CHAPTER XXXV
THE SWAG
I shrank back against the mouldy wall of that old stairway shivering asif I had been suddenly stricken with the ague. I had trembled in everylimb before ever I heard the sound of the sudden scuffle, and from avariety of reasons--the relief of having Hollins's revolver withdrawnfrom my nose; the knowledge that Maisie was close by; the gradualwearing-down of my nerves during a whole day of heart-sickeningsuspense,--but now the trembling had deepened into utter shaking: I heardmy own teeth chattering, and my heart going like a pump, as I stoodthere, staring at the man's face, over which a grey pallor was quicklyspreading itself. And though I knew that he was as dead as ever a man canbe, I called to him, and the sound of my own voice frightened me.
"Mr. Hollins!" I cried. "Mr. Hollins!"
And then I was frightened still more, for, as if in answer to my summons,but, of course, because of some muscular contraction following on death,the dead lips slightly parted, and they looked as if they were grinningat me. At that I lost what nerve I had left, and let out a cry, andturned to run back into the room where we had talked. But as I turnedthere were sounds at the foot of the stair, and the flash of a bull's-eyelamp, and I heard Chisholm's voice down in the gateway below.
"Hullo, up there!" he was demanding. "Is there anybody above?"
It seemed as if I was bursting my chest when I got an answer out to him.
"Oh, man!" I shouted, "come up! There's me here--and there's murder!"
I heard him exclaim in a dismayed and surprised fashion, and mutter somewords to somebody that was evidently with him, and then there was heavytramping below, and presently Chisholm's face appeared round the corner;and as he held his bull's-eye before him, its light fell full on Hollins,and he jumped back a step or two.
"Mercy on us!" he let out. "What's all this? The man's lying dead!"
"Dead enough, Chisholm!" said I, gradually getting the better of myfright. "And murdered, too! But who murdered him, God knows--I don't! Hetrapped me in here, not ten minutes ago, and had me at the end of arevolver, and we came to terms, and he left me--and he was no sooner downthe stairs here than I heard a bit of a scuffle, and him fall and groan,and I ran out to find--that! And somebody was off and away--have you seennobody outside there?"
"You can't see an inch before your eyes--the night's that black," heanswered, bending over the dead man. "We've only just come--round fromthe house. But whatever were you doing here, yourself?"
"I came to see if I could find any trace of Miss Dunlop in this oldpart," I answered, "and he told me--just before this happened--she's inthe tower above, and safe. And I'll go up there now, Chisholm; for ifshe's heard aught of all this--"
There was another policeman with him, and they stepped past the body andfollowed me into the little room and looked round curiously. I left themwhispering, and opened the door that Hollins had pointed out. There was astair there, as he had said, set deep in the thick wall, and I went along way up it before I came to another door, in which there was a keyset in the lock. And in a moment I had it turned, and there was Maisie,and I had her in my arms and was flooding her with questions and holdingthe light to her face to see if she was safe, all at once.
"You've come to no harm?--you're all right?--you've not been frightenedout of your senses?--how did it all come about?" I rapped out at her."Oh, Maisie, I've been seeking for you all day long, and--"
And then, being utterly overwrought, I was giving out, and I suddenlyfelt a queer giddiness coming over me; and if it had not been for her, Ishould have fallen and maybe fainted, and she saw it, and got me to acouch from which she had started when I turned the key, and was holding aglass of water to my lips that she snatched up from a table, andencouraging me, who should have been consoling her--all within theminute of my setting eyes on her, and me so weak, as it seemed, that Icould only cling on to her hand, making sure that I had really got her.
"There, there, it's all right, Hugh!" she murmured, patting my arm as ifI had been some child that had just started awake from a bad dream."There's no harm come to me at all, barring the weary waiting in thisblack hole of a place!--I've had food and drink and a light, as yousee--they promised me I should have no harm when they locked me in. Butoh, it's seemed like it was ages since then!"
"They? Who?" I demanded. "Who locked you in?"
"Sir Gilbert and that butler of his--Hollins," she answered. "I took theshort cut through the grounds here last night, and I ran upon the two ofthem at the corner of the ruins, and they stopped me, and wouldn't let mego, and locked me up here, promising I'd be let out later on."
"Sir Gilbert!" I exclaimed. "You're sure it was Sir Gilbert?"
"Of course I'm sure!" she replied. "Who else? And I made out they wereafraid of my letting out that I'd seen them--it was Sir Gilbert himselfsaid they could run no risks."
"You've seen him since?" I asked. "He's been in here?"
"No--not since last night," she answered. "And Hollins not since thismorning when he brought me some food--I've not wanted for that," she wenton, with a laugh, pointing to things that had been set on the table."And he said, then, that about midnight, tonight, I'd hear the keyturned, and after that I was free to go, but I'd have to make my way homeon foot, for he wasn't wanting me to be in Berwick again too soon."
"Aye!" I said, shaking my head. "I'm beginning to see through some of it!But, Maisie, you'll be a good girl, and just do what I tell you?--andthat's to stay where you are until I fetch you down. For there's moredreadfulness below--where Sir Gilbert may be, Heaven knows, but Hollinsis lying murdered on the stair; and if I didn't see him murdered, I sawhim take his last breath!"
She, too, shook a bit at that, and she gripped me tighter.
"You're not by yourself, Hugh?" she asked anxiously. "You're in nodanger?"
But just then Chisholm called up the stair of the turret, asking was MissDunlop safe, and I bade Maisie speak to him.
"That's good news!" said he. "But will you tell Mr. Hugh to come down tous?--and you'd best stop where you are yourself, Miss Dunlop--there's novery pleasant sight down this way. Have you no idea at all who did this?"he asked, as I went down to him. "You were with him?"
"Man alive, I've no more idea than you have!" I exclaimed. "He was makingoff somewhere in yon car that's below--he threatened me with the loss ofmy life if I didn't agree to let him get away in peace, and he was goingdown the stairs to the car when it happened. But I'll tell you this:Miss Dunlop says Sir Gilbert was here last night!--and it was he andHollins imprisoned her above there--frightened she'd let out on them ifshe got away."
"Then the Glasgow tale was all lies?" he exclaimed. "It came fromthis man, too, that's lying dead--it's been a put-up thing, d'yethink, Mr. Hugh?"
"It's all part of a put-up thing, Chisholm," said I. "Hadn't we betterget the man in here, and see what's on him? And what made you come hereyourselves?--and are there any more of you about?"
"We came asking some information at the house," he answered, "and we werepassing round here, under the wall, on our way to the road, when we heardthat car throbbing, and then saw your bit of a light. And that's a goodidea of yours, and we'll bring him into this place and see if there'saught to give us a clue. Slip down," he went on, turning to the otherman, "and bring the headlights off the car, so that we can see what we'redoing. Do you think this is some of Sir Gilbert's work, Mr. Hugh?" hewhispered when we were alone. "If he was about here, and this Hollins wasin some of his secrets--?"
"Oh, don't ask me!" I exclaimed. "It seems like there was nothing butmurder on every hand of us! And whoever did this can't be far away--onlythe night's that black, and there's so many holes and corners hereaboutsthat it would be like searching a rabbit-warren--you'll have to get helpfrom the town."
"Aye, to be sure!" he agreed. "But we'll take a view of thingsourselves, first. There may be effects on him that'll suggestsomething."
We carried the body into the room when the policeman came up with thelamps from the car, and stretched
it out on the table at which Hollinsand I had sat not so long before; though that time, indeed, now seemed tome to belong to some other life! And Chisholm made a hasty examination ofwhat there was in the man's pockets, and there was little that had anysignificance, except that in a purse which he carried in an inner pocketof his waistcoat there was a considerable sum of money in notes and gold.
The other policeman, who held one of the lamps over the table whileChisholm was making this search, waited silently until it was over, andthen he nodded his head at the stair.
"There's some boxes, or cases, down in yon car," he remarked. "Allfastened up and labelled--it might be worth while to take a look intothem, sergeant. What's more, there's tools lying in the car that lookslike they'd been used to fasten them up."
"We'll have them up here, then," said Chisholm. "Stop you here, Mr. Hugh,while we fetch them--and don't let your young lady come down while that'slying here. You might cover him up," he went on, with a significant nod."It's an ill sight for even a man's eyes, that!"
There were some old, moth-eaten hangings about the walls here and there,and I took one down and laid it over Hollins, wondering while I did thisoffice for him what strange secret it was that he had carried away intodeath, and why that queer and puzzled expression had crossed his face indeath's very moment. And that done, I ran up to Maisie again, bidding herbe patient awhile, and we talked quietly a bit until Chisholm called medown to look at the boxes. There were four of them--stout, new-madewooden cases, clamped with iron at the corners, and securely screweddown; and when the policemen invited me to feel the weight, I was put inmind, in a lesser degree, of Gilverthwaite's oak-chest.
"What do you think's like to be in there, now, Mr. Hugh?" asked Chisholm."Do you know what I think? There's various heavy metals in theworld--aye, and isn't gold one of the heaviest?--it'll not be lead that'sin here! And look you at that!"
He pointed to some neatly addressed labels tacked strongly to eachlid--the writing done in firm, bold, print-like characters:
_John Harrison, passenger, by S.S. Aerolite.Newcastle to Hamburg_.
I was looking from one label to the other and finding them all alike,when we heard voices at the foot of the stair, and from out of them cameSuperintendent Murray's, demanding loudly who was above.