CHAPTER IV. THE INDISCRETION OF LETTY SHAW
Amidst a storm of whispered criticisms, the general opinion was thatLetty Shaw was a silly little fool who ought to have known better. Whenshe had entered the restaurant a few minutes before midnight, followedby Austen Abbott, every one looked to see a third person following them.No third person, however, appeared. Gustav himself conducted them to asmall table laid for two, covered with pink roses, and handed his fairclient the menu of a specially ordered supper. There was no gainsayingthe fact that Letty and her escort proposed supping alone!
The Cafe at the Milan was, without doubt, the fashionable rendezvous ofthe moment for those ladies connected with the stage who, aftertheir performance, had not the time or the inclination to make theconventional toilet demanded by the larger restaurants. Letty Shaw,being one of the principal ornaments of the musical comedy stage, waswell known to every one in the room. There was scarcely a personthere who within the last fortnight had not found an opportunity ofcongratulating her upon her engagement to Captain the Honourable BrianSotherst. Sotherst was rich, and one of the most popular young men abouttown. Letty Shaw, although she had had one or two harmless flirtations,was well known as a self-respecting and hard-working young actress wholoved her work, and against whom no one had ever had a word to say.Consequently, the shock was all the greater when, within a fortnight ofher engagement, she was thus to be seen openly supping alone with themost notorious woman hunter about town--a man of bad reputation, a man,too, towards whom Sotherst was known to have a special aversion. Nothingbut a break with Sotherst or a fit of temporary insanity seemed toexplain, even inadequately, the situation.
Her best friend--the friend who knew her and believed in her--rose toher feet and came sailing down the room. She nodded gaily to Abbott,whom she hated, and whom she had not recognized for years, and laid herhand upon Letty's arm.
"Where's Brian?" she asked.
Letty shrugged her shoulders--it was not altogether a natural gesture.
"On duty to-night," she answered.
Her best friend paused for a moment.
"Come over and join our party, both of you," she said. "Dicky Pennell'shere and Gracie Marsh--just landed. They'd love to meet you."
Letty shook her head slowly. There was a look in her face which even herbest friend did not understand.
"I'm afraid that we can't do that," she said. "I am Mr. Abbott's guest."
"And to-night," Austen Abbott intervened, looking up at the woman whostood between them, "I am not disposed to share Miss Shaw with anybody."
Her best friend could do no more than shake her head and go away. Thetwo were left alone for the rest of the evening. When they departedtogether, people who knew felt that a whiff of tragedy had passedthrough the room. Nobody understood--or pretended to understand. Evenbefore her engagement, Letty had never been known to sup alone witha man. That she should do so now, and with this particular man, waspreposterous!
"Something will come of it," her best friend murmured, sadly, as shewatched Austen Abbott help his companion on with her cloak.
Something did!
Peter Ruff rose at his accustomed time the following morning, andattired himself, if possible, with more than his usual care. He worethe grey suit which he had carefully put out the night before, but hehesitated long between the rival appeals of a red tie with white spotsand a plain mauve one. He finally chose the latter, finding that itharmonised more satisfactorily with his socks, and after a final surveyof himself in the looking-glass, he entered the next room, where hiscoffee was set out upon a small round table near the fire, together withhis letters and newspapers.
Peter Ruff was, after all, like the rest of us, a creature of habit.He made an invariable rule of glancing through the newspapers before hepaid any regard at all to his letters or his breakfast. In the absenceof anything of a particularly sensational character, he then opened hisletters in leisurely fashion, and went back afterwards to the newspaperas he finished his meal. This morning, however, both his breakfast andletters remained for some time untouched. The first paragraph whichcaught his eye as he shook open the Daily Telegraph was sufficientlyabsorbing. There it was in great black type:
TERRIBLE TRAGEDY IN THE FLAT OF A WELL-KNOWN ACTRESS! AUSTEN ABBOTT SHOT DEAD! ARREST OF CAPTAIN SOTHERST
Beyond the inevitable shock which is always associated with the takingof life, and the unusual position of the people concerned in it,there was little in the brief account of the incident to excite theimagination. A policeman on the pavement outside the flat in which MissShaw and her mother lived fancied that he heard, about two o'clockin the morning, the report of a revolver shot. As nothing furthertranspired, and as the sound was very indistinct, he did not at onceenter the building, but kept it, so far as possible, under observation.About twenty minutes later, a young gentleman in evening dress came outinto the street, and the policeman noticed at once that he was carryinga small revolver, which he attempted to conceal. The constable thereuponwhistled for his sergeant, and accompanied by the young gentleman--whomade no effort to escape--ascended to Miss Shaw's rooms, where the bodyof Austen Abbott was discovered lying upon the threshold of the sittingroom with a small bullet mark through the forehead. The inmates ofthe house were aroused and a doctor sent for. The deceased man wasidentified as Austen Abbott--a well-known actor--and the man underarrest gave his name at once as Captain the Honourable Brian Sotherst.Peter Ruff sighed as he laid down the paper. The case seemed to himperfectly clear, and his sympathies were altogether with the youngofficer who had taken the law into his own hands. He knew nothing ofMiss Letty Shaw, and, consequently, did her, perhaps, less than justicein his thoughts. Of Austen Abbott, on the other hand, he knew a greatdeal--and nothing of good. It was absurd, after all, that any one shouldbe punished for killing such a brute!
He descended, a few minutes later, to his office, and found Miss Brownbusy arranging a bowl of violets upon his desk.
"Isn't it horrible?" she cried, as he entered, carrying a bundle ofpapers under his arm. "I never have had such a shock!"
"Do you know any of them, then?" Peter Ruff asked, straightening his tiein the mirror.
"Of course!" she answered. "Why, I was in the same company as Letty Shawfor a year. I was at the Milan, too, last night. Letty was there havingsupper alone with Austen Abbott. We all said that there'd be trouble,but of course we never dreamed of this! Isn't there any chance for him,Peter? Can't he get off?"
Peter Ruff shook his head.
"I'm afraid not," he answered. "They may be able to bring evidence ofa quarrel and reduce it to manslaughter, but what you've just told meabout this supper party makes it all the worse. It will come out in theevidence, of course."
"Captain Sotherst is such a dear," Miss Brown declared, "and sogood-looking! And as for that brute Austen Abbott, he ought to have beenshot long ago!"
Peter Ruff seated himself before his desk and hitched up his trousers atthe knees.
"No doubt you are right, Violet," he said, "but people go about thesethings so foolishly. To me it is simply exasperating to reflect howlittle use is made of persons such as myself, whose profession inlife it is to arrange these little matters. Take the present case, forexample. Captain Sotherst had only to lay these facts before me, andAusten Abbott was a ruined man. I could have arranged the affair forhim in half-a-dozen different ways. Whereas now it must be a life fora life--the life of an honest young English gentleman for that of acreature who should have been kicked out of the world as vermin!... Ihave some letters give you, Violet, if you please."
She swung round in her chair reluctantly.
"I can't help thinking of that poor young fellow," she said, with asigh.
"Sentiment after office hours, if you please!" said Peter.
Then there came a knock at the door.
His visitor lifted her veil, and Peter Ruff recognized her immediately.
"What can I do for you, Lady Mary?" he asked.
/>
She saw the recognition in his eyes even before he spoke, and wonderedat it.
"You know me?" she exclaimed.
"I know most people," he answered, drily; "it is part of my profession."
"Tell me--you are Mr. Peter Ruff," she said, "the famous specialist inthe detection of crime? You know that Brian Sotherst is my brother?"
"Yes," he said, "I know it! I am sorry--very sorry, indeed."
He handed her a chair. She seated herself with a little tightening ofthe lips.
"I want more than sympathy from you, Mr. Ruff," she warned him. "I wantyour help."
"It is my profession," he admitted, "but your brother's case makesintervention difficult, does it not?"
"You mean--" she began.
"Your brother himself does not deny his guilt, I understand."
"He has not denied it," she answered--"very likely he will not do sobefore the magistrate--but neither has he admitted it. Mr. Ruff, you aresuch a clever man. Can't you see the truth?"
Peter Ruff looked at her steadily for several moments.
"Lady Mary," he said, "I can see what you are going to suggest. You aregoing on the assumption that Austen Abbott was shot by Letty Shaw andthat your brother is taking the thing on his shoulders."
"I am sure of it!" she declared. "The girl did it herself, beyond adoubt. Brian would never have shot any one. He might have horsewhippedhim, perhaps--even beaten him to death--but shot him in coldblood--never!"
"The provocation--" Ruff began.
"There was no provocation," she interrupted. "He was engaged to thegirl, and of course we hated it, but she was an honest little thing, anddevoted to him."
"Doubtless," Ruff admitted. "But all the same, as you will hear beforethe magistrates, or at the inquest, she was having supper alone withAusten Abbott that night at the Milan."
Lady Mary's eyes flashed.
"I don't believe it!" she declared.
"It is nevertheless true," Peter Ruff assured her. "There is no shadowof doubt about it."
Lady Mary was staggered. For a few moment she seemed struggling torearrange her thoughts.
"You see," Ruff continued, "the fact that Miss Shaw was willing tosup with Austen Abbott tete-a-tete renders it more improbable that sheshould shoot him in her sitting room, an hour or so later, and then gocalmly up to her mother's room as though nothing had happened."
Lady Mary had lost some of her confidence, but she was not daunted.
"Even if we have been deceived in the girl," she said,thoughtfully--"even if she were disposed to flirt with other men--eventhen there might be a stronger motive than ever for her wishing to getrid of Abbott. He may have become jealous, and threatened her."
"It is, of course, possible," Ruff assented, politely. "Your theorywould, at any rate, account for your brother's present attitude."
She looked at him steadfastly.
"You believe, then," she said, "that my brother shot Austen Abbott?"
"I do," he admitted frankly. "So does every man or woman of common sensein London. On the facts as they are stated in the newspapers, with theaddition of which I have told you, no other conclusion is possible."
Lady Mary rose.
"Then I may as well go," she said tearfully.
"Not at all," Peter Ruff declared. "Listen. This is a matter of businesswith me. I say that on the facts as they are known, your brother's guiltappears indubitable. I do not say that there may not be other factsin the background which alter the state of affairs. If you wish me tosearch for them, engage me, and I will do my best."
"Isn't that what I am here for?" the girl exclaimed.
"Very well," Peter Ruff said. "My services are at your disposal."
"You will do your best--more than your best, won't you?" she begged."Remember that he is my brother--my favourite brother!"
"I will do what can be done," Peter Ruff promised. "Please sit down atthat desk and write me two letters of introduction."
She drew off her gloves and prepared to obey him.
"To whom?" she asked.
"To the solicitors who are defending your brother," he said, "and toMiss Letty Shaw."
"You mean to go and see her?" Lady Mary asked, doubtfully.
"Naturally," Peter Ruff answered. "If your supposition is correct, shemight easily give herself away under a little subtle cross-examination.It is my business to know how to ask people questions in such a way thatif they do not speak the truth their words give some indication of it.If she is innocent I shall know that I have to make my effort in anotherdirection."
"What other direction can there be?" Lady Mary asked dismally.
Peter Ruff said nothing. He was too kind-hearted to kindle false hopes.
"It's a hopeless case, of course," Miss Brown remarked, after Lady Maryhad departed.
"I'm afraid so," Peter Ruff answered. "Still I must earn my money.Please get some one to take you to supper to-night at the Milan, and seeif you can pick up any scandal."
"About Letty?" she asked.
"About either of them," he answered. "Particularly I should like toknow if any explanation has cropped up of her supping alone with AustenAbbott."
"I don't see why you can't take me yourself," she remarked. "You are onthe side of the law this time, at any rate."
"I will," he answered, after a moment's hesitation. "I will call for youat eleven o'clock to-night."
He rose and closed his desk emphatically.
"You are going out?" she asked.
"I am going to see Miss Letty Shaw," he answered.
He took a taxicab to the flats, and found a handful of curious peoplestill gazing up at the third floor. The parlourmaid who answered hissummons was absolutely certain that Miss Shaw would not see him. Hepersuaded her, after some difficulty, to take in his letter while hewaited in the hall. When she returned, she showed him into a smallsitting room and pulled down the blinds.
"Miss Shaw will see you, sir, for a few minutes," she announced, ina subdued tone. "Poor dear young lady," she continued, "she has beencrying her eyes out all the morning."
"No wonder," Peter Ruff said, sympathetically. "It's a terriblebusiness, this!"
"One of the nicest young men as ever walked," the girl declared, firmly."As for that brute, he deserved all he's got, and more!"
Peter Ruff was left alone for nearly a quarter of an hour. Then the doorwas softly opened and Letty Shaw entered. There was no doubt whateverabout her suffering. Ruff, who had seen her only lately at the theatre,was shocked. Under her eyes were blacker lines than her pencil hadever traced. Not only was she ghastly pale, but her face seemed wan andshrunken. She spoke to him the moment she entered, leaning with on handupon the sideboard.
"Lady Mary writes that you want to help us," she said. "How can you? Howis it possible?"
Even her voice had gone. She spoke hoarsely, and as though short ofbreath. Her eyes searched his face feverishly. It seemed cruelty not toanswer her at once, and Peter Ruff was not a cruel man. Nevertheless, heremained silent, and it seemed to her that his eyes were like points offire upon her face.
"What is the matter?" she cried, with breaking voice. "What have youcome for? Why don't you speak to me?"
"Madam," Peter Ruff said, "I should like to help you, and I will do whatI can. But in order that I may do so, it is necessary that you shouldanswer me two questions--truthfully!"
Her eyes grew wider. It was the face of a terrified child.
"Why not?" she exclaimed. "What have I to conceal?"
Peter Ruff's expression never changed. There was nothing about him,as he stood there with his hands behind him, his head thrown a littleforward, in the least inspiring--nothing calculated to terrify the mosttimid person. Yet the girl looked at him with the eyes of a frightenedbird.
"Remember, then," he continued, smoothly, "that what you say to me issacred. You and I are alone without witnesses or eavesdroppers. Was itBrian Sotherst who shot Abbott--or was it you?"
She gave a little cry. Her hands c
lasped the sides of her head inhorror.
"I!" she exclaimed, "I! God help me!"
He waited. In a moment she looked up.
"You cannot believe that," she said, with a calmness for which he wasscarcely prepared. "It is absurd. I left the room by the inner door ashe took up his hat to step out into the hall."
"Incidentally," he asked--"this is not my other question, mind--why didyou not let him out yourself?"
"We had disagreed," she answered, curtly.
Peter Ruff bent his head in assent.
"I see," he remarked. "You had disagreed. Abbott probably hoped that youwould relent, so he waited for a few minutes. Brian Sotherst, who hadescaped from his engagement in time, he thought, to come and wish yougood night, must have walked in and found him there. By the bye, howwould Captain Sotherst get in?"
"He had a key," the girl answered. "My mother lives here with me, andwe have only one maid. It was more convenient. I gave him one washed ingold for a birthday present only a few days ago."
"Thank you," Peter Ruff said. "The revolver, I understand, was yourproperty?"
She nodded.
"It was a present from Brian," she said. "He gave it to me in a joke,and I had it on the table with some other curiosities."
"The first question," Peter Ruff said, "is disposed of. May I proceed tothe second?"
The girl moistened her lips.
"Yes!" she answered.
"Why did you sup alone with Austen Abbott last night?"
She shrank a little away.
"Why should I not?" she asked.
"You have been on the stage, my dear Miss Shaw," Peter Ruff continued,"for between four and five years. During the whole of that time, it hasbeen your very wise habit to join supper parties, of course, when thecompany was agreeable to you, but to sup alone with no man! Am I notright?"
"You seem to know a great deal about me," she faltered.
"Am I not right?" he repeated.
"Yes!"
"You break your rule for the first time," Peter Ruff continued, "infavour of a man of notoriously bad character, a few weeks afterthe announcement of your engagement to an honourable young Englishgentleman. You know very well the construction likely to be putupon your behaviour--you, of all people, would be the most likely toappreciate the risk you ran. Why did you run it? In other words, Irepeat my question. Why did you sup alone with Austen Abbott lastnight?"
All this time she had been standing. She came a little forward now, andthrew herself into an easy-chair.
"It doesn't help!" she exclaimed. "All this doesn't help!"
"Nor can I help you, then," Peter Ruff said, stretching out his hand forhis hat.
She waved to him to put it down.
"I will tell you," she said. "It has nothing to do with the case,but since you ask, you shall know. There is a dear little girl in ourcompany--Fluffy Dean we all call her--only eighteen years old. We alllove her, she is so sweet, and just like I was when I first went on thestage, only much nicer. She is very pretty, she has no money, and she issuch an affectionate little dear that although she is as good as gold,we are all terrified for her sake whenever she makes acquaintances.Several of us who are most interested made a sort of covenant. We alltook it in turns to look after her, and try to see that she did not meetany one she shouldn't. Yet, for all our precautions, Austen Abbottgot hold of her and turned her silly little head. He was a man ofexperience, and she was only a child. She wouldn't listen to us--shewouldn't hear a word against him. I took what seemed to me to be theonly chance. I went to him myself--I begged for mercy, I begged himto spare the child. I swore that if--anything happened to her, I wouldstart a crusade against him, I would pledge my word that he should becut by every decent man and woman on the stage! He listened to what Ihad to say and at first he only smiled. When I had finished, he made mean offer. He said that if I would sup with him alone at the Milan, andpermit him to escort me home afterwards, he would spare the child. Onefurther condition he made--that I was to tell no one why I did it. Itwas the man's brutal vanity! I made the promise, but I break it now.You have asked me and I have told you. I went through with the supper,although I hated it. I let him come in for a drink as though he had beena friend. Then he tried to make love to me. I took the opportunity oftelling him exactly what I thought of him. Then I showed him the door,and left him. Afterwards--afterwards--Brian came in! They must have metupon the very threshold!"
Peter Ruff took up his hat.
"Thank you!" he said.
"You see," she continued, drearily, "that it all has very little to dowith the case. I meant to keep it to myself, because, of course, apartfrom anything else, apart from Brian's meeting him coming out of myrooms, it supplies an additional cause for anger on Brian's part."
"I see," he answered. "I am much obliged to you, Miss Shaw. Believe methat you have my sincere sympathy!"
Peter Ruff's farewell words were unheard. Letty had fallen forward inher chair, her head buried in her hands.
Peter Ruff went to Berkeley Square and found Lady Mary waiting forhim. Sir William Trencham, the great solicitor, was with her. Lady Maryintroduced the two men. All the time she was anxiously watching Ruff'sface.
"Mr. Ruff has been to see Miss Shaw," she explained to Sir William. "Mr.Ruff, tell me quickly," she continued, with her hand upon his shoulder,"did she say anything? Did you find anything out?"
He shook his head.
"No!" he said. "I found nothing out!"
"You don't think, then," Lady Mary gasped, "that there is any chance--ofgetting her to confess--that she did it herself?"
"Why should she have done it herself?" Peter Ruff asked. "She admitsthat the man tried to make love to her. She simply left him. She wasin her own home, with her mother and servant within call. There was nostruggle in the room--we know that. There was no necessity for any."
"Have you made any other enquiries?" Lady Mary asked.
"The few which I have made," Peter Ruff answered gravely, "point all inthe same direction. I ascertained at the Milan that your brother calledthere late last night, and that he heard Miss Shaw had been suppingalone with Austen Abbott. He followed them home. I have ascertained,too, that he had a key to Miss Shaw's flat. He apparently met AustenAbbott upon the threshold."
Lady Mary covered her face with her hands. She seemed to read inRuff's words the verdict of the two men--the verdict of common sense.Nevertheless, he made one more request before leaving.
"I should like to see Captain Sotherst, if you can get me an order," hesaid to Sir William.
"You can go with me to-morrow morning," the lawyer answered. "Theproceedings this morning, of course, were simply formal. Until after theinquest it will be easy to arrange an interview."
Lady Mary looked up quickly.
"There is still something in your mind, then?" she asked. "You thinkthat there is a bare chance?"
"There is always the hundredth chance!" Peter Ruff replied.
Peter Ruff and Miss Brown supped at the Milan that night as they hadarranged, but it was not a cheerful evening. Brian Sotherst had beenvery popular among Letty Shaw's little circle of friends, and thegeneral feeling was one of horror and consternation at this thing whichhad befallen him. Austen Abbot, too, was known to all of them, andalthough a good many of the men--and even the women--were outspokenenough to declare at once that it served him right, nevertheless, theshock of death--death without a second's warning--had a paralysingeffect even upon those who were his severest critics. Violet Brownspoke to a few of her friends--introduced Peter Ruff here and there--butnothing was said which could throw in any way even the glimmerings ofa new light upon the tragedy. It all seemed too hopelessly and fatallyobvious.
About twenty minutes before closing time, the habitues of the place wereprovided with something in the nature of a sensation. A little partyentered who seemed altogether free from the general air of gloom.Foremost among them was a very young and exceedingly pretty girl, withlight golden hair waved in front of her forehe
ad, deep blue eyes, andthe slight, airy figure of a child. She was accompanied by another youngwoman, whose appearance was a little too obvious to be prepossessing,and three or four young men--dark, clean-shaven, dressed with theirritating exactness of their class--young stockbrokers or boys abouttown. Miss Brown's eyes grew very wide open.
"What a little beast!" she exclaimed.
"Who?" Peter Ruff asked.
"That pretty girl there," she answered--"Fluffy Dean her name is. She isLetty Shaw's protege, and she wouldn't have dreamed of allowing her tocome out with a crowd like that. Tonight, of all nights," she continued,indignantly, "when Letty is away!"
Peter Ruff was interested.
"So that is Miss Fluffy Dean," he remarked, looking at her curiously."She seems a little excited."
"She's a horrid little wretch!" Miss Brown declared. "I hope that someone will tell Letty, and that she will drop her now. A girl who woulddo such a thing as that when Letty is in such trouble isn't worth takingcare of! Just listen to them all!"
They were certainly becoming a little boisterous. A magnum of champagnewas being opened. Fluffy Dean's cheeks were already flushed, and hereyes glittering. Every one at the table was talking a great deal anddrinking toasts.
"This is the end of Fluffy Dean," Violet Brown said, severely. "I hateto be uncharitable, but it serves her right."
Peter Ruff paid his bill.
"Let us go," he said.
In the taxicab, on their way back to Miss Brown's rooms, Ruff wasunusually silent, but just before he said good night to her--on thepavement, in fact, outside her front door--he asked a question.
"Violet," he said, "would you like to play detective for an hour ortwo?"
She looked at him in some surprise.
"You know I always like to help in anything that's going," she said.
"Letty Shaw was an Australian, wasn't she?" he asked.
"Yes."
"She was born there, and lived there till she was nearly eighteen--isthat true?" he asked again.
"Quite true," Miss Brown answered.
"You know the offices of the P.& O. line of steamers in Pall Mall?" heasked.
She nodded.
"Well?"
"Get a sailing list to Australia--there should be a boat going Thursday.Present yourself as a prospective passenger. See how many young womenalone there are going out, and ask their names. Incidentally put in alittle spare time watching the office."
She looked at him with parted lips and wide-open eyes.
"Do you think--" she began.
He shook her hand warmly and stepped back into the taxicab.
"Good night!" he said. "No questions, please. I sha'n't expect you atthe office at the usual time to-morrow, at any rate. Telephone or runaround if you've anything to tell me."
The taxicab disappeared round the corner of the street. Miss Brown wasstanding still upon the pavement with the latchkey in her hand.
*****
It was afternoon before the inquest on the body of Austen Abbott, andthere was gathered together in Letty Shaw's parlor a curiously assortedlittle group of people. There was Miss Shaw herself--or rather whatseemed to be the ghost of herself--and her mother; Lady Mary and SirWilliam Trencham; Peter Ruff and Violet Brown--and Mr. John Dory. Theeyes of all of them were fixed upon Peter Ruff, who was the latestarrival. He stood in the middle of the room, calmly taking off hisgloves, and glancing complacently down at his well-creased trousers.
"Lady Mary," he said, "and Miss Shaw, I know that you are both anxiousfor me to explain why I ask you to meet me here this afternoon, and whyI also requested my friend Mr. Dory from Scotland Yard, who has chargeof the case against Captain Sotherst, to be present. I will tell you."
Mr. Dory nodded, a little impatiently.
"Unless you have something very definite to say," he remarked, "I thinkit would be as well to postpone any general discussion of this matteruntil after the inquest. I must warn you that so far as I, personally,am concerned, I must absolutely decline to allude to the subject at all.It would be most unprofessional."
"I have something definite to say," Peter Ruff declared, mildly.
Lady Mary's eyes flashed with hope--Letty Shaw leaned forward in herchair with white, drawn face.
"Let it be understood," Peter Ruff said, with a slight note of gravitycreeping into his tone, "that I am here solely as the agent of LadyMary Sotherst. I am paid and employed by her. My sole object is onher behalf, therefore, to discover proof of the innocence of CaptainSotherst. I take it, however," he added, turning towards the droopingfigure in the easy-chair, "that Miss Shaw is as anxious to have thetruth known."
"Of course! Of course!" she murmured.
"In France," Peter Ruff continued, "there is a somewhat curious custom,which, despite a certain theatricality, yet has its points. The scene ofa crime is visited, and its events, so far as may be, reconstructed. Letus suppose for a moment that we are now engaged upon something of thesort."
Letty Shaw shrank back in her chair. Her thin white fingers weregripping its sides. Her eyes seemed to look upon terrible things.
"It is too--awful!" she faltered.
"Madam," Peter Ruff said, firmly, "we seek the truth. Be so good as tohumour me in this. Dory, will you go to the front door, stand upon themat--so? You are Captain Sotherst--you have just entered. I am AustenAbbott. You, Miss Shaw, have just ordered me from the room. You see,I move toward the door. I open it--so. Miss Shaw," he added, turningswiftly towards her, "once more will you assure me that every one whowas in the flat that night, with the exception of your domestic servant,is present now?"
"Yes," she murmured.
"Good! Then who," he asked, suddenly pointing to a door on theleft--"who is in that room?"
They had all crowded after him to the threshold--thronging around him ashe stood face to face with John Dory. His finger never wavered--itwas pointing steadily towards that closed door a few feet to the left.Suddenly Letty Shaw rushed past them with a loud shriek.
"You shall not go in!" she cried. "What business is it of his?"
She stood with her back to the door, her arms outstretched like a cross.Her cheeks were livid. Her eyes seemed starting from her head.
Peter Ruff and John Dory laid their hands upon the girl's wrists. Sheclung to her place frantically. She was dragged from it, screaming.Peter Ruff, as was his right, entered first. Almost immediately heturned round, and his face was very grave.
"Something has happened in here, I am afraid," he said. "Please come inquietly."
On the bed lay Fluffy Dean, fully dressed--motionless. One hand hungdown toward the floor--from the lifeless fingers a little phial hadslipped. The room was full of trunks addressed to--
MISS SMITH, Passenger to Melborne. S.S. Caroline.
Peter Ruff moved over toward the bed and took up a piece of paper, uponwhich were scribbled a few lines in pencil.
"I think," he said, "that I must read these aloud. You all have a rightto hear them."
No one spoke. He continued:
Forgive me, Letty, but I cannot go to Australia. They would only bringme back. When I remember that awful moment, my brain burns--I feel thatI am going mad! Some day I should do this--better now. Give my love tothe girls.
FLUFFY.
They sent for a doctor, and John Dory rang up Scotland Yard. Letty Shawhad fainted, and had been carried to her room. While they waited aboutin strange, half-benumbed excitement, Peter Ruff once more spoke tothem.
"The reconstruction is easy enough now," he remarked. "The partitionbetween this sitting room and that little bedroom is only an artificialone--something almost as flimsy as a screen. You see," he continued,tapping with his knuckles, "you can almost put your hand through it.If you look a little lower down, you will see where an opening has beenmade. Fluffy Dean was being taken care of by Miss Shaw--staying with herhere, even. Miss Dean hears her lover's voice in this room--hears himpleading with
Miss Shaw on he night of the murder. She has been senthome early from the theatre, and it is just possible that she saw or hadbeen told that Austen Abbott had fetched Miss Shaw after the performanceand had taken her to supper. She was mad with anger and jealousy. Therevolver was there upon the table, with a silver box of cartridges. Shepossessed herself of it and waited in her room. What she heard proved,at least, her lover's infidelity. She stood there at her door, waiting.When Austen Abbott comes out, she shoots, throws the revolver athim, closes her door, and goes off into a faint. Perhaps she hearsfootsteps--a key in the door. At any rate, Captain Sotherst arrives afew minutes later. He finds, half in the hall, half on the threshold ofthe sitting room, Austen Abbott dead, and Miss Shaw's revolver by theside of him. If he had been a wise young man, he would have aroused thehousehold. Why he did not do so, we can perhaps guess. He put two andtwo together a little too quickly. It is certain that he believed thatthe dead man had been shot by his fiancee. His first thought was to getrid of the revolver. At any rate, he walked down to the street with itin his hand, and was promptly arrested by the policeman who had heardthe shot. Naturally he refused to plead, because he believed thatMiss Shaw had killed the man, probably in self-defence. She, at first,believed her lover guilty, and when afterwards Fluffy Dean confessed,she, with feminine lack of common sense, was trying to get the girl outof the country before telling the truth. A visit of hers to the officeof the steamship company gave me the clue I required."
Lady Mary grasped both his hands.
"And Scotland Yard," she exclaimed, with a withering glance at Dory,"have done their best to hang my brother!"
Peter Ruff raised his eyebrows.
"Dear Lady Mary," he said, "remember that it is the business of ScotlandYard to find a man guilty. It is mine, when I am employed for thatpurpose, to find him innocent. You must not be too hard upon my friendMr. Dory. He and I seem to come up against each other a little toooften, as it is."
"A little too often!" John Dory repeated, softly. "But one cannot tell.Don't believe, Lady Mary," he added, "that we ever want to kill aninnocent man."
"It is your profession, though," she answered, "to find criminals--andhis," she added, touching Peter Ruff on the shoulder, "to look for thetruth."
Peter Ruff bowed low--the compliment pleased him.