CHAPTER XXI
A FIND
David did not appear in the least surprised; indeed, he was long sincepast that emotion. Before the bottom of the mystery was reached a greatmany more strange things were pretty sure to happen.
"So you bought that cigar-case yourself?" he said.
"Indeed, I did," Ruth answered, eagerly. "Of course I have long knownyou by name and I have read pretty well all your tales. I--I liked yourwork so much."
David was flattered. The shy, sweet admiration in Ruth's eyestouched him.
"And I was very glad to meet you," Ruth went on. "You see, we all likedyour stories. And we knew one or two people who had met you, andgradually you became quite like a friend of ours--Enid and Chris andmyself, you understand. Then a week or two ago I came down to Brightonwith my uncle to settle all about taking the house here. And I happenedto be in Lockhart's buying something when you came in and asked to seethe cigar-case. I recognised you from your photographs, and I wasinterested. Of course, I thought no more of it at the time, until Enidcame up to London and told me all about the synopsis, and how strangelythe heroine's case in your proposed story was like hers. Enid wonderedhow you were going to get the girl out of her difficulty, and I jokinglysuggested that she had better ask you. She accepted the idea quiteseriously, saying that if you had a real, plausible way out of thetrouble you might help her. And gradually our scheme was evolved. Youwere not to know, because of the possible danger to yourself."
"At the hands of Reginald Henson, of course?"
"Yes. Our scheme took a long time, but we got it worked out at last. Wedecided on the telephone because we thought that we could not be tracedthat way, never imagining for a moment that you could get the number ofyour caller over the trunk line. Enid came up to town, and worked thetelephone, Chris was in No. 218, and I brought the money."
"You placed that cigar-case on my doorstep?"
"Yes, I was wound up for anything. It was I whom you saw riding thebicycle through Old Steine; it was I who dropped the card ofinstructions. It seems a shameful thing to say and to do now, butI--well, I enjoyed it at the time. And I did it for the sake of myfriends. Do I look like that sort of a girl, Mr. Steel?"
David glanced into the beautiful shy eyes with just the suggestion oflaughter in them.
"You look all that is loyal and good and true," he exclaimed. "And Idon't think I ever admired you quite so much as I do at this moment."
Ruth laughed and looked down. There was something in David's glance thatthrilled her and gave her a sense of happiness she would have found ithard to describe.
"I am so glad you do not despise me," she whispered.
"Despise you!" David cried. "Why? If you only knew how I, well, how Iloved you! Don't be angry. I mean every word that I say; my feelings foryou are as pure as your own heart. If you could care for me as you do forthose others I should have a friend indeed."
"You have made me care for you very much indeed, Mr. Steel," Ruthwhispered.
"Call me David..... How nice my plain name sounds from your lips. Ruthand David. But I must hold myself in hand for the present. Still, I amglad you like me."
"Well, you have been so good and kind. We have done you a great deal ofinjury and you never blamed us. And you are just the man I have alwayspictured as the man I could love ... David!"
"Well, it was only one little kiss, and I'm sure nobody saw us, dear. Andlater on, when you are my wife--"
"Don't you think we had better keep to business for the present?" Ruthsaid, demurely.
"Perhaps. There is one little point that you must clear up before we goany farther. How did you manage to furnish those two big dining-roomsexactly alike?"
"Why, the furniture is there. At the top of the house, in a large attic,all the furniture is stored."
"But the agent told me it had been removed."
"He was wrong. You can't expect the agent to recollect everything about ahouse. The place belonged to the lady whom we may call Mrs. MargaretHenson at one time. When her home scheme fell through she sold one houseas it was. In the other she stored the furniture. Enid knew of all this,of course. We managed to get a latch--key to fit 218, and Enid and a mandid the rest. Her idea was to keep you in the dark as much as possible.After the interview the furniture was put back again, and there you are."
"Diplomatic and clever, and decidedly original, not to say feminine. Inthe light of recently acquired knowledge I can quite see why your friendsdesired to preserve their secret. But they need not have taken all thoseprecautions. Had they written--"
"They dared not. They were fearful as to what might become of the reply."
"But they might have come to me openly."
"Again, they dared not for your sake. You know a great deal, David, butthere is darkness and trouble and wickedness yet that I dare not speakof. And you are in danger. Already Reginald Henson has shown you whathe can do."
"And yet he doesn't know everything," David smiled. "He may have stabbedme in the back, but he is quite ignorant as to what advice I gave to EnidHenson, which brings me back to the cigar-case. You saw me looking at itin Lockhart's. Go on."
"Yes, I watched you with a great deal of curiosity. Finally you went offout of the shop saying that you could not afford to buy the cigar-case,and I thought no more of the matter for a time. Then we found out allabout your private affairs. Oh, I am ashamed almost to go on."
The dainty little face grew crimson; the hand in David's trembled.
"But we were desperate. And, after all, we were doing no harm. It wasjust then that the idea of the cigar-case came into my mind. We knew thatif we could get you to take that money it would only be as a loan. Isuggested the gift of the case as a memento of the occasion. I purchasedthat case with my own money and I placed it with its contents on thedoorstep of your house."
"Did you watch it all the time?"
"No, I didn't. But I was satisfied that nobody passed, and I wassufficiently near to hear your door open at the hour appointed. Ofcourse, we had carefully rehearsed the telephone conversation, and I knewexactly what to do."
David sat very thoughtfully for some little time.
"The case must have been changed," he said. "It is very difficult to sayhow, but there is no other logical solution of the matter. At abouthalf-past twelve on that eventful night you placed on my doorstep agun-metal cigar-case, mounted in diamonds, that you had purchased fromLockhart's?"
"Yes, and the very one that you admired. Of that I am certain."
"Very well. I take that case with me to 218, Brunswick Square, and Ibring it back again. Did I take it with me or not? Anyhow, it was foundon the floor beside the body. It never passed out of my possession to myknowledge. Next day I leave it at the office of Messrs. Mossa and Mack,and it gets into the hands of the police."
"Was it not possibly changed there, David?"
"No, because of the initials I had scratched inside it. And beyond allquestion that case--the same case, mind you, that I picked up on mydoorstep--was purchased by the man now lying in the hospital here fromWalen's, in West Street. Now, how was the change made?"
"If I could only see my way to help you!"
"The change was made the day you bought the case. By the way, whattime was it?"
"I can't tell you the exact time," Ruth replied. "It was on the morningof the night of your adventure."
"And you kept it by you all the time."
"Yes. It was in a little box sealed with yellow wax and tied with yellowstring. I went to 219 after I had made the purchase. My uncle was thereand he was using the back sitting-room as an office. He had brought a lotof papers with him to go through."
"Ah! Did you put your package down?"
"Just for a moment on the table. But surely my uncle would not--"
"One moment, please. Was anybody with your uncle at the time?"
Ruth gave a sudden little cry.
"How senseless of me to forget," she cried. "My uncle was down merely forthe day, and, as he was ver
y busy, he sent for Mr. Reginald Henson tohelp him. I did not imagine that Mr. Henson would know anything. But evennow I cannot see what--"
"Again let me interrupt you. Did you leave the room at all?"
"Yes. It is all coming back to me now. My uncle's medicine was locked upin my bag. He asked me to go for it and I went, leaving my purchase onthe table. It is all coming back to me now.... When I returned Mr. Hensonwas quite alone, as somebody had called to see my uncle. Mr. Hensonseemed surprised to see me back so soon, and as I entered he crushedsomething up in his hand and dropped it into the waste-paper basket. Butmy parcel was quite intact."
"Yellow wax and yellow string and all?"
"Yes, so far as I remember. It was Mr. Henson who reminded my uncle abouthis medicine."
"And when you were away the change was made. Strange that your uncleshould be so friendly with both Henson and Bell. Have they ever met underyour roof?"
"No," Ruth replied. "Henson has always alluded to Dr. Bell as a lost man.He professes to be deeply sorry for him but he has declined to meet him.Where are you going?"
"I am going with you to see if we can find anything in the waste-paperbasket at No. 219. Bell tells me that your servants have instructions totouch no papers, and I know that the back sitting-room of your house isused as a kind of office. I want, if possible, to find the paper thatHenson tried to hide on the day you bought the cigar-case."
The basket proved to be a large one, and was partially filled withletters that had never been opened--begging-letters, Ruth said. For halfan hour David was engaged in smoothing out crumpled sheets of paper,until at length his search was rewarded. He held a packet of note-paper,the usual six sheets, one inside the other, that generally go tocorrespondence sheets of good quality. It was crushed up, but Steelflattened it out and held it up for Ruth's inspection.
"Now, here is a find!" he cried. "Look at the address in green at thetop: '15, Downend Terrace.' Five sheets of my own best notepaper, printedespecially for myself, in this basket! Originally this was a block of sixsheets, but the one has been written upon and the others crushed up likethis. Beyond doubt the paper was stolen from my study. And--what's this?"
He held up the thick paper to the light. At the foot of the top sheet wasplainly indented in outline the initials "D. S."
"My own cipher," David went on. "Scrawled in so boldly as to mark on theunder sheet of paper. Almost invariably I use initials instead of my fullname unless it is quite formal business."
"And what is to be done now?" Ruth asked.
"Find the letter forged over what looks like a genuine cipher," Davidsaid, grimly.