CHAPTER VIII
Twenty minutes later his desires in that respect were granted; and,having been introduced by Mr. Nippers to the little gathering inthe sitting-room of the house of disaster as "a friend of mine fromScotland Yard, miss," he found himself in the presence of one ofthose meek-faced, dove-eyed, "mousy" little bodies who seem born tobe "patient Griseldas"; and in looking at her he was minded of thedescription of "Lady Jane" in the poem:
"Her pulse was slow, milk white her skin-- She had not blood enough to sin."
Years of repression had told upon her, and she looked older than shereally was--so old and so dragged out, in fact, that Mrs. Armroyd,the cook, appeared youthful and attractive in contrast. Indeed,it was no wonder that Mr. Ephraim Nippers had been attracted bythat good soul; for, although her hair was streaked with gray, andher figure was of the "sack of flour" order, and her eyes wereassisted in their offices by a pair of steel-bowed spectacles, herface was still youthful in contour, and Mr. Narkom, looking ather, concluded that at twenty-four or twenty-five she must havebeen a remarkably pretty and remarkably fascinating woman. WhatCleek's thoughts were upon that subject it is impossible to record;for he merely gave her one look on coming into the room, and thentook no further notice of her whatsoever.
"Indeed, Mr. Headland, I am glad--I am very, very glad--that fortunehas sent you into this neighbourhood at this terrible time," saidMiss Renfrew when Cleek was introduced. "I do not wish to sayanything disparaging of Mr. Nippers, but you can see for yourselfhow unfitted such men as he and his assistant are to handle anaffair of this importance. Indeed, I cannot rid my mind of thethought that if more competent police were on duty here the murderwould not have happened. In short, that the assassin, whoever hemaybe, counted upon the blundering methods of these men as hispassport to safety."
"My own thought precisely," said Cleek. "Mr. Nippers has given mea brief outline of the affair--would you mind giving me the fulldetails, Miss Renfrew? At what hour did Mr. Nosworth go into hislaboratory? Or don't you know, exactly?"
"Yes, I know to the fraction of a moment, Mr. Headland. I was lookingat my watch at the time. It was exactly eight minutes past seven. Wehad been going over the monthly accounts together, when he suddenlygot up, and without a word walked through that door over there. Itleads to a covered passage connecting the house proper with thelaboratory. That, as you may have heard, is a circular building witha castellated top. It was built wholly and solely for the carrying onof his experiments. There is but one floor and one window--a verysmall one about six feet from the ground, and on the side of theRound House which looks away from this building. Nothing but the doorto that is on this side, light being supplied to the interior by aroof made entirely of heavy corrugated glass."
"I see. Then the place is like a huge tube."
"Exactly--and lined entirely with chilled steel. Such few woodenappliances as are necessary for the equipment of the place arethickly coated with asbestos. I made no comment when my uncle roseand walked in there without a word. I never did. For the past sixor seven months he had been absorbed in working out the details of anew invention; and I had become used to his jumping up like that andleaving me. We never have supper in this house--my uncle alwayscalled it a useless extravagance. Instead, we defer tea until sixo'clock and make that the final meal of the day. It was exactlyfive minutes to seven when I finished my accounts, and as I had hada hard day of it, I decided to go to bed early, after having firsttaken a walk as far as the old bridge where I hoped that somebodywould be waiting for me."
"I know," said Cleek, gently. "I have heard the story. It would beMr. Charles Drummond, would it not?"
"Yes. He was not there, however. Something must have prevented hiscoming."
"Hum-m-m! Go on, please."
"Before leaving the house, it occurred to me that I ought to lookinto the laboratory and see if there was anything my uncle wouldbe likely to need for the night, as I intended to go straightway tobed on my return. I did so. He was sitting at his desk, immediatelyunder the one window of which I have spoken, and with his backto me, when I looked in. He answered my inquiry with a curt'No--nothing. Get out and don't worry me!' I immediately shut thedoor and left him, returning here by way of the covered passage andgoing upstairs to make some necessary changes in my dress for thewalk to the old bridge. When I came down, ready for my journey, Ilooked at the clock on the mantel over there. It was exactlyseventeen minutes to eight o'clock. I had been a little longer indressing than I had anticipated being; so, in order to save timein getting to the trysting place, I concluded to make a short cutby going out of the rear door and crossing diagonally through ourgrounds instead of going by the public highway as usual. I hadscarcely more than crossed the threshold when I ran plump intoConstable Gorham. As he is rather a favourite with good Mrs.Armroyd here, I fancied that he had been paying her a visit, andwas just coming away from the kitchen. Instead, he rather startled meby stating that he had seen something which he thought best to comeround and investigate. In short, that, as he was patrolling thehighway, he had seen a man vault over the wall of our groundsand, bending down, dart out of sight like a hare. He was almostpositive that that man was Sir Ralph Droger. Of course thatfrightened me almost out of my wits."
"Why?"
"There was bad blood between my uncle and Sir Ralph Droger--bitter,bad blood. As you perhaps know, my uncle held this ground on a lifelease from the Droger estate. That is to say, so long as he livedor refused to vacate that lease, no Droger could oust him nor yetlift one spadeful of earth from the property."
"Does Sir Ralph desire to do either?"
"He desires to do both. Borings secretly made have manifested thefact that both Barnsley thick-coal and iron ore underlie the place.Sir Ralph wishes to tear down the Round House and this building andto begin mining operations. My uncle, who has been offered the fullvalue of every stick and stone, has always obstinately refused tobudge one inch or to lessen the lease by one half hour. 'It is forthe term of my life,' he has always said, 'and for the term of mylife I'll hold it!'"
"Oho!" said Cleek; and then puckered up his lips as if about towhistle.
"Under such circumstances," went on Miss Renfrew, "it was onlynatural that I should be horribly frightened, and only too willingto act upon the constable's suggestion that we at once look intothe Round House and see if everything was right with my uncle."
"Why should the constable suggest that?"
"Everybody in the neighbourhood knows of the bitter ill feelingexisting between the two men; so, of course, it was only natural."
"Hum-m-m! Yes! Just so. Did you act on Constable Gorham's suggestion,then?"
"Yes. I led the way in here and then up the covered passage to thelaboratory and opened the door. My uncle was sitting exactly as hehad been when I looked in before--his back to me and his face tothe window--but although he did not turn, it was evident that hewas annoyed by my disturbing him, for he growled angrily, 'What thedevil are you coming in here and disturbing me like this for, Jane?Get out and leave me alone.'"
"Hum-m-m!" said Cleek, drawing down his brows and pinching his chin."Any mirrors in the Round House?"
"Mirrors? No, certainly not, Mr. Headland. Why?"
"Nothing--only that I was wondering, if as you say, he never turnedand you never spoke, how in the world he knew that it really _was_you, that's all."
"Oh, I see what you mean," said Miss Renfrew, knotting up her brows."It does seem a little peculiar when one looks at it in that way. Inever thought of it before. Neither can I explain it, Mr. Headland,any more than to say that I suppose he took it for granted. And,as it happened, he was right. Besides, as you will remember, Ihad intruded upon him only a short time before."
"Quite so," said Cleek. "That's what makes it appear stranger thanever. Under the circumstances one might have expected him to say_not_ 'What are you coming in here for,' but, 'What are you comingin for _again_.' Still, of course, there's no accounting for littlelapses like that. Go on, please--what
next?"
"Why, of course I immediately explained what Constable Gorham hadsaid, and why I had looked in. To which he replied, 'The man's anass. Get out!' Upon which I closed the door, and the constable and Iwent away at once."
"Constable there with you during it all, then?"
"Yes, certainly--in the covered passage, just behind me. He saw andheard everything; though, of course, neither of us actually enteredthe laboratory itself. There was really no necessity when we knewthat my uncle was safe and sound, you see."
"Quite so," agreed Cleek. "So you shut the door and went away--andthen what?"
"Constable Gorham went back to his beat, and I flew as fast as Icould to meet Mr. Drummond. It is only a short way to the old bridgeat best, and by taking that short cut through the grounds, I wasthere in less than ten minutes. And by half-past eight I was backhere in a greater state of terror than before."
"And why? Were you so much alarmed that Mr. Drummond did not keepthe appointment?"
"No. That did not worry me at all. He is often unable to keep hisappointments with me. He is filling the post of private secretaryto a large company promoter, and his time is not his own. Whatterrified me was that, after waiting a few minutes for him, Iheard somebody running along the road, and a few moments laterSir Ralph Droger flew by me as if he were being pursued. Underordinary circumstances I should have thought that he was gettinginto training for the autumn sports (he is, you may know, very keenon athletics, and holds the County Club's cup for running andjumping), but when I remembered what Constable Gorham had said, andsaw that Sir Ralph was coming from the direction of this house, allmy wits flew; I got into a sort of panic and almost collapsed withfright."
"And all because the man was coming from the direction of this house?"
"Not that alone," she answered with a shudder. "I have said thatI should under ordinary circumstances have thought he was merelytraining for the autumn sports--for, you see, he was in a runningcostume of white cotton stuff and his legs were bare from the kneedown--but as he shot past me in the moonlight I caught sight ofsomething like a huge splash of blood on his clothes, and couplingthat with the rest I nearly went out of my senses. It wasn'tuntil long afterward I recollected that the badge of the CountyClub is the winged foot of Mercury wrought in brilliant scarletembroidery. To me, just then, that thing of red was blood--myuncle's blood--and I ran and ran and ran until I got back here tothe house and flew up the covered passage and burst into the RoundHouse. He was sitting there still--just as he had been sittingbefore. But he didn't call out to me this time; he didn't reprove mefor disturbing him; didn't make one single movement, utter one singlesound. And when I went to him I knew why. He was dead--stone dead!The face and throat of him were torn and rent as if some furiousanimal had mauled him, and there were curious yellow stains upon hisclothes. That's all, Mr. Headland. I don't know what I did norwhere I went from the moment I rushed shrieking from that roomuntil I came to my senses and found myself in this one with dear,kind Mrs. Armroyd here bending over me and doing all in her powerto soothe and to comfort me."
"There, there, cherie, you shall not more distress yourself. It isof a hardness too great for the poor mind to bear," put in Mrs.Armroyd herself at this, bending over the sofa as she spoke andsoftly smoothing the girl's hair. "It is better she should be atpeace for a little, is it not, monsieur?"
"Very much better, madame," replied Cleek, noting how softly her handfell, and how gracefully it moved over the soft hair and across thewhite forehead. "No doubt the major part of what still remains to betold, you in the goodness of your heart, will supply----"
"Of a certainty, monsieur, of a certainty."
"--But for the present," continued Cleek, finishing the interruptedsentence, "there still remains a question or two which must beasked, and which only Miss Renfrew herself can answer. As those areof a private and purely personal nature, madame, would it be askingtoo much----" He gave his shoulders an eloquent Frenchified shrug,looked up at her after the manner of her own countrymen, and letthe rest of the sentence go by default.
"Madame" looked at him and gave her little hands an airy and agraceful flirt.
"Of a certainty, monsieur," she said, with charming grace. "_Celam'est egal_," and walked away with a step remarkably light andremarkably graceful for one of such weight and generous dimensions.
"Miss Renfrew," said Cleek, sinking his voice and looking herstraight in the eyes, as soon as Mrs. Armroyd had left them, "MissRenfrew, tell me something please: Have you any suspicion regardingthe identity or the purpose of the person who murdered your uncle?"
"Not in the slightest, Mr. Headland. Of course, in the beginning, mythoughts flew at once to Sir Ralph Droger, but I now see how absurdit is to think that such as he----"
"I am not even hinting at Sir Ralph Droger," interposed Cleek. "Twoother people in the world have a 'motive' quite as strong as anythat might be assigned to him. You, of course, feel every confidencein the honour and integrity of Mr. Charles Drummond?"
"Mr. Headland!"
"Gently, gently, please! I merely wished to know if in your heart youhad any secret doubt; and your flaring up like that has answered me.You see, one has to remember that the late Mr. Nosworth is said tohave made a will in your favour. The statement is correct, is it not?"
"To the best of my belief--yes."
"Filed it with his solicitors, did he?"
"That I can't say. I think not, however. He was always sufficientunto himself, and had a rooted objection to trusting anything ofvalue to the care of any man living. Even his most importantdocuments--plans and formulas of his various inventions, eventhe very lease of this property--have always been kept in thedesk in the laboratory."
"Hum-m-m!" said Cleek, and pinched his chin hard. Then, after amoment. "One last question," he went on suddenly. "What do you know,Miss Renfrew, of the recent movements of Mr. Harry Nosworth--theson who was kicked out?"
"Nothing, absolutely nothing!" she answered, with a look of somethingakin to horror. "I know what you are thinking of, but although heis as bad as man can be, it is abominable to suppose that he wouldlift his hand against his own father."
"Hum-m-m! Yes, of course! But still, it has been known to happen;and, as you say, he was a bad lot. I ran foul of the young gentlemanonce when----No matter; it doesn't signify. So you don't knowanything about him, eh?"
"Nothing, thank God. The last I did hear, he had gone on the stageand taken up with some horrible creature, and the pair of them weresubsequently sent to prison for enticing people to dreadful placesand then drugging and robbing them. But even that I heard from anoutside source; for my uncle never so much as mentioned him. No, Iknow nothing of him--nothing at all. In fact, I've never seen himsince he was a boy. He never lived here, you know; and until I camehere, I knew next to nothing of my uncle himself. We were poor andlived in a quite different town, my mother and I. Uncle Septimusnever came to see us while my mother lived. He came for the firsttime when she was dead and his son had gone away: and I was so poorand so friendless I was glad to accept the home he offered. No,Mr. Headland, I know nothing of Harry Nosworth. I hope, for hisown sake, he is dead."
Cleek made no reply. He sat for a minute pinching his chin andstaring at the carpet, then he got up suddenly and faced round inthe direction of the little group at the far end of the room.
"That's all for the present," he said. "Mr. Narkom, Mr. Nippers--geta light of some sort, please, and let's go out and have a look atthose footprints."