CHAPTER XIII
"Come in," called the Countess.
We entered.
"Well, Mr. Holmes, to what am I indebted for the honor of this visit,and for the privilege of seeing you rigged up in the valet's clothes?"she asked,--a little coldly, I thought, as she motioned us to chairs,and laid down the French novel she had been reading.
"Only to my desire for a little information relative to your noblehusband's cigars, Your Ladyship. It would greatly assist me inclearing up the mystery of the robbery. Never mind the disguise. I'veworn worse," returned Holmes politely.
The Countess frowned.
"Why, have some of the Earl's cigars been stolen, too, as well as thecuff-buttons?" she asked.
"No; but they have something to do with them, though. Now, when wasthe last time that the Earl smoked a Pampango cigar, and where was heat the time?"
"Those wretched things from the Philippines,--with the terrible odor?He only smoked one this week, and that was Monday morning, just afterbreakfast, in his room. I made Harrigan take the box of them away andhide it, so he couldn't get any more."
"Ah," said Holmes, a smile gleaming on his eager face, "that was justthe time when some of the diamond cuff-buttons disappeared. Now, wherewere you all during Monday morning?"
"Right here in my own room, of course, having Teresa arrange my hair.I had breakfast served to me in here, and didn't go downstairs tillnoontime."
"And when was the Earl's room swept out?" pursued Holmes.
"Really, Mr. Holmes, what funny questions you do ask!" said theCountess, smiling. "The Earl's room was swept out about half-pasteleven that noon, as soon as I came down and ordered Natalie to do it,after I saw the mess of cigar-ashes the Earl had left on the carpet."
"It's my business to ask funny questions, also to catch thieves, nomatter how highly placed in society they are," said Holmes, risingfrom his chair. "Your Ladyship, you have now unwittingly givenyourself away entirely. You stole at least one of the cuff-buttons, Iam positive. Now, give it up before I publish it from the housetops."
And Holmes stood there, with arms folded, and regarded the Countess ina very grim and determined manner, while I stood at one side, my mouthopen,--as usual.
The Countess turned white, then red, then pulled out her handkerchiefand began to weep, which was disconcerting to the relentless Holmes.
"To think that I should be insulted so by a perfect stranger in my ownhome!" And the Countess wept some more. "What earthly connection isthere between your silly questions about the Earl's cigars and thediamond-robbery, I should like to know?"
"Simply this," returned Holmes patiently, as the Countess wiped hertear-stained face with her handkerchief; "with the aid of my powerfulmicroscope I was enabled to find that the specks of cigar-ashesadhering to the soles of your shoes that you wore Monday, the onesthat I was compelled to take for evidence last night, and replaced inyour room this morning, were from a Pampango cigar; and as you told methat the only time recently that the Earl smoked one of that brand wasMonday morning, in his room, and that his room was swept out Mondaynoon, that proves conclusively that you were in his room during Mondaymorning. The fact that you also claimed to have been up here in yourown room all during Monday morning shows that you had a strong motivefor concealing your presence in the Earl's room at the time some ofthe cuff-buttons disappeared, which can only mean that you wished tocover up your theft. Is that clear enough?"
"I suppose so," remarked the Countess listlessly, rising and goingover to her dresser at one side of the room, where she unlocked one ofthe drawers, took out the cuff-button Holmes was after, and handed itto him. "Here is your horrid old diamond cuff-button! I wish I hadnever seen it. I am not the thief, anyhow. That miserable fellow fromAustralia is the one that stole it, Billie Budd, and he gave it to meto hide for him until he could dispose of it safely. I did it for ajoke on George, as I never did like the hideous glaring things, evenif they were a present from King George I to his ancestor. And that'sall I know about it,--so there! Budd only gave me one of thecuff-buttons, and I don't know where the others are, and I can't saythat I care very much, either. Now are you finished with me?"
"Entirely so, Your Ladyship, except to inform you that since breakfastthis morning I have recovered two other cuff-buttons beside this one,from Thorneycroft and Yensen, and they both gave me the same song anddance that you did, about the wicked William Budd having been theauthor of their downfall. He seems to have had a whole lot to do withthe robbery, and is also the man who assaulted your husband duringMonday night when he entered his room to steal the last pair of thecuff-buttons, and was evidently frightened away before he could smouchthe one in his left cuff, having taken the one in his right cuff. I amsatisfied that you had nothing to do with the assault, but your actionin receiving the one stolen gem from Budd, and then striving to throwthe blame for it on your brother-in-law, Lord Launcelot, isreprehensible enough. I shall see what the Earl has to say about it."
And in a moment Holmes, bowing suavely, motioned me to follow him outof the room.
We came downstairs again, and Holmes tackled the Earl in the library.
"Well, Your Lordship, here's the third one of your ballycuff-buttons," he began, as he handed it to him. "And the name of theperson who had it is----"
The voice grew inaudible to me as Holmes bent down and whispered thename into the Earl's ears.
At the shock of the revelation the Earl slid down in his chair untilhe seemed to be sitting on his shoulder-blades, feebly put one hand upto his brow, and exclaimed:
"What? My wife? Good Heavens! I say there, Harrigan, you may pour meout a glass of wine,--I mean a stiff bracer of brandy!"
In a moment the butler came running in with a bottle of thefire-water, and poured out a glass of it for the Earl, who grabbed it,and downed it at one gulp, then said:
"Now I feel somewhat restored, Holmes. Tell me how on earth you foundout that she took it."
My marvelous partner told the gaping quintette,--composed of the Earl,Tooter, Thorneycroft, Launcelot, and Hicks,--how he had pried thethird cuff-button out of Her Ladyship, and when he had finished theEarl rang for Donald MacTavish, the second footman, and sent him afterthe Countess. In a few minutes, Scotty had bowed the mistress of thecastle into our presence, and she stood in the doorway, very cold andreserved.
"Well, Annabelle, what have you got to say for yourself?" demanded theEarl. "I've been robbed by my coachman, robbed by my secretary, andnow, by thunder, I've even been robbed by my wife! And Holmes saysthat you claim that William X. Budd of Australia put you up to it! Howabout it, eh?"
"Well, George, you know I never did like those diamond cuff-buttons,and when Billie Budd came to me Monday morning with one of them, Ithought it would be a good chance to play a trick on you. I didn'tknow that the others were going to be stolen too, and I thought youwould have enough left. You have any number of regular pearlcuff-links, anyhow, that can be worn to society functions, and not asif you were an end-man in a minstrel show, which is all that thosebig, glaring diamond things are fit for! Mr. Holmes told me he hadreplaced all the shoes that disappeared last night, as he took themfor the purpose of finding out where the stolen cuff-buttons were byhis peculiar hocus-pocus methods, so you can't accuse me of havingtaken them too. I found _my_ pair of shoes in a corner of my room whenI returned there after breakfast. Now will you forgive me? Billie Buddis gone, so I don't suppose there will be any further trouble," theCountess concluded, gazing appealingly at her husband.
The others all looked up with surprise as she mentioned the return ofthe shoes, and then turned their eyes toward Holmes with mixedadmiration and perplexity, while the Earl replied:
"Well, you may thank your lucky stars, Annabelle, that I am such aneasy-going fellow as I am known to be, or else high life in Londonwould be aroused by gossip of another divorce. I'll forgive you; butdon't let it happen again."
"All right, George, thank you; but I still think that Launcelot isresponsible for the disappear
ance of the other eight cuff-buttons."With which Parthian shot, the Countess of Puddingham left the room.
"Still got it in for Brother Launcie, eh?" grinned Holmes, as the Earlput the third gem in his vest-pocket. "Look here, I want to know thereason for this prejudice on her part."
"Well, I don't mind telling you," returned the Earl with a smile, asthe accused Launcelot got very embarrassed. "My brother was greatlyopposed to my marrying Annabelle, for social reasons, because of herproximity to the tea and spice business,--as I suppose you have becomeaware,--so naturally after we were married she hasn't looked on himwith very much favor, to say the least. But _ich kebibble_," he added,as he straightened up in his chair.
"We've got back three out of the lost eleven gems, anyhow, so we'llall go down to the wine-cellar, and celebrate a little. Thorneycroft,I guess we have all those bills audited for payment, and checks madeout for them, so I'll declare a holiday for you, and invite you downto share the drinks, since you didn't steal the third gem. Come along,gentlemen."
To which invitation we all responded by following the genial Earl downthe corridor, through the kitchen,--where Louis and Ivan werequarreling about something or other, as usual,--and down thecellar-stairs to that mysterious region where Harrigan the butler heldforth.