CHAPTER XX
GATTON'S STORY
"It's no good going in now," said Gatton, in a weary voice; "in factit might be dangerous. We have to consider the possibility of fire,however," he added.
Voices of sleepers awakened and cries of inquiry sounded now from allover the inn; for naturally the household had been aroused by thetremendous noise of the explosion. For my own part I was altogethertoo dazed to conjecture what had happened. But that Gatton had savedme from some deadly peril I was well convinced. Stirrings and thenoise of footsteps came from an adjoining room, and presently in hisnight attire Martin appeared, very bemused.
"Mr. Addison," he began, and stared from me to my companion.
"Let no one leave their rooms," said Gatton decisively, "until I givethem permission."
"Eh," began Martin heavily.
"I am a police officer," added Gatton; "and you will all do as Idirect. Does any one sleep on the same floor as Mr. Addison?"
"No, sir," replied Martin, who was not yet more than half awake, butwho nevertheless had been impressed by the Inspector's authoritativemanner.
Sounds of footsteps from the floor above now became audible,whereupon:
"Order every one to remain in their rooms!" repeated Gatton.
Martin, raising his voice, obeyed him.
"What are your arrangements in the case of fire?" continued theInspector.
Several betousled heads were peeping down from the landing above butno one spoke until Martin collected his ideas sufficiently to reply:
"There's buckets in the stables--and there's the well. Wilkins sleepsover the stables--"
"Can you make him hear without going downstairs?"
"I can try," was the answer.
Martin walked to a window which lighted the landing, and threw itwidely open. Leaning out:
"Wilkins!" he roared--"Wilkins!"
"Aye, aye, boss!" came faintly from somewhere below.
"Tell him to stand by with fire-buckets, but not to leave the yardwithout orders from me," directed Gatton.
Martin issued these instructions in a voice which must have beenaudible at Leeways, and then stood scratching his head stupidly.
But indeed of all the bewildered company who gathered that nightbeneath the roof of the Abbey Inn, I think I was the most nonplused ofall, and turning to Gatton:
"For God's sake tell me what it all means!" I said.
"It means," he answered, and even through his disguise I recognizedthe old grim smile, "that only a match stood between you and eternity!Even now, we cannot afford to sit down, but I am not anxious to passyour door for a few minutes. As we both have much to say, let us finda room where we can talk."
Accordingly we went up to a large empty room at the back of the inn.Through the open doorway I could hear the excited voices of the entirestaff of the establishment, who had congregated in Martin's roomacross the landing. Never in the history of the Abbey Inn had suchdoings taken place.
"Perhaps," continued Gatton, "it will save time if you tell me exactlywhat you have done first."
"Very well," I said; "but before I begin--when did you arrive?"
"An hour and a half after receiving your code telegram! I came by car.The car is at Manton now."
"Why this disguise?"
"I will explain in a moment. But meanwhile--your own story."
At that, although consumed with impatience, I quickly outlined mymovements from the time of my arrival at Upper Crossleys, theInspector following me closely. The tale concluded:
"Now, Gatton!" I cried--"for heaven's sake tell me what it all means!"
"I will tell you all I know," he replied slowly. "In the first place Ihad two reasons for suggesting the visit to Friar's Park. I had formedan opinion that the 'cat-woman' was interested in _you_. Whetherbecause she regarded you as dangerous or from some other cause I couldnot determine. And I thought of a plan for finding out if she was byany chance associated with Friar's Park. It was to send you down here(a) to make straightforward inquiries, and (b) to 'draw the cat'!"
"Very good of you!" I murmured.
"I warned you it was dangerous!" said Gatton grimly. "But I am pleasedto say the plan worked to perfection. Your own inquiries have beenhighly satisfactory and you have also 'drawn the cat'! Now just toshow you how dramatic your discoveries really were I will explain mysecond and more important reason and the one which primarily hadprompted me to turn my attention to Friar's Park. A few hours beforeyou came to the Yard the other morning--to see the bag dropped in thewater by Eric Coverly--I had been in touch with the solicitors who hadacted for the late Sir Burnham."
"Ah!" I exclaimed--"what had they to say?"
"I was seeking information of course respecting the entail; in short,trying to fathom the mystery of what Eric Coverly would have had togain by getting his cousin out of the way. I learned that financiallyhe gained nothing but a bundle of debts. Friar's Park was mortgaged tothe hilt. Furthermore, Lady Burnham Coverly had a life interest in theproperty under the will of her husband.
"Next, from the senior partner, a solicitor of the old school whostill retained pleasant memories of Sir Burnham's port, I learned anumber of very significant details."
He paused, staring at me oddly; and the familiar expression beneaththe unfamiliar disguise was very curious. Then:
"About seven or eight years ago," he resumed, "shortly after hisreturn from _Egypt_, according to Mr. Hardacre, the solicitor,something occurred which made a changed man of his client, SirBurnham. You will note, Mr. Addison, shortly after his return from_Egypt_. He realized upon quantities of securities, and raised a bigsum of ready money, which he disposed of in some way which has alwaysremained a mystery to Mr. Hardacre. In short, within a period of threeyears or less, from being a wealthy man, he became a poor one.
"Next, he sent Mr. Roger Coverly, his only child, then a mere lad,abroad in care of a tutor; Mr. Hardacre never knew for what reason asthere was apparently nothing wrong with the boy's health! He began todismiss his servants. The greater part of Friar's Park was shut up andallowed to fall into decay. Finally, to Mr. Hardacre's surprise andgrief, Sir Burnham mortgaged the property. But it was the terms of themortgage--which I was privileged to inspect--which aroused mycuriosity.
"In brief, the mortgagee agreed, in the event of Sir Burnham's death,to allow the widow to retain possession of the property for life,whether payments fell in arrears or otherwise!"
"But this--" I exclaimed.
"Is, as a friend of yours once remarked, as mad as 'Alice inWonderland'! I agree. But to continue. At the time that thisextraordinary agreement was drawn up, Mr. Hardacre went down toFriar's Park, of course; and he was a witness of several most singularand significant occurrences. For instance, on the evening of hisarrival, whilst he was dressing for dinner, Sir Burnham came runningto his room and begged of him to lock his door and to remain in hisroom until his host gave him permission to come out! He wasparticularly warned against admitting any one _who might knock_ in theinterval!"
"Good heavens!" I cried--"and did any one knock?"
"No one; but about half an hour later Sir Burnham came and releasedhim. Mr. Hardacre was unspeakably distressed to observe that SirBurnham looked white and ill; in fact, in Mr. Hardacre's own words,five years older! Again, quite by accident, on the same night, he cameupon his host kneeling in the chapel--in those days it still boasted aroof--deep in prayer. An atmosphere of indescribable horror, hedeclared, had settled upon Friar's Park, and although, as heconfessed, he had no evidence to prove the correctness of his theory,he nevertheless traced this to the person of the mortgagee. For itseemed to correspond roughly with the appearance in the neighborhoodof this man--whom he now met for the first time."
Again Gatton paused, taking out his pipe and pouch, and:
"Who was this person?" I asked.
"A certain Dr. Damar Greefe!"
"Good God!" I cried--"where is all this leading us, Gatton?"
"It is leading us slowly to the tru
th, Mr. Addison, and that truth,when we come to it, is going to be more horrible than we even suspect.Passing over much of Mr. Hardacre's evidence, I come to the death, inSwitzerland, of Mr. Roger Coverly, under circumstances so obscure thatI fear we shall never know the particulars. Of one thing, however, Iam assured: there was foul play."
"You mean that Roger Coverly was--murdered?"
"I really don't doubt it," replied Gatton, who, having filled hispipe, now lighted it. "I believe he was the first victim."
"The _first_ victim?"
"Mr. Addison, I agree with the late Sir Burnham's solicitor, that thespider at the heart of this web is Dr. Damar Greefe. The shock of hisson's premature death led to a collapse from which Sir Burnham neverrecovered, and Friar's Park entered upon the final phase during whichit was occupied by Lady Burnham who seems to have been wholly underthe influence of this Eurasian doctor."
"But, my dear Gatton!" I cried--"where _is_ Lady Burnham?"
"In my opinion, dead!" he answered solemnly. "Oh, it soundspreposterous, but in the case of this lonely woman who had apparentlyno living relatives and who was estranged from Sir Marcus and theother members of her husband's family, it was no very difficultmatter to hush up the fact of her death."
"But, Gatton, you don't mean that she, too, met with foul play?"
"Most certainly I don't! It is as clear as day that the whole objectof this elaborate secrecy was to _hide_ the fact of her death! She wasinfinitely more useful alive than dead, Mr. Addison; and they hoped tokeep up the solemn farce until--"
"Yes?"
"Until Sir Eric was hanged for the murder of his cousin!"
"Gatton! What do you mean?"
"He is the last of the Coverlys!" answered Gatton simply. "There wouldbe no further danger of any one paying off the mortgage."
"Danger?"
"Exactly. There is some secret at Friar's Park--or at the BellHouse--which necessitates the property remaining in the possession ofDr. Damar Greefe--as it has virtually remained since Sir Burnham'sdeath! So much is clear, and although Eric Coverly has persisted inhis obstinate silence, one of my assistants who has been at work onthe late Sir Marcus's papers made a discovery yesterday, whichtogether with what I had learned from Mr. Hardacre and your codemessage, brought me down to Crossleys post haste."
"What was this discovery?"
"An invitation from Dr. Damar Greefe, dated only a short time afterthe death of Sir Burnham, to Sir Marcus, asking him to visit Friar'sPark! The doctor explained that the state of Lady Coverly's healthmade it impossible for her to entertain, but he assured Sir Marcusthat she was anxious to see him and to heal any breach which mightexist between them. Most significant of all, the Eurasian proposedthat Sir Marcus should put up _here_!"
"At the Abbey Inn?"
"Exactly. Now the 'best room' of the inn is that which you have beenoccupying--and it is that which Sir Marcus would have occupied had heaccepted the doctor's invitation. Listen then: all these clews seemedto point to Friar's Park, but the receipt of your message mentioningone Damar Greefe as being a suspicious party, and asking me to look uphis record, quite tipped the scales. I saw, frankly, that you had madea false move, but nevertheless it served my purpose, and I determinedto look into the Crossleys end of the inquiry personally, withoutgiving Dr. Damar Greefe reason to suspect that I was in any wayassociated with the matter.
"I picked up one or two hints from the county police as to thegeography as well as the 'notables' of the neighborhood; and the planwhich you put into execution to-night, I had adopted last night!"
"What! You visited Friar's Park?"
"I did. But I did not enter through the French window. It neveroccurred to me that it would be unfastened! I had come provided with aneat set of burglars' tools (_and_ a warrant for use if necessary) andI broke into the kitchen! _I_ found, as you afterwards found, thatthe place had obviously been deserted for a long time. I was badlypuzzled. But my search was more detailed than yours. I climbed up tothe top of the tower!"
"To the top of the tower!"
"Yes. I'll tell you what I found there in a minute. But, briefly,beyond learning that the story of the invalid Lady Coverly was a myth,I discovered nothing likely to help the inquiry. I seriously debatedthe idea of putting Dr. Damar Greefe under arrest; but finally Idetermined to watch him for a time without showing my hand. I had thegood fortune to meet him this morning here at the Abbey Inn! Also, Isaw your mysterious lady visitor! Lastly, I got into conversation withthe man, Hawkins, who was accompanied by your friend, the mute!
"Leaving this dangerous pair, I made a rush for the Bell House,thinking I saw my opportunity to examine it unmolested. I was toolate, though. One of my assistants warned me of the Eurasian's returnjust as I was about to enter.
"I watched the house all day. But it was not until some time afterdusk that the Eurasian came out. He went to Friar's Park--and Ifollowed him!"
"What! You were there to-night!"
"I was! I dogged Dr. Damar Greefe, determined to learn the nature ofthe business which brought him to Friar's Park at such an hour. I mayadd that it was only by the merest accident or good luck that Ifathomed it after all. I had no idea into what part of the building hehad gone, but, knowing that he was somewhere inside, I watched fromthe shrubbery. In fact, I was still in the grounds when _you_arrived!"
"Then it was you I saw on the tower!"
"Oh, no, it was not! I had thoroughly examined the tower on myprevious visit, and what I found there had puzzled me badly. In factit was not until your admirable withdrawal from Friar's Park to-nightthat the horrible explanation dawned upon me ...and I realized thatthe object of inviting Sir Marcus to Upper Crossleys was to 'remove'him! The first plan failed, of course; he never came. He went backagain on duty to Russia, I believe--for a time. But when hereturned--a second was adopted, at the Red House. However--themurder-machine erected in accordance with the earlier plan was stillthere--"
"Where?" I cried in bewilderment.
"On the tower of Friar's Park! It was the appearance of _Damar Greefe_on the platform of the tower, armed with binoculars, which awakened meto the ghastly truth. The device, never used in the case of SirMarcus, was not to be wasted, but was to be employed to remove adangerous obstacle from the conspirator's path! I had left the carnear Crossleys, you see, and never in my life have I run as I ranafter you to-night!"
"But, Gatton, _what_ did you find on the tower--and what connectionexists between the tower and the explosion which occurred hereto-night?"
"This: a sort of small howitzer--I think of Krupp's manufacture, butyou would be better able to judge than I--is mounted on the platformof the tower! I examined it, Mr. Addison, last night, and like a foolconcluded that it had been used at some time for a local celebrationand never dismounted! It was trained--as I remembered nearly toolate--and laid at a certain elevation in such a way that it wasevidently never meant to be moved. Yet at the time the significance ofthis did not strike me. How the range was found so exactly we shallprobably never know; but the truth suddenly burst upon me as you madeoff through the bushes and as Dr. Damar Greefe came out and began topeer through his glasses--that it was mechanically set in such amanner that it could drop a projectile into the window above the porchof the Abbey Inn!"
"Good God! It's hardly credible!"
"It isn't, I admit. But weather conditions favored him; there wasn't abreath of wind. And that he succeeded is proved by the fact that atthe present moment your room below is probably still full of poisongas! Of course, it _may_ not have been a gas-shell; he may haverelied, as well he might do, on the burst! But I'm taking no chances.You can well imagine that failing a knowledge of the arrangement onthe tower, no explanation of the mystery would ever have been found! Athunder-bolt would be the popular theory, and if any fragments ofshell were found who would ever know from where it had been fired?"
"Gatton," I said, "I owe you my life. But why did this fiend try tomurder me?"
Gatton smiled.
"I have a t
heory, Mr. Addison," he replied, "and it is this: I believehe thought that the indiscretion of a certain mysterious lady wouldbring about his ruin. If I am not mistaken, she has already gone farto put his neck in a halter; and he was determined to nip this latestadventure in the bud by removing the object of her--"
I felt myself changing color, and:
"For heaven's sake say no more!" I interrupted. "It is a gruesome andhorrible thought! Yet, perhaps you are right. What must we do, Gatton?These people have rendered the neighborhood uninhabitable forthemselves, now, and--"
Dimly to my ears came the sound of a gun-shot.
"And have fled!" cried Gatton, springing up. "Quick! we must chancethe gas!"
"Why? What was that shot?"
"A signal! Dr. Damar Greefe and 'the cat' have escaped!"
He raced out across the landing, amid a chorus of frightened inquiriesfrom the inn staff. I followed him into a front room, and:
"This comes of turning my attention elsewhere for half an hour!" hecried angrily. "I seem to be cursed with fools for assistants!"
Throwing up the window, he leaned out. I stood at his elbow; and as Ilooked I saw a great red glow rising from the distant woods. The soundof a car approaching at headlong speed reached my ears, and at thesame moment I saw the headlights.
"Hullo, there!" cried Gatton. "Blythe! Petersham!"
The car stopped, and a cry came back:
"We've lost him, sir!... and the Bell House is in flames!"