CHAPTER VII
THE CAT OF BUBASTIS
"She belongs to the innumerable family of cats which suddenly cameforth from the ruins of Tell Bastah in 1878," I wrote, Sir GastonMaspero's "Egyptian Art" lying before me on the table, "and were in afew years scattered over the whole world."
"She is Bast, a goddess of good family, the worship of whom flourishedespecially in the east of the delta, and she is very often drawn ornamed on the monuments, although they do not tell us enough of hermyths or her origin. She was allied or related to the Sun, and was nowsaid to be his sister or wife, now his daughter. She sometimes filleda gracious and beneficent role, protecting men against contagiousdiseases or evil spirits, keeping them off by the music of hersistrum: she had also her hours of treacherous perversity, duringwhich she played with her victim as with a mouse, before finishing himoff with a blow of her claws. She dwelt by preference in the city thatbore her name, Poubastit, the Bubastis of classical writers. Hertemple, at which Cheops and Chephren had worked while building theirpyramids, was rebuilt by the Pharaohs of the 22nd Dynasty, enlarged bythose of the 26th; when Herodotus visited it in the middle of thefifth century B.C. he considered it one of the most remarkable he hadseen in the parts of Egypt through which he had traveled.
"The fetes of Bast attracted pilgrims from all parts of Egypt, as atthe present day those of Sidi Ahmed el-Bedawee draw people to themodern fair of Tantah. The people of each village crowded into largeboats to get there, men and women pell-mell, with the fixed intentionof enjoying themselves on the journey, a thing they never failed todo. They accompanied the slow progress of navigation with endlesssongs, love songs rather than sacred hymns, and there were also to befound among them flute-players and castanet-players to support or keeptime to the voices. Whenever they passed by a town they approached thebank as near as they could without landing, and then, while theorchestra redoubled its noise, the passengers threw volleys of insultsand coarse remarks at the women standing on the banks; they retorted,and when they had exhausted words ..."
I finished my notes at this point; the improper behavior of theAncient Egyptians mentioned by the great Egyptologist having nopossible bearing upon the matter in hand, I thought. I then proceededto add some facts directly relating to the votive offerings laid atthe feet of the goddess.
"The greater number of pilgrims, before returning home, left asouvenir of their visit at the feet of Bast. It was a votive stelewith a fine inscription, and a picture showing the donor worshipinghis goddess; or a statuette in blue or green pottery, or if they werewealthy, in bronze, silver, or sometimes gold: the goddess would bestanding, seated, crouching, with a woman's body and a cat's head, asistrum or an aegis in her hand. During the Greek period the figureswere in bronze or in painted or gilded wood surmounted by a cat's headin bronze, many were life-size and modeled with elaborate art; theyhad eyes of enamel and amulets on the forehead."
The learned authority went on to explain that these accumulatedofferings were after a time stored by the priests in cellars or inpits dug expressly for them, "veritable _favissae_ similar to those ofclassical times." They accumulated in thousands, large and small, someintact and fresh as when just made, others already out of shape and ofno value. The places of concealment were soon forgotten, and thestores hidden therein reposed beyond the reach of men until the daywhen the chances of excavation brought them to light.
My notes completed, I turned my attention to the little image of greenenamel ware which Gatton had left with me for examination. It was notpossible to determine the period at which it was buried, but judgingfrom the contours and general forms, together with the aspect of theenamel, I thought I recognized the style of the second Saite Period,and attributed the piece to the early Ptolemies, or the fourth centuryB.C. It was the time when the worship of Bast and her subordinateforms, Pakh, Mait, was most popular, the period when the mostextensive cemetery of cats was established in Egypt. The execution ofthe little figure was pure Egyptian, and in no way betrayed Greekinfluence.
So far had my studies proceeded when I heard the door-bell ring, andCoates entered the room.
"Detective-Inspector Gatton to see you, sir."
Gatton came in looking if anything more puzzled than when I had lefthim at the Red House; also I thought he looked tired, and:
"Mix yourself a drink, Inspector," I said, pointing to a side-tableupon which refreshments were placed.
"Thanks," replied Gatton. "I have not had time to stop for a drink oreven a smoke since I left you; but evidence is coming in quicklyenough now."
He helped himself to a whisky and soda, being an old visitor and oneused to the Bohemian ways of my household; then setting his glass upona corner of my writing-table, he dropped into the armchair and beganin leisurely fashion to fill his pipe.
Although the hour was growing late, sunset was still a long way offand the prospect visible through the window was bathed in goldenlight. From where I sat I could catch a glimpse of the tree-linedroad, and for the first time since that strange experience hadbefallen me, I found myself wondering if the vaguely-perceivedfollower whom I had detected on the previous night and those blazingfeline eyes which had looked out at me from beneath the shadow of thehedge could have had any possible connection with the tragedy which atabout the same hour was being enacted in the Red House. I determinedpresently to confide the strange particulars to my friend, but first Iwas all anxiety to learn what evidence Marie had given; and that thisevidence, to which he had referred had done little more than toincrease Gatton's perplexity was clear enough from his expression.Therefore:
"Tell me about Marie," I said.
Gatton smiled grimly, took a drink from his glass, and then:
"She began of course as I had anticipated, by denying all knowledge ofthe matter, but recognizing that she was in a tight corner, shepresently changed her tactics, and although every available plan wastried to induce her to change her ground, she afterwards stuck to theextraordinary story which we first extracted from her. Briefly it wasthis:
"The late Sir Marcus had been paying unwelcome attention to MissMerlin for a long time, and Marie had instructions that he was to bediscouraged as much as possible. In fact I am pleased to say that yourtheory of Miss Merlin's ignorance respecting the murder plot is borneout by the testimony of her maid. On several occasions, it appears,when he sent his card to the dressing-room, Marie returned equivocalmessages and did not even inform her mistress of Sir Marcus's visit.This had been going on for some time when one night whilst Miss Merlinwas on the stage a telephone call came for Marie and a certainproposal was made to her.
"It was this: if on the following night Sir Marcus should presenthimself she was to tell him that Miss Merlin would take supper in hiscompany after the performance, but that he was to observe everypossible precaution. Marie, according to her account, at firstdeclined to entertain the proposal, but being informed that it wasmerely intended to play a practical joke upon the baronet, sheultimately consented. I may add that the promise of a ten-pound noteundoubtedly hastened her decision and it was on her receipt of theamount by post on the following morning that she determined to carryout her part of the bargain.
"Her instructions had been explicit. She was to tell Sir Marcus thatMiss Merlin would see him after the performance, then when hepresented himself, to inform him that her mistress had decided itwould be more prudent for him to proceed to the rendezvous alone,where she would join him in a quarter of an hour. She was to give himthe door key (which had arrived with the money) and to direct him toenter and wait in the room on the right of the hall. A cabman who knewthe address would be waiting at the stage door."
Gatton paused, puffing slowly at his pipe, then: "Unknown to MissMerlin," he continued, "this scheme was carried out. Sir Marcuspresented himself at ten o'clock and received Marie's message; hereturned about eleven and she told him, as she had been instructed,that her mistress would join him in a quarter of an hour. Curiosityrespecting the joke which she believed was being played
upon thebaronet prompted her to go outside the stage-door to see if there wasactually a cab waiting. There was, and she heard Sir Marcus ask theman if he knew the address to which he was to drive.
"The cabman replied that he did, and Marie claims to know no moreabout the matter, except that Sir Marcus drove off in the cab, andthat her mistress returned to her flat alone about a quarter of anhour later. Next point. Inquiries for the cabman have been made at allthe ranks since early this morning, and he turned up at the Yard abouta couple of hours ago. His story is simple enough; some one called upthe rank where he chanced to be standing that evening, instructing himto call for Sir Marcus at the stage-door of the New Avenue Theater andto drive him to--"
He paused:
"Yes?"
"To the Red House!"
"At last we have it!" I cried excitedly.
"There is no doubt of it," answered Gatton; "the cabman drove himthere, and it was certainly at the Red House that he met his death.Indeed the cabby appears to be the last witness who spoke to themurdered man. He inquired his way to the Red House from a chancepedestrian, a tramp, whom he met at the corner of College Road. He haseven described this person to us, but I don't think his evidence ofsufficient importance to justify our searching for him. On reachingthe Red House the cabman and his fare found it to be vacant. SirMarcus, however, who had a very brusk manner with his inferiors,having paid the cabman, curtly dismissed him, and the man, who admitshaving bargained for a double fare for the journey, because it wassuch an out-of-the-way spot, drove away vaguely curious, but not socurious as another might have been, since London cabmen are used tostrange jobs."
"We are getting near the heart of the mystery."
"H'm," said Gatton, "I'm not so sure. The deeper we go the darker itgets. A man has been scouring the neighborhood all day in quest of thecarter who delivered the crate to the docks, but so far withoutresults. I consider it a very important point that we should learn notonly how and when the crate was collected, but when and by whom it wasdelivered at the garage."
"Another question," I said: "although I believe I know the answer. Wasit a man or a woman who ordered the cab?"
"Both in the case of Marie and in the case of the cab-rank," repliedGatton, "it was a woman's voice that spoke."
"Thank God, one doubt is resolved!" I said. "It cannot possibly havebeen Isobel in either of these cases!"
"Right!" agreed Gatton, promptly. "I am as glad as you are. There isclearly a second woman in the case; yet I can't bring myself tobelieve that this elaborate scheme was the work of a woman."
"Not of a _jealous_ woman?" I suggested.
"Not of any woman," he replied. "Besides--who put the body into thecrate? What kind of a woman would it be who could do a deed likethat?"
"In other words," said I, "you are still without a ghost of a clew tothe identity of the person who committed the murder, and to the meansemployed?"
Resting his pipe upon an ash-tray, the Inspector took up from mywriting-table the little image of Bast and held it up between fingerand thumb.
"We always come back to the green cat," he said slowly. "I willtrouble you now, Mr. Addison, for the history of such a little imageas this."
"Yes," I replied abstractedly. "But there is a matter about which Ihave not spoken to you hitherto because quite frankly I had doubted ifit had any existence outside my imagination; but every new developmentof the case is so utterly fantastic that I no longer regard myexperience as being in the least degree outside the province ofpossibility. Before we go further, therefore, into the purelyarchaeological side of the inquiry (and I have still serious doubtrespecting the usefulness of such a quest) let me relate a peculiarexperience which I had last night after I had left Bolton."
Gatton listened in silence whilst I gave him an account of thatevasive shadow which I had perceived behind me, and then of the greatcat's eyes which had looked in through the window.
His expression of naive wonderment was almost funny; and when I hadconcluded:
"Well, Mr. Addison," said he, "if you had told me this story before Ihad taken up 'the _Oritoga_ mystery,' for so I observe--" drawing anevening paper from his pocket--"the press has agreed to entitle thecase, I should have suggested that your peculiar studies had begun totell upon your nerves; but this voice on the 'phone and this emptyhouse in which only one room was furnished, finally the green catpainted on the packing-case and the green cat which stands there uponthe table have prepared me for even stranger things than youradventure of last night."
"Yet," I urged, "there is no visible connection between the episodesof the case and this strange apparition which I saw in the garden lastnight."
"There was no visible connection between Sir Marcus's body in apacking-case in the hold of the _Oritoga_ and the garage of the housein College Road until we found one," retorted Gatton. "Anyway I amglad you mentioned the matter to me; I will take a note of it, for itmay prove to provide a link in the chain. And now"--taking out anote-book and pencil--"for the history of these cat things."
I sighed rather wearily as I crossed the room to my bookcase and tookdown the volume of Gaston Maspero, the same which I had been readingbut had returned to its shelf as Gatton had been admitted.
"We have it here in a nutshell," I said.
Gatton methodically noted the passages which I read to him. The taskconcluded:
"H'm," he muttered, scanning his notes, "very strange, very strangeindeed. 'She had also her hours of treacherous perversity, duringwhich she played with her victim as with a mouse, before finishing himoff with a blow of her claws.'"
He raised his eyes and stared at me strangely.
"She played with her victim as with a mouse," he murmured, "beforefinishing him off with a blow--"