are indebted to your good
+lady for your idiomatic command of the language."
+
+"I studied it for yeals in Japan--" began Jiro, but in vain, for his very
+much better half resented the word "idiomatic."
+
+"I don't know about that," she snorted. "He talked a lot of nonsense when
+we were married, but I've made him drop it, and he is teaching me
+Japanese."
+
+"His task is a pleasant one. It is the tongue of poetry and love."
+
+Again there was a pause. A minute later Brett was standing in the street
+trying to determine how best to act.
+
+He was fully persuaded that Jiro had, in the first place, identified the
+crest as belonging to one of the many Samurai clans. But the motto was new
+to him, and its discovery had revealed the particular family which claimed
+its use.
+
+Why did he refuse to impart his knowledge? There must be plenty of
+Japanese in London who would give this information readily.
+
+Again, why did he lie about the type-writer, and endeavour to mislead him
+as to the make of the machine he used?
+
+To-morrow, for a certainty, Jiro would dispose of the Remington which he
+now possessed. Well, he should meet with a ready purchaser, if a letter
+from Brett to every agency in London would expedite matters.
+
+He did not credit Jiro with the death of Sir Alan Hume-Frazer, nor even
+with complicity in the crime. The Japanese had acted as the unwitting tool
+of a stronger personality, and the little man's brain was even at this
+moment considering fresh aspects of the affair not previously within his
+ken.
+
+Moreover, how maddening the whole thing was! Beginning with Hume's
+fantastic dream, he reviewed the hitherto unknown elements in the
+case--Capella's fierce passion and queer behaviour, culminating in a
+sudden journey to Italy, Margaret's silent agony, the existence of an
+Argentine cousin, the evidence of "Rabbit Jack," the punning motto on the
+Ko-Katana, Jiro's perturbation and desire to prevent his wife's
+unconscious disclosures.
+
+With the final item came the ludicrous remembrance of that ill-assorted
+couple. Laughing, Brett hailed a hansom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+WHAT THE STATIONMASTER SAW
+
+
+The number of type-writer exchanges in London is not large. Impressing the
+services of Smith and his wife as amanuenses, Brett despatched the
+requisite letters before he retired for the night.
+
+He was up betimes and out before breakfast, surprising the domestics of
+his club by an early visit to the library. The Etona contained a great
+many service members, and made a feature of its complete editions of Army
+and Navy lists.
+
+In one of the latter, eight years old, Brett found, among the officers of
+the _Northumberland_, at that time in commission, "Robert Hume-Fraser,
+sub-lieutenant." A later volume recorded his retirement from the service.
+
+Hume and Winter reached Brett's flat together.
+
+"Any luck with the Jap, sir?" asked the detective cheerily.
+
+Brett told them what had happened, and Winter sighed. Here, indeed, was a
+promising subject for an arrest. Why not lock him up, and seize the
+type-writer? But he knew the barrister by this time, and uttered no word.
+
+"And now," said Brett, after a malicious pause to enable Winter to declare
+himself, "I am going back to Stowmarket. No, Hume, you are not coming with
+me. When does Fergusson arrive here?"
+
+The question drove from David's face the disappointed look with which he
+received his friend's announcement.
+
+"To-morrow evening," he replied. "My father thinks the old man should not
+risk an all-night journey. He has also sent me every detail he can get
+together, either from documents or recollection, bearing upon our family
+history."
+
+He produced a formidable roll of manuscript. The old gentleman had
+evidently devoted many hours and some literary skill to the compilation.
+
+"I will read that in the train," said Brett. "You must start at once for
+Portsmouth. I have here a list of all the officers serving with your
+cousin Robert on the _Northumberland_ immediately prior to his quitting
+the Navy. Portsmouth, Devonport, Southsea, and the neighbourhood will
+almost certainly contain some of them. If not, people there will know
+where they are to be found. You must make yourself known to them, and
+endeavour to gain any sort of news concerning the ex-lieutenant. Naval men
+roam all over the world. Some of them may have met him in the Argentine,
+or in any of the South American ports where British warships are
+constantly calling. He was a sailor. He left the Navy under no cloud.
+Hence, the presence of a British man-o'-war would draw him like a magnet.
+Do not come back here until you bring news of him."
+
+"Why is it so important? You cannot imagine--"
+
+"No; I endeavour to restrain my imagination. I want facts. You are the
+best person to obtain them. One relative inquiring for another is a
+natural proceeding. It will not arouse suspicions that you are a
+debt-collector."
+
+"Suppose I obtain news of his whereabouts?"
+
+"Telegraph to me and I will give you fresh instructions."
+
+Hume walked to the door.
+
+"Give my kind regards to Miss Layton," he said grimly.
+
+"I will be delighted. Work hard. You will see her all the sooner."
+
+"There goes a man in love," continued Brett, addressing the back of
+Winter's skull, though looking him straight in the face. "His career, his
+reputation, everything he values most in this world is at stake. He is a
+sensible, level-headed fellow, who has become embittered by unjust
+suspicion; yet he would unwillingly let a material item like his cousin's
+proceedings sink into oblivion just for the sake of telling a girl that
+she looks more charming to-day than she did yesterday, or some equally
+original remark peculiar to love-making. How do you account for it,
+Winter?"
+
+"I give it up," sighed the detective. "We are all fools where women are
+concerned."
+
+"You surprise me," said the barrister sternly. "Such a personal confession
+of weakness is unexpected--I may say distressing."
+
+Winter shook his head.
+
+"You're not married, Mr. Brett, or you wouldn't talk like that."
+
+"Well, let it pass. I want you to make the acquaintance of that loving
+couple, Mr. and Mrs. Numagawa Jiro. You must disguise yourself. Jiro is to
+be shadowed constantly. Get any help you require, but do it. Be off,
+Winter, on the wings of the wind. Fasten on to Jiro. Batten on him. Become
+his invisible vampire. Above all else, discover his associates. Run now to
+the bank and cash this cheque. It repays the sum you advanced last night,
+and provides money for expenses."
+
+"I must first see Capella off," gasped the detective.
+
+"All the more reason that you should fly."
+
+Left to himself, the barrister compiled memoranda for an hour or more. He
+read through what he had written.
+
+"The web is spreading quickly," he murmured. "I wonder what sort of fly we
+shall catch! Is he buzzing about under our very noses, or will he be an
+unknown variety? As they say in the Argentine--_Quien sabe?_"
+
+During the journey to Stowmarket he mastered the contents of the bulky
+document sent from Glen Tochan. It contained a great many irrelevant
+details, but he made the following notes:--
+
+    After the duel in 1763, David Hume, the man who avenged with his
+    sword the supposed injury inflicted upon his father by the first
+    Sir Alan Hume-Frazer, escaped to the Netherlands, and was never
+    heard of again.
+
+    There was a local tradition on the Scotch estate that five
+    Hume-Frazers would meet with violent deaths in England. The reason
+    for this singular belief was found in the recorded utterances of
+    an old nurse, popularly credited with the gift of second sight,
+    who prophesied, after the outlawry of the Humes in 1745, that
+    there would be five long-lived generations of both families, and
+    that five Frazers would die in their boots.
+
+    "Curiously enough," commented the old gentleman who supplied this
+    information, "Aunt Elspeth's prediction is capable of two
+    interpretations, owing to the fact that the first Sir Alan Frazer
+    assumed the additional surname of Hume. I have absolutely no
+    knowledge of any distinct branch of the Hume family. David Hume's
+    sister was married to my ancestor at the time of the duel."
+
+    Admiral Cunningham, the hardy old salt who brought from Japan the
+    sword used by a Samurai to commit _hari-kara_, or suicide by
+    disembowelling, commanded the British vessels of the combined
+    squadron which sailed up the Bay of Yedo on July 6, 1853, to
+    intimidate the Mikado.
+
+    He narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of a two-sword man,
+    who was knocked down by a sailor and soundly kicked, after being
+    disarmed.
+
+    The Admiral brought home the two weapons taken from his assailant,
+    and the larger sword was still to be seen in the armoury at Glen
+    Tochan.
+
+    The three brothers, of whom the writer alone survived, quarrelled
+    over money matters about eight years before the murder of the
+    fifth baronet. The youngest, Charles, had entangled himself in a
+    disastrous speculation in the city, and bitterly reproached Alan
+    and David (the narrator) because they would not come to his
+    assistance.
+
+The old gentleman laboured through many pages to explain the reasons which
+actuated this decision, but Brett skipped all of them.
+
+Finally, he suspected no one of committing the crime itself, which was
+utterly inexplicable.
+
+At Stowmarket the barrister sought a few minutes' conversation with the
+stationmaster.
+
+"Have you been long in charge of this station?" he asked, when the
+official ushered him into a private office.
+
+"Nearly five years, sir," was the surprised answer.
+
+"Ah, then you know nearly all the members of the Hume-Frazer family?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I think so."
+
+"Do you remember the New Year's Eve when the young baronet was killed?"
+
+"Yes, generally speaking, I do remember it."
+
+The stationmaster was evidently doubtful of the motives which actuated
+this cross-examination, and resolved not to commit himself to positive
+statements.
+
+"You recollect, of course, that Mr. David Hume-Frazer was arrested and
+tried for the murder of his cousin?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Very well. Now I want you to search your memory well and tell me if you
+saw anyone belonging to the family in the station on that New Year's Eve.
+The terrible occurrence at Beechcroft the same night must have fixed the
+facts in your mind."
+
+The stationmaster, a cautious man of kindly disposition, seemed to be
+troubled by the interrogatory.
+
+"Do you mind if I ask you, sir, why you are seeking this information?" he
+inquired, after a thoughtful pause.
+
+"A very proper question. Mr. David Hume-Frazer is a friend of mine, and he
+has sought my help to clear away the mystery attached to his cousin's
+death."
+
+"But why do you come to me?"
+
+"Because you are a very likely person to have some knowledge on the point
+I raised. You see every person who enters or leaves Stowmarket by train."
+
+"That is true. We railway men see far more than people think," said the
+official, with a smile. "But it is very odd that you should be the first
+gentleman to think of talking to me in connection with the affair, though
+I can assure you certain things puzzled me a good deal at the time."
+
+"And what were they?"
+
+"You are the gentleman who came here three days ago with Mr. David, whom,
+by the way, I hardly recognised at first?"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"Well, I suppose it is all right. I did not interfere because I could not
+see my way clear to voluntarily give evidence. Of course, were I summoned
+by the police, it would be a different matter. The incidents of that New
+Year's Eve fairly bewildered me."
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"It was stated at the trial, sir, that Mr. David came from Scotland that
+morning, left Liverpool Street at 3.20 p.m., and reached Stowmarket at
+5.22 p.m."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Further, he was admittedly the second person to see his cousin's dead
+body, and remained at the Hall until arrested by the police on a warrant."
+
+Brett nodded. The stationmaster's statement promised to be intensely
+interesting.
+
+"Well, sir," continued the man excitedly, "I was mystified enough on New
+Year's Eve, but after the murder came out I thought I was fairly
+bewitched. That season is always a busy one for us, what between parcels,
+passengers, and bad weather. On the morning of December 31, I fancied I
+saw Mr. David leave the London train due here at 12.15 midday. I only
+caught a glimpse of him, because there was a crowd of people, and he was
+all muffled up. I didn't give the matter a second thought until I saw him
+again step out of a first-class carriage at 2.20 p.m. I looked at him
+rather sharp that time. He was differently dressed, and hurried off
+without any luggage. He left the station quickly, so I imagined I had been
+mistaken a couple of hours earlier. You could have knocked me down with a
+feather when he appeared by the 5.22 p.m. This time he had several leather
+trunks, and a footman from the Hall was waiting for him on the platform.
+Excuse me, sir, but it was a fair licker!"
+
+"It must have been. I wonder you did not speak to him!"
+
+"I wish I had done so. Mr. David is usually a very affable young
+gentleman, but, what between my surprise and the bustle of getting the
+train away, I lost the opportunity. However, the queerest part of my story
+is coming. I'm blest if he didn't leave here again by the last train at
+5.58 p.m. I missed his entrance to the station, but had a good look at him
+as the train went out. He showed the ticket-examiner at Ipswich a return
+half to London, because I asked by wire. Now what did it all mean?"
+
+"If I could tell you, it would save me much trouble," said Brett gravely.
+"But why did you not mention these incidents subsequently?"
+
+"Perhaps I was wrong, sir. I did not know what to do for the best. Every
+one at the Hall, including Mr. David himself, would have proved that I was
+a liar with respect to his two earlier arrivals and his departure by the
+5.58. I did not see what I would accomplish except to arouse a strong
+suspicion that I had been drinking."
+
+"Which would be unjustifiable?"
+
+The stationmaster regained his dignity.
+
+"I have been a teetotaler, sir, for more than twenty years."
+
+"You are sure you are making no mistake?"
+
+"Nothing of the kind, sir. I must have been very much mistaken, but I did
+not think so at the time, and it bothered me more than enough. If my
+evidence promised to be of any service to Mr. David, no consideration
+would have kept me back. As it was--"
+
+"You thought it would damage him?"
+
+"I'm afraid that was my idea."
+
+"I agree with you. It is far better that it never came to the knowledge of
+the police. I am greatly obliged to you."
+
+"May I ask, sir, if what I have told you will be useful in your inquiry?"
+
+"Most decidedly. Some day soon Mr. David Hume-Frazer will thank you in
+person. I suppose you have no objection to placing your observations in
+written form for my private use, and sending the statement to me at the
+County Hotel?"
+
+"Not the least, sir; good-day."
+
+The barrister walked to the hotel, having despatched his bag by a porter.
+
+"I suppose," he said to himself, "that when Winter came here he rushed
+straight to the police-station. How his round eyes will bulge out of their
+sockets when I tell him what I have just learnt."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+TWO WOMEN
+
+
+The surprising information given by the stationmaster impressed the
+barrister as so much unexpected trover which would assert its value in the
+progress of events. He certainly did not anticipate the discovery of three
+David Humes, though he had hoped to find traces of two.
+
+Before he reached his hotel he experienced a spasm of doubt. Was his
+client telling the truth about his movements on that memorable Christmas
+Eve? David's story was fully corroborated by the railway official and the
+servants at the Hall, whose sworn evidence was in Brett's possession. But
+how about Hume's counterfeit presentments arriving by the earlier
+trains--coming from where and bound on what errands?
+
+He resolutely closed down the trap-door opened by his imagination.
+
+"The pit does not yawn for me," he communed, "but for the man who killed
+Sir Alan. Assuredly he will fall into it before many days. Nothing on
+earth can stop the meeting of two or more of the hidden channels now being
+opened up, and when they do meet there must be a dramatic outcome."
+
+His chief purpose in revisiting Stowmarket was to seek further confidences
+from Mrs. Capella. He argued that the sudden journey of her husband to
+Naples would cause her much uneasiness, and she might now be inclined to
+reveal circumstances yet hidden.
+
+He refused to take her at a disadvantage. From the hotel he sent a cyclist
+messenger with a note asking for an interview, and within an hour he
+received a cordial request to come at once.
+
+Nevertheless, he was not a little astonished to find Helen Layton awaiting
+him in Margaret's boudoir.
+
+The girl showed signs of recent agitation, but she explained her presence
+quietly enough.
+
+"Mrs. Capella sent for me when your note reached her, Mr. Brett. She is
+greatly upset by recent events, and was actually on the point of
+telegraphing to Davie to ask him to bring you here at once when your
+message was handed to her. She will be here presently. Please do not press
+her too closely to reveal anything she wishes to withhold. She is so
+emotional and excited, poor thing, that I fear her health may be
+endangered."
+
+Miss Layton's words were not well chosen. She was conscious of the fact,
+and blushed furiously when Brett received her request with a friendly nod
+of comprehension.
+
+"I do not know what to say for the best," she went on desperately. "I am
+so sorry for Margaret, and it seems to me to be a terrible thing that my
+proposed marriage with her cousin should be the innocent cause of all this
+trouble."
+
+"Is it the cause?" he asked.
+
+"What else can it be? Certainly not Mr. Capella's foolish actions. If
+Davie and I were married, and far away from this neighbourhood, we would
+probably never see him again. I assure you I attach no serious
+significance to his mad fancy for me. The real reason for the present
+bother is Davie's desire to reopen the story of the murder. Of that I am
+convinced."
+
+"Then what do you wish me to do?"
+
+Helen's eyes became suspiciously moist.
+
+"How am I to decide?" she said tremulously. "Naturally, I want the name of
+my future husband to be cleared of the odium attached to it, but it is
+hard that this cannot be done without driving a dear woman like Margaret
+to despair, perhaps to the grave."
+
+"I do not see why the one course should involve the other."
+
+"Nor do I; but the fact remains. Mr. Capella's decision to go to Naples is
+somehow bound up with it. Oh, dear! During the last two years a dozen or
+more girls have been happily married in this village without any one being
+killed, or running away, or dying of grief. Why should those things
+descend upon my poor little head?"
+
+"Perhaps you are mistaken. Events have conspired to point to you as the
+unconscious source of a good deal that has happened. Personally, Miss
+Layton, I incline to the belief that you are no more responsible than
+David Hume-Frazer. If the mystery of Sir Alan's death is ever solved, I
+feel assured that its genesis will be found in circumstances not only
+beyond your control, but wholly independent, and likely to operate in the
+same way if both you and your _fiance_ had never either seen or heard of
+Beechcroft Hall."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Brett," she cried impulsively, "I wish I could be certain of
+that!"
+
+"Try and adopt my opinion," he answered, with a smile, for the girl's
+dubiety was not very flattering.
+
+"I know I am saying the wrong thing. I cannot help it. Margaret's distress
+tried me sorely. Be gentle with her--that is all I ask."
+
+The door opened, and Mrs. Capella entered. Helen's observations had
+prepared Brett to some extent, yet he was shocked to see the havoc wrought
+in Margaret's appearance by days of suffering and nights of sleepless
+agony.
+
+Her face was drawn and ivory-white, her eyes unnaturally brilliant, her
+lips bloodless and pinched. She was again garbed in black, and the sombre
+effect of her dress supplied a startling contrast to the deathly pallor of
+her features.
+
+She recognised Brett's presence by a silent bow, and sank on to a couch.
+She was not acting, but really ill, overwrought, inert, physically weak
+from want of food and sleep.
+
+Helen ran to her side, and took her in a loving clasp.
+
+"You poor darling!" she cried. "Why are you suffering so?"
+
+Now there was nothing on earth Brett detested so thoroughly as a display
+of feminine sentiment, no matter how spontaneous or well-timed. At heart
+he was conscious of kindred emotions. A child's cry, a woman's sob, the
+groan of a despairing man, had power to move him so strangely that he had
+more than once allowed a long-sought opportunity to slip from his grasp
+rather than sear his own soul by displaying callous indifference to the
+sufferings of others.
+
+The tears of these two, however, set his teeth on edge. What were they
+whining about--the affections of a doll of a man whose antics had been
+rightly treated by David when he proved to Capella that there is nothing
+like leather.
+
+For the barrister laboured under no delusions respecting either woman.
+Margaret, who secretly feared her husband, was only pining for his
+rekindled admiration, whilst Helen, though true as steel to David Hume,
+could not be expected to regard the Italian's misplaced passion as utterly
+outrageous. No woman can absolutely hate and despise a man for loving her,
+no matter how absurd or impossible his passion may be. She may proclaim,
+even feel, a vast amount of indignation, but in the secret recesses of her
+soul, hidden perhaps from her own scrutiny, she can find excuses for him.
+
+Brett regarded Capella as an impressionable scamp, endowed with a too
+vivid imagination, and he determined forthwith to stir his hearers into
+revolt, defiance--anything but languishing regret and condolence.
+
+Margaret soon gave him an opportunity. Recovering her self-possession with
+an effort, she said:
+
+"I am glad you are here, Mr. Brett. Helen has probably told you that we
+need your presence--not that I have much to say to you, but I must have
+the advice of a wiser and clearer head than my own in the present position
+of affairs."
+
+"Exactly so," replied the barrister cheerily. "As a preliminary to a
+pleasant chat, may I suggest a cup of tea for each of us?"
+
+The ladies were manifestly astonished. Tea! When broken hearts were
+scattered around! The suggestion was pure bathos.
+
+Margaret, with a touch of severity, permitted Brett to ring, and coldly
+agreed with Helen's declaration that she could not think of touching any
+species of refreshment at such a moment.
+
+"Then," said Brett, advancing and holding out his hand, "I will save your
+servants from needless trouble, Mrs. Capella. I am equally emphatic in my
+insistence on food and drink as primary necessities. For instance, a cup
+of good tea just now is much more important in my eyes than your husband's
+vagaries."
+
+"Surely you will not desert me?" appealed Margaret.
+
+"Mr. Brett, how can you be so heartless?" cried Helen.
+
+"Your words cut me to the bone," he answered, with an easy smile, "but in
+this matter I must be adamant. My dear ladies, pray consider. What a world
+we should live in if people went without their meals because they were
+worried. Three days of such treatment would end the South African War,
+give Ireland Home Rule, bring even the American Senate to reason. A week
+of it would extinguish the human race. If the system has such
+potentialities, is it unreasonable to ask whether or not any single
+individual--even Mr. Capella--is worth the loss of a cup of tea because he
+chooses to go to Naples?"
+
+A servant entered.
+
+"Is it to be for three, or none?" inquired Brett, compelling Margaret to
+meet his gaze.
+
+"James, bring tea at once," said Mrs. Capella.
+
+The barrister accepted this partial surrender. He looked out over the
+park.
+
+"What lovely weather!" Brett exclaimed. "How delightful it must be at the
+sea-side just now! Really, I am greatly tempted to run up to Whitby for a
+few days. Have you ever been there, Mrs. Capella? Or you, Miss Layton? No!
+Well, let me recommend the north-east coast of Yorkshire as a cure for all
+ills. Do you know that, within the next fortnight, you can, if energetic
+enough, see from the cliffs at Whitby the sun rise and set in the sea? It
+is the one place in England where such a sight is possible. And the breeze
+there! When it blows from the north, it comes straight from the Polar Sea.
+There is no land intervening. Naples--evil-smelling, dirty Naples! Pah!
+Who but a lunatic would prefer Naples to Whitby in July!"
+
+Margaret was now incensed, Helen surprised, and even slightly amused.
+
+Brett rattled on, demanding and receiving occasional curt replies. The tea
+came.
+
+Whatever the failings of Beechcroft might be, they had not reached the
+kitchen. Delightful little rolls of thin bread and butter, sandwiches of
+cucumber and _pate de foie gras_, tempting morsels of pastry, home-made
+jam, and crisp biscuits showed that the housekeeper had unconsciously
+adopted Brett's view of her mistress's needs.
+
+Margaret, hardly knowing what she did, toyed at first with these
+delicacies, until she yielded to the demands of her stimulated appetite.
+Helen and Brett were unfeignedly hungry, and when Brett rose to ring for
+more cucumber sandwiches, they all laughed.
+
+"The first time I met you," said Margaret, whose cheeks began to exhibit a
+faint trace of colour, "I told you that you could read a woman's heart. I
+did not know you were also qualified to act as her physician."
+
+"If the first part of my treatment is deemed successful, then I hope you
+will adopt the second. I am quite in earnest concerning Whitby, or Cromer,
+if you do not care to go far north."
+
+"But, Mr. Brett, how can I possibly leave Beechcroft now?"
+
+"Did Mr. Capella consult you when he went to Naples? Are you not mistress
+here? Take my advice. Give the majority of your servants a holiday. Close
+your house, or, better still, have every room dismantled on the pretence
+of a thorough renovation. Leave it to paperhangers, plasterers, and
+caretakers. The rector may be persuaded to allow Miss Layton to come with
+you to London, where you should visit your dressmaker, for you can now
+dispense with mourning. When your husband returns from Naples, let him
+rage to the top of his bent. By that time I may be able to spare Mr. Hume
+to look after both of you for a week or so. Permit your husband to join
+you when he humbly seeks permission--not before. Believe me, Mrs. Capella,
+if you have strength of will to adopt my programme in its entirety, the
+trip to Naples may have results wholly unexpected by the runaway."
+
+"Really, Margaret, Mr. Brett's advice seems to me to be very sensible. It
+happens, too, that my father needs a change of air, and I think we could
+both persuade him to come with us to the coast."
+
+Helen, like all well regulated young Englishwomen, quickly took a
+reasonable view of the problem. Already Capella's heroics and his wife's
+lamentations began to appear ridiculous.
+
+Margaret looked wistfully at both of them.
+
+"You do not understand why my husband has gone to Naples," she said
+slowly, seemingly revolving something in her mind.
+
+"I think I can guess his motive," said the barrister.
+
+"Tell me your explanation of the riddle," she answered lightly, though a
+shadow of fear crossed her eyes.
+
+"Soon after your marriage he imagined that he discovered certain facts
+connected with your family--possibly relative to your brother's
+death--which served to estrange him from you. Whatever they may be,
+whether existent or fanciful, you are in no way responsible. He has gone
+to Naples to obtain proofs of his suspicions, or knowledge. He will come
+back to terrorise you, perhaps to seek revenge for imaginary wrongs.
+Therefore, I say, do not meet him half-way by sitting here, blanched and
+fearful, until it pleases him to return. Compel him to seek you. Let him
+find you at least outwardly happy and contented, careless of his neglect,
+and more pleased than otherwise by his absence. Tell him to try Algiers in
+August and Calcutta in September."
+
+Margaret's eyes were widely distended. Her mobile features expressed both
+astonishment and anxiety. She covered her face with her hands, in an
+attitude of deep perplexity.
+
+They knew she was wrestling with the impulse to take them wholly into
+confidence.
+
+At last she spoke:
+
+"I cannot tell you," she said, "how comforting your words are. If you, a
+stranger, can estimate the truth so nearly, why should I torture myself
+because my husband is outrageously unjust? I will follow your counsel, Mr.
+Brett. If possible, Nellie and I will leave here to-morrow. Perhaps Mrs.
+Eastham may be able to come with us to town. Will you order my carriage? A
+drive will do me good. Come with Nellie and me, and stay here to dinner.
+For to-day we may dispense with ceremony."
+
+She left the room, walking with a firm and confident step.
+
+Brett turned to Miss Layton.
+
+"Capella is in for trouble," he said, with a laugh. "He will be forced to
+make love to his wife a second time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+MARGARET SPEAKS OUT
+
+
+During the drive the presence of servants rendered conversation impossible
+on the one topic that engrossed their thoughts.
+
+The barrister, therefore, had an opportunity to display the other side of
+his engaging personality, his singular knowledge of the world, his
+acquaintance with the latest developments in literature and the arts, and
+so much of London's _vie intime_ as was suited to the ears of polite
+society.
+
+Once he amused the ladies greatly by a trivial instance of his faculty for
+deducing a definite fact from seemingly inadequate signs.
+
+He was sitting with his back to the horses. They passed a field in which
+some people were working. Neither of the women paid attention to the
+scene. Brett, from mere force of habit, took in all details.
+
+A little farther on he said: "Are we approaching a village?"
+
+"Yes," answered Miss Layton, "a small place named Needham."
+
+"Then it will not surprise me if, during the next two minutes, we meet a
+horse and cart with a load of potatoes. The driver is a young man in his
+shirt sleeves. Sitting by his side is a brown-eyed maid in a poke bonnet.
+Probably his left arm follows the line of her apron string."
+
+His hearers could not help being surprised by this prediction. Helen
+leaned over the side and looked ahead.
+
+"You are wrong this time, Mr. Brett," she laughed merrily. "The only
+vehicle between us and a turn in the road is a dog-cart coming this way."
+
+"That merely shows the necessity of carefully choosing one's words. I
+should have said 'overtake,' not 'meet.'"
+
+The carriage sped swiftly along. Helen craned her head to catch the first
+glimpse of the yet hidden stretch of road beyond the turning.
+
+"Good gracious!" she cried suddenly.
+
+Even Margaret was stimulated to curiosity. She bent over the opposite
+side.
+
+"What an extraordinary thing!" she exclaimed.
+
+Brett sat unmoved, anything in front being, of course, quite invisible to
+him. On the box the coachman nudged the footman, as if to say:
+
+"Did you ever! Well, s'elp me!"
+
+For, in the next few strides, the horses had to be pulled to one side to
+avoid a cart laden with potatoes, driven by a coatless youth who had one
+arm thrown gracefully around the waist of a girl in a huge bonnet.
+
+Nellie turned and stared at them in most unladylike manner, much to their
+discomfiture.
+
+"I do declare," she cried, "the girl has brown eyes! Mr. Brett, do tell us
+how you did it."
+
+"I will," he replied gaily. "Those labourers in a field half a mile away
+were digging potatoes. Among the women sorters was a girl who was gazing
+anxiously in this direction, and who resumed work in a very bad temper
+when another woman spoke to her in a chaffing way. The gate was left open,
+and there were fresh wheel-tracks in this direction. The men were all
+coatless, so I argued a young man driving and a girl by his side, hence
+the annoyance of the watcher in the field, owing particularly to the
+position of his arm. The presence on the road of several potatoes, with
+the earth still damp on them, added certainty to my convictions. It is
+very easy, you see."
+
+"Yes, but how about the colour of the girl's eyes?"
+
+"That was hazardous, to an extent. But five out of every six women in this
+county have brown eyes."
+
+"Well, you may think it easy; to me it is marvellous."
+
+"It is positively startling," said Margaret seriously; and if the
+barrister indulged in a fresh series of deductions he remained silent on
+the topic.
+
+He tried to lead the conversation to Naples, but was foiled by Mrs.
+Capella's positive disinclination to discuss Italy on any pretext, and
+Miss Layton's natural desire not to embarrass her friend.
+
+Indeed, so little headway did he make, so fully was Margaret's mind taken
+up with the new departure he had suggested, that when the carriage stopped
+at the rectory to drop Helen--who wished to tell her father about the
+dinner and to change her costume--he was strongly tempted to wriggle out
+of the engagement.
+
+Inclination pulled him to his quiet sitting-room in the County Hotel;
+impulse bade him remain and make the most of the meagre opportunities
+offered by the drift of conversation.
+
+"I hope," said Helen, at parting, "that I may persuade you to come here
+and dine with my father some evening when Mrs. Capella and I are in town.
+If you take any interest in old coins he will entertain you for hours."
+
+"Then I depend on you to bring an invitation to the Hall this evening. I
+expect to be in Stowmarket next week."
+
+"Are you leaving to-morrow?" inquired Mrs. Capella.
+
+"I think so."
+
+"Would you care to walk to the house with me now?"
+
+"I will be delighted."
+
+So the carriage was sent off, and the two followed on foot. Brett thought
+that impulse had led him aright.
+
+Once past the lodge gates, Margaret looked at him suddenly, with a quick,
+searching glance. Hume was not in error when he spoke of her "Continental
+tricks of manner."
+
+"You wonder," she said, "why I do not trust you fully? You know that I am
+keeping something back from you? You imagine that you can guess a good
+deal of what I am endeavouring to hide?"
+
+"To all those questions, I may generally answer 'Yes.'"
+
+"Of course. You observe the small things of life. The larger events are
+built from them. Well, I can be candid with you. My husband believes that
+I not only deceived him in regard to my marriage, but he is, or was, very
+jealous of me."
+
+She paused, apparently unable to frame her words satisfactorily.
+
+"Having said so much," put in the barrister gently, "you might be more
+specific."
+
+His cool, even voice reassured her.
+
+"I hardly know how best to express myself," she cried. "Question me. I
+will reply so far as I am able."
+
+"Thank you. You have told me that you first met Mr. Capella on New Year's
+Eve two years ago, at Covent Garden?"
+
+"That is so."
+
+"Had you ever heard of him before?"
+
+"Never. He was brought to my party by an Italian friend."
+
+"Did the acquaintance ripen rapidly?"
+
+"Yes. We found that our tastes were identical in many respects. I did not
+know of my brother's death until the 2nd of January. No one in Beechcroft
+had my address, and my solicitor's office was closed on the holiday. Mr.
+Capella called on me, by request, the day after the ball, and already I
+became aware of his admiration. Italians are quick to fall in love."
+
+"And afterwards?"
+
+"When poor Alan's murder appeared in the press, Giovanni was among the
+first to write me a sympathetic letter. Later on we met several times in
+London. I did not come to reside in the Hall until all legal formalities
+were settled. A year passed. I went to Naples. He came from his estate in
+Calabria, and we renewed our friendship. You do not know, perhaps, that he
+is a count in his own country, but we decided not to use the title here."
+
+"Then Mr. Capella is not a poor man?"
+
+"By no means. He is far from rich as we understand the word. He is worth,
+I believe, L1,500 a-year. Why do you ask? Had you the impression that he
+married me for my money?"
+
+"There might well be other reasons," thought Brett, glancing at the
+beautiful and stately woman by his side. But it was no moment for idle
+compliments.
+
+"Such things have been done," he said drily.
+
+"Then disabuse your mind of the idea. He is a very proud man. His estates
+are involved, and in our first few days of happiness we did indeed discuss
+the means of freeing them, whilst our marriage contract stipulates that in
+the event of either of us predeceasing the other, and there being no
+children, the survivor inherits. But all at once a cloud came between us,
+and Giovanni has curtly declined any assistance by me in discharging his
+family debt."
+
+Brett could not help remembering Capella's passionate declaration to
+Helen, but Margaret's words read a new meaning into it. Possibly the
+Italian was only making a forlorn hope attack on a country maiden's
+natural desire to shine amidst her friends. Well, time would tell.
+
+Meanwhile, Mrs. Capella's outburst of confidence was valuable.
+
+"A cloud!" he said. "What sort of a cloud?"
+
+"Giovanni suddenly discovered that his father and mine were deadly
+enemies. It was a cruel whim of Fate that brought us together. Poor
+fellow! He was very fond of his father, and it seems that a legacy of
+revenge was bequeathed to him against an Englishman named Beechcroft. I
+remembered, too late, that he once asked me how our house came to be so
+named, and I explained its English meaning to him. I joked about it, and
+said the place should rightly be called Yewcroft. During our honeymoon at
+Naples he learnt that my father, for some reason, had travelled over a
+large part of Italy in an assumed name--"
+
+"How did he learn this?" broke in Brett.
+
+"I cannot tell you. The affair happened like a flash of lightning. We had
+been to Capri one afternoon, and I was tired. I went to my room to rest
+for a couple of hours, fell asleep, and awoke to find Giovanni staring at
+me in the most terrifying manner. There was a fierce scene. We are both
+hot-tempered, and when he accused me of a ridiculous endeavour to hoodwink
+him in some indefinable way I became very indignant. We patched up a sort
+of truce, but I may honestly say that we have not had a moment's happiness
+since."
+
+"But you spoke of jealousy also?"
+
+"That is really too absurd. My cousin Robert--"
+
+"What, the gentleman from the Argentine?"
+
+"Yes; I suppose David told you about him?"
+
+"He did," said the barrister grimly.
+
+"Robert is poor, you may know. He is also very good-looking."
+
+"A family trait," Brett could not avoid saying.
+
+"It has not been an advantage to us," she replied mournfully.
+
+They were standing now opposite the library, almost on the spot where her
+brother fell. They turned and strolled back towards the lodge.
+
+"Robert came to see me," she resumed. "He paid a visit in unconventional
+manner--waylaid me, in fact, in this very avenue, and asked me to help
+him. He declined to meet my husband, and was very bitter about my marriage
+to a foreigner. However, I forgave him, for my own heart was sore in me,
+and he also had been unfortunate in a different way. We had a long talk,
+and I kissed him at parting. I afterwards found that Giovanni had seen us
+from his bedroom. He thought Robert was David. I do not think he believed
+me, even when I showed him the counterfoil of my cheque-book, and the
+amount of a remittance I sent to Robert next day."
+
+"How much was the sum?"
+
+"Five hundred pounds."
+
+"And where did you send it?"
+
+"To the Hotel Victoria."
+
+"In his own name?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Have you ever met him since?"
+
+"Yes, unfortunately. I was in London, driving through Regent Street in a
+hansom, when I saw him on the pavement. I stopped the cab, and asked him
+to come to luncheon. We have no town house, so I was staying at the
+Carlton alone. Yet how stupidly compromising circumstances can
+occasionally become! I returned to Beechcroft. I did not mention my
+meeting with Robert because, indeed, Giovanni and I were hardly on
+speaking terms. One day, in the library, I was sorting a number of
+accounts, when I was summoned elsewhere for a few minutes. On top of the
+pile was my receipted hotel bill. My husband came in, glanced at the
+paper, and saw a charge for a guest. When I returned he asked me whom I
+had been entertaining. I told him, and could not help blushing, the affair
+being so flagrantly absurd."
+
+"Is that all?"
+
+"I declare to you, Mr. Brett, that you are now as well informed as I am
+myself concerning our estrangement."
+
+"There is, I take it, no objection on your part to the inquiry I have
+undertaken--the fixing of responsibility for your brother's death, I
+mean?"
+
+Margaret was silent for a few seconds before she said, in a low and steady
+voice:
+
+"We are a strange race, we Hume-Frazers. Somehow I felt, when I first saw
+you and Davie together, that you would be bound up with a crisis in my
+life. I dread crises. They have ever been unfortunate for me. I cannot
+explain myself further. I know I am approaching an eventful epoch. Well, I
+am prepared. Go on with your work, in God's name. I cannot become more
+unhappy than I am."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR
+
+
+A clock in the church tower chimed the half-hour.
+
+"We dine at seven," said Mrs. Capella. "Let us return to the house. I told
+the housekeeper to prepare a room for you. Would you care to remain for
+the night? One of the grooms can bring from Stowmarket any articles you
+may need."
+
+Brett declined the invitation, pleading a certain amount of work to be
+done before he retired to rest, and his expectation of finding letters or
+telegrams at the hotel.
+
+They walked more rapidly up the avenue, and the barrister noted the
+graceful ease of Margaret's movements.
+
+"Is it a fact" he asked, "that you suffer from heart disease?"
+
+She laughed, and said, with a certain charming hesitation:
+
+"You are both doctor and lawyer, Mr. Brett. My heart is quite sound. I
+have been foolish enough to seek relief from my troubles in morphia. Do
+not be alarmed. I am not a morphinee. I promised Nellie yesterday to stop
+it, and I am quite certain to succeed."
+
+The dinner passed uneventfully.
+
+As Brett was unable to change his clothes, neither of the ladies, of
+course, appeared in elaborate costumes.
+
+Helen wore a simple white muslin dress, with pale blue ribbons. Margaret,
+mindful of the barrister's hint concerning her attire, now appeared in
+pale grey crepe de chine, trimmed with cerise panne velvet.
+
+When she entered the drawing-room she almost startled the others, so
+strong was the contrast between her present effective garments and the
+black raiment she had affected constantly since her return to Beechcroft
+after her marriage.
+
+"The reform has commenced," she cried gaily, seeing how they looked at
+her. "My maid is in ecstasies about the proposed visit to my dressmaker's.
+She insisted on showing me a study for an Ascot frock in the _Queen_."
+
+"Ah, she is a Frenchwoman?" said Brett.
+
+"Yes; and pray what mystery have you elucidated now?"
+
+"Not a mystery, but a sober fact. A Frenchwoman must be in the mode.
+Anybody else would have told you to copy yourself. Fashions are a sealed
+book to me, but I do claim a certain taste in colour effect, and you have
+gratified it."
+
+"And have you nothing nice to say to me, Mr. Brett?" pouted Helen.
+
+"So much that I must remain dumb. I have a vivid recollection of Mr.
+Hume's tragic air when he asked me to give you 'his kind regards.'"
+
+"The dear boy! You have not yet told us why you left him in London."
+
+In view of Mrs. Capella's outspokenness concerning her cousin, this was a
+poser. Brett fenced with the query, and the announcement of dinner stopped
+all personal references. The barrister's eyes wandered round the
+dining-room. The shaded candles on the table did not permit much light to
+fall on the walls, but such portraits as were visible showed that David
+was right when he said the "Hume-Frazers were all alike." They were a
+handsome, determined-looking race, strong, dour, inflexible.
+
+The night was beautifully fine. The day seemed loth to die, and the
+twilight lingering on the pleasant landscape tempted them outside, after
+the butler had handed Brett a box of excellent cigars.
+
+They went through the conservatory into the park, and sauntered over the
+springy pastureland, whilst Brett amused the ladies by a carefully edited
+account of his visit to the Jiro family.
+
+An hour passed in pleasant chat. Then Miss Layton thought it was time she
+went home, and Brett proposed to escort her to the Rectory, subsequently
+picking up his conveyance at the inn.
+
+They walked obliquely across the park towards the house, regaining it
+through a clump of laurels and the conservatory.
+
+It chanced that for a moment they were silent. Margaret led the way. Helen
+followed. Brett came close behind.
+
+When the mistress of Beechcroft Hall stepped on to the turf in front of
+the library, a man who was standing under the yews a little way down the
+avenue moved forward to accost her.
+
+She uttered a little cry of alarm and retreated quickly.
+
+"Why, Davie," cried Helen, "surely it cannot be you!"
+
+The stranger made no reply, but paused irresolutely. Even in the dim light
+Brett needed no second glance to reveal to him the astounding coincidence
+that this mysterious prowler was Robert Hume-Frazer.
+
+"Good evening," he said politely. "Do you wish to see your cousin?"
+
+"And who the devil may you be?" was the uncompromising answer.
+
+"A friend of Mrs. Capella's."
+
+"H'm! I'm glad to hear it. I thought you could not be that beastly
+Italian."
+
+"You are candour itself; but you have not answered me?"
+
+"About seeing my cousin? No. I will call when she is less engaged."
+
+He turned to go, but Brett caught him by the shoulder.
+
+"Will you come quietly," he said, "or by the scruff of the neck?"
+
+The other man wheeled round again. That he feared no personal violence was
+evident. Indeed, it was possible Brett had over-estimated his own strength
+in suggesting the alternative.
+
+The Argentine cousin laughed boisterously.
+
+"By the Lord Harry," he cried, "I like your style! I will come in, if only
+to have a good look at you."
+
+They approached the two frightened women. Margaret had recognised his
+voice, and now advanced with outstretched hand.
+
+"I am glad to see you, Robert," she said in tones that vibrated somewhat.
+"Why did you not let me know you were coming?"
+
+"Because I did not know myself until an hour before I left London.
+Moreover, you might have wired and told me to stop away, so I sailed
+without orders."
+
+The position was awkward. The new-comer had evidently walked from
+Stowmarket. He had the appearance of a gentleman, soiled and a trifle
+truculent, perhaps, but a man of birth and good breeding.
+
+Helen was gazing at him in sheer wonderment. He was so extremely like David
+that, at a distance, it was easy to confuse the one with the other.
+
+Brett, too, examined him curiously. He recalled "Rabbit Jack's"
+pronouncement--"either the chap hisself or his dead spit."
+
+But it behoved him to rescue the ladies from an _impasse_.
+
+"When you reached Stowmarket did the stationmaster exhibit any marked
+interest in you?" he inquired.
+
+"Well, now, that beats the band," cried Robert. "He looked at me as though
+I had seven heads and horns to match. But how did you know that?"
+
+"Merely on account of your marked resemblance to David Hume-Frazer. It
+puzzled the stationmaster some time ago. By the way, you appear to like
+the shade of the yew trees outside. Do you always approach Beechcroft Hall
+in the same way?"
+
+The ex-sailor's bold eyes did not fall before the barrister's penetrating
+glance.
+
+"What the deuce has it got to do with you?" he replied fiercely. "Who has
+appointed you grand inquisitor to the family, I should like to know?
+Margaret, I beg your pardon, but this chap--"
+
+"Is my friend, Mr. Reginald Brett. He is engaged in unravelling the manner
+and cause of poor Alan's death. He has my full sanction, Robert, and was
+brought here, in the first instance, by David. I hope, therefore, you will
+treat him more civilly."
+
+"I will treat him as he treats me. I owe him nothing, at any rate."
+
+They were talking in the ill-fated library, having entered the house
+through the centre window. The unbidden guest faced the others, and
+although the cloud of suspicion hung heavily upon him, the barrister was
+far too shrewd an observer of human nature to attribute his present
+defiant attitude to other than its true origin--a feeling of humiliated
+pride.
+
+Brett understood that to question him further was to risk a scene--a thing
+to be avoided at all costs.
+
+"No doubt," he said, "you wish to speak privately to Mrs. Capella. I was
+on the point of escorting Miss Layton to her house. Shall I return and
+drive you back to Stowmarket? I will be here in fifteen minutes."
+
+"It would be better than walking," replied Robert wearily, settling into a
+chair with the air of a man physically tired and mentally perturbed.
+
+Again there was a dramatic pause. Helen, more alarmed than she wished to
+admit, gave Margaret a questioning look, and received a strained but
+reassuring smile.
+
+"Then I will go now--" she began, but instantly stopped. Like the others,
+she heard the quick trot of a horse, and the sound of rapid wheels
+approaching from the lodge.
+
+"Who on earth can this be?" cried Margaret, blanching visibly,
+
+The vehicle, a dog-cart, drew nearer. They all went to the window. Even
+the indifferent Robert rose and joined them.
+
+Helen startled them by running out to the side of the drive.
+
+"This time I am not mistaken," she cried hysterically. "It is Davie!"
+
+The proceedings of the gentleman who jumped from the dog-cart left no
+doubt on the point. He brazenly kissed her, and in her excitement she
+seemed to like it.
+
+She evidently whispered something to him, for his first words to Brett
+were:
+
+"How did you find out--"
+
+But the barrister was not anxious to let the cousin from Argentina into
+the secret of the search for him.
+
+"I have found out nothing," he interrupted. "I have been at Beechcroft all
+the afternoon and evening. Meanwhile, you must be surprised to meet Mr.
+Robert Hume-Frazer here so unexpectedly."
+
+David luckily grasped his friend's intention. Such information as he
+possessed must wait until they were alone. "How d'ye do, Bob?" he said,
+frankly holding out his hand. "Why have you left us alone all those years,
+to turn up at last in this queer way?"
+
+The young man's kind greeting, his manly attitude, had an unlooked-for
+effect.
+
+Robert ignored the proffered hand. He reached for his hat.
+
+"I feel like a beastly interloper," he growled huskily. "Accept my
+apologies, Margaret, and you, Miss Layton. I will call in the morning. Mr.
+Brett, if you still hold to your offer, I will await you at the lodge, or
+any other place you care to name."
+
+With blazing eyes, and mouth firmly set, he endeavoured to reach the open
+window. Brett barred his way.
+
+"Sit down, man," he said sternly. "Why are you such a fool as to resist
+the kindness offered to you? I tried to make matters easy for you. Now I
+must speak plainly. You are weak with hunger."
+
+He had seen what the others had missed. The colour in Robert's face was
+due to exposure, but he was otherwise drawn and haggard. His clothes were
+shabby. He had walked from Stowmarket because he could not afford to hire
+any means of conveyance.
+
+The abject confession compelled by Brett's words was too much for him. He
+again collapsed into a chair and covered his face with his hands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE COUSINS
+
+
+Brett was the only person present who kept his senses. Margaret was too
+shocked, the lovers too amazed, to speak coherently.
+
+"Mr. Hume-Frazer has allowed himself to become run down," said the
+barrister, with the nonchalance of one who discussed the prospects of
+to-morrow's weather. "What he needs at the moment is some soup and a few
+biscuits. You, Mrs. Capella, might procure these without bringing the
+servants here, especially if Miss Layton were to help you."
+
+Without a word, the two ladies quitted the room.
+
+Robert looked up.
+
+"You ring like good metal," he said to the barrister. "Is there any liquor
+in the dining-room? I feel a trifle hollow about the belt. A drink would
+do me good."
+
+"Not until you have eaten something first," was the firm answer. "Are you
+so hard up that you could not buy food?"
+
+"Well, the fact is, I have been on my beam ends during the past week.
+To-day I pawned a silver watch, but unfortunately returned to my lodgings,
+where my landlady made such a fiendish row about the bill that I gave her
+every penny. Then I pawned my overcoat, raising the exact fare to
+Stowmarket. I could not even pay for a 'bus from Gower Street to Liverpool
+Street. All I have eaten to-day was a humble breakfast at 8.30 a.m., and I
+suppose the sun and the journey wore me out. Still, you must be jolly
+sharp to see what was the matter. I thought I kept my end up pretty well."
+
+David sat down by his side.
+
+"Forgive me, old chap," continued Robert. "It broke me up to see that you
+were happy after all your troubles. You are engaged to a nice girl; Alan
+is dead; I am the only unlucky member of the family."
+
+The man was talking quite sincerely. He even envied his murdered cousin.
+Nothing in his words, his suspicious mode of announcing his presence, the
+vague doubts that shadowed his past career, puzzled Brett so greatly as
+that chance phrase.
+
+The ladies came back, laden with good things from the kitchen, which they
+insisted on carrying themselves, much to the astonishment of the servants.
+
+All women are born actresses. Their behaviour before the domestics left
+the impression that some huge joke was toward in the library.
+
+The tactful barrister drew Hume and Helen outside to discuss immediate
+arrangements. David promised faithfully to return from the rectory in
+fifteen minutes, and Brett re-entered the library.
+
+Robert Hume-Frazer gave evidence of his semi-starvation. He tried to
+disguise his eagerness, but in vain. Biscuits, sandwiches, and soup
+vanished rapidly, until Margaret suggested a further supply.
+
+"No, Rita," said her cousin; "I have fasted too often on the Pampas not to
+know the folly of eating too heartily. I will be all right now, especially
+when Mr. Brett produces the whisky he spoke about."
+
+The barrister brought a decanter from the dining-room. The stranger was
+still an enigma. He placed bottle and glass on the table, wondering to
+what extent the man would help himself.
+
+The quantity was small and well diluted. So this member of the family was
+not a drunkard.
+
+"How did you come to be in such a state?" asked Margaret nervously. "It is
+hardly six months since I sent you L500; not a very large sum, I admit,
+but all you asked me for, and more than enough to live on for a much
+longer period."
+
+Robert laughed pleasantly. It was the first token of returning confidence.
+He reached for a cigar, and sought Margaret's permission to smoke.
+
+"My dear girl," he answered, "I am really a very unfortunate person. I own
+a hundred thousand acres of the best land in South America, and I have
+been in England nearly two years trying to raise capital to develop it. If
+I owned a salted reef or an American brewery I could have got the money
+for the asking. Because my stock-raising proposition is a sound paying
+concern, requiring a delay of at least three years before a penny of
+profit can be realised, I have worn my boots out in climbing up and down
+office stairs to no purpose. Out of your L500, nearly L400 went out at
+once to pay arrears of Government taxation to save my property. Of the
+remaining hundred I spent fifty in a fortnight on dinners and suppers
+given to a gang of top-hatted scoundrels, who, I found subsequently, were
+not worth a red cent. They hoped to fleece me in some way, and their very
+association discredited me in the eyes of one or two honest men. Oh, I
+have had a bad time of it, I can assure you!"
+
+"Why did you not write to me again?"
+
+He looked at her steadily before he explained:
+
+"Because you are a woman."
+
+"What has that got to do with it? I am your relative, and rich. How much
+do you want? If your scheme is really sound, I imagine my solicitors might
+sanction my co-operation."
+
+Again he hesitated.
+
+"Thank you, Rita. You are a good sort. But I am not here on a matter of
+high finance. I want you to lend me, say, L250. I will return to the
+Argentine, and take twenty years to accomplish what I could do in five
+with the necessary capital."
+
+"Come and see me in the morning. The sum you name is absurdly small, in
+any case. Perhaps Mr. Brett will accompany you. His advice will be useful
+to both of us. Come early. I leave here to-morrow."
+
+"Going away! Where to?"
+
+"To Whitby, in Yorkshire."
+
+"Well, that is curious," said Robert, who clearly did not like to question
+her about her husband.
+
+"Mr. Capella is in Naples," she added. "I cannot say when he will return."
+
+Her cousin's look was eloquent of his thoughts. He did not like the
+Italian, for some inexplicable reason, for to Margaret's knowledge they
+had never met.
+
+The barrister naturally did not interfere in this family conclave. He
+listened intently, and had already drawn several inferences from the man's
+words. For the life of him he could not classify Robert Hume-Frazer. The
+man was either a consummate scoundrel, the cold-blooded murderer of
+Margaret's brother, or a maligned and ill-used man.
+
+Within a few minutes he would be called upon to treat him in one category
+or the other. A few questions might elucidate matters considerably.
+
+The hiatus in the conversation created by the mention of Capella gave him
+an opportunity.
+
+"Did you endeavour to raise the requisite capital for your estate in
+London only?" he inquired.
+
+"No; I tried elsewhere," was the quick rejoinder.
+
+"Here, for instance, on the New Year's Eve before last?"
+
+"Now, how the blazes did you learn that?" came the fierce demand, the
+speaker's excitement rendering him careless of the words he used.
+
+"It is true, then?"
+
+"Yes, but--"
+
+"Robert!--" Margaret's voice was choking, and her face was woefully white
+once more--"were you--here--when Alan--was killed?"
+
+"No, not exactly. This thing bewilders me. Let me explain. I saw him that
+afternoon. We had a furious quarrel. I never told you about it, Rita. It
+was a family matter. I do not hold you responsible. I--"
+
+"Hold me responsible! What do you mean? Did you kill my brother?"
+
+She rose to her feet. Her eyes seemed to peer into his soul. He, too, rose
+and faced her.
+
+"By God," he cried, "this is too much! Why didn't you ask your husband
+that question?"
+
+"Because my husband, with all his faults, is innocent of that crime. He
+was with me in London the night that Alan met his death."
+
+"And I, too, was in London. I left Stowmarket at six o'clock."
+
+"Having reached the place at 2.20?" interposed Brett.
+
+The other turned to him with eager pleading.
+
+"In Heaven's name, Mr. Brett, if you know all about my movements that day,
+disabuse Margaret's mind of the terrible idea that prompted her question."
+
+"Why did you come here on that occasion?"
+
+"The truth must out now. My two uncles swindled my father--that is,
+Margaret, your father led my Uncle David with him in a most unjust
+proceeding. My father took up some risky business in City finance, on the
+verbal understanding with his brothers that they would share profits or
+bear losses equally. The speculation failed, and your father basely
+withdrew from the compact, persuading the other brother to follow his
+lead. Perhaps there may have been some justification for his action, but
+my poor old dad was very bitter about it. The affair killed him. I made my
+own way in the world, and came here to ask Alan to undo the wrong done
+years ago, and help me to get on my feet. He was not in the best of
+tempers, and we fell out badly, using silly recriminations. I went back to
+London, and next day travelled to Monte Carlo, where I lost more money
+than I could afford. Believe me, I never even knew of Alan's death until I
+saw the reports of Davie's trial."
+
+"Why did you not come forward then?"
+
+"Why? No man could have better reasons. First, it seemed to me that Davie
+had killed him. Then, when the second trial ended, I came to the
+conclusion--Lord help my wits--that there was some underhanded work about
+the succession to the property, and my doubts appeared to receive
+confirmation by the news of Margaret's marriage. In any case, if I turned
+up to give evidence, I could only have helped to hang one of my own
+relatives."
+
+"It never occurred to you that you might be suspected?"
+
+"Never, on my honour! The suggestion is preposterous. You seem to know
+everything. Tell Margaret that I did leave Stowmarket by the train I
+named, that I stayed in the Hotel Victoria the same night, and left for
+the Riviera at 11 a.m. next day. Margaret, don't you believe me? You and I
+were sweethearts as children. Can you think I murdered your brother? Why,
+dear girl, I refrained from seeing your husband lest I should wound you by
+revealing my thoughts."
+
+He placed his hands on her shoulders, and looked at her with such genuine
+emotion that she lifted her swimming eyes to his, and faltered:
+
+"Forgive me, Robert, though I can never forgive myself. Your words shocked
+me. I am sorry. I am not mistaken now. You are innocent as I am."
+
+"You have also convinced me, Mr. Frazer," said Brett quietly.
+
+Robert gazed quickly from one to the other. Then he laughed constrainedly.
+
+"I have been accused of several offences in my time," he said, "but this
+notion that got into your heads licks creation."
+
+"What is the matter now?" said David Hume, entering through the window.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+"CHERCHEZ LA FEMME"
+
+
+The three men drove to Stowmarket in the same vehicle, the grooms
+returning in the second dog-cart.
+
+On the way Robert Frazer--who may be designated by his second surname to
+distinguish him from his cousin--was anxious to learn what had caused the
+present recrudescence of inquiry into Alan's death. This was easily
+explained by David, and Brett took care to confine the conversation to
+general details.
+
+Frazer was naturally keen to discover how the barrister came to be so well
+posted in his movements, and David listened eagerly whilst Brett related
+enough of the stationmaster's story to clear up that point.
+
+Hume broke in with a laugh:
+
+"That shows why he was so unusually attentive when I arrived this evening.
+He spotted me getting out of the train, and would not leave me until I was
+clear of the station. He was evidently determined to ascertain my exact
+identity without any mistake, for he began by asking if I were not Mr.
+David Hume-Frazer, laying stress on my Christian name. It surprised me a
+little, because I thought the old chap knew me well."
+
+"Are you both absolutely certain that there are no other members of your
+family in existence?" asked Brett.
+
+"It depends on how many of our precious collection you are acquainted
+with," said Robert.
+
+"The only person Mr. Brett is not acquainted with is my father," exclaimed
+David stiffly.
+
+"I was not alluding to him, of course. Indeed, I had no individual
+specially in my mind."
+
+"Surely you had some motive for your remark?" questioned David. "The only
+remaining relative is Mrs. Capella."
+
+"There again--how do you define the word 'relative.' I suppose, Mr. Brett,
+you are fairly well posted in the history of our house?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, has it never struck you that there was something queer about the
+manner of my Uncle Alan's marriage--Margaret's father, I mean?"
+
+"Perhaps. What do you know about it?"
+
+"Nothing definite. When I was a mid-shipman on board the _Northumberland_
+I have a lively recollection of a fiendish row between a man named Somers
+and another officer who passed some chaffing remark about my respected
+uncle's goings on in Italy. The officer in question had forgotten, or
+never knew, that Sir Alan married Somers's sister--they were Bristol
+people, I think--but he stuck to it that Sir Alan had an Italian wife. He
+had seen her."
+
+Brett was driving, Frazer sitting by his side, and David leaning over the
+rail from the back seat. Had a bombshell dropped in their midst the two
+others could not have been more startled than by Robert's chance
+observation.
+
+"Good Heavens!" cried Hume, "why has Capella gone to Italy?"
+
+"That question may soon be answered," said Brett.
+
+"Was that one of the other reasons you hinted at in the library when
+telling us why you did not volunteer evidence at the trial?" he asked
+Robert.
+
+"It was. The cat is out of the bag now. I did not know where the affair
+might end, so I held my tongue. It also accounts for my unwillingness to
+meet Capella. I am very fond of Margaret. She is straight as a die, and I
+would not do anything to cause her suffering. In a word, I let sleeping
+dogs lie. If you can manage your matrimonial affairs without all this
+fuss, Davie, I should advise you to do the same."
+
+"What are you hinting at? What new mystery is this?" cried Hume.
+
+"Let us keep to solid fact for the present," interposed the barrister. "I
+wish I had met you sooner, Mr. Frazer. I would be nearing Naples now,
+instead of entering Stowmarket Have you any further information?"
+
+"None whatever. Even what I have told you is the recollection of a boy who
+did not understand what the row was about. Where does it lead us, anyhow?
+What is known about Capella?"
+
+"Very little. Unless I am much mistaken, he will soon tell us a good deal
+himself. I am beginning to credit him with the possession of more brains
+and powers of malice than I was at first inclined to admit. He is a
+dangerous customer."
+
+"Look here," exclaimed Robert angrily. "If that wretched little Italian
+annoys Margaret in any way I will crack his doll's head."
+
+They reached the hotel, where a room was obtained for Frazer, and David
+undertook to equip him out of his portmanteau. Brett left the cousins to
+arrange matters, and hurried to his sitting-room, where a number of
+telegrams awaited him.
+
+Those from Hume he barely glanced at. David could tell his own story.
+
+There were three from Winter. The first, despatched at 1.10 p.m., read:
+
+    "Capella and valet left by club train. Nothing doing Japanese."
+
+The second was timed 4.30 p.m.:
+
+    "Jap, accompanied by tall, fat man, left home 2.45. They separated
+    Piccadilly Circus. Followed Jap--("Oh, Winter!" groaned
+    Brett)--and saw him enter British Museum. Four o'clock he met fat
+    man again outside Tottenham Court Road Tube Station. They drove
+    west in hansom. Heard address given. Am wiring before going same
+    place."
+
+This telegram had been handed in at an Oxford Street office.
+
+The third, 7.30., p.m.:
+
+    "Nothing important. All quiet. Wiring before your local office
+    closes."
+
+The facetious Winter had signed these messages "Snow."
+
+Brett promptly wrote a telegram to the detective's private address:
+
+    "Your signature should have been 'Frost.' If that fat man turns up
+    again follow him. Call on Jap and endeavour to see his wife. You
+    may be sadder but wiser. Meet me Victoria Street, 5 p.m. to-day."
+
+He called a waiter and gave instructions that this message should be sent
+off early next morning. Then he lit a cigar to soothe his disappointment.
+
+"I cannot emulate the House of Commons bird," he mused, "or at this moment
+I would be close to Jiro's flat in Kensington, and at the same time
+crossing Lombardy in an express. What an ass Winter is, to be sure,
+whenever a subtle stroke requires an ingenious guard. Jiro dresses his
+wife in male attire and sends her on an errand he dare not perform
+himself. The fact that they depart together from their residence is
+diplomatic in itself. If they are followed, the watcher is sure to shadow
+Jiro and leave his unknown friend. Just imagine Winter dodging Jiro around
+the Rosetta Stone or the Phoebus Apollo, whilst the woman is visiting some
+one or some place of infinite value to our search. It is positively
+maddening."
+
+Perhaps, in his heart, Brett felt that Winter was not so greatly to blame.
+The sudden appearance on the scene of a portly and respectable stranger
+was disconcerting, but could hardly serve as an excuse for leaving Jiro's
+trail at the point of bifurcation.
+
+Moreover, it is difficult to suspect stout people of criminal tendencies.
+Winter had the best of negative evidence that they are not adapted for
+"treasons, spoils, and stratagems." Even a convicted rogue, if corpulent,
+demands sympathy.
+
+But Brett was very sore. He stamped about the room and kicked unoffending
+chairs out of the way. His unfailing instinct told him that a rare
+opportunity had been lost. It was well for Winter that he was beyond reach
+of the barrister's tongue. A valid defence would have availed him naught.
+
+David entered.
+
+"I just seized an opportunity--" he commenced eagerly, but Brett levelled
+his cigar at him as if it were a revolver.
+
+"You want to tell me," he cried, "that before you were two hours in
+Portsmouth you ascertained Frazer's address from an old friend. You caught
+the next train for London, went to his lodgings, encountered a nagging
+landlady, and found that your cousin had taken his overcoat to the
+pawnbroker's to raise money for his fair to Stowmarket You drove
+frantically to Liverpool Street, interviewed a smart platform inspector,
+and he told you--"
+
+"That all I had to do was to ask Brett, and he would not only give me a
+detailed history of my own actions, but produce the very man he sent me in
+search of," interrupted David, laughing. Nothing the barrister said or did
+could astonish him now.
+
+"What has upset you?" he went on. "I hope I made no mistakes."
+
+"None. Your conduct has been irreproachable. But you erred greatly in the
+choice of your parents. There are far too many Hume-Frazers in existence."
+
+"Please tell me what is the matter?"
+
+"Read those." Brett tossed the detective's telegrams across the table.
+
+Hume puzzled over them.
+
+"I think we ought to know who that fat man was," he said.
+
+"We do know. She is a fat woman, the ex-barmaid from Ipswich. Next time,
+they will send out the youthful Jiro in a perambulator."
+
+"But why are you so furious about it?" demanded Hume. "Was it so important
+to ascertain what she did during that hour and a quarter?"
+
+"Important! It is the only real clue given us since 'Rabbit Jack' saw a
+man like you standing motionless in the avenue."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+FURTHER COMPLICATIONS
+
+
+Brett devoted half an hour to Frazer's business affairs next morning.
+David was present, and the result of the conclave is shown by the
+following excerpt from a letter the barrister sent by them to Mrs.
+Capella, incidentally excusing his personal attendance at the Hall:
+
+    "In my opinion, your cousin David and you should guarantee the
+    payment of the land-tax on Mr. Frazer's estate--L650 per
+    annum--for five years. You should give him a reasonable sum to
+    rehabilitate his wardrobe and pay the few small debts he has
+    contracted, besides allowing him a weekly stipend to enable him to
+    live properly for another year. I will place him in touch with
+    sound financial people, who will exploit his estate if they think
+    the prospects are good, and you can co-operate in the scheme, if
+    you are so advised by your solicitors, with whom the financiers I
+    recommend will carry weight. Failing support in England, Mr.
+    Frazer says he can make his own way in the Argentine if helped in
+    the manner I suggest."
+
+He explained to the two young men that his movements that day would be
+uncertain. If the ladies still adhered to their resolve to proceed to
+London forthwith, the whole party would stay at the same hotel. In that
+event they should send a telegram to his Victoria Street chambers, and he
+would dine with them. Otherwise they must advise him of their whereabouts.
+
+Left to himself, he curled up in an arm-chair, knotting legs and arms in
+the most uncomfortable manner, and rendering it necessary to crane his
+neck before he could remove a cigar from his lips.
+
+In such posture, alternated with rapid walking about the room, he could
+think best.
+
+The waiter, not knowing that the barrister had remained in the hotel, came
+in to see what trifles might be strewed about table or mantelpiece in the
+shape of loose "smokes" or broken hundreds of cigarettes.
+
+Like most people, his eyes could only observe the expected, the normal. No
+one was standing or sitting in the usual way--therefore the room was
+empty.
+
+A box of Brett's Turkish cigarettes was lying temptingly open. He
+advanced.
+
+"Touch those, and I slay you," snapped Brett. "Your miserable life is not
+worth one of them."
+
+The man jumped as if he had been fired at. The barrister, coiled up like a
+boa-constrictor, glared at him in mock fury.
+
+"I beg pardon, sir," he blurted out, "I didn't know you was in."
+
+"Evidently. A more expert scoundrel would have stolen them under my very
+nose. You are a bungler."
+
+"I really wasn't goin' to take any, sir--just put them away, that is all."
+
+"In that packet," said Brett, "there are eighty-seven cigarettes. I count
+them, because each one is an epoch. I don't count the cigars in the
+sideboard."
+
+"I prefer cigars," grinned the waiter.
+
+"So I see. You have two of the landlord's best 'sixpences' in the left
+pocket of your waistcoat at this moment."
+
+"Well, if you ain't a fair scorcher," the man gasped.
+
+"What, you rascal, would you call me names?"
+
+Brett writhed convulsively, and the waiter backed towards the door.
+
+"No, sir, I was callin' no names. We don't get too many perks--we waiters
+don't, sir. I was out of bed until one o'clock and up again at six. That's
+wot I call hard work, sir."
+
+"It is outrageous. Take five cigars."
+
+"Thank you kindly, sir."
+
+"What kept you up till one o'clock?"
+
+"Gossip, sir--just silly gossip. All about Mrs. Capella, an' Beechcroft,
+an' I don't know wot"
+
+"Indeed, and who was so interested in these topics as to spoil your beauty
+sleep?"
+
+"The new gentleman, who is so like Mr. David."
+
+"How very interesting," said the barrister, who certainly did not expect
+this revelation.
+
+"It seemed to be interesting to 'im, sir. You see, the 'ouse is pretty
+full, and when you brought 'im 'ere last night, sir, the bookkeeper gev'
+'im the room next to mine. Last thing, I fetched the gentleman a Scotch
+an' soda an' a cigar. 'E said 'e couldn't sleep, and 'e was lookin' at a
+fotygraf. I caught a squint at it, an' I sez, 'Beg parding, sir, but ain't
+that Mrs. Capella--Miss Margaret as used to be?' That started 'im."
+
+"You surprise me."
+
+"And the gentleman surprised me," confided the waiter, whose greatest
+conversational effects were produced by quickly adapting remarks made to
+him. "P'r'aps you are not aware, sir, that the lady's Eye-talian 'usbin'
+ain't no good?"
+
+"I have heard something of the sort."
+
+"Then you've heard something right, sir. They do say as 'ow 'e beats her."
+
+"The scoundrel!"
+
+"Scoundrel! You should 'ave seen No. 18 last night when I tole 'im that.
+My conscience! 'E went on awful, 'e did. 'E seemed to be mad about Mrs.
+Capella."
+
+"He is her cousin."
+
+"Cousin! That won't wash, sir, beggin' your pardon. You an' me knows
+better than that"
+
+"I tell you again he is her cousin."
+
+The waiter absent-mindedly dusted the back of a chair.
+
+"Well, sir, it isn't for the likes of me to be contradictious, but I've
+got two sisters an' 'arf-a-dozen cousins, an' I don't go kissin' their
+pictures an' swearin' to 'ave it out with their 'usbin's."
+
+"Oh, come now. You are romancing."
+
+"Not a bit, sir. When I went to my room I--er--'eard 'im."
+
+"Is there a wooden partition between No. 18 and your room?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And cracks--large ones?"
+
+"Yes, sir. But why you should--oh, I see! Excuse me, sir; I thought I
+'eard a bell."
+
+The waiter hurried off, and Brett unwound himself.
+
+"So Robert is in love with Margaret," he said, laughing unmirthfully. "Was
+there ever such a tangle! If I indulge in a violent flirtation with Miss
+Layton, and I persuade Winter to ogle Mrs. Jiro, the affair should be
+artistically complete."
+
+The conceit brought Ipswich to his mind. He was convinced that the main
+line of inquiry lay in the direction of Mr. Numagawa Jiro and the curious
+masquerading of his colossal spouse.
+
+He had vaguely intended to visit the local police. Now he made up his mind
+to go to Ipswich and thence to London. Further delay at Stowmarket was
+useless.
+
+Before his train quitted the station he made matters right with the
+stationmaster by explaining to him the identity of the two men who had
+attracted his attention the previous evening. Somehow, the barrister
+imagined that the third visitant of that fateful New Year's Eve two years
+ago would not trouble the neighbourhood again. Herein he was mistaken.
+
+At the county town he experienced little difficulty in learning the
+antecedents of Mrs. Numagawa Jiro.
+
+In the first hotel he entered he found a young lady behind the bar who was
+not only well acquainted with Mrs. Jiro, but remembered the circumstances
+of the courtship.
+
+"The fact is," she explained, "there are a lot of silly girls about who
+think every man with a dark skin is a prince in his own country if only he
+wears a silk hat and patent leather boots."
+
+"Is that all?" said Brett.
+
+"All what?" cried the girl. "Oh, don't be stupid! I mean when they are
+well dressed. Princess, indeed! Catch me marrying a nigger."
+
+"But Japanese are not niggers."
+
+"Well, they're not my sort, anyhow. And fancy a great gawk like Flossie
+Bird taking on with a little man who doesn't reach up to her elbow. It was
+simply ridiculous. What did you say her name is now?"
+
+He gave the required information, and went on:
+
+"Had Mr. Jiro any other friends in Ipswich to your knowledge?"
+
+"He didn't know a soul. He was here for the Assizes, about some case, I
+think. Oh, I remember--the 'Stowmarket Mystery'--and he stayed at the
+hotel where Flossie was engaged. How she ever came to take notice of him,
+I can't imagine. She was a queer sort of girl--used to wear bloomers, and
+get off her bike to clout the small boys who chi-iked at her."
+
+"Do her people live here?"
+
+"Yes, and a rare old row they made about her marriage--for she is married,
+I will say that for her. But why are you so interested in her?"
+
+The fair Hebe glanced in a mirror to confirm her personal opinion that
+there were much nicer girls than Flossie Bird left in Ipswich.
+
+"Not in her," said Brett; "in the example she set."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"If a little Japanese can come to this town and carry off a lady of her
+size and appearance, what may not a six-foot Englishman hope to
+accomplish?"
+
+"Oh, go on!"
+
+He took her advice, and went on to the hotel patronised by Mr. Jiro during
+his visit to Ipswich. The landlord readily showed him the register for the
+Assize week. Most of the guests were barristers and solicitors, many of
+them known personally to Brett. None of the other names struck him as
+important, though he noted a few who arrived on the same day as the
+Japanese, "Mr. Okasaki."
+
+He took the next train to London, and reached Victoria Street, to find Mr.
+Winter awaiting him, and carefully nursing a brown paper parcel.
+
+"I got your wire, Mr. Brett," he explained, "and this morning after Mr.
+Jiro went out alone--"
+
+"Where did he go to?"
+
+"The British Museum."
+
+"What on earth was he doing there?"
+
+"Examining manuscripts, my assistant told me. He was particularly
+interested in--let me see--it is written on a bit of paper. Here it is,
+the 'Nihon Guai Shi,' the 'External History of Japan,' compiled by Rai
+Sanyo, between 1806 and 1827, containing a history of each of the military
+families. That is all Greek to me, but my man got the librarian to jot it
+down for him."
+
+"Your man has brains. What were you going to say when I interrupted you?"
+
+"Only this. No fat companion appeared to day, so I called at No. 17 St.
+John's Mansions in my favourite character as an old clo' man."
+
+The barrister expressed extravagant admiration in dumb show, but this did
+not deceive the detective, who, for some reason, was downcast.
+
+"I saw Mrs. Jiro, and knew in an instant that she was the stout gentleman
+who left her husband at Piccadilly Circus yesterday. I was that annoyed I
+could hardly do a deal. However, here they are."
+
+He began to unfasten the string which fastened the brown paper parcel.
+
+"Here are what?" cried Brett.
+
+"Mrs. Jiro's coat, and trousers, and waistcoat," replied Winter
+desperately. "She doesn't want 'em any more; sold 'em for a song--glad to
+be rid of 'em, in fact."
+
+He unfolded a suit of huge dimensions, surveying each garment ruefully, as
+though reproaching it personally for the manner in which it had deceived
+him.
+
+Then Brett sat down and enjoyed a burst of Homeric laughter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE THIRD MAN APPEARS
+
+
+The Rev. Wilberforce Layton raised no objection to his daughter's
+excursion to London with Mrs. Capella. Indeed, he promised to meet them in
+Whitby a week later, and remain there during August. Mrs. Eastham pleaded
+age and the school treat.
+
+It was, therefore, a comparatively youthful party which Brett joined at
+dinner in one of the great hotels in Northumberland Avenue.
+
+Someone had exercised rare discretion in ordering a special meal; the
+wines were good, and two at least of the company merry as emancipated
+school children.
+
+The barrister soon received ample confirmation of the discovery made by
+the Stowmarket waiter.
+
+Robert Hume-Frazer was undoubtedly in love with his cousin, or, to speak
+correctly, for the ex-sailor was a gentleman, he had been in love with her
+as a boy, and now secretly grieved over a hopeless passion.
+
+Whether Margaret was conscious of this devotion or not Brett was unable to
+decide. By neither word nor look was Robert indiscreet. When she was
+present he was lively and talkative, entertaining the others with snatches
+of strange memories drawn from an adventurous career.
+
+It was only when she quitted their little circle that Brett detected the
+mask of angry despair that settled for a moment on the young man's face,
+and rendered him indifferent to other influences until he resolutely
+aroused himself.
+
+Yet, on the whole, a great improvement was visible in Frazer. Attired in
+one of David's evening dress suits, carefully groomed and trimmed, he no
+sooner donned the garments which gave him the outward semblance of an
+aristocrat than he dropped the curt, somewhat coarse, mannerisms which
+hitherto distinguished him from his cousin.
+
+Beyond a more cosmopolitan style of speech, he was singularly like David
+in person and deportment. They resembled twins rather than first cousins.
+They were both remarkably fine-looking men, tall, wiry, and in splendid
+condition. It was only the slightly more attenuated features of Robert
+that made it possible, even for Brett, to distinguish one from the other
+at a little distance.
+
+Helen was pleased to be facetious on the point.
+
+"Really, Davie," she said, "now that your cousin has come amongst us, you
+must remove your beard at once."
+
+"Why?" he asked.
+
+"Because you are so alike that some evening, in these dark corridors, I
+shall mistake Mr. Frazer for you."
+
+"That won't be half bad," laughed Robert.
+
+Nellie blushed, and endeavoured to evade the consequences of her own
+remark.
+
+"I meant," she exclaimed, "that you would be sure to laugh at me if I
+treated you as Davie."
+
+"Not at all. I would consider it a cousinly duty to make you believe I was
+David, and not myself."
+
+"Then," she cried, "I will guard against any possibility of error by
+treating both of you as Mr. Robert Hume-Frazer until I am quite sure."
+
+"Waiter!" said David, "where is the barber's shop?"
+
+Helen became redder than ever, but they enjoyed the joke at her expense.
+The waiter politely informed his questioner that the barber would not be
+on duty until the morning at 8 a.m.
+
+"Then book the first chair for me!" said David.
+
+"And the second for me!" joined in Robert.
+
+"Mr. Brett," said Margaret, "don't you consider this competition perfectly
+disgraceful?"
+
+"I am overjoyed," he replied. "It appears to me that the result must be
+personally most satisfactory."
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"It is obvious that you have no resource but to accept my willing slavery,
+Miss Layton having monopolised the attentions of your two cousins."
+
+"Hello!" cried Frazer. "This is an unexpected attack. Miss Layton, I
+resign. Have no fear. In the darkest corridor I will warn you that my name
+is 'Robert.'"
+
+Though the words were carelessly good-humoured, they were just a trifle
+emphatic. The incident passed, but they recalled it subsequently under
+very different circumstances.
+
+Brett went home about ten o'clock. Next day at noon he was arranging for
+the immediate delivery of a type-writer machine, sold by Mr. Numagawa Jiro
+to a West End exchange, when a telegram reached him:
+
+    "Come at once. Urgent.--HUME."
+
+He drove to the hotel, where David and Helen were sitting in the foyer
+awaiting his arrival.
+
+Hume had kept his promise anent the barber. He no longer desired to alter
+his appearance in any way, and had only grown a beard on account of his
+sensitiveness regarding his two trials at the Assizes.
+
+But the fun of the affair had quite gone.
+
+Helen was pale, David greatly perturbed.
+
+"A terrible thing has happened," he said, in a low voice, when he grasped
+the barrister's hand. "Someone tried to kill Bob an hour ago."
+
+The blank amazement on Brett's face caused him to add hurriedly:
+
+"It is quite true. He had the narrowest escape. He is in bed now. The
+doctor is examining him. We have secured the next room to his, and
+Margaret is there with a nurse."
+
+The barrister made no reply, but accompanied them to Frazer's apartment.
+In the adjoining room they found Margaret, terribly scared, but listening
+eagerly to the doctor's cheery optimism.
+
+"It is nothing," he was saying, "a severe squeeze, some slight abrasions,
+and a great nervous shock, quite serious in its nature, although your
+friend makes light of it, and wishes to get up at once. I think,
+however--"
+
+A nurse entered.
+
+"The patient insists upon my leaving the room," she cried angrily. "He is
+dressing."
+
+They heard Robert's voice:
+
+"Confound it, I have been rolled on three times in one day by a bucking
+broncho, and thought nothing of it. I absolutely refuse to stop in bed!"
+
+The doctor resigned professional responsibility; and the nature of
+Margaret's cheque caused him to admit that, to a man accustomed to South
+American ponies, unbroken, the nervous shock might not amount to much.
+
+Indeed, Robert appeared almost immediately, and in a bad temper.
+
+"I lost my wind," he explained, "when that horse fell on me, and everyone
+promptly imagined I was killed. I hope, Margaret, the needless excitement
+of my appearance on a stretcher did not alarm you. They were going to whip
+me off to the hospital when I managed to gurgle out the name of the
+hotel."
+
+"What happened?" said Brett.
+
+"The most extraordinary thing. Have you told him, Davie?"
+
+"No, I attributed your first words to me as being due to delirium. I had
+no idea you were in earnest."
+
+"Well, Mr. Brett," said Frazer, sitting down, for notwithstanding his
+protests, he was somewhat shaky, "it began to rain after breakfast."
+
+"Excellent!" cried the barrister, "An Englishman, in his sound mind,
+always starts with the state of the weather."
+
+"I am sound enough, thank goodness, but I had a very close shave. Don't
+laugh, Davie. My ribs are sore. As the ladies decided not to go out until
+the weather took up, Davie said he would keep them company whilst I seized
+the opportunity to visit a tailor. I left the hotel and walked quickly to
+the corner of Whitehall. It was hardly worth while taking a cab to Bond
+Street, and I intended to cross in front of King Charles's statue. It is
+an awkward place, and a lot of 'buses, cabs, and vans were bowling along
+downhill from the Strand and St. Martin's Church. I waited a moment on the
+kerbstone, watching for a favourable opportunity, when suddenly I was
+pitched head foremost in front of a passing 'bus. My escape from instant
+death was solely due to the splendid way in which the driver handled his
+horses and applied his brake. The near horse was swung round so sharp that
+he fell and landed almost, not quite, on the top of me. I could feel his
+hot, reeking body against my face, and although the greater part of his
+impact was borne by the road, I got enough to knock the breath out of me.
+You will see by the state of my clothes in the other room how I was
+flattened in the mud. By the way, Davie, it is your suit."
+
+Helen choked back something she was going to say, and Frazer continued:
+
+"A policeman pulled me from under the horse, and I kept my senses
+sufficiently to note how the near front wheel had gouged a channel in the
+mud within an inch or so of my head. It went over my hat. Where is it?"
+
+Hume ran into the bedroom, and returned with a bowler hat torn to shreds.
+
+"There you are," said Robert coolly, "Fancy my head in that condition."
+
+"You used the word 'pitched.' Do you mean that someone cannoned against
+you?"
+
+"Not a bit of it. It was no accident of a hurrying man blindly following
+an umbrella. I have been a sailor, Mr. Brett, and am accustomed to
+maintaining my balance in a sudden lurch. I do it intuitively. It is as
+much a part of my second self as using my eyes or ears with unconscious
+accuracy. Some man--a big, powerful man--designedly threw me down, and did
+so very scientifically, first pressing his knee against the tendons of my
+left leg, and then using his elbow. Not one in a thousand Londoners would
+know the trick."
+
+"You are a first-rate witness. Pray go on," said Brett.
+
+"Being a sailor, however, I did manage to twist round slightly as I fell,
+and I'm blessed if I didn't think it was Davie here who did it."
+
+The barrister's keen face lighted curiously. The others, closely watching
+him, afterwards agreed that he reminded them of a greyhound straining
+after a luckless hare.
+
+"That seems to interest you, Mr. Brett," said Frazer. "I assure you the
+momentary impression was very distinct. My assailant was dressed like
+Davie, too, in dark blue serge, and wore a beard. For the moment I forgot
+that Davie had visited the barber this morning, and I blurted out
+something when he met me being carried in through the hall."
+
+"Yes," exclaimed Hume. "You said: 'Davie, why did you try to murder me?' I
+was sure you were delirious, as I had not left Nellie and Margaret for an
+instant since you went out."
+
+"That is so," cried Helen.
+
+Margaret uttered no word. She sat, with hands clasped, and pale, set face,
+watching her cousin as if his story had a mesmeric effect.
+
+"I'm awfully sorry," said Frazer penitently. "I knew at once I was a fool,
+but you see, old chap, I remembered you best as I had seen you during the
+previous twenty-four hours, and not as you looked at breakfast this
+morning. Do forgive me."
+
+But Brett broke in impatiently:
+
+"My dear fellow, your natural mistake is the most important thing that has
+happened since your cousin Alan met his death. The man who attacked you
+mistook you, in turn, for David. He will try again. I wonder if your
+accident will be reported in the papers?"
+
+"Yes," said Hume. "A youngster came to me, inquired all about Robert, and
+seemed to be quite sorry he was not mangled."
+
+"Then it will be your affair next time. Keep a close look-out whenever you
+are alone. If anyone resembling yourself lays a hand on you, try and
+detain him at all costs."
+
+"Mr. Brett!" shrieked Helen, "you surely cannot mean it."
+
+His enthusiasm had caused him to ignore her presence. For the next five
+minutes he was earnestly engaged in explaining away his uncanny request.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE TRAIL
+
+
+Standing on the steps of the hotel, Brett cast a searching glance along
+the line of waiting hansoms. He wanted a strong, sure-footed horse, one of
+those marvellous animals, found only in the streets of London, which trots
+like a dog, slides down Savoy Street on its hind legs, slips in and out
+among the traffic like an eel, and covers a steady eight miles an hour for
+a seemingly indefinite period.
+
+"Shall I whistle for a cab, sir?" said the hall-porter.
+
+"No. You whistle without discrimination," replied the barrister.
+
+He found the stamp of gee-gee he needed fourth on the rank.
+
+"How long has your horse been out of the stable?" he asked the driver.
+
+"I've just driven him here, sir."
+
+"Is he up to a hard day's work?"
+
+"The best tit in London, sir."
+
+"Pull him up to the pavement."
+
+The man obeyed. Instantly his three predecessors on the rank began a
+chorus:
+
+"'Ere! Wot th'--"
+
+"All right, Jimmy. Wait till--"
+
+"Well, I'm--"
+
+"What is the matter?" inquired Brett, "You fellows always squeal before
+you are hurt. Here is a fare each for you," and he solemnly gave them a
+shilling a-piece.
+
+Even then they were not satisfied. They all objurgated Jimmy for his luck
+as he drove off.
+
+It was an easy matter to find the constable who had been on point duty at
+the crossing when the "accident" happened. This man produced his note-book
+containing the number of the Road Car Company's Camden Town and Victoria
+'bus, the driver of which had so cleverly avoided a catastrophe. The
+policeman knew nothing of events prior to the falling of the horse. There
+was the usual crowd of hurrying people; the scream of a startled woman; a
+rush of sightseers; and the rescue of Frazer from beneath the prostrate
+animal.
+
+"Did you chance to notice the destination of the omnibus immediately
+preceding the Road Car vehicle?" said Brett.
+
+"Yes, sir. It was an Atlas."
+
+"Have you noted the exact time the accident occurred?"
+
+"Here it is, sir--10.45 a.m."
+
+At Victoria he was lucky in hitting upon the Camden Town 'bus itself,
+drawn up outside the District Railway Station, waiting its turn to enter
+the enclosure.
+
+The driver was a sharp fellow, and disinclined to answer questions. Brett
+might be an emissary of the enemy. But a handsome tip and the assurance
+that a very substantial present would be forwarded to his address by the
+friends of the gentleman whose life he saved unloosed his tongue.
+
+"I never did see anything like it, sir," he confided. "The road was quite
+clear, an' I was bowlin' along to get the inside berth from a General just
+behind, when this yer gent was chucked under the 'osses' 'eds. Bli-me, I
+would ha' thort 'e was a suicide if I 'adn't seed a bloke shove 'im orf
+the kerb."
+
+"Oh, you saw that, did you?"
+
+"Couldn't 'elp it, sir. I was lookin' aht for fares. Jack, my mate, sawr
+it too."
+
+The conductor thus appealed to confirmed the statement. They both
+described the assailant as very like his would-be victim in size,
+appearance, and garments.
+
+Jack said he could do nothing, because the sudden swerving of the 'bus,
+the fall of the horse, and the instant gathering of a crowd, prevented him
+from making the attempt to grab the other man, who vanished, he believed,
+down Whitehall.
+
+"You did not tell the police about the assault?" inquired Brett.
+
+"Not me, guv'nor," said the driver. "The poor chap in the road was not
+much 'urt. I knew that, though the mob thort 'e was a dead 'un. An' wot
+does it mean? A day lost in the polis-court, an' a day lost on my
+pay-sheet, too."
+
+"Well," said Brett, "the twist you gave to the reins this morning meant
+several days added to your pay-sheet. Would either of you know the man
+again if you saw him?"
+
+This needed reflection.
+
+"I wouldn't swear to 'im," was the driver's dictum, "but I would swear to
+any man bein' like 'im."
+
+"Same 'ere," said the conductor.
+
+The barrister understood their meaning, which had not the general
+application implied by the words. He obtained the addresses of both men
+and left them.
+
+His next visit was to an Atlas terminus. Here he had to wait a full hour
+before the 'bus arrived that had passed Trafalgar Square on a south
+journey at 10.45.
+
+The conductor remembered the sudden stoppage of the Road Car vehicle.
+
+"Ran over a man, sir, didn't it?" he inquired.
+
+"Nearly, not quite. Now, I want you to fix your thoughts on the passengers
+who entered your 'bus at that point. Can you describe them?"
+
+The man smiled.
+
+"It's rather a large order, sir," he said. "I've been past there twice
+since. If it's anybody you know particular, and you tell me what he was
+like, I may be able to help you."
+
+Brett would have preferred the conductor's own unaided statement, but
+seeing no help for it, he gave the man a detailed description of David
+Hume, plus the beard.
+
+"Has he got black, snaky eyes and high cheek-bones?" the conductor
+inquired thoughtfully.
+
+The barrister had described a fair man, with brown hair; and the question
+in no way indicated the colour of the Hume-Frazer eyes. Yet the odd
+combination caught his attention.
+
+"Yes," he said, "that may be the man."
+
+"Well, sir, I didn't pick him up there, but I dropped him there at nine
+o'clock. I picked him up at the Elephant, and noticed him particular
+because he didn't pay the fare for the whole journey, but took
+penn'orths."
+
+"I am greatly obliged to you. Would you know him again?"
+
+"Among a thousand! He had a funny look, and never spoke. Just shoved a
+penny out whenever I came on top. Twice I had to refuse it."
+
+"Was he a foreigner?"
+
+"Not to my idea. He looked like a Scotchman. Don't you know him, sir?"
+
+"Not yet. I hope to make his acquaintance. Can you remember the 'bus which
+was in front of you at Whitehall at 10.45?"
+
+"Yes; I can tell you that. It was a Monster, Pimlico. The conductor is a
+friend of mine, named Tomkins. That is the only time I have seen him
+to-day."
+
+At the Monster, Pimlico, after another delay, Tomkins was produced. Again
+Brett described David Hume, adorned now with "black, snaky eyes and high
+cheek-bones."
+
+"Of course," said Tomkins. "I've spotted 'im. 'E came aboard wiv a run
+just arter a hoss fell in front of the statoo. Gimme a penny, 'e did, an'
+jumped orf at the 'Orse Guards without a ticket afore we 'ad gone a
+'undred yards. I thort 'e was frightened or dotty, I did. Know 'im agin?
+Ra--ther. Eyes like gimlets, 'e 'ad."
+
+The barrister regained the seclusion of the hansom.
+
+"St John's Mansions, Kensington," he said to the driver, and then he
+curled up on the seat in the most uncomfortable attitude permitted by the
+construction of the vehicle.
+
+On nearing his destination he stopped the cab at a convenient corner.
+
+"I want you to wait here for my return," he told the driver.
+
+"How long will you be, sir?"
+
+"Not more than fifteen minutes."
+
+"I only asked, sir, because I wanted to know if I had time to give the
+horse a feed."
+
+Cabby was evidently quite convinced that his eccentric fare was not a
+bilker.
+
+Brett glanced around. In the neighbouring street was a public-house, which
+possessed what the agents call "a good pull-up trade." He pointed to it.
+
+"I think," he said, "if you wait there it will be more comfortable for you
+and equally good for the horse."
+
+The cabby pocketed an interim tip with a grin.
+
+"I've struck it rich to-day," he murmured, as he disappeared through a
+swing door bearing the legend, "Tap," in huge letters.
+
+Meanwhile, Brett sauntered past St. John's Mansions. Across the road a man
+was leaning against the railings of a large garden, being deeply immersed
+in the columns of a sporting paper.
+
+The barrister caught his eye and walked on. A minute later Mr. Winter
+overtook him.
+
+"Not a move here all day," he said in disgust, "except Mrs. Jiro's
+appearance with the perambulator. She led me all round Kensington Gardens,
+and her only business was to air the baby and cram it with sponge-cakes."
+
+"Where is her husband?"
+
+"In the house. He hasn't stirred out since yesterday's visit to the
+Museum."
+
+"Who is looking after the place in your absence?"
+
+"One of my men has taken a room over the paper shop opposite. He has
+special charge of the Jap. My second assistant is scraping and varnishing
+the door of No. 16 flat. He sees every one who enters and leaves the place
+during the day. If Mrs. Jiro comes out he has to follow her until he sees
+that I am on the job."
+
+"Good! I want to talk matters over with you. I have a cab waiting in a
+side street."
+
+"Why, sir, has anything special happened?"
+
+A newsboy came running along shouting the late edition of the _Evening
+News_. The barrister bought a paper and rapidly glanced through its
+contents.
+
+"Here you are," he said. "Someone in that office has a good memory."
+
+The item which Brett pointed out to the detective read as follows:--
+
+    "ACCIDENT IN WHITEHALL.
+
+    "Mr. Robert Hume-Frazer, residing in one of the great hotels in
+    Northumberland Avenue, was knocked down and nearly run over by an
+    omnibus in Whitehall this morning. The skill of the driver averted
+    a very serious accident. It is supposed that Mr. Hume-Frazer
+    slipped whilst attempting to cross before the policeman on duty at
+    that point stopped the traffic.
+
+    "The injured gentleman was carried to his hotel, where he is
+    staying with his cousin, Mr. David Hume-Frazer, whose name will be
+    recalled in connection with the famous 'Stowmarket Mystery' of
+    last year."
+
+"What does it all mean?" inquired Winter.
+
+"It means that you must listen carefully to what I am going to tell you.
+Here is my cab. Jump in. Driver, I am surprised that a man of your
+intelligence should waste your money on a public-house cigar. Throw it
+away. Here is a better one. And now, Victoria Street, sharp."
+
+Winter's ears were pricked to receive Brett's intelligence. Beyond a sigh
+of professional admiration at the result of Brett's pertinacity with
+regard to the omnibuses passing through Whitehall at 10.45, he did not
+interrupt until the barrister had ended.
+
+Even then he was silent, so Brett looked at him in surprise,
+
+"Well, Winter, what do you think of it?" he said.
+
+"Think! I wish I had half your luck, Mr. Brett," he answered sadly.
+
+"How now, you green-eyed monster?"
+
+"No. I'm not jealous. You beat me at my own game; I admit it. I would
+never have thought of going for the 'buses. I suppose you would have
+interviewed the driver and conductor of every vehicle on that route before
+you gave in. You didn't trouble about the hansoms. Hailing a cab was a
+slow business, and risked subsequent identification. To jump on to a
+moving 'bus was just the thing. Yes, there is no denying that you are d--d
+smart."
+
+"Winter, your unreasonable jealousy is making you vulgar."
+
+"Wouldn't any man swear, sir? Why did I let such a handful as Mrs. Jiro
+slip through my fingers the other day? Clue! Why, it was a perfect bale of
+cotton. If I had only followed her instead of that little rat, her
+husband, we would now know where the third man lives, and have the
+murderer of Sir Alan under our thumb. It is all my fault, though sometimes
+I feel inclined to blame the police system--a system that won't even give
+us telephones between one station and another. Never mind. Wait till I
+tackle the next job for the Yard. I'll show 'em a trick or two."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES
+
+
+The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat. On the
+dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.
+
+The messages were from Holden, Naples.
+
+The first: "Johnson arrived here this morning."
+
+The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church
+registers."
+
+"Johnson is Capella," explained Winter. "I forgot to tell you we had
+arranged that."
+
+Brett surveyed the second telegram so intently that the detective
+inquired:
+
+"How do you read that, sir?"
+
+"Capella is securing copies of certificates--marriages, births, or deaths;
+perhaps all three. He is also getting hold of living witnesses."
+
+"Of what?"
+
+"He will tell us himself. He is preparing a bombshell of sorts. It will
+explode here. Goodness only knows who will be blown up by it."
+
+He took the cover off the type-writer, seized a sheet of paper, and began
+to manipulate the keyboard with the methodical carefulness of one
+unaccustomed to its use.
+
+He wrote:
+
+    "About Stowmarket. David Hume Frazer
+    killed cousin. Cousin talked girl in road.
+    Girl waited wood. David Hume Frazer met
+    girl in wood after 1 a.m."
+
+"Do you mean to say," cried the detective, "that you can remember the
+anonymous letter word for word? You have only seen it once, and that was
+several days ago."
+
+"Not only word for word, but the spacing, the number of words in a line,
+the lines between which creases appear. Look, Winter. Here is the small
+broken 'c,' the bent capital 'D,' the letter 'a' out of register. Where is
+the original?"
+
+"Here, in my pocket-book."
+
+They silently compared the two typed sheets. It needed no expert to note
+that they had been written by the same machine.
+
+"It would take a clever counsel to upset that piece of evidence," said
+Winter. "I wish I had hold of the writer."
+
+"You have spoken to him several times."
+
+"Surely you cannot mean Jiro!"
+
+"Who else? Jiro is but the tool of a superior scoundrel. He is just
+beginning to suspect the fact, and trying to use it for his own benefit. I
+wish I was in Naples with your friend Holden."
+
+"But, Mr. Brett, the murderer is in London! What about this morning's
+attempt--"
+
+"My dear fellow, you are already constructing the gallows. Leave that to
+the gaol officials. What we do not yet know is the motive. The key to the
+mystery is in Naples, probably in Capella's hands at this moment. If I
+were there it would be in mine, too. Do not question me, Winter. I am not
+inspired. I can only indulge in vague imaginings. Capella will bring the
+reality to London."
+
+"Then what are we to do meanwhile?"
+
+"Await events patiently. Watch Jiro with the calm persistence of a cat
+watching a hole into which a mouse has disappeared. At this moment, eat
+something."
+
+He rang for Smith, and told him to attend to the wants of the waiting
+cabman, whilst Mrs. Smith made the speediest arrangements for an immediate
+dinner.
+
+The two men sat down, and Winter could not help asking another question.
+
+"Why are you keeping the cab, Mr. Brett?"
+
+"Because I am superstitious."
+
+The detective opened wide his eyes at this unlooked-for statement.
+
+"I mean it," said the barrister. "Look at all I have learnt to-day whilst
+darting about London in that particular hansom, which, mind you, I
+carefully selected from a rank of twenty. Abandon it until I am dropped at
+my starting-point! Never!"
+
+Winter sighed.
+
+"I never feel that way about anything on wheels," he said. "Do you really
+think you will be able to clear up this affair, sir? It seems to me to be
+a bigger muddle now than when I left it after the second trial. Don't
+laugh at me. That is awkwardly put, I know. But then we had a
+straightforward crime to deal with. Now, goodness knows where we have
+landed."
+
+Smith entered, and commenced laying the table. Brett did not reply to the
+detective's spoken reverie. Both men idly watched the deft servant's
+preparations.
+
+"Smith," suddenly cried the master of the household, "what sort of chicken
+have we for dinner?"
+
+"Cold chicken, sir."
+
+"Thank you. As you seem to demand Miltonic precision in phrase, I amend my
+words. What breed of chicken have we for dinner?"
+
+"A dorking, sir."
+
+"And how do you know it is a dorking?"
+
+"Oh, there's lots of ways of knowin' that, sir. You can tell by the size,
+by its head and feet, and by the tuft of feathers left on its neck."
+
+"Q.E.D."
+
+"Beg pardon, sir!"
+
+"I was only saying, 'Right you are!'"
+
+Smith went out, and Brett turned to his companion:
+
+"Did you note Smith's philosophy in the matter of dorkings?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Does it convey no moral to you? I fear not. Now mark me, Winter. Just as
+the breed of the chicken is indelibly stamped on it in the eyes of a man
+skilled in chickens, so is the murder we are investigating marked by
+characteristics so plain that a child of ten, properly trained to use his
+eyes, might discern them. What you and I suffer from are defects implanted
+by idle nursemaids and doting mothers. Let us, for the moment, adopt the
+policy of the theosophists and sit in consultation apart from our astral
+bodies. Who killed Sir Alan Hume-Frazer? I answer, a relative. What
+relative? Someone we do not know, whom he did not know, or who committed
+murder because he was known. What sort of person is the murderer? A man
+physically like either David or Robert, so like that 'Rabbit Jack' would
+swear to the identity of either of them as readily as to the person of the
+real murderer. Why did he use such a weird instrument as the Ko-Katana?
+Because he found it under his hand and recognised its sinister purpose, to
+be left implanted in the breast or brain of an enemy's lifeless body.
+Where is the man now? In London, perhaps outside this building, perhaps
+watching the Northumberland Avenue Hotel, waiting quietly for another
+chance to take the life of the person who caused us to reopen this
+inquiry. To sum up, Winter, let us find such an individual, a Hume-Frazer
+with black, deadly eyes, with a cold, calculating, remorseless brain, with
+a knowledge of trick and fence not generally an attribute of the
+Anglo-Saxon race--let us lay hands on him, I say, and you can book him for
+kingdom come, _via_ the Old Bailey."
+
+"Yes, sir!" broke in Winter excitedly. "But the motive!"
+
+"Et tu, Brute! Would the disciple rend his master? Have I not told you
+that Capella will bring that knowledge with him from Naples? I have hopes
+even of your long-nosed friend, Holden, giving us all the details we
+need."
+
+"What did the murderer steal from Sir Alan's writing-desk, from the drawer
+broken open before the blow was struck?"
+
+Smith entered, bearing a chicken.
+
+"The motive, Winter! The motive!" laughed Brett, and in pursuance of his
+invariable practice, he refused to say another word about the crime or its
+perpetrator during the meal.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE SECOND ATTACK
+
+
+Mrs. Smith was accustomed to her master's occasional freaks in the matter
+of dinner. Her husband, aided by long experience, knew whether Brett's
+"immediately" meant one minute, or five, or even fifteen.
+
+This time he gave his wife the longest limit, so, in addition to the
+chicken, a bird whose unhappy attribute is a facility for being devoured
+with the utmost speed, a mixed grill of cutlets, bacon, and French
+sausages appeared on the table.
+
+The diners were hungry and the good things were appreciated. It was well
+that they wasted no time on mere words. They were still intent on the
+feast when a boy messenger brought a note. It was from Helen, written in
+pencil:
+
+    "David was coming to see you when he was attacked. Can you come to
+    us at once?
+
+    "H.L.
+
+    "P.S.--David is all right--only shaken and covered with mud. It
+    occurred five minutes ago."
+
+"Dear me!" said Brett. "Dear me!"
+
+There was such a hiss of concentrated fury in his voice that Winter was
+puzzled to account for the harmless expression the barrister had twice
+used. The detective knew that his distinguished friend never, by any
+chance, indulged in strong language, yet something had annoyed him so
+greatly that a more powerful expletive would have had a very natural
+sound.
+
+Brett glared at him.
+
+"It is evident," he said, "that you do not know the meaning of 'Dear me.'
+It is simply the English form of the Italian 'O Dio mio!' and a literal
+translation would shock you."
+
+"It doesn't appear that much damage has been done to your client," gasped
+Winter, for Brett had unceremoniously dragged him from his chair with the
+intention of rushing downstairs forthwith.
+
+They hurried out together, and dashed into the waiting hansom.
+
+"Think of it, Winter," groaned the barrister. "Whilst we were seduced by a
+dorking and a French sausage--an unholy alliance--the very man we wanted
+was waiting in Northumberland Avenue. You are avenged! All my jibes and
+sneers at Scotland Yard recoil on my own head. I might have known that
+such a desperate scoundrel would soon make another attempt, and next time
+upon the right person. You followed Mrs. Jiro. I am led astray by a cooked
+fowl. Oh, Winter, Winter, who could suspect such depravity in a roasted
+chicken!"
+
+"I'm dashed if I can guess what you're driving at," growled the detective.
+
+"No; I understand. The blood has left your brain and gone to your stomach.
+You will not be able to think for hours."
+
+Raving thus, in disjointed sentences that Winter could not make head or
+tail of, Brett refused to be explicit until they reached the hotel, when
+he discharged the cabman with a payment that caused the gentleman on the
+perch to spit on the palm of his hand in great glee, whilst he promptly
+wheeled the horse in the direction of his livery stables.
+
+They were met by David himself, seated in the foyer by the side of Helen,
+who looked white and frightened.
+
+"This chap is a terror," began Hume, once they were safe in the privacy of
+their sitting-room. "I would never have believed such things were possible
+in London if they had not actually happened to Robert and me to-day. We
+had dinner rather early, and dined in private, as Robert is feeling stiff
+now after this morning's adventure. Margaret suggested--"
+
+"Where is Mrs. Capella?" interrupted the barrister.
+
+Miss Layton answered:
+
+"She is with Mr. Frazer. They have found a quiet corner of the ladies'
+smoking-room--I mean the smoking-room where ladies go--and we have not
+told them yet what has happened to Davie."
+
+"Well," resumed Hume, "Margaret's idea is that we should all leave here
+for the North to-morrow. She wanted you to approve of the arrangement, so
+I got into a hansom and started for your chambers. It was raining a
+little, and the street was full of traffic. The driver asked if I would
+like the window closed, but I would sooner face a tiger than drive through
+London in a boxed-up hansom, so I refused. The middle of the road, you
+know, has a long line of waiting cabs, broken by occasional
+crossing-places. The horse was just getting into a trot when a man,
+wrapped in a mackintosh, ran alongside, caught the off rein in the crook
+of his stick, swung the poor beast right round through one of the gaps in
+the rank, and down we went--horse, cab, driver, and myself--in front of a
+brewer's dray. Luckily for me and the driver, we were flung right over the
+smash into the gutter, for the big, heavy van ran into the fallen hansom,
+crushed it like a matchbox, and killed the horse. Had the window been
+closed--well, it wasn't, so there is no need for romancing."
+
+Poor Nellie clung to her lover as if to assure herself that he was really
+uninjured.
+
+"Did you see your assailant clearly?"
+
+"Unfortunately, no. The side windows were blurred with rain, and I was
+trying to strike a match. The first thing I was conscious of was a violent
+swerve. I looked up, saw a tall, cloaked figure wrenching at the reins
+with a crooked stick, and over we went. I fell into a bed of mud. It
+absolutely blinded me. I jumped up, and fancying that the blackguard ran
+up Northumberland Street I dashed after him. I cannoned against some
+passer-by and we both fell. A news-runner, who witnessed the affair, did
+go after the cause of it, and received such a knock-out blow on the jaw
+that he was hardly able to speak when found by a policeman."
+
+"Where is this man now?"
+
+"With the cabman in a small hotel across the road. I had not the nerve to
+bring them here. If we have any more adventures, the management will turn
+us out. I fancy they think our behaviour is hardly respectable. The
+instant Robert or I endeavour to leave the door we are used to clean up a
+portion of the roadway."
+
+"Miss Layton, would you mind joining the others for a few minutes. Mr.
+Hume is going out with Mr. Winter and myself."
+
+The barrister's request took Helen by surprise.
+
+"Is there any need for further risk?" she faltered. "Moreover, Margaret
+will see at once that something has gone wrong. I am a poor hand at
+deception where--where Davie is concerned."
+
+"Have no fear. Tell them everything. Mr. Hume will be very seriously
+injured--in to-morrow morning's papers. This expert in street accidents
+must be led to believe he has succeeded. In any case, aided by a miserable
+fowl, he is far enough from here at this moment. We will return in twenty
+minutes."
+
+The girl was so agitated that she hardly noticed Brett's words. But their
+purport reassured her, and she left them.
+
+The three men passed out into the drizzling rain. Owing to the Strand
+being "up," a continuous stream of traffic flowed through the Avenue. Hume
+pointed out the gap through which the horse was forced, and then they
+darted across the roadway.
+
+"I fell here," he said, indicating a muddy flood of road scrapings, in
+which were embedded many splinters from the wreckage of the hansom.
+
+Brett, careless of the amazement he caused to hurrying pedestrians, waded
+through the bed of mud, kicking up any objects encountered by his feet.
+
+He uttered an exclamation of triumph when he produced a stick from the
+depths.
+
+"I thought I should find it," he said. "When the horse fell it was a
+hundred to one against the stick being extricated from the reins, and its
+owner could not wait an instant. You and the stick, my dear Hume, lay
+close together."
+
+A small crowd was gathering. The barrister laughed.
+
+"Gentleman," he said, "why are you so surprised? Which of you would not
+dirty his boots to recover such a valuable article as this?"
+
+Some people grinned sympathetically. They all moved away.
+
+In an upper room of the neighbouring public-house were a suffering
+"runner" and a disconsolate "cabby." The "runner" could tell them nothing
+tangible concerning the man he pursued.
+
+"I sawr 'im bring the hoss dahn like a bullick," he whispered, for the
+poor fellow had received a terrible blow. "I went arter 'im, dodged rahnd
+the fust corner, an', bli-me, 'e gev me a punch that would 'ave 'arted
+Corbett."
+
+"What with--his fist?" inquired Brett.
+
+"Nah, guv'nor--'is 'eel, blawst 'im. I could 'ave dodged a square blow. I
+can use my dukes a bit myself."
+
+"What was the value of the punch?"
+
+The youth tried to smile, though the effort tortured him. "It was worth
+'arf a thick 'un at least, guv'nor."
+
+Hume gave him two sovereigns, and the runner could not have been more
+taken aback had the donor "landed him" on the sound jaw.
+
+"And now, you," said Brett to the cabman. "What did you see?"
+
+"Me!" with a snort of indignation. "Little over an hour ago I sawr a smawt
+keb an' a tidy little nag wot I gev thirty quid fer at Ward's in the
+Edgware Road a fortnight larst Toosday. And wot do I see now? Marylebone
+Work'us fer me an' the missis an' the kids. My keb gone, my best hoss
+killed, an' a pore old crock left, worth abart enough to pay the week's
+stablin'. I see a lot, I do."
+
+The man was telling the truth. He was blear-eyed with misery. Brett looked
+at Hume, and the latter rang a bell. He asked the waiter for a pen and
+ink.
+
+"How much did your cab cost?" he said to the driver, who was so downcast
+that he actually failed to correctly interpret David's action. The
+question had to be repeated before an answer came.
+
+"It wasn't a new 'un, mister. I was just makin' a stawt. I gev fifty-five
+pound fer it, an' three pun ten to 'ave it done up. But there! What's the
+use of talkin'? I'm orf 'ome, I am, to fice the missis."
+
+"Wait just a little while," said David kindly. "You hardly understand this
+business. The madman who attacked us meant to injure me, not you. Here is
+a cheque for L100, which will not only replace your horse and cab, but
+leave you a little over for the loss of your time."
+
+Winter caught the dazed cabman by the shoulder.
+
+"Billy," he said, "you know me. Are you going home, or going to get
+drunk?"
+
+Billy hesitated.
+
+"Goin' 'ome," he vociferated. "S'elp me--"
+
+"One moment," said Brett. "Surely you have some idea of the appearance of
+the rascal who pulled your horse over?"
+
+The man was alternately surveying the cheque and looking into the face of
+his benefactor.
+
+"I dunno," he cried, after a pause. "I feel a bit mixed. This gentleman
+'ere 'as acted as square as ever man did. 'E comes of a good stock, 'e
+does, an' yet--I 'umbly ax yer pawdon, sir--but the feller who tried to
+kill you an' me might ha' bin yer own brother."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+MARGARET'S SECRET
+
+
+The waiter managed to remove the most obvious traces of Brett's escapade
+in the gutter, and incidentally cleaned the stick.
+
+It was a light, tough ashplant, with a silver band around the handle. The
+barrister held it under a gas jet and examined it closely. Nothing escaped
+him. After scrutinising the band for some time, he looked at the ferrule,
+and roughly estimated that the owner had used it two or three years.
+Finally, when quite satisfied, he handed it to Winter.
+
+"Do you recognise those scratches?" he said, with a smile, pointing out a
+rough design bitten into the silver by the application of aqua regia and
+beeswax.
+
+The detective at once uttered an exclamation of supreme astonishment.
+
+"The very thing!" he cried. "The same Japanese motto as that on the
+Ko-Katana!"
+
+Hume now drew near.
+
+"So," he growled savagely, "the hand that struck down Alan was the same
+that sought my life an hour ago!"
+
+"And your cousin's this morning," said Brett
+
+"The cowardly brute! If he has a grudge against my family, why doesn't he
+come out into the open? He need not have feared detection, even a week
+ago. I could be found easily enough. Why didn't he meet me face to face? I
+have never yet run away from trouble or danger."
+
+"You are slightly in error regarding him," observed Brett. "This man may
+be a fiend incarnate, but he is no coward. He means to kill, to work some
+terrible purpose, and he takes the best means towards that end. To his
+mind the idea of giving a victim fair play is sheer nonsense. It never
+even occurs to him. But a coward! no. Think of the nerve required to
+commit robbery and murder under the conditions that obtained at Beechcroft
+on New Year's Eve. Think of the skill, the ready resource, which made so
+promptly available the conditions of the two assaults to-day. Our quarry
+is a genius, a Poe among criminals. Look to it, Winter, that your
+handcuffs are well fixed when you arrest him, or he will slip from your
+grasp at the very gates of Scotland Yard."
+
+"If I had my fingers round his windpipe--" began David.
+
+"You would be a dead man a few seconds later," said the barrister. "If we
+three, unarmed, had him in this room now, equally defenceless, I should
+regard the issue as doubtful."
+
+"There would be a terrible dust-up," smirked Winter.
+
+"Possibly; but it would be a fight for life or death. No half measures. A
+matter of decanters, fire-irons, chairs. Let us return to the hotel."
+
+Whilst Hume went to summon the others, Brett seated himself at a table and
+wrote:
+
+    "A curious chapter of accidents happened in Northumberland Avenue
+    yesterday. Early in the morning, Mr. Robert Hume-Frazer quitted
+    his hotel for a stroll in the West End, and narrowly escaped being
+    run over in Whitehall. About 8 p.m. his cousin, Mr. David
+    Hume-Frazer, was driving through the Avenue in a hansom, when the
+    vehicle upset, and the young gentleman was thrown out. He was
+    picked up in a terrible condition, and is reported to be in danger
+    of his life."
+
+The barrister read the paragraph aloud.
+
+"It is casuistic," he commented, "but that defect is pardonable. After
+all, it is not absolutely mendacious, like a War Office telegram. Winter,
+go and bring joy to the heart of some penny-a-liner by giving him that
+item. The 'coincidence' will ensure its acceptance by every morning paper
+in London, and you can safely leave the reporter himself to add details
+about Mr. Hume's connection with the Stowmarket affair."
+
+The detective rose.
+
+"Will you be here when I come back, sir?" he asked.
+
+"I expect so. In any case, you must follow on to my chambers. To-night we
+will concert our plan of campaign."
+
+Margaret entered, with Helen and the two men. Robert limped somewhat.
+
+"How d'ye do, Brett?" he cried cheerily. "That beggar hurt me more than I
+imagined at the time. He struck a tendon in my left leg so hard that it is
+quite painful now."
+
+Brett gave an answering smile, but his thoughts did not find utterance.
+How strange it was that two men, so widely dissimilar as Robert and the
+vendor of newspapers, should insist on the skill, the unerring certainty,
+of their opponent.
+
+"Mrs. Capella," he said, wheeling round upon the lady, "when you lived in
+London or on the Continent did you ever include any Japanese in the circle
+of your acquaintances?"
+
+"Yes," was the reply.
+
+Margaret was white, her lips tense, the brilliancy of her large eyes
+almost unnatural.
+
+"Tell me about them."
+
+"What can I tell you? They were bright, lively little men. They amused my
+friends by their quaint ideas, and interested us at times by recounting
+incidents of life in the East."
+
+"Were they all 'little'? Was one of them a man of unusual stature?"
+
+"No," said Margaret
+
+The barrister knew that she was profoundly distressed.
+
+"If she would be candid with me," he mused, "I would tear the heart from
+this mystery to-night."
+
+One other among those present caught the hidden drift of this small
+colloquy. Robert Frazer looked sadly at his cousin. Natures that are
+closely allied have an electric sympathy. He could not even darkly discern
+the truth, but he connected Brett's words in some remote way with Capella.
+How he loathed the despicable Italian who left his wife to bear alone the
+trouble that oppressed her--who only went away in order to concoct some
+villainy against her.
+
+Margaret could not face the barrister's thoughtful, searching gaze. She
+stood up--like the others of her race when danger threatened. She even
+laughed harshly.
+
+"I have decided," she said, "to leave here to-morrow morning. Helen says
+she does not object Our united wardrobes will serve all needs of the
+seaside. Robert's tailor visited him to-day, and assured him that the
+result would be satisfactory without any preliminary 'trying on.' Do you
+approve, Mr. Brett?"
+
+"Most heartily. I can hardly believe that our hidden foe will make a
+further attack until he learns that he has been foiled again. Yet you will
+all be happier, and unquestionably safer, away from London. Does anyone
+here know where you are going?"
+
+"No one. I have not told my maid or footman. It was not necessary, as we
+intended to remain here a week."
+
+"Admirable! When you leave the hotel in the morning give Yarmouth as your
+destination. Not until you reach King's Cross need you inform your
+servants that you are really going to Whitby. Would you object to--ah,
+well that is perhaps, difficult. I was about to suggest an assumed name,
+but Miss Layton's father would object, no doubt."
+
+"If he did not, I would," said Robert impetuously. "Who has Margaret to
+fear, and what do David and I care for all the anonymous scoundrels in
+creation?"
+
+"Is there really so much danger that such a proceeding is advisable?"
+inquired the trembling Nellie.
+
+"To-day's circumstances speak for themselves, Miss Layton," replied Brett.
+"Neither you nor Mrs. Capella run the least risk. I will not be answerable
+for the others. Grave difficulties must be surmounted before the power for
+further injury is taken from the man we seek. In my professional capacity,
+I say act openly, advertise your destination, make it known that Mr. Hume
+escaped from the wreck of the hansom unhurt. Should the would-be murderer
+follow you to Whitby he cannot escape me. Here in London he is one among
+five millions. But speaking as a friend, I advise the utmost vigilance
+unless another Hume-Frazer is to die in his boots."
+
+It was not Helen but Margaret who wailed in agony:
+
+"Do you really mean what you say? Have matters reached that stage?"
+
+"Yes, they have."
+
+His voice was cold, almost stern.
+
+"Kindly telegraph your Whitby address to me," he said to Hume. Then he
+walked to the door, leaving them brusquely.
+
+For once in his career he was deeply annoyed.
+
+"Confound all women!" he muttered in anger. "They nurse some petty little
+secret, some childish love affair, and deem its preservation more
+important than their own happiness, or the lives of their best friends.
+They are all alike--duchess or scullery-maid. Their fluttering hearts are
+all the world to them, and everything else chaos. If that woman only
+chose--"
+
+"Mr. Brett!" came a clear voice along the corridor.
+
+It was Margaret. She came to him hastily
+
+"Why do you suspect me?" she exclaimed brokenly. "I am the most miserable
+woman on earth. Suffering and death environ me, and overwhelm those
+nearest and dearest. Yet what have I done that you should think me capable
+of concealing from you material facts which would be of use to you?"
+
+The barrister was tempted to retort that what she believed to be
+"material" might indeed be of very slight service to him, but the contrary
+proposition held good, too.
+
+Then he saw the anguish in her face, and it moved him to say gently:
+
+"Go back to your friends, Mrs. Capella. I am not the keeper of your
+conscience. I am almost sure you are worrying yourself about trifles.
+Whatever they may be, you are not responsible. Rest assured of this, in a
+few days much that is now dim and troublous will be cleared up. I ask you
+nothing further. I would prefer not to hear anything you wish to say to
+me. It might fetter my hands Good-bye!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE MEETING
+
+
+"There!" he said to himself, as he passed downstairs, "I am just as big a
+fool as she is. She followed me to make a clean breast of everything, and
+I send her back with a request to keep her lips sealed. Yet I am angry
+with her for the risk she is taking!"
+
+He reached the hall and was about to cross the foyer when he caught the
+words, "Gentleman thrown out of a cab," uttered by a handsome girl,
+cheaply but gaudily attired, who was making some inquiry at the bureau.
+
+He stopped and searched for a match. Then he became interested in the
+latest news, pinned in strips on the baize-covered board of a "ticker."
+
+The girl explained to an official that she had witnessed an accident that
+evening. She was told that a gentleman who lived in the hotel was hurt.
+Was he seriously injured?
+
+The hotel man, from long practice, was enabled to sum up such inquirers
+rapidly.
+
+"Do you know the gentleman?" he inquired.
+
+"No--that is, slightly."
+
+"Well, madam, if you give me your card I will send it to his friends. They
+will give you all necessary information."
+
+She became confused. She was not accustomed to the quiet elegance of a
+great hotel. The men in evening dress, the gorgeously attired ladies
+passing to elevator or drawing-room, seemed to be listening to her. Why
+did the bureau keeper speak so loudly? Then the assurance of the Cockney
+came to her aid.
+
+"I don't see why there should be such a fuss about nothing," she said. "I
+don't know his people. I saw the gentleman pitched out of a cab and was
+sorry for him, so I just called to ask how he was."
+
+She angrily tossed her head, and stared insolently at an old lady who came
+to inquire if there were any letters for the Countess of Skerry and Ness.
+
+"No letters, your ladyship," said the man. "And you, miss, must either
+send a personal message or see the manager."
+
+The young woman bounced out in a fury, and Brett followed her, silently
+thanking the favouring planets which had sent him down the stairs at the
+very moment when the girl was proffering her request to the clerk.
+
+Fortunately, the weather was better now. There was a clear sky overhead,
+and the streets looked quite cheerful after the steady downpour, London's
+myriad lamps being reflected in glistening zigzags across the wet
+pavement.
+
+The girl did not head towards the busy Strand, but walked direct to
+Charing Cross station on the District Railway.
+
+The barrister thought she intended to go somewhere by train. He quickened
+his pace in order to be able to rapidly obtain a ticket and thus keep up
+with her. Herein he was lucky. To his surprise, she passed out of the
+station on the embankment side.
+
+He followed, and nowhere could he see her. Then he remembered the steps
+leading to the footpath along the Hungerford Bridge. Running up these
+steps he soon caught sight of the young woman, who was walking rapidly
+towards Waterloo.
+
+A man of the artisan class stared at her as she passed, and said something
+to her. She turned fiercely.
+
+"Do you want a swipe on the jaw?" she demanded.
+
+No, he did not. What had he done, he would like to know.
+
+"You mind your own business," she said. "Where am I goin', indeed. What's
+it got to do with you?"
+
+The episode was valuable to the listening barrister. It classified the
+anxious inquirer after Hume's health.
+
+Her abashed admirer hung back, and the girl resumed her onward progress.
+The man was conscious that the gentleman behind him must have heard what
+passed. He endeavoured to justify himself.
+
+"She's pretty O.T., she is," he grinned.
+
+"Do you know her?" said Brett.
+
+"I know her by sight. Seen her in the York now an' then."
+
+"She can evidently take care of herself."
+
+"Ra--ther. Don't you so much as look at her, mister, or off goes your
+topper into the river. She's in a bad temper to-night."
+
+Brett laughed and walked ahead. On reaching the Surrey side the girl made
+for the Waterloo Road. There she mounted on top of a 'bus. The barrister
+went inside. He thought of the "man with black, snaky eyes," who "took
+penn'orths" all the way from the Elephant to Whitehall.
+
+And now he, Brett, took a penn'orth to the Elephant. The 'bus reached that
+famous centre of humanity, passing thence through Newington Butts to the
+Kennington Park Road.
+
+In the latter thoroughfare the girl skipped down from the roof, and
+disdaining the conductor's offer to stop, swung herself lightly to the
+ground. The barrister followed, and soon found himself tracking her along
+a curved street of dingy houses.
+
+Into one of these she vanished. It chanced to be opposite a gas-lamp, and
+as he walked past he made out the number--37.
+
+Externally it was exactly like its neighbours, dull, soiled, pinched, old
+curtains, worn blinds, blistered paint. He knew that if he walked inside
+he would tread on a strip of oilcloth, once gay in red and yellow squares,
+but now worn to a dirty grey uniformity. In the "hall" he would encounter
+a rickety hat-stand faced by an ancient print entitled "Idle Hours," and
+depicting two ladies, reclining on rocks, attired in tremendous skirts,
+tight jackets, and diminutive straw hats perched between their forehead
+and chignons--in the middle distance a fat urchin, all hat and frills,
+staring stupidly at the ocean.
+
+In the front sitting-room he would encounter horse-hair chairs, frayed
+carpet, and more early Victorian prints; in the back sitting-room more
+frayed carpet, more prints, and possibly a bed.
+
+Nothing very mysterious or awe-inspiring about 37 Middle Street, yet the
+barrister was loth to leave the place. The scent of the chase was in his
+nostrils. He had "found."
+
+He was tempted to boldly approach and frame some excuse--a hunt for
+lodgings, an inquiry for a missing friend, anything to gain admittance and
+learn something, however meagre in result, of the occupants.
+
+He reviewed the facts calmly. To attempt, at such an hour, to glean
+information from the sharp-tongued young person who had just admitted
+herself with a latchkey, was to court failure and suspicion. He must bide
+his time. Winter was an adept in ferreting out facts concerning these
+localities and their denizens. To Winter the inquiry must be left.
+
+He stopped at the further end of the street, lit a cigar, and walked back.
+
+He had again passed No. 37, giving a casual glance to the second floor
+front window, in which a light illumined the blind, when he became aware
+that a man was approaching from the Kennington Park Road. Otherwise the
+street was empty.
+
+The lamp opposite No. 37 did not throw its beams far into the gloom, but
+the advancing figure instantly enlisted Brett's attention.
+
+The man was tall and strongly built. He moved with the ease of an athlete.
+He walked with a long, swinging stride, yet carried himself erect He was
+attired in a navy blue serge suit and a bowler hat.
+
+The two were rapidly nearing each other.
+
+At ten yards' distance Brett knew that the other man was he whom he
+sought, the murderer of Sir Alan Hume-Frazer, the human ogre whose mission
+on earth seemed to be the extinction of all who bore that fated name.
+
+It is idle to deny that Brett was startled by this unexpected rencontre.
+Not until he made the discovery did he remember that he was carrying the
+stick rescued from the mud of Northumberland Avenue.
+
+The knowledge gave him an additional thrill. Though he could be cool
+enough in exciting circumstances, though his quiet courage had more than
+once saved his life in moments of extreme peril, though physically he was
+more than able to hold his own with, say, the average professional boxer,
+he fully understood that the individual now about to pass within a stride
+could kill him with ridiculous ease.
+
+Would this dangerous personage recognise his own stick?--that was the
+question.
+
+If he did, Brett could already see himself describing a parabola in the
+air, could hear his skull crashing against the pavement. He even went so
+far as to sit with the coroner's jury and bring in a verdict of
+"Accidental Death."
+
+In no sense did Brett exaggerate the risk he encountered. The individual
+who could stab Sir Alan to death with a knife like a toy, hurl a stalwart
+sailor into the middle of a street without perceptible effort, and bring
+down a horse and cab at the precise instant and in the exact spot
+determined upon after a second's thought, was no ordinary opponent.
+
+Their eyes met.
+
+Truly a fiendish-looking Hume-Frazer, a Satanic impersonation of a fine
+human type. For the first and only time in his life Brett regretted that
+he did not carry a revolver when engaged in his semi-professional affairs.
+
+The barrister, be it stated, wore the conventional frock-coat and tall hat
+of society. His was a face once seen not easily forgotten, the outlines
+classic and finely chiselled, the habitual expression thoughtful,
+preoccupied, the prevalent idea conveyed being tenacious strength. Quite
+an unusual person in Middle Street, Kennington.
+
+They passed.
+
+Brett swung the stick carelessly in his left hand, but not so carelessly
+that on the least sign of a hostile movement he would be unable to dash it
+viciously at his possible adversary's eyes.
+
+He remembered the advice of an old cavalry officer: "Always give 'em the
+point between the eyes. They come head first, and you reach 'em at the
+earliest moment."
+
+Nevertheless, he experienced a quick quiver down his spine when the other
+man deliberately stopped and looked after him. He did not turn his head,
+but he could "feel" that vicious glance travelling over him, could hear
+the unspoken question: "Now, I wonder who _you_ are, and what you want
+here?"
+
+He staggered slightly, recovered his balance, and went on. It was a
+masterpiece of suggestiveness, not overdone, a mere wink of intoxication,
+as it were.
+
+It sufficed. Such an explanation accounts for many things in London.
+
+The watcher resumed his interrupted progress. Brett crossed the street and
+deliberately knocked at the door of a house in which the ground floor was
+illuminated.
+
+Someone peeped through a blind, the door opened as far as a rattling chain
+would permit.
+
+"Good evening," said Brett.
+
+"What do you want?" demanded a suspicious woman.
+
+"Mr. Smith--Mr. Horatio Smith."
+
+"He doesn't live here."
+
+"Dear me! Isn't this 76 Middle Street?"
+
+"Yes; all the same, there's no Smiths here."
+
+The door slammed; but the barrister had attained his object. The other man
+had entered No. 37.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+WHERE DID MARGARET GO?
+
+
+In the Kennington Park Road he hailed hansom and drove home. Winter
+awaited him, for Smith now admitted the detective without demur should his
+master be absent.
+
+The barrister walked to a sideboard, produced a decanter of brandy, and
+helped himself to a stiff dose.
+
+"Ah," he said pleasantly, "our American cousins call it a 'corpse
+reviver,' but a corpse could not do that, could he, Winter?"
+
+"I know a few corpses that would like to try. But what is up, sir? I have
+not often seen you in need of stimulants."
+
+"I am most unfeignedly glad to give you the opportunity. Winter, suppose,
+some time to-morrow, you were told that the body of Reginald Brett, Esq.,
+barrister-at-law, and a well-known amateur investigator of crime, had been
+picked up shortly after midnight in the Kennington district, whilst the
+medical evidence showed that death was caused by a fractured skull, the
+result of a fall, there being no other marks of violence on the person,
+what would you have thought?"
+
+"It all depends upon the additional facts that came to light."
+
+"I will tell them to you. You were aware that I had quitted the hotel,
+because you called there?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Whom did you see?"
+
+"Mr. David. He said that you were angry with Mrs. Capella, for no earthly
+reason that he could make out. He further informed me that she had
+followed you when you left the room, and had not returned, being
+presumably in her own apartment."
+
+"Anything further?"
+
+"Mr. Hume asked Miss Layton to go and see if Mrs. Capella had retired for
+the night. Miss Layton came back, looking rather scared, with the
+information that Mrs. Capella had dressed and gone out. After a little
+further talk we came to the conclusion that you were both together. Was
+that so?"
+
+Brett had commenced his cross-examination with the intention of humorously
+proving to Winter that he (the detective) would suspect the wrong person
+of committing the imagined murder. Now he straightened himself, and
+continued in deadly earnest:
+
+"When did you leave the hotel?"
+
+"About 10.15."
+
+"Had not Mrs. Capella returned?"
+
+"Not a sign of her. Miss Layton was alarmed, both the men furious, Mr.
+Robert particularly so. I did not see any use in remaining there; thought,
+in fact, I ought to obey orders and await you here, so here I am."
+
+The barrister scribbled on a card: "Is Mrs. C. at home?" He rang for
+Smith, and said:
+
+"Take a cab to Mr. Hume's hotel. Give him that card, and bring me the
+answer. If you and the cabman must have a drink together, kindly defer the
+function until after your return."
+
+Smith took such jibes in good part. He knew full well that to attempt to
+argue with his master would produce a list of previous convictions.
+
+Then Brett proceeded to amaze Winter in his turn, giving him a full, true,
+and complete history of events since his parting from Mrs. Capella in the
+corridor.
+
+He had barely finished the recital when Smith returned with a note:
+
+    "Yes; she came in at 10.45, and has since retired for the night.
+    She says that her head ached, that she wanted to be alone, and
+    went for a long walk. Seemed rather to resent our anxiety. Helen
+    and I will be glad when we are all safely away from London. D.H."
+
+The barrister pondered over this communication for a long time.
+
+"I fear," he said at last, "that I came away from Middle Street a few
+minutes too soon. To tell the truth, I was in an abject state of fear.
+Next time I meet Mr. Frazer the Third I will be ready for him."
+
+"Is he really so like the others that he might be mistaken for one of
+them?"
+
+"In a sense, yes. He has the same figure, general conformation, and
+features. But in other respects he is utterly different. Have you ever
+seen a great actor in the role of Mephistopheles?"
+
+"I don't remember. My favourite villain was Barry Sullivan as Richard
+III."
+
+Brett laughed hysterically.
+
+"Let me speak more plainly. You have, no doubt, a vague picture in your
+mind of a certain gentleman of the highest descent who is popularly
+credited with the possession of horns, hoofs, and a barbed tail?"
+
+"I've heard of him."
+
+"Very well. You will see someone very like him, minus the adornments
+aforesaid, when you set eyes on the principal occupant of 37 Middle
+Street."
+
+Winter slowly assimilated this description. Then he inquired:
+
+"Why did you say just now that you came away from Middle Street a few
+minutes too soon?"
+
+"Where did Mrs. Capella go when she left the hotel?"
+
+"If she went to visit the man you met, then she is acting in collision
+with her brother's murderer, and she knows it."
+
+"That is a hard thing to say, Winter."
+
+"It is a harder thing to credit, sir; but one cannot reject all evidence,
+merely because it happens to be straightforward and not hypothetical."
+
+"Winter, you are sneering at me."
+
+"No; I am only trying to make you admit the tendency of facts discovered
+by yourself. There is a period in all criminal investigation when
+deductive reasoning becomes inductive."
+
+"Now I have got you," cried Brett "I thought I recognised the source of
+your new-born philosophy in the first postulate. The second convinces me.
+You have been reading 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue.'"
+
+"The book is in my pocket," admitted Winter.
+
+"I recommend you to transfer it to your head. It should be issued
+departmentally as a supplement to the Police Code. But let us waste no
+more time. To-morrow we have much to accomplish."
+
+"I am all attention."
+
+"In the first place, Mrs. Capella is leaving London for the North. She
+must not be regarded in our operations. The woman is weighted with a
+secret. I am sorry for her. I prefer to allow events as supplied by others
+to unravel the skein. Secondly, Jiro and his wife, and all who visit them,
+or whom they visit, must be watched incessantly. Get all the force
+required for this operation in its fullest sense. You, with one trusted
+associate, must keep a close eye on No. 37 Middle Street. On no account
+obtrude yourself personally into affairs there. Rather miss twenty
+opportunities than scare that man by one false move. Do you understand me
+thoroughly?"
+
+"I am to see and not be seen. If I cannot do the one without the other, I
+must do neither."
+
+"Exactly. What a holiday you are having! You will return to the Yard with
+an expanded brain. When you buy a new hat you will be astounded and
+gratified. But beware of the fate of the frog in the fable. He inflated
+himself until he emulated the size of the bull."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"Oh, then he burst."
+
+The detective changed the conversation abruptly.
+
+"What do you propose doing, Mr. Brett?"
+
+"I purpose reading a chapter in 'The Stowmarket Mystery,' written by your
+friend, Mr. Holden."
+
+They heard a loud rat-tat on the outer door.
+
+"Probably," continued Brett, "this is its title."
+
+Smith entered with a telegram. It was in the typed capitals usually
+associated with Continental messages. It read:
+
+    "Johnson leaves Naples to-night with others, I travel same
+    train.--HOLDEN."
+
+The barrister surveyed the simple words with an intensity that indicated
+his desire to wrest from their context its hidden significance.
+
+Winter, more subject to the influences of the hour, puffed his cigar
+furiously.
+
+"You arrange your words to suit the next act for all the world like an
+Adelphi play," he growled.
+
+"I see that Holden has the same gift. What does he mean by 'others'? Who
+is Capella bringing with him?"
+
+"Witnesses," volunteered Winter.
+
+"Just so; but witnesses in what cause?"
+
+"How the--how can I tell?"
+
+"By applying your borrowed logic. Try the deductive reasoning you flung at
+me a while ago."
+
+"I don't quite know what 'deductive' means," was the sulky admission.
+
+"That is the first step towards wisdom. You admit ignorance. Deduction, in
+this sense, is the process of deriving consequences from admitted facts.
+Now, mark you. Capella wishes to be rid of his wife, by death or legal
+separation. He thinks he wants to marry Miss Layton. He is convinced that
+something within his power, if done effectively, will bring about both
+events. He can shunt Mrs. Capella, and so disgust Miss Layton with the
+Hume-Frazers that she will turn to the next ardent and sympathetic wooer
+that presents himself. He knew the points of his case, and went to Naples
+to procure proofs. He has obtained them. They are chiefly living persons.
+He is bringing them to England, and their testimony will convict Mrs.
+Capella of some wrong-doing, either voluntary or involuntary. Holden knows
+what Capella has accomplished, and thinks it is unnecessary to remain
+longer in Naples. He is right. I tell you, Winter, I like Holden."
+
+"And I tell you, Mr. Brett, that if I swallowed the whole of Mr. Poe's
+stories, I couldn't make out Holden's telegram in that fashion. So I must
+stick to my own methods, and I've put away a few wrong 'uns in my time.
+When shall I see you next?"
+
+Brett took out his watch.
+
+"At seven p.m., the day after to-morrow," he said coolly. "Until then my
+address is 'Hotel Metropole, Brighton.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+MR. OOMA
+
+
+He kept his word. Early next morning, after despatching a message to David
+Hume, and receiving an answer--an acknowledgment of his address in case of
+need--he took train to London-by-the-Sea, and for thirty-six hours flung
+mysteries and intrigues to the winds.
+
+He came back prepared for the approaching climax. In such matters he was a
+human barometer. The affairs of the family in whose interests he had
+become so suddenly involved were rapidly reaching an acute stage.
+Something must happen soon, and that something would probably have
+tremendous and far-reaching consequences.
+
+Capella and his companions, known and unknown, would reach London at 7.30
+p.m. It pleased Brett to time his homeward journey so that he would speed
+in the same direction, but arrive before them.
+
+In these trivial matters he owned to a boyish enthusiasm. It stimulated
+him to "beat the other man," even if he only called upon the London,
+Brighton, and South Coast line to conquer a weak opponent like the
+South-Eastern.
+
+At his flat were several letters and telegrams. Mrs. Capella wrote:
+
+    "I have seriously considered your last words to me. It is hard for
+    a woman, the victim of circumstances, and deprived of her
+    husband's support at a most trying and critical period, to know
+    how to act for the best. You said you wished your hands to be left
+    unfettered. Well, be it so. You will encounter no hindrance from
+    me. I pray for your success, and can only hope that in bringing
+    happiness to others you will secure peace for me."
+
+"Poor woman!" he murmured. "She still trusts to chance to save her. Whom
+does she dread? Not her husband. Each day that passes she must despise him
+the more. Does she know that Robert loves her? Is she afraid that he will
+despise her? Really, a collision in which Capella was the only victim
+would be a perfect godsend."
+
+David telegraphed the safe arrival of the party at a Whitby hotel. "We
+have seen nothing more of our Northumberland Avenue acquaintance," he
+added.
+
+Holden, too, cabled from Paris, announcing progress. The remainder of the
+correspondence referred to other matters and social engagements, all which
+latter fixtures the barrister had summarily broken.
+
+Winter was announced. His face heralded important tidings.
+
+"Well, how goes the ratiocinative process?' was Brett's greeting.
+
+"I don't know him," said the detective. "But I do happen to know most of
+the private inquiry agents in London, and one of 'em is going strong in
+Middle Street. He's watching Mr. Ooma for all he's worth."
+
+"Mr. Whom-a?"
+
+"I'm not joking, Mr. Brett. That is the name of the mysterious gent in No.
+37--Ooma, no initials. Anyhow, that is the name he gives to the landlady,
+and her daughter--the girl you followed from the hotel--tells all her
+friends that when he gets his rights he will marry her and make her a
+princess."
+
+"Ooma--a princess," repeated Brett.
+
+"Such is the yarn in Kennington circles. I obeyed orders absolutely. I and
+my mate took turn about in the lodgings we hired, where we are supposed to
+be inventors. My pal has a mechanical twist. He puts together a small
+electric machine during his spell, and I take it to pieces in mine.
+Yesterday my landlady was in the room, and Ooma looked out of the opposite
+window. Then she told me the whole story."
+
+"Go on--do!"
+
+"Mr. Ooma is evidently puzzled to learn what has become of the
+Hume-Frazers and Mrs. Capella."
+
+"Why do you bring in her name?"
+
+"Because it leads to the second part of my story. Someone--Capella or his
+solicitors, I expect--instructed Messrs. Matchem and Smith, private
+detectives, to keep a close eye on the lady. Their man is an ex-police
+constable, a former subordinate of mine who was fined for taking a drink
+when he ought not to. Of course, I knew him and he knew me, so I hadn't
+much trouble in getting it out of him."
+
+The speaker paused with due dramatic effect.
+
+"Got what out of him?" cried Brett impatiently. "And don't puff your
+cheeks in that way. Remember the terrible fate of the frog who would be a
+bull."
+
+"There's neither frogs nor bulls in this business," retorted Winter, calm
+in the consciousness of his coming revelation. "Mrs. Capella did go to
+Middle Street that night. She drove there in a hansom, had a long talk
+with Ooma, and nearly drove Miss Dew crazy with jealousy."
+
+"We guessed that already. Miss Dew is the prospective princess, I
+presume?"
+
+"Yes. She has been twice to the hotel since, trying to find out where the
+party went to."
+
+"Next?"
+
+"Ooma has plenty of money, and now for my prize packet--he is a Jap!"
+
+"Impossible!"
+
+"This time you are wrong, Mr. Brett. You have only seen him once. You were
+full of his remarkable likeness to the Hume-Frazers. It is startling, I
+admit, and at night-time no man living could avoid the mistake. But I tell
+you he is a Jap. He met Jiro yesterday, and they walked in Kensington
+Palace Gardens. They talked Japanese all the time. My mate heard them. He
+distinctly caught the word 'Okasaki' more than once. He managed to shadow
+them very neatly by hiring a bath-chair and telling the attendant to come
+near to the pair every time there was a chance. More than that, when you
+know it, you can see the Japanese eyes, skin, and mouth. It is the
+grafting of the Jap on the European model that gives him the likeness
+to--well, to the party you mentioned the other day."
+
+"The devil!" exclaimed Brett.
+
+"That's him!"
+
+It was useless to explain that the exclamation was one of amazement.
+
+The barrister began to roam about the apartment, frowning with the
+intensity of his thoughts. Once he confronted Winter.
+
+"Are you sure of this?" he demanded.
+
+"So sure that were it not for your positive instructions, Mr. Ooma would
+now be in Holloway, awaiting his trial on a charge of murder. Look at the
+facts. 'Rabbit Jack' can identify him. He knew how to use the Ko-Katana.
+He knew the Japanese tricks of wrestling, which enabled him to make those
+two clever attacks on the two cousins. He has some power over Mrs.
+Capella, which brings her to him at eleven at night in a distant quarter
+of London. He made Jiro write the typed letter in my possession. He sent
+Jiro to Ipswich to attend Mr. David's second trial when the first missed
+fire. I can string Mr. Ooma on that little lot."
+
+"Winter," said Brett sternly, "you make me tired. Have all these stunning
+items of intelligence invaded your intellect only since you went to Middle
+Street?"
+
+"No, not exactly, Mr. Brett. I must admit that each one of them is your
+discovery, except the fact that he is a Jap--always excepting that--but
+yesterday I strung them together, so to speak."
+
+"Ending your task by stringing Ooma, in imagination. I allow you full
+credit for your sensational development--always excepting this, that I
+sent you to Middle Street. Why did he kill Sir Alan? How does his Japanese
+nationality elucidate an utterly useless and purposeless murder?"
+
+"I don't know, Mr. Brett."
+
+"Unless I am much mistaken, you will learn to-night. Holden is nearly
+due."
+
+The barrister resumed his stalk round the room. In another minute he
+stopped to glance at his watch.
+
+"Half-past seven," he murmured. "Just time to get a message through to
+Whitby, and perhaps a reply."
+
+He wrote a telegram to Hume: "Where is Fergusson? I want to see him."
+
+"What has Fergusson got to do with the business?" asked the detective.
+
+"Probably nothing. But he is the oldest available repository of the family
+secrets. His master has told him to be explicit with me. By questioning
+him, I may solve the riddle presented by Mr. Ooma. Does the name suggest
+nothing to you, Winter?"
+
+"It has a Japanese ring about it."
+
+"Nothing Scotch? Isn't it like Hume, for instance?"
+
+"By Jove! I never thought of that. Well, there, I give in. Ooma! Dash my
+buttons, that beats cock-fighting!"
+
+The barrister paid no heed to Winter's fall from self-importance. He
+pondered deeply on the queer twist given to events by the detective's
+statement. At last he took a volume from his book-case.
+
+"Do you remember what I told you about Japanese names?" he said. "I
+described to you, for instance, what strange mutations your surname would
+undergo were you born in the Far East."
+
+"Yes; I would be called Spring, Summer, etc, according to my growth."
+
+"Then listen to this," and he read the following extract from that
+excellent work, "The Mikado's Empire," by W.E. Griffis:
+
+"It has, until recently, in Japan been the custom for every Samurai to be
+named differently in babyhood, boyhood, manhood, or promotion, change of
+life, or residence, in commemoration of certain events, or on account of a
+vow, or from mere whim."
+
+"What a place for aliases!" interpolated the professional.
+
+"At the birth of a famous warrior," went on Brett, "his mother, having
+dreamed that she conceived by the sun, called him Hiyoshi Maro (good sun).
+Others dubbed him Ko Chiku (small boy), and afterward Saru Watsu
+(monkey-pine)."
+
+He closed the volume.
+
+"This gentleman has twenty other names," he added; "but the foregoing list
+will suffice. Doesn't it strike you as odd that the man who struck down
+the fifth Hume-Frazer baronet on the spot so fatal to his four
+predecessors, should bring from a country given to such name-changes a
+cognomen that irresistibly recalls the original enemy of the family, David
+Hume?"
+
+"It is odd," asserted Winter.
+
+Someone rang, and was admitted.
+
+"Mr. Holden," announced Smith.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+HOLDEN'S STORY
+
+
+The long-nosed ex-sergeant entered. His sallow face was browned after his
+long journeys and exposure to the Italian sun in midsummer. He was soiled
+and travel-stained.
+
+"Excuse my appearance," he said. "I have had no time for even a wash since
+this morning. On board the boat I thought it best to keep a constant watch
+on Capella and his companions."
+
+"Who are they?" demanded Brett.
+
+Mr. Holden looked at the barrister with an injured air.
+
+"I am a man of few words, sir," he said, "and if you do not mind, I will
+tell my story in my own way."
+
+Winter was secretly delighted to hear the "Old 'Un," as they called him in
+the Yard, take a rise out of Brett in this manner.
+
+"Perhaps," exclaimed the barrister, "your few words will come more easily
+if you wet your whistle."
+
+"Well, I must admit that Italian wine--"
+
+"Is not equal to Scotch; or is it Irish?"
+
+"Irish, sir, if you please."
+
+Mr. Holden's utterance having been cleared of cinders, he made a fresh
+start.
+
+"As I was saying, gentlemen, I kept an observant eye on Capella and his
+companions, and at the same time occupied myself in the fashioning of
+certain little models with which to illustrate my subsequent remarks."
+
+He produced a map of Naples, which he carefully smoothed out on the table,
+pressing the creases with his fingers until Brett itched to tweak his long
+nose.
+
+The man was evidently a Belfast Irishman, and the barrister forced himself
+to find amusement in speculating how such an individual came to speak
+Italian fluently. Speculation on this abstruse problem, however, yielded
+to keen interest in Mr. Holden's proceedings.
+
+On the face of the map he located a number of small wooden carvings, which
+were really very ingenious. They represented churches, an hotel, a
+mansion, three ordinary houses, a rambling building like a public
+institution, and a nondescript structure difficult to classify.
+
+"I find," said Mr. Holden, when the _mise-en-scene_ was quite to his
+liking, "that a good map, and a few realistic models of the principal
+buildings dealt with in my discourse, give a lucidity and a coherence
+otherwise foreign to the narrative."
+
+Even Winter became restive under this style of address. Brett caught his
+eye, and moved by common impulse, they lessened the whisky-mark in a
+decanter of Antiquary.
+
+"Allow me to remark," interpolated Brett, "that your telegrams were
+admirably terse and to the point."
+
+"Thank you, sir. Many eminent judges have complimented me on my manner of
+giving evidence. And now to business. I arrived at the railway station
+here" (touching the non-descript building), "and took a room in the Villa
+Nuova here" (he laid a finger on the mansion), "which, as you see, is
+quite close to the Hotel de Londres here" (a flourish over the hotel), "at
+which, as I expected, Mr. Capella took up his abode. According to your
+instructions I obtained a competent assistant, a native of Naples, and we
+both awaited Mr. Capella's arrival. He reached Naples at 10.30 a.m. the
+day following my advent at night, and after breakfast drove straight to
+the Reclusorio, or Asylum for the Poor, situated here" (he indicated the
+institution), "close to the Botanical Gardens. Mr. Capella arranged with
+the authorities to withdraw from the poorhouse an elderly woman named
+Maria Bresciano. It subsequently transpired that she was a nurse employed
+by a certain English gentleman named Fraser Beechcroft, who became
+entangled with a beautiful Italian girl named Margarita di Orvieto some
+twenty-eight years ago."
+
+Mr. Holden paid not the remotest attention to the looks of amazement
+exchanged between Brett and Winter. He merely paused to take breath and
+peer benignantly at the map, following lines thereon with the index finger
+of his right hand.
+
+"It appears further," he resumed, "that the Englishman and the Signorina
+di Orvieto could not marry, on account of some foolish religious scruples
+held by the young lady, but they entertained a very violent passion for
+each other, met clandestinely, and a female child was born, whose baptism
+is registered, under the name of Margarita di Orvieto, in the church of
+the village of La Scutillo here." (He tapped a tiny spired edifice on the
+edge of the map.)
+
+"The two were living there in great secrecy, as they were in fear of their
+lives, not alone from the young lady's relatives, but from her discarded
+lover, the Marchese di Capella, father of the present Mr. Giovanni
+Capella, who has dropped his title in England. The old woman, Maria
+Bresciano, attended the signorina and her child, but unfortunately the
+mother died, and her death is registered both by the civil authorities in
+the Minadoi section here" (lifting a small house bodily off the map), "and
+by the ecclesiastical here" (he touched another spire).
+
+"The affair created some stir in the Naples of that day, but Beechcroft's
+suffering, the calm daring with which, after the girl's death, he defied
+those who had vowed vengeance on him, and the generally passionate nature
+of the attachment between the two, created much public sympathy for him.
+Among others who were attracted to him were a Mr. and Mrs. Somers, and
+their daughter, then resident in Naples. Oddly enough, Beechcroft did not
+content himself with securing efficient care for his child, but brought
+the infant to the Hotel de Londres--you note the coincidence--where it was
+nurtured under his personal supervision."
+
+Brett drew a long breath. So this was Margaret's secret and Capella's
+vengeance! He was aroused, as from a dream, by Mr. Holden's steady voice.
+
+"Mr. Beechcroft always held that the Signorina di Orvieto was his true
+wife in the eyes of Heaven, for their marriage was only prevented by a
+most uncalled-for and unnatural threat of incurring her father's dying
+curse it she dared to wed a Protestant. Eighteen months after her death he
+married Miss Somers at the British Consulate, and revealed his real name
+and rank--Sir Alan Hume-Frazer, baronet, of Beechcroft, near Stowmarket,
+England. His lady adopted the infant girl as her own, and local gossip had
+it that this was a part of the marriage contract, whilst the ceremony took
+place at an early date to give colour to the kindly pretence. The pair
+lived in a distant suburb, at Donzelle here" (another church fixed the
+spot), "and in twelve months a boy was born, birth registered locally and
+in the British Consulate. After four more years' residence in Naples, Sir
+Alan and Lady Hume-Frazer left Italy with their two children. Mr. Capella
+found two of their old servants, Giuseppe Conti and Lola Rintesano, living
+in these small houses here and here" (the remaining houses were lifted
+into prominence).
+
+"Mr. Capella married Miss Margaret Hume-Frazer in Naples last January, the
+marriage being properly registered. His estates are situated in the South
+of Italy, and his father retired thither permanently during the scandal
+that took place twenty-eight years ago. Mr. Capella has brought with him
+the persons named as the nurse and servants, together with certified
+copies of all the documents cited. I also have certified copies of those
+documents, I now produce them, together with a detailed statement of my
+expenses. Mr. Capella is residing in a neighbouring hotel."
+
+The methodical police-sergeant laid some neatly docketed folios on the
+table near the map, and sat down for the first time since entering the
+room.
+
+As a matter of fact, he had not uttered an unnecessary word. Other men,
+describing similar complexities, would have given particulars of their
+adventures, how this thing had been done, and that person wheedled into
+confidences.
+
+Mr. Holden rose superior to these considerations. His mission was
+all-important, and he had certainly fulfilled it to the letter.
+
+"If ever a grateful country makes me a judge, Mr. Holden," said Brett, "I
+will add another to the encomiums you have received from the Bench.
+Indeed, before this affair ends, that pleasant task may be performed by an
+existing judge, for I do not see now how we are going to keep out of the
+law-courts. Do you, Winter?"
+
+"Looks like a murder case plus a divorce," commented the detective.
+
+"You are leaving out of count the biggest sensation, namely, the title to
+the Beechcroft estates. Under her father's will, if it is very cleverly
+drawn, Mrs. Capella may receive L1,000 per annum. She has not the remotest
+claim to Beechcroft and its revenues or to her brother's intestate
+estate."
+
+Winter whistled.
+
+"My eye!" he exclaimed. "What is Capella going to get out of it?"
+
+"Revenge! His is a legacy of hate, like most other benefactions in the
+Hume-Frazer family. The next move rests with him. I wonder what it will
+be!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+MR. AND MRS. JIRO
+
+
+Chance, at times, tangles the threads on which human lives depend, and
+creates such a net of knots and meshes that intelligent foresight is
+rendered powerless, and plans that ought to succeed are doomed to utter
+failure.
+
+It was so during the three days succeeding Capella's return from Italy.
+Reviewing events in the lights of accomplished facts, Brett subsequently
+saw many opportunities where his intervention would have altered the
+fortunes of the men and women in whom he had become so interested.
+
+Although he endeavoured to keep control of circumstances, it was
+impossible to predict with certainty the manner in which the fifth act of
+this tragedy in real life would unfold itself.
+
+Would he have ordered things differently had he possessed the power? He
+never knew. It was a question he refused to discuss with Winter long after
+everybody was comfortably married or buried, as the case might be.
+
+To divide labour and responsibility, he apportioned Ooma and his
+surroundings to Winter, Capella to Holden. The strict supervision
+maintained over the Jiro family was relaxed. Brett proposed dealing with
+them summarily and in person.
+
+Holden had barely concluded his remarkable narrative when Hume's reply
+came from Whitby, giving the address of the hotel where Fergusson resided.
+
+Brett went there at once, and found the old butler on the point of
+retiring for the night.
+
+Fergusson was at first disinclined to commit himself to definite
+statements. With characteristic Scottish caution, he would neither say
+"yes" nor "no" until the barrister reminded him that he was not acting in
+his young master's interests by being so reticent.
+
+"Weel, sir, I'm an auld man, and mebbe a bit haverin' in my judgment. Just
+ask me what ye wull, an' I'll dae my best to answer ye," was the butler's
+ultimate concession.
+
+"You remember the day of the murder?"
+
+"Shall I ever forget it?"
+
+"Before Mr. David Hume-Fraser arrived at Beechcroft from London, had any
+other visitors seen Sir Alan?"
+
+This was a poser. No form of ambiguity known to Fergusson would serve to
+extricate him from a direct reply.
+
+"Ay, Mr. Brett," came his reply at last. "One I can swear to."
+
+"That was Mr. Robert Hume-Fraser, who met him in the park, and walked with
+him there about three to four o'clock in the afternoon. Were there others
+whom you cannot swear to?"
+
+The butler darted a quick glance at the other.
+
+"Ye ken, sir," he said, "that the Hume-Frazers are mixed up wi' an auld
+Scoatch hoose?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Weel, sir, there's things that happen in this world which no man can
+explain. Five are dead, and five had to die by violent means. Who arranged
+that?"
+
+"Neither you nor I can tell."
+
+"That's right, sir. I know that Mr. David or Mr. Robert never lifted a
+hand against their cousin, yet, unless the Lord blinded my auld een, I saw
+ane or ither in the avenue when I tried to lift Sir Alan frae the groond."
+
+"You said nothing of this at the time?"
+
+"Would ye hae me speak o' wraiths to a Suffolk jury, Mr. Brett? I saw no
+mortal man. 'Twas a ghaist for sure, an' if I had gone into the box to
+talk of such things they wad hae discredited my evidence about Mr. David.
+I might hae hanged him instead o' savin' him."
+
+"Suppose I tell you that the man you saw was no ghost, but real flesh and
+blood, a Japanese descendant of the David Hume who fought and killed the
+first Sir Alan in 1763, what would you say?"
+
+"I would say, sir, that it had to be, were it ever so strange."
+
+"Have you ever, in gossip about family records, heard anything of the fate
+of the David Hume I have just mentioned."
+
+"Only this, sir. My people have lived on the Highland estate longer than
+any Hume-Frazer of them a'. My father remembered his grandfather sayin'
+that a man who was in India wi' Clive met Mr. Hume in Calcutta. There was
+fightin' agin' the French, an' Mr. Hume would neither strike a blow for
+King George nor draw a sword for the French, so he sailed away to the East
+in a Dutch ship, and he was never heard of afterwards."
+
+This was a most important confirmation of the theory evolved by the
+barrister. For the rest, Fergusson's reminiscences were useless.
+
+Next morning Brett went to Somerset House to consult the will in which
+Margaret's father left her L1,000 a year. Her brother died intestate.
+
+As he expected, the document was phrased adroitly. It read: "I give and
+bequeath to Margaret Hume-Frazer, who has elected to desert the home
+provided for her, the sum of--" etc., etc.
+
+The fact that she was, in the eyes of the law, an illegitimate child could
+not invalidate this bequest. For the rest, he imagined that when her
+brother died so unexpectedly, no one ever dreamed of inquiring into the
+well-intentioned fraud perpetrated by Lady Hume-Frazer and her husband.
+Margaret was unquestionably accepted as the heiress to her brother's
+property, the estate being unentailed.
+
+Then he drove to 17 St. John's Mansions, Kensington, where Mr. and Mrs.
+Jiro were "at home." They received him in the tiny drawing-room, and the
+lady's manner betokened some degree of nervousness, which she vainly
+endeavoured to conceal by a pretence of bland curiosity as to the object
+of the barrister's visit.
+
+Not so Numagawa, whose sharp ferret eyes snapped with anxiety.
+
+Brett left them under no doubt from the commencement. He addressed his
+remarks wholly to the Japanese.
+
+"You have an acquaintance--perhaps I should say a confederate--residing at
+No. 37 Middle Street, Kennington--" he began.
+
+"I do not understand," broke in Jiro, whose sallow face crinkled like a
+withered apple in the effort to display non-comprehension.
+
+"Oh yes, you do. The man's name is Ooma. He is a tall, strongly-built
+native of Japan. He sent you to Ipswich to watch the trial of Mr. David
+Hume-Frazer for the murder of his cousin. He got you to write the
+post-card to Scotland Yard on the type-writer which you disposed of the
+day after my visit here. You recognised the motto of his house in the
+design which I showed you, and which was borne on the blade of the
+Ko-Katana. For some reason which I cannot fathom, unless you are his
+accomplice, you made your wife dress in male attire and go to warn him
+that some person was on his track. You see I know everything."
+
+As each sentence of this indictment proceeded it was pitiable to watch the
+faces of the couple. Jiro became a grotesque, fit to adorn the ugliest of
+Satsuma plaques. Mrs. Jiro visibly swelled with agitation. Brett felt that
+she was too full, and would overflow with tears in an instant.
+
+"This is vely bad!" gasped Jiro.
+
+"Oh, Nummie dear, have we been doing wrong?" moaned his spouse.
+
+The barrister determined to frighten them thoroughly.
+
+"It is a grave question with the authorities whether they should not
+arrest you instantly," he said.
+
+"On what charge?" cried Jiro.
+
+"On a charge of complicity after the act in relation to the murder of Sir
+Alan Hume-Frazer. Your accomplice, Ooma, is the murderer."
+
+"What!" shrieked Mrs. Jiro, flouncing on to her knees and breaking forth
+into piteous sobs. "Oh, my precious infant! Oh, my darling Nummie! Will
+they part us from our babe?"
+
+The door opened, and a frowsy head appeared.
+
+"Did you call, mum?" inquired the small maid-servant.
+
+"Get out!" shouted Brett; and the door slammed.
+
+"Mr. Blett," whimpered the Japanese, "I did not do this thing. I am
+innocent. I knew nothing about it until--until--"
+
+"You verified the motto on the blade by consulting the 'Nihon Suai Shi' in
+the British Museum."
+
+This shot floored Jiro metaphorically, and his wife literally, for she
+sank into a heap.
+
+"He knows everything, Nummie," she cried.
+
+"Evelything!" repeated her husband.
+
+"Then tell him the rest!". (Yet she was born in Suffolk.)
+
+Brett scowled terribly as a subterfuge for laughter.
+
+"Tell me," he said, "why you helped this amazing scoundrel?"
+
+"I did not help," squeaked Jiro, his voice becoming shrill with excitement
+and fear. "He was my fliend. He is a Samurai of Japan. We met in Okasaki,
+and again in London. I came to England long after the clime you talk of.
+He told me these Flazel people were bad people, who had lobbed his father
+in the old days. He wanted them to be all hanged, then he would get money.
+He said they might watch him and get him sent back to Japan, where he
+belongs to a political palty who are always beheaded when they are caught.
+So when you come, I think, 'Hello, he wants to find Ooma!' I lite Ooma a
+letter, and he lite me to send Mrs. Jilo, dlessed in man's clothes, to
+tell him evelything. I did that to save my fliend."
+
+"Have you Ooma's letter?"
+
+"Yes; hele it is."
+
+He took a document from a drawer, and Brett saw at a glance that Jiro's
+statement was correct.
+
+"You appear to have acted as his tool throughout," was his scornful
+comment.
+
+"But, Mr. Brett," sobbed the stout lady, "I ought to say that when I--when
+I--put on those things--and met Mr. Ooma, I disobeyed my husband in one
+matter. I--liked you--and was afraid of Mr. Ooma, so instead of describing
+you to him I described Mr. Hume-Frazer from what my husband told me of his
+appearance in the dock. He was the first man I could think of, and it
+seemed to be best, as the quarrel was between them. Only--I gave him--a
+beard and moustache, so as to puzzle him more. Didn't I, Nummie? I told
+you when I came home."
+
+So Mrs. Jiro's unconscious device had undoubtedly saved Brett from a
+murderous attack, and Ooma had probably seen him leave the Northumberland
+Avenue Hotel more than once whilst waiting to waylay David Hume. Hence,
+too, the partial recognition by Ooma when they met by night in Middle
+Street.
+
+The barrister could not help being milder in tone as he said:
+
+"I believe you are both telling the truth. But this is a very serious
+matter. You must never again communicate with Ooma in any way. Avoid him
+as you would shun the plague, for within three or four days he will be in
+gaol, and you will be called upon to give evidence against him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+MARGARET'S SECRET
+
+
+At his chambers Brett found Holden awaiting him, with the tidings that
+Capella had gone to Whitby. The Italian's agents, Messrs. Matchem & Smith,
+had evidently ferreted out Margaret's whereabouts. Her husband, full of
+vengeful thoughts and base schemings, hastened after her, rejoicing in the
+knowledge that her cousins and Miss Layton would also be present.
+
+"As I knew exactly where he was going, and assumed his object to be a
+domestic quarrel, I did not think it necessary to accompany him until I
+had first consulted you, sir," said the imperturbable Holden.
+
+"You acted quite rightly. Wait until the little beast returns to London!"
+exclaimed the barrister, with some degree of warmth.
+
+Capella's conduct reminded him of a spiteful child which deserved a sound
+spanking. He telegraphed to Hume to inform him of the fiery visitor who
+might be expected at the hotel that evening.
+
+Oddly enough, Helen, David, and the Rev. Mr. Layton, tempted by a marine
+excursion to Scarborough and back, left Whitby Harbour on a local steamer
+at 11 a.m., and were timed to return about 9 p.m. Margaret was not a good
+sailor, so Robert Hume-Frazer remained with her, the two going for a
+protracted stroll along the cliffs.
+
+During their walk, the golden influences of the hour unlocked Margaret's
+heart. She was overwhelmed with the consciousness of the wretched mistakes
+of her life. She could not help contrasting the manly, gallant, out-spoken
+sailor by her side with the miserable foreigner whom she had espoused
+under the influence of a genuine but too violent passion. The knowledge
+that Robert might, under happier conditions, have been her husband was
+crushing and terrible.
+
+There came to her some half-defined resolve to show her cousin how
+unworthy she was of his affections. Stopping defiantly at a moment when he
+casually called her attention to a lovely glimpse of rock-bound sea framed
+in a deep gorge, she said to him:
+
+"Robert, I have something to tell you. I was on the point of telling Mr.
+Brett the last time I saw him in London, but he would not permit it. You
+are my cousin, and ought to know."
+
+"My dear girl," he cried, "why this solemnity? You give me shivers when
+you speak in that way!"
+
+"Pray listen to me, Robert. This is no matter for jesting. I am your
+cousin, but only in a sense. In the eyes of the law I am a nameless
+outcast. My mother was not Alan's mother. I was born before my father
+married the lady who treated me as her daughter until her death. My mother
+was an Italian, who died at my birth, and whom my father never married."
+
+Frazer looked at the beautiful woman who addressed these astonishing words
+to him, and amazement, incredulity, a spasm almost of fear, held him dumb.
+
+"It is too true, Robert. I did not know these things until a few short
+months ago. Some one, I believe, told my husband the truth soon after our
+marriage, and it was this discovery that so changed his feelings towards
+me. At first I was utterly unable to explain the awful alteration in his
+attitude. Not until I returned to England and settled down at Beechcroft
+did I become aware of the facts."
+
+"Surely, Rita, you are romancing?"
+
+"No, there can be no doubt about it. I have seen the proofs."
+
+"Proofs! How can you be certain? Who made these statements to you?"
+
+"I have been blackmailed, bled systematically for large sums of money. At
+first I was beguiled into a correspondence. My curiosity was aroused by
+references to my husband and to my father's will. Finally, I received
+copies of documents which made matters clear even to my bewildered brain.
+More than that, I was sent a memorandum, written by my father, in which he
+gave Alan all the particulars, corroborated by extracts from registers,
+and explaining the reasons which actuated him in framing his will so
+curiously. We were never closely knit together, as you know. I think now
+that he regarded me as the living evidence of the folly of his earlier
+years, and perhaps my sensitive nature was quick to detect this hidden
+feeling."
+
+"May I ask who blackmailed you?"
+
+Robert's face grew hard and stern. The woman experienced a tumultuous joy
+as she saw it. She had at least one defender.
+
+"That is the hard part of my story," she murmured, in a voice broken with
+emotion. "The correspondence took place with a man named Ooma, a person I
+never even met at that time, and--can you believe it, Robert--within the
+past few days I have good reason to know that he is the murderer of my
+brother, the man who endeavoured to kill both you and David."
+
+Frazer caught her by the shoulder.
+
+"Rita," he said, "what has come to you? Are you hysterical, or dreaming?"
+
+"Oh, for pity's sake, believe me!" she moaned. "Mr. Brett knows it is
+true. What is worse, he knows that I know it. I cannot bear this terrible
+secret any longer. I went to this man's house in London the other night,
+and boldly charged him with the crime. He denied it, but I could see the
+lie and the fear in his eyes. To avoid a terrible family scandal I came
+here with you all. But I can bear it no longer. God help me and pity me!"
+
+"He will, Margaret. You have done no wrong that deserves so much
+suffering."
+
+For a little while there was silence. Frazer was only able to whisper
+gentle and kindly words of consolation. He would have given ten years of
+his life to have the right to take her in his arms and tell her that, let
+the world view her conduct as it would, in his eyes she was blameless and
+lovable.
+
+But this was denied him. She was the wife of another, of one who, instead
+of shielding and supporting her, was even then engaged in plotting her
+ruin.
+
+"I nearly went mad," she continued at last, "when I first became
+acquainted with the truth concerning my parentage. With calmer moments
+came the reflection that, after all, I was my father's child, the sister
+of Alan, and entitled morally, if not legally, to succeed to the property.
+My wealth has not benefited me, Robert, but at least I have tried to do
+good to others."
+
+"You have, indeed," he said tenderly. "But tell me about this fiend, Ooma.
+You say you saw him. Then you were in possession of his address?"
+
+"Yes, during the past five months. When Mr. Brett first appeared on the
+scene, I feared lest he should discover my secret. How could I connect it
+with the death of my brother? The explanation given to me was that the
+documents were purloined by a servant years ago. It was not until the
+attacks on you and Davie, and the chance mention he made of some curious
+marks in a type-written communication received by Mr. Winter, that a
+horrible suspicion awoke in my mind. I had received several type-written
+letters" (Mr. Jiro, it would appear, had not told "evelything" to Brett),
+"and I compared some of those in London with the description given by
+Davie. They corresponded exactly! Then I resolved to make sure, no matter
+what the risk to myself, so I went to a place in Kennington the last night
+we were in town, and there I saw Ooma. Oh, Robert, he is so like you and
+Davie that at first it seems to be a romance! Only you two look honest and
+brave, whereas he has the appearance of a demon."
+
+Frazer looked at his watch.
+
+"Brett ought to know all these things at once," he said. "Let us walk back
+to the hotel and wire him. Perhaps it will be necessary for David and me
+to return to London immediately."
+
+"Why? You are safe here? Why should you incur further risk?"
+
+He could not help looking at her. A slight colour suffused her face. Then
+he laughed savagely.
+
+"There will be no risk, Rita. Once let me meet Mr. Ooma as man to man and
+I will teach him a trick or two, if only for your sake. The law will deal
+with him for Alan's affair. He has an odd name! It has a Japanese ring,
+yet you say he resembles our family?"
+
+Margaret, of course, could only describe him in general terms. As they
+returned to the hotel she explained her strange story in greater detail,
+largely on the lines already known to Brett.
+
+In the office they found a telegram addressed to David, but his cousin
+opened it, believing it might be from Brett. It was, and read as
+follows:--
+
+    "Capella arrives Whitby five o'clock. I know everything he has to
+    tell you. If he becomes offensive, boot him."
+
+Robert did not show the message to his cousin. He gave her its general
+purport, and added:
+
+"Prepare yourself for an ordeal, but be brave. Perhaps your husband is in
+the hotel now, as he must have reached here half an hour ago."
+
+He had barely uttered the words when Mrs. Capella's maid approached.
+
+"Mr. Capella is here, madam," she said "and awaits you in your
+sitting-room."
+
+Margaret became, if possible, a shade whiter.
+
+"What about you, Robert?" she whispered.
+
+"Me! I am going with you. Brett's telegram is my authority."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+HUSBAND AND WIFE
+
+
+The Italian was glaring out of a window when they entered the room.
+
+He turned instantly, with a waspish ferocity.
+
+"So, madam." he cried, "not content with deceiving me from the first
+moment we met, you have left your home in company with your lover!"
+
+Margaret looked at Robert beseechingly. The sailor's face was like
+granite. Only his eyes flashed a warning that Capella might have noted
+were he less blinded by passion.
+
+"Do not attempt to shield yourself by the presence of others!" screamed
+Capella. "I know that Miss Layton and her father are here. That is part of
+the game you play. As for you, Mr. David Hume, or whatever you call
+yourself, your own record is not so clean that you should endeavour to
+cloak the misdeeds of others."
+
+The Italian had never before seen Robert to his knowledge. He only met
+David for a few moments during an angry scene at Beechcroft, when Brett
+did most of the talking. The mistake he now made was a natural one.
+
+"It does not occur to you," said Robert, in a voice remarkable for its
+calmness, "that not content with grossly insulting your wife, you are
+attacking the reputation of a man whom you do not know."
+
+"Pooh!" Capella, in his excitement, snapped his fingers. "You Hume-Frazers
+are very fond of defending your reputations. A fig for them! You are not
+worthy to consort with honourable people. I feel assured that when Mr.
+Layton and his daughter know the truth about you they will decline to
+associate with you."
+
+Whatever else might be urged against the Italian, he was no coward. Such
+language might well have led to a fierce attack on him by a man so greatly
+his superior in physical strength. But Robert sat down, near the door.
+
+"You have some object in coming here to-day," he said. "What is it?"
+
+Margaret remained standing near the fire-place. Capella produced a bundle
+of papers.
+
+"I am here," he said, "to unmask the woman who unfortunately bears my
+name, and at the same time to prevent you from getting Miss Layton to
+marry you under false pretences."
+
+"A worthy programme!" observed Frazer suavely. "You may attain the second
+part of your scheme, I admit, but the first seems to be difficult."
+
+"Is it? We shall see!"
+
+Capella flourished his papers and began a passionate avowal of the
+"treachery" practised on him in the matter of Margaret's parentage, ending
+by saying:
+
+"That woman's mother was the affianced bride of my father. She deceived
+him basely. On his death-bed he made me vow my lifelong hatred of her
+betrayer and all his descendants. To you, a cold-blooded Englishman, that
+perhaps means nothing. To me it is sacred, imperishable, dearer than life.
+And to think that I have been tricked into a marriage with the daughter of
+the man who was my father's enemy. How mad I was not to make inquiries!
+What a poor, short-sighted fool! But I will have my revenge! I will expose
+your accursed race in the courts! I will not rest content until I am free
+from this snare!"
+
+Margaret would have spoken, but her cousin quickly forestalled her.
+
+"You bring two charges against your wife," Robert said. "The first is that
+she deceived you before marriage; the second that she is deceiving you
+now. You contemplate taking divorce proceedings against her?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"But you are lying on both counts. There is no purer or more honourable
+woman alive to-day than she who stands here at this moment. You are a mean
+and despicable hound to endeavour to take advantage of circumstances
+attending her birth of which she was in profound ignorance."
+
+"She can tell that to a judge," sneered the Italian. "I know better."
+
+Robert rose, his face white with anger.
+
+"Margaret," he said, "you have heard your precious husband's views with
+regard to you. What do you say?"
+
+She looked from one to the other--no one knows what tumultuous thoughts
+coursed through her brain in that trying moment--and she answered:
+
+"I am his true and faithful wife, Robert. I have never been otherwise in
+word or deed."
+
+Capella started, as well he might, when he heard the Christian name of the
+man who was treating him with such quiet scorn.
+
+"So," he laughed maliciously, "I have again been fooled. You are not
+David, but--"
+
+Frazer strode towards him, and the words died away on his lips.
+
+"Listen, you blackguard!" he hissed. "Were it not for the presence of your
+wife I would choke the miserable life out of you. Go! We have done with
+you! You have unmasked your real character, and I cannot believe that a
+spark of affection can remain in your wife's heart for you after your
+ignoble conduct. Go, I tell you! Do your worst. Spit your venom elsewhere
+than in this hotel. But first let me warn you. If you dare to approach
+Miss Layton, I cannot promise that my cousin David will treat you as
+tenderly as I propose to do. He will probably thrash you until you are
+unconscious. I simply place you outside this room."
+
+He grabbed the Italian by the breast with his right hand, lifted him high
+in the air, gathered the papers from the table in his left hand, and
+carried his kicking, cursing, but helpless adversary to the door.
+
+Then he set him down again, opened the door, and remembering Brett's
+advice, assisted him outside, flinging the documents after him and closing
+the door.
+
+With impotent rage in his heart, Capella rushed from the hotel and caught
+the last train to the south. He had not been in Whitby two hours, but he
+was now embarked upon his vengeful mission, and bitterly resolved to push
+it to the uttermost extremity.
+
+Margaret had not uttered a sound during the final scene. She stood as one
+turned to stone. Robert did not dare to speak to her. How could he offer
+consolation to a woman whose tenderest feelings had been so wantonly
+outraged?
+
+"Robert," she said at last, "he spoke of getting a divorce. I believe he
+can do this by Italian law. Here it should be impossible."
+
+"In that case," he said calmly, "you and I will go and live in Italy."
+
+She placed her hands before her face, and burst into a tempest of tears.
+
+"Now, my dear girl," he murmured, "try and forget that pitiful rascal and
+his threats. You are well rid of him. I will leave you now for a little
+while. In half an hour we will go and listen to the band until dinner.
+Really, we have had a most enjoyable afternoon."
+
+He went out, placid and smiling, and Margaret sobbed plentifully--until it
+became necessary to go to her room and remove the traces of her grief. So
+it may be assumed that her tears were not all occasioned by grief for the
+contemplated loss of her ill-chosen mate.
+
+When the others returned from their excursion, Frazer explained to them
+all that was needful with reference to Capella's visit. Helen was very
+outspoken in her indignation, and even the rector condemned the Italian's
+conduct in plain terms.
+
+He warmly approved of the resolution arrived at by Robert and David to
+return to London next day, and not leave Brett until a definite stage had
+been reached in the strangely intricate inquiry they were embarked on.
+
+They sat late into the night, discussing the pros and cons of the
+situation; yet among these five people, fully cognisant as they were of
+nearly every fact known to the able barrister who had taken charge of
+their affairs, not one even remotely guessed the pending sequel.
+
+Whilst they were talking and hoping for some favourable outcome, the night
+express from York was hurrying Capella to a weird conclusion of his
+efforts to discredit his wife. Had he but known what lay before him he
+would have left the train at the first station and hastened to Margaret,
+to grovel at her feet and beg her forgiveness for the foul aspersions cast
+upon her.
+
+It was too late.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+TO BEECHCROFT
+
+
+Thenceforth, as the French say, events marched. Robert Frazer faithfully
+recounted Margaret's statement to the barrister and the detective. The
+"documents," copies of which Ooma sent to the ill-fated woman whose sudden
+accession to wealth had proved so unlucky for her, were evidently those
+stolen from the drawer in the writing-desk at Beechcroft.
+
+Here, at last, was the motive of the murder laid bare.
+
+The Japanese, by some inscrutable means, became aware that the young
+baronet possessed these papers, and held them _in terrorem_ over his
+reputed sister. In the hands of a third person, an outsider, they were
+endowed with double powers for mischief. He could threaten the woman with
+exposure, the man with the revelation of a discreditable family secret.
+
+He visited the library in order to commit the theft, probably acting with
+greater daring because he mistook the sleeping David for his cousin.
+Having successfully wrenched open the drawer and secured the papers, still
+holding in his hand the instrument used for slipping back the tiny lock,
+he turned to leave the room by the open window, and was suddenly
+confronted by the real Sir Alan, who recognised him and guessed his object
+in being present at that hour.
+
+Brett had gone thus far in his spoken commentary on the affair as it now
+presented itself to his mind when Winter asked:
+
+"Why do you say 'recognised' him, Mr. Brett? We have no evidence that Sir
+Alan had ever seen Ooma?"
+
+"What, none? Search through your memory. Did not the stationmaster see a
+third David Hume leave the station that day when the movements of only two
+are known to us. What became of this third personage during the afternoon?
+Where did he change into evening dress? Why did Sir Alan leave documents
+of such grave importance in so insecure a hiding-place?"
+
+"There is no use in asking me questions I can't answer," snapped the
+detective.
+
+"Perhaps not. I think you said that you amused yourself in your Middle
+Street lodgings by taking to pieces a small electrical machine fitted
+together by your companion?"
+
+"Yes, sir; but what of that?"
+
+"Let us suppose that, instead of a complex machine he built a small arch
+of toy bricks, and you were well acquainted with the model whilst each
+brick was numbered in rotation, don't you think you could manage to
+reconstruct the arch after repeated efforts?"
+
+"I expect so."
+
+"Well, my dear Winter, we have now got together every material stone in
+our edifice. Mrs. Capella's yielding to blackmail is the keystone of the
+arch. Every loose block fits at once into its proper place. The Japanese,
+Ooma, must have met Sir Alan and discussed this very question with him.
+The baronet must have unwittingly revealed the family secret, and the Jap
+was clever enough to perceive its value. Further, the murder was
+unpremeditated, the inspiration of a desperate moment, and the weapon
+selected shows a sort of fiendish mandate suggested by family feud. Ooma
+is undoubtedly--"
+
+But Smith entered, apologetic, doubtful.
+
+"Mr. Holden is here, sir, and says he wishes to see you immediately."
+
+Holden's news was important. Capella had left Liverpool Street half an
+hour ago for Beechcroft, and in the same train travelled Ooma.
+
+"Are you sure of this?" demanded Brett, excitedly springing from his
+chair.
+
+"Quite certain, sir. Mr. Winter's mate followed him to the station, and
+told me who the Japanese was. Besides, no one could mistake him who had
+ever seen either of these two gentlemen."
+
+He indicated Robert and David.
+
+"Quick," shouted the barrister. "We must all catch the next train to
+Stowmarket. Winter, have you your handcuffs? This time they may be needed.
+Smith, run and call two hansoms."
+
+He rushed to a bureau and produced a couple of revolvers. He handed one to
+Holden.
+
+"I can trust you," he said, "not to fire without reason. Do not shoot to
+kill. If this man threatens the life of any person, maim him if possible,
+but try to avoid hitting him in the head or body."
+
+To the Frazers he handed the heaviest sticks he possessed. He himself
+pocketed the second revolver, and picked up the peculiar walking-stick
+which Ooma dropped in Northumberland Avenue.
+
+"Now," he said, "let us be off. We have no time to lose, and we must get
+to Beechcroft with the utmost speed."
+
+Winter and he entered the same hansom.
+
+"Why are you so anxious to prevent Capella and Ooma meeting, sir?" asked
+the detective, as their vehicle sped along Victoria Street.
+
+"I do not care whether they meet or not," was the emphatic reply. "It is
+now imperatively necessary that the Japanese should be placed where he can
+do no further harm. The man is a human tiger. He must be caged. If all
+goes well, Winter, this case will pass out of my hands into yours within
+the next three hours."
+
+The detective smiled broadly. At last he saw his way clearly, or thought
+he saw it, which is often not quite the same thing. In the present
+instance he little dreamed the nature of the path he would follow. But he
+was so gratified that he could not long maintain silence, though Brett was
+obviously disinclined to talk.
+
+"By Jove," he gurgled, "this will be the case of the year."
+
+The barrister replied not.
+
+"I suppose, Mr. Brett," continued Winter, with well-affected concern, "you
+will follow your usual policy, and decide to keep your connection with the
+affair hidden?"
+
+"Exactly, and you will follow your usual policy of claiming all the credit
+under the magic of the words 'from information received.'"
+
+Winter could afford to be generous.
+
+"Mr. Brett," he cried, "there is no man would be so pleased as I to see
+you come out of your shell, and tell the Court all you have done. You
+deserve it. It would be the proudest moment of your life."
+
+Then the barrister laughed.
+
+"You have known me for years, Winter," he said, "yet you believe that. Go
+to! You are incorrigible!"
+
+The detective did not trouble to extract the exact meaning from this
+remark. He understood that Brett would never think of entering the
+witness-box. That was all he wanted to know.
+
+"Are you quite certain," he asked, with a last tinge of anxiety in his
+voice, "that Ooma will be arrested to-day?"
+
+"Quite certain, if we can accomplish that highly desirable task."
+
+Winter pounded the door of the hansom with his clenched fist
+
+"Then it is done!" he cried. "I'll truss him up like a fowl. If he tries
+any tricks I'll borrow the leg-chains from Stowmarket police station."
+
+At Liverpool Street they all made a hasty meal. They caught the last train
+from London and passed two weary hours until Stowmarket was reached.
+
+There on the platform stood the station-master. He approached Brett and
+whispered:
+
+"A man who came here by the preceding train told me that you and some
+other gentlemen might possibly follow on. He intended to telegraph to you,
+but he asked me, in case you turned up, to tell you that the Japanese has
+gone on foot to Beechcroft, and that Mr. Capella has not arrived."
+
+"Not arrived!" cried Brett. He turned to Holden. "Can you have been
+mistaken?"
+
+Holden shook his head. "I saw him with my own eyes," he asseverated, "and
+to make sure of his destination I asked the ticket examiner where the
+gentleman in the first smoker was going to. It was Stowmarket, right
+enough."
+
+"There can be no error, sir," put in the stationmaster. "Mr. Capella's
+valet came by the train, and assured me that he left London with his
+master. Besides, the carriage is here from the Hall. It was ordered by
+telegraph. There is the valet himself. He imagines that Mr. Capella
+quitted the train on the way, and will arrive by this one. But there is no
+sign of him."
+
+The mention of the carriage brought a look of decision into the
+barrister's face.
+
+"One more question," he said to the official. "Did you see the person
+described as the Japanese?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I did. As a matter of fact, I thought it was somebody else. It
+was not until the stranger who arrived by the train used that name to
+distinguish him that I understood I was mistaken."
+
+The stationmaster looked into Brett's eyes that which he did not like to
+say in the presence of the Frazers. Of course, he had fallen into the same
+error as most people who only obtained a casual glimpse of Ooma.
+
+Brett hurried his companions outside the station. There they found the
+Beechcroft carriage, and a puzzled valet holding parley with the coachman
+and footman. David Hume's authority was sufficient to secure the use of
+the vehicle, and Brett made the position easier for the men by saying
+that, in all probability, they would find fresh instructions awaiting them
+at the Hall.
+
+Before the party drove off Winter noticed a local sergeant of police
+standing near.
+
+"Shall I ask him to come with us, sir?" he said to Brett.
+
+The barrister considered the point for an instant before replying:
+
+"Perhaps it would be better, as we have not got a warrant."
+
+Winter grinned broadly again.
+
+"Oh yes, we have," he cried. "Mr. Ooma's warrant has been in my
+breast-pocket for three days."
+
+"What a thoughtful fellow you are," murmured Brett. "In that case we can
+dispense with local assistance. We five can surely tackle any man living."
+
+"What can have become of Capella?" said David Hume, when they were all
+seated and bowling along the road to Beechcroft.
+
+"It is impossible to say what such a mad ass would be up to," commented
+his cousin. "He has probably gone back to London from some wayside
+station, and failed to find his servant to tell him before the train moved
+on."
+
+"What do you think, Mr. Brett?" inquired Winter.
+
+"I can form no opinion. I only wish Ooma was in gaol. For once, Winter, I
+appreciate the strength of your handcuffing policy."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+THE FIGHT
+
+
+It was almost dark by the time they reached the lodge gates. Brett, moved
+by impulse, stopped the carriage in the main road. The others alighted
+after him. Mrs. Crowe, the lodge-keeper's wife, opened the gates, and
+evidently wondered why the carriage did not enter.
+
+"Good evening, Mrs. Crowe," said Brett, advancing. "Have you seen a
+telegraph messenger recently?"
+
+"Lawk, sir," she cried, "I didn't recognise you in the gloom! No, sir,
+there's been no messenger, only--"
+
+Then she uttered a startled exclamation.
+
+"Why, there's Mr. David an' Mr. Robert! I could ha' sworn one of you
+gentlemen walked up to the house five minutes ago, an' I wunnered you
+never took no notice of me. Well, of all the strange things!"
+
+"It was a natural mistake," said the barrister quietly.
+
+Then he told the coachman to wait where he was until a message reached him
+from the house.
+
+He did not want to disturb the visitor who had caused Mrs. Crowe to
+"wunner," nor was there any use in sending the carriage back to
+Stowmarket. Somehow, he felt that Capella would not come to Beechcroft
+that night.
+
+The five men went rapidly and silently up the avenue. As they approached
+the lighted library, they could see a servant parleying with the Japanese.
+
+A motion of Brett's hand brought the party into the shade of the sombre
+yews.
+
+"You and Holden," he said to Hume, "go round to the main entrance, proceed
+at once to the library door, enter the room, and lock the door behind you.
+Be ready with your stick, and do not hesitate to lunge hard if Ooma
+attacks you. You, Holden, keep the revolver handy. It must only be used to
+save life. The moment you appear at the door we will rush to the window,
+which is open. Ooma must have entered that way. You both understand?"
+
+They nodded and walked off, clinging to the line of the trees. The others
+closed up. Timing their approach with perfect judgment, they crept over
+the gravelled road at the bend, and gained the turf in front of the
+window.
+
+Ooma's back was towards them. They could hear his voice--a queer,
+high-pitched, yet strident voice--whilst he questioned a somewhat scared
+footman as to the whereabouts of his mistress.
+
+The man had evidently perceived the remarkable resemblance borne by this
+uncanny stranger to the Frazer family. His replies were respectful, but
+stuttering. He was alarmed by those fierce eyes, more especially because
+his inability to give satisfactory information seemed to anger the
+new-comer.
+
+"You are not a child," they heard Ooma say, with menace in his tone. "You
+must have heard, from her maid or some other source, where Mrs. Capella
+has gone to?"
+
+"N--no, sir," stammered the man. "I really 'aven't I t--t--thought Mrs.
+C--Capella was in London. The b--butler says we are all to 'ave a 'oliday
+next week."
+
+"Is there no way in which I can find out where your mistress is at this
+moment? I must see her. My business is important. It cannot wait. It is of
+the utmost importance to her."
+
+Brett, straining without like a hound in the leash, could note a slight
+accentuation in the perfect English spoken by Ooma. There was just a
+suspicion of the liquid "r" so strongly marked in Jiro's utterance. What
+an uncanny thing is heredity! It even alters the shape of the roof of the
+mouth. The Japanese of English descent could necessarily pronounce English
+better than the pure-born native.
+
+The servant within seemed to rack his brains for a favourable reply.
+
+"You might ask Mr. Capella, sir," he said at length, with some degree of
+returning confidence. "He was expected here by the last train, but missed
+it in London, I expect. He is sure to come to-night, and he will tell you,
+if you care to wait."
+
+"Mr. Capella! Coming by the last train! What is he like?"
+
+"Do you mean in appearance, sir? He is a small, dark-complexioned
+gentleman, with wavy black hair and a very pale face. He--"
+
+But Ooma turned away from the man, and looked through the window, with the
+lambent glare of a wild animal in his eyes. He instantly saw the three
+motionless figures, Brett, Winter, and Robert Hume-Frazer.
+
+They sprang forward. Robert was quickest, and reached the open window
+first. The Japanese jumped back and made for the door, but it opened in
+his face, and David entered the room. Behind him was Holden, who made no
+secret of the fact that he carried a revolver.
+
+Ooma caught the astounded man-servant by the waist, lifted him as though
+he were a truss of straw, and threw him bodily at Robert Frazer and
+Winter, bringing both to the ground by this singular weapon.
+
+It was a fatal mistake to attack the readiest means of exit. Had he used
+his human battering ram against Holden and David he might have escaped.
+But now he looked into the muzzle of another revolver, and heard Brett's
+stern demand:
+
+"Hands up, Ooma! If you move you are a dead man?"
+
+Nevertheless, he did move. He seemed to have the agility as well as the
+semblance of a carnivorous animal. He bounded sideways towards the wall of
+the library, picked up the writing-desk, and barricaded himself behind it.
+In the same second he produced a small, shining article from his waistcoat
+pocket, and shouted, in a voice now cracked with rage:
+
+"Stand back, all of you. You may shoot me! I will not be arrested!"
+
+Winter, swearing, scrambled from the floor. Robert, too, threw off the
+yelling servant, and rose to his feet. Alarmed not only by the curious
+entry made by David Hume and Holden, but also by the racket in the
+library, other servants were now clamouring at the locked door, for Holden
+had slipped his left hand behind him and turned the key. Brett similarly
+closed the window. They were five to one, but the one seemed to defy them.
+
+"That be blowed for a tale!" roared the infuriated detective, whose blood
+was fired by the manner in which he had been floored. "I arrest you in the
+King's name for the murder of Sir Alan Hume-Frazer, and I warn you--"
+
+Robert Hume-Frazer waited for no preliminary explanation of an official
+character. He wanted to feel that man's bones crack under his grasp. He
+had the strong man's ambition to close with an opponent worthy of his
+thews and sinews. Without any warning, he made for the Japanese, who
+seemed to await his oncoming with singular equanimity, though otherwise
+quivering with baulked hate.
+
+But Brett had seen something that aroused a lightning-like suspicion.
+Twice had the Japanese looked at a small, shining thing in his hand, as
+though to make sure it was there. So the barrister was just in time to
+grasp Robert's shoulder and hold him back.
+
+"No," he cried, "you must not touch him. I command it. He cannot escape."
+
+"Then let me have a go at him first," growled Frazer, whose face was pale
+with passion.
+
+"No, no. Leave him to me. Winter, do you hear me? Stand back, I say."
+
+Brett's imperative tone brooked no disobedience. Thus, in a segment of a
+circle, the five enclosed the one against the wall--Ooma barricaded by the
+table, the others ready to defeat any stratagem he might endeavour to put
+in force.
+
+"Now listen to me, Ooma," said the barrister sternly. "You must drop that
+thing you have in your right hand. You must hold both your hands high
+above your head. If you move either of them again I will shoot you. If you
+do not obey me before I count five I will shoot you. One! Two! Three!--"
+
+The Japanese, gasping a horrible sort of sob, three times plunged the
+instrument he held into his left arm. Then he flung it straight at Robert.
+One would have thought his vengeance would be directed against Brett, whom
+he must have credited by this time with his capture.
+
+No; he singled out a Hume-Frazer for his last attack. The instrument
+struck a button on Robert's coat and fell to the floor, where it lay
+twisted out of shape by the force of the impact.
+
+It was a hypodermic syringe.
+
+Again Ooma uttered that weird cry.
+
+"This is the end," he said. "You have not beaten me. It is Fate."
+
+He folded his arms and looked at them. A change came over his face. He was
+no longer a tiger at bay, but a human being, calm, dignified, almost
+impressive.
+
+"I arrest you--" began Winter.
+
+"You fool!" laughed the Japanese, with a quiet contempt in his tone; "I
+shall be dead in twenty minutes. That syringe contained snake poison, the
+undiluted venom of the karait. Put away your pistols. They are not
+wanted."
+
+Quite nonchalantly he leaned back against the bookcase that lined the
+wall. He turned his eyes to Robert.
+
+"You have the luck of your race," he said "If that point had reached your
+skin no human skill could have saved you. As it is, you are spared, and I
+must go. The same blood flows in our veins, yet you are my enemy. I wish I
+could once get my fingers round your throat before my strength fails."
+
+"Come from behind that table and try," was the quick rejoinder.
+
+Ooma made to accept the challenge, but Brett intervened.
+
+"If you are telling the truth," he said, "you can spend your brief
+remaining span of life to better purpose than in a mad combat with one who
+has done you no harm. Where is Capella?"
+
+"I killed him," was the cool reply.
+
+The footman, who had slowly regained his senses, uttered a groan of
+horror. By this time several men, not alone house servants, but gardeners,
+grooms, and others, had gathered on the lawn.
+
+"Send away that slave," cried Ooma impatiently, "and tell those others to
+go to their kennels. This is no place for such."
+
+Brett knew that the Japanese was in truth about to die. Afterwards Winter
+and Holden confessed that they thought the pretence of injecting snake
+poison was a mere ruse to gain time. Robert and David intuitively agreed
+with the barrister. It was in their breed to know when eternity yawned for
+one of them. The very calmness of the criminal, his magnificent apathy,
+his dislike of vulgar witnesses, foreboded a tragedy.
+
+Brett motioned to Holden to open the door, and the footman gladly made his
+escape. In response to a wave of the barrister's arm the other servants
+disappeared from view, though they probably only retreated to a greater
+distance, and could see well enough all that happened.
+
+"Yes," continued Ooma, "I killed Capella. It was a mistake. Everything is
+a mistake. It was foolish on my part to kill Alan Hume-Frazer, even though
+he was my enemy. I should have let him live, and tortured him by fear. You
+English dread these scandals worse than death. We Japanese fear neither.
+For I am a Japanese, and I am proud of it, although my ancestor was David
+Hume of Glen Tochan, who fought and killed the man who robbed his father."
+
+"But how and why did you kill Capella?" asked Brett.
+
+"I saw him in the station at London. He followed me. I puzzled him, I
+suppose. He perceived the likeness between me and my dear cousins. We are
+like one another, are we not, we Hume-Frazers?"
+
+He laughed mirthlessly, and stared at David and Robert alternately. Winter
+broke in with a hasty question:
+
+"If he is speaking the truth about the snake poison, shouldn't we send for
+a doctor?"
+
+No one had thought of this previously. Brett reproached himself for his
+forgetfulness. So strange are our civilised notions that we strive to save
+a man's life in order to hang him by due process at law.
+
+It was Ooma who answered.
+
+"Doctor!" he cried. "Bring him! Bring the whole College of Surgeons. They
+can watch me die, and tell you learnedly why the blood curdles and the
+heart refuses to act, but not all their science can beat the venom of the
+little karait. It is an Indian snake, more deadly than the cobra, with
+mightier tooth than the tiger. I meant to use that syringe on the whole
+cursed brood of Frazers in this country. No one would have known what
+happened to them. But look you, Fate is too powerful. The karait stored
+his poison for me only. I killed only one of the race, and him I stabbed
+with a Ko-Katana of my own house."
+
+Holden left the room to send a messenger post-haste for the village
+doctor.
+
+"About Capella?" persisted Brett.
+
+"Ah, Capella. He sought his own death. He looked at me so oddly that I
+thought him a spy. I was alone in a carriage when, half-way here, he ran
+along the platform at a small station and joined me. He began to question
+me. I looked out of the window and saw that we were coming to a viaduct
+over a stream between deep cliffs, so I took the little man and cracked
+his neck. Then I flung him over the bridge. It was a mistake. He should
+have left me alone."
+
+He described this cold-blooded murder of the unfortunate Italian with the
+weary air of one who recites a tedious episode. The lids drooped heavily
+over his eyes.
+
+"I am tired," he said. "That was a good little snake. He knew his
+business. He could make the best of poison."
+
+"Surely," said the barrister solemnly, "you are not so utterly inhuman
+that at the very point of death you still maintain the attitude of a
+disappointed avenger. What wrong had all these people done you to demand
+your murderous hate?"
+
+Ooma seemed for a moment to rouse himself from lethargy. Once again the
+black eyes sparkled with their menacing gleam.
+
+"It is you," he cried, "you, the thinker, who question me. I never gave a
+thought to you, or I would not now be slowly sinking into death. I might
+have guessed that a higher intelligence was at work than that which saw
+the Ko-Katana with its motto, and yet failed to read its story. You ask my
+motives. Can a man explain heredity? Here"--and he threw a packet of
+papers on the writing-desk--"are the proofs of my identity. It is not long
+ago, only one hundred and fifty years, since David Hume was robbed of his
+birthright, and what is such a period to the old families of England and
+Japan? There are men living in Japan to-day who saw his son in the flesh.
+I am his lawful descendant. I came to England and resolved to be an
+Englishman. But I needed money. Do you remember our motto, 'A new field
+gives a small crop'? The first Japanese Hume did not prosper. He was a
+good fighter, but he saved no yen. So I applied to my family. I came here
+on the New Year's Eve, and Sir Alan Hume-Frazer saw me walking up the
+avenue. He stepped out through that window to meet me. He was surprised at
+my appearance, and thought I was his cousin Robert, whom he had not seen
+for years."
+
+At this remarkable statement the four listeners chiefly concerned looked
+wonderingly at each other. The main incidents of the family feud were
+repeating themselves in a ghostly manner.
+
+Ooma paid no heed to their amazement. He staggered unsteadily to a chair
+and sank into it limply. It was the chair which David Hume occupied when
+he slept, and dreamed. Not even Winter saw cause for suspicion in the act.
+Ooma was dying. His yellow skin was now green. His lips were white. His
+whole frame was sinking. At this phase he became a Japanese, and lost all
+likeness to the Frazers.
+
+He continued, with an odd cackle:
+
+"I kept up the error. I demanded money as my right, and from his words I
+gathered that the Frazers had been at their old tricks and defrauded
+another relative."
+
+Robert started.
+
+"Do you hear?" he murmured to Brett. "That accounts for Alan's strange
+reception of me the same day."
+
+Brett held up a warning hand. Ooma was still talking.
+
+"I taunted him with thriving on the plunder of his own people. That made
+him furious. He raved about the world being in league against him. The
+only relative he loved, one who was more than brother, had stolen the
+woman he wished to marry; his sister was a living lie; his cousin a
+blackmailer. I laughed. 'Do you disown your sister, then?' I asked. He
+took from his breast-pocket some papers--you will find them there, on the
+table--and told me, in great anger, that he possessed proof that she was
+not his sister. I was cooler than he, and saw the value of this admission.
+I pretended to go away, but hid among the trees and saw him walk about the
+library for nearly an hour. I meant to enter the house if an opportunity
+presented itself, and, trusting to my appearance, go to his bedroom, if he
+changed his clothes and went out. But he helped me by placing the papers
+in the drawer which I afterwards broke open. I saw him meet you"--he
+feebly pointed to Robert. "I saw you arrive in the carriage," and he
+indicated David. "Then I determined to wait until the night. I went back to
+Stowmarket, where I left a portmanteau at a small hotel"--Brett knew that
+Winter stole a look at him, but he ignored the fact--"and changed my
+clothes. In England, at night, a man in evening dress can enter almost any
+house. When I returned I carried my bag with me, as I did not know how I
+might wish to get away subsequently. I saw the preparations for the ball.
+They helped me. David Hume's unexpected appearance at midnight upset my
+plans. Waiting near the gate, I witnessed Alan's meeting with a girl in a
+white dress. Whilst they were talking, I ran up to the house and found
+David asleep in the library. I resolved to act boldly. Even he would not
+know what to do if he suddenly discovered another Frazer in the room. To
+force open the drawer I picked up the Japanese sword, and knew it as
+belonging to my house by the device on the handle of the Ko-Katana. The
+thing inspired me. I obtained the papers, and was going out when I met
+Alan. He had seen what I was doing. He called me a cur, and the memory of
+my ancestor's vengeance rushed on me, so I struck him with the knife, and
+left it resting in his heart as he fell. Afterwards it was easy. No one
+knew me. Those who had seen me thought that I was either David or Robert
+Hume-Frazer. I depended on the police and the servants to complete the
+mystery. They did. I saw David meet the same girl in a white dress near
+the lodge, so I sent the post-card which I made Jiro write for me. He
+wrote it badly, which was all the better for my purpose. I meant David to
+be hanged by the law; then I would marry Margaret. That is all. Give me
+some brandy. I am dreaming now. I can see curling shapes. Ah!"
+
+He gulped down half a tumblerful of raw spirits hastily procured by Brett.
+Again he attempted to shake off the torpid state that was slowly mastering
+him. He lifted his eyes feebly to Brett's face, and his face contorted in
+a ghastly smile.
+
+"You!" he croaked. "I should have killed you! You carried my stick that
+night in Middle Street. Why was I not warned? Did you follow the girl from
+the hotel? I was a fool. I tried to stop the inquiry by getting rid of
+David Hume-Frazer. As if he had brains enough to get on my track! About
+that girl! She believes in me. She does not know anything of my past. Do
+not tell her. Try to help her. She is coarse, one of the people, as you
+say here, but she has courage and is faithful. Help her!"
+
+His head drooped. The action of the brandy, whilst momentarily stimulating
+the heart, helped the stupefaction of the brain. It was a question of a
+minute, perhaps two.
+
+"Why did you come here to-day?" asked Brett quickly.
+
+"To see Margaret. She would give me money. I was going away. That man--I
+threw from the train--was her husband? He was not--a proper mate--for a
+Frazer--or a Hume. We are--an old race--of soldiers. We know--how to die.
+Four of us--fell fighting--in Japan. I am dying! What a pity!"
+
+His head sank lower. His breath grew faint. His voice died away in
+unintelligible words. After a brief silence he spoke again.
+
+The words he used were Japanese. In his weakened consciousness all he
+could recollect was the language he learnt from his Japanese mother--the
+mother he despised when he became a man and knew his history.
+
+Winter and Brett were now holding him. The others drew apart. They
+afterwards confessed that the death of this murderer, this tiger-cub of
+their race, affected them greatly. He was fearless to the end. The way in
+which he quitted life became him more than the manner in which he lived.
+
+There was a bustle without, and the local doctor entered. He looked wise,
+profound, even ventured on a sceptical remark when the barrister explained
+that Ooma had injected snake-poison into his arm. But he lifted the
+eyelids of the figure in the chair and glanced at the pupils.
+
+"Whatever the cause of death may be, he is undoubtedly dead!" was his
+verdict.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+THE LAST NOTE IN BRETT'S DIARY
+
+
+Winter and Holden were invaluable during the trying hours that followed.
+Acting in conjunction with the local police, they caused a search to be
+made for Capella's body. It was found easily enough. Only once did the
+line cross such a place as that described by Ooma, and a bruised and
+battered corpse was taken out of the boulder-strewn stream beneath the
+viaduct.
+
+Meanwhile Winter, writing from Brett's dictation, drew up a complete
+statement of all the facts retailed by the Japanese in relation to the
+murders of Sir Alan Hume-Frazer and the unfortunate Italian.
+
+This they signed, and went to obtain the signatures of the two cousins,
+Holden, and the man-servant, for whom a special short statement had been
+prepared.
+
+"This is for use at the coroner's inquest, I suppose?" inquired David.
+
+"Yes," said Brett. "We must seize that opportunity to publish all the
+evidence needed to thoroughly acquit you of suspicion in relation to your
+cousin's death. By prior consultation with the coroner we can, if you
+think fit, keep out of the inquiry all allusions to Mrs. Capella."
+
+"It would certainly be the best thing to do," agreed David, "especially in
+view of the fact that Robert and I have burnt those beastly papers."
+
+He pointed to some shivering ashes in the grate of the drawing-room, for
+Ooma occupied the library in the last solemn stateliness of his final
+appearance on earth.
+
+"What!" cried Brett. "Do you mean to say that you have destroyed the
+documents deposited by the Japanese on the writing-desk?"
+
+"Not exactly all," was the cool reply. "We picked out those referring to
+Margaret, and made an end of them. We hope to be able to do the same with
+regard to papers discovered on Capella's body or among his belongings.
+Those bearing on Ooma himself are here"--and he pointed to a small packet,
+neatly tied up, reposing on the mantelpiece.
+
+"You have done a somewhat serious thing."
+
+"We don't care a cent about that. Robert and I have both agreed that what
+Margaret has she keeps. There may, in course of time, be very good reason
+for this action. Anyhow, I have acted to please myself, and my father
+will, I am sure, approve of what I have done."
+
+Brett shook his head. No lawyer could approve of these rough-and-ready
+settlements of important family affairs.
+
+"Has anyone telegraphed to Mrs. Capella?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes," said Robert, "I did. I just said 'Ooma dead; Capella reported
+seriously ill. Remain in Whitby. I will join you to-morrow evening.' That,
+I thought, was enough for a start."
+
+It certainly was.
+
+Soon there came excited messages from both Margaret and Helen demanding
+more details, whereupon Brett, who knew that suspense was more unbearable
+than full knowledge, sent a fairly complete account of occurrences.
+
+During the next few days there was the usual commotion in the Press that
+follows the opening up of the secret records of a great and mysterious
+crime.
+
+It came as a tremendous surprise to David Hume-Frazer to learn how many
+people were convinced of his innocence "all the time." Being the central
+figure in the affair, he was compelled to remain at Beechcroft until
+Capella and Ooma were interred, and the coroner's jury, at a deferred
+inquest, had recorded their verdict that the wretched Japanese descendant
+of the Scottish Jacobite was not only doubly a murderer, but guilty of the
+heinous crime of _felo de se_.
+
+Brett, in the interim, saw to the despatch of the Italian witnesses back
+to Naples. These good people did not know why they had been brought to
+England, but they returned to their sunny land fully persuaded that the
+English were both very rich and very foolish.
+
+Winter, in accordance with Brett's promise, secured a fresh holiday
+towards the close of August, and had the supreme joy of shooting over a
+well-stocked Scotch moor.
+
+At last, one day in September, Brett was summoned to Whitby to assist at a
+family conclave.
+
+He found that Margaret was firm in her resolve never again to live at
+Beechcroft. She and Robert intended to get married early in the New Year
+and sail forthwith for the Argentine, where, with the help of his wife's
+money, Robert Hume-Frazer could develop his magnificent estate.
+
+Beechroft would pass into the possession of David, and Helen and he, who
+were to be married in October, would settle down in the house after their
+honeymoon.
+
+But on one point they were all very emphatic. That ill-fated library
+window should pass into the limbo of things that have been. Already
+builders were converting the library into an entrance hall, and the main
+door would occupy its natural place in the front of the house.
+
+Let us hope that the return of the young couple after their marriage
+marked a new era for an abode hitherto singled out for tragedy. Their
+start was auspicious enough, for true love, in their case, neither ran
+smoothly nor yielded to the pressure of terrible events.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Jiro went to Japan. With them they took the girl, Rose Dew,
+and the last heard of them was that the trio were running a boarding-house
+in Yeddo, where Mrs. Jiro advertised the excellence of the food she
+supplied, and Miss Dew sternly repressed any attempt on the part of the
+lodgers to obtain credit.
+
+The last entry in Brett's note-book, under the heading of the "Stowmarket
+Mystery," is dated six months after the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Robert
+Hume-Frazer for the Argentine. It reads:
+
+    "To-day is the anniversary of David Hume's first visit to my
+    chambers. This morning I discovered in a corner, dusty and
+    forlorn, Ooma's walking-stick. It reminded me of a snake that was
+    hibernating, so I gave it to Smith, and told him to light the
+    kitchen fire with it. Then I telegraphed to old Sir David
+    Hume-Frazer, saying that I gladly accepted his invitation for the
+    12th. His son, it seems, cannot go North, as he does not wish to
+    leave his wife during the next couple of months. I suppose I shall
+    be a godfather at an early date."
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowmarket Mystery, by Louis Tracy
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