I should be watched, I had immediately onarrival telephoned from my hotel bedroom to Lydford, but the responsecame back it a woman's voice that "the master" and Miss Asta were stillabroad. Therefore about noon on the morning following my return I wentround to Bedford Row in a taxi, and was quickly shown into the sombreprivate room of an elderly, quiet-spoken man--Mr George Napier, head ofthe firm.
"I'm extremely glad you have called, Mr Kemball," he said, as he leanedback in his chair. "I believe you were present at Titmarsh very soonafter the unfortunate death of our client, Mr Guy Nicholson. Indeed, Iremember now that we met at the inquest. Well, Mr Nicholson, with hisfather and grandfather! before him, entrusted his affairs in our hands,and, naturally, after his decease we searched his effects for any papersthat were relative to his estate, or any private papers which should notfall into anybody's hands. Among them we found this letter, sealed justas you see it, and addressed to you. He evidently put it aside,intending to post it in the morning, but expired in the night."
And taking a letter from a drawer in his writing-table, he handed itacross to me.
I glanced at the superscription, and saw that it was addressed ready forthe post and that a stamp was already upon it.
"Poor Nicholson's death was a most mysterious one," I exclaimed, lookingthe solicitor full in the face; "I don't believe that he died fromnatural causes."
"Well, I fear we cannot get away from the medical evidence," replied thematter-of-fact, grey-faced man, peering through his spectacles. "Ofcourse the locked door was a most curious circumstance--yet it may beaccounted for by one of the servants, in passing before retiring,turning the key. Or, as you suggested at the inquest, the servant whoentered the library in the morning may have thought the door was locked.It might have caught somehow, as locks sometimes do."
I shook my head dubiously, and with eager fingers tore open the messagefrom the dead.
From its date, it had evidently been written only a few hours prior tohis untimely end, and it read--
"Strictly Private.
"Dear Mr Kemball,--I fear, owing to the fact that I have promised Astato take her motoring on Sunday, that I may not be able to keep myappointment with you. Since my confidential conversation with you, Ihave watched and discovered certain things at Lydford which cause me thekeenest apprehension. Shaw is not what he pretends to be, and many ofhis movements are most mysterious. By dint of constant watching bothwhile I have been guest there and also by night when they have believedme to be safely at home, I have ascertained several very remarkablefacts.
"First. In secret and unknown to any--even to his gardeners--he setsclever traps for small birds, which he visits periodically at night, andtakes away the unfortunate creatures he finds therein.
"Secondly. He is in the habit of going forth in the night and walkingthrough Woldon Woods to a spot close to Geddington village, at thecorner of the road from Newton, and there meeting a middle-aged man whofrequently stops at the inn. Once I followed them and overheard some oftheir conversation. They were planning something, but what I could notmake out. However, I feel sure that they both discovered my presence,and hence he seems in fear of me and annoyed whenever I visit Lydford.
"Thirdly. In his bedroom there is a cupboard beside the fireplace. Thedoor is enamelled white, and at first is not distinguishable from therest of the panelling. Examine it, and you will see that it is securedby two of the most expensive and complicated of modern locks. What doesthat cupboard contain? The contents are not plate or valuables, forthere is a large fireproof safe downstairs. Some mystery lies there.
"Fourthly. Though he makes most clever pretences of devotion to Asta,he hates her. Poor girl, she loves him, and cannot see those black,covert looks he so often gives her when her back is turned. But I haveseen them, and I know--at least, I have guessed--the reason.
"Fifthly. If you are a frequent guest there, you will hear himsometimes utter a strange shrill whistle for no apparent purpose, asthough he does it quite unknowingly. But it is with a purpose. Whatpurpose?
"I feel that Asta is in danger, and it is therefore my duty to protecther and elucidate the mystery of the strange conspiracy which I feelconvinced is now in progress. It is to discuss these matters, and tocombine to keep vigilant watch, that I am anxious to spend a few hourswith you. Think carefully over these five points, and if I am unable tocome on Sunday I will motor over on Monday about eleven in the morning.
"Meanwhile be careful not to show that you either know or suspectanything. I know Shaw suspects me, and therefore by some means I mustremove his suspicions.
"That, however, will be a matter for us to discuss seriously when wemeet.
"Asta has told me of a strange and extremely weird incident whichoccurred to her one night a little while ago in the house of a friend--the apparition of a black shadowy hand. I believe I have the solutionof the mystery--a most remarkable and terrible one.
"I ask your assistance in this affair, and am eager to meet you todiscuss it fully. Kindly destroy this letter.--Yours very sincerely,--
"Guy Nicholson."
I sat dumbfounded. It was just as I had believed. The man struck downso suddenly had discovered the actual truth! He had watched in patienceand learned some strange and startling facts.
The reference to the hand filled my mind with the hideous recollectionof what I had seen in that roadside inn at Arnay-le-Duc--and of Arnold'sstrange warning. Who was Harford--the name I was to remember. Asta hadtold her lover of her own experience, and he had solved the mystery!
Yet he had not been spared to reveal it to me. His lips had been closedby death. The name of Harford was still unknown to me.
How long I sat there staring at the closely written letter in my hand Iknow not. But I was awakened to a consciousness of where I was by MrNapier's quiet voice exclaiming--
"I see that my late client's letter has made a great impression uponyou, Mr Kemball. I presume it is of a purely private character, eh?"
"Purely private," I managed to reply. "It does not concern his affairsin any way whatsoever, and it is marked `strictly private.'"
"Oh, very well. I, of course, have no wish whatever to inquire intoyour private affairs with my dead client," replied the solicitor. "Ibelieved that it might contain something important, and for that reasonhesitated to send it through the post."
"Yes," I said meaningly, "it does contain something important--veryimportant, Mr Napier. Had this been placed in my hand in time, my poorfriend's life might have been saved."
"What do you mean?" he asked quickly, staring at me across the table."Have you evidence--evidence of foul play?"
"No evidence, but I find a distinct motive."
"Anything upon which we could work in order to bring the culprit tojustice--if Mr Nicholson did not really die a natural death?"
"I tell you he did not!" I cried angrily. "The village jury wereimpressed by the medical evidence, as all rustic juries are. Yourclient, Mr Napier, discovered another man's secret, and the latter tooksteps to close his lips."
"But can you prove this? Can you name the man?"
"Yes," I said, "I can name the man. And one day I shall prove it."
"You can! Why not place the matter in the hands of the police, togetherwith what is revealed in that letter?" he suggested. "Allow me to act."
"I shall act myself. At present it is not a matter for the police.Certain facts have come to my knowledge which, if told at Scotland Yard,would not be believed. Therefore at present I intend to keep myknowledge strictly to myself," and replacing the dead man's message inits envelope, I put it safely into my breast-pocket, and, taking leaveof the solicitor, was soon in my taxi whirling along Holborn.
Why had Nicholson suspected that Shaw's affection for hisfoster-daughter was only feigned? Why did he allege that Shaw hatedher? Why was he in such mortal terror lest some evil should befall her?
Perhaps, after all, in watching so closely he had, as is so easy,discovered certain
circumstances and misjudged them, for certainly asfar as I could see Shaw was entirely devoted to the girl who had beenhis constant companion ever since her childhood days. Nevertheless,that strange letter, penned by the man whose intention it had been toreveal to me the secret of the weird shadow of the night, had caused meto determine to continue the vigil which had been so abruptly ended.
I, too, would watch closely as soon as I learnt of their hiding-place,as closely as the dead man had done. If Asta were in actual peril, thenI would stand as her protector in place of the upright, honest youngfellow who, it seemed, had lost his life in the attempt.
But the days, nay weeks, went on. September ended and October came withrain and chilly wind, and though I returned to Upton End, and