CHAPTER XIV
THE EDINBURGH MYSTERY
The man in the corner had not enjoyed his lunch. Miss Polly Burton couldsee that he had something on his mind, for, even before he began to talkthat morning, he was fidgeting with his bit of string, and setting allher nerves on the jar.
"Have you ever felt real sympathy with a criminal or a thief?" he askedher after a while.
"Only once, I think," she replied, "and then I am not quite sure thatthe unfortunate woman who did enlist my sympathies was the criminal youmake her out to be."
"You mean the heroine of the York mystery?" he replied blandly. "I knowthat you tried very hard that time to discredit the only possibleversion of that mysterious murder, the version which is my own. Now, Iam equally sure that you have at the present moment no more notion as towho killed and robbed poor Lady Donaldson in Charlotte Square,Edinburgh, than the police have themselves, and yet you are fullyprepared to pooh-pooh my arguments, and to disbelieve my version of themystery. Such is the lady journalist's mind."
"If you have some cock-and-bull story to explain that extraordinarycase," she retorted, "of course I shall disbelieve it. Certainly, if youare going to try and enlist my sympathies on behalf of Edith Crawford, Ican assure you you won't succeed."
"Well, I don't know that that is altogether my intention. I see you areinterested in the case, but I dare say you don't remember all thecircumstances. You must forgive me if I repeat that which you knowalready. If you have ever been to Edinburgh at all, you will have heardof Graham's bank, and Mr. Andrew Graham, the present head of the firm,is undoubtedly one of the most prominent notabilities of 'modernAthens.'"
The man in the corner took two or three photos from his pocket-book andplaced them before the young girl; then, pointing at them with his longbony finger--
"That," he said, "is Mr. Elphinstone Graham, the eldest son, a typicalyoung Scotchman, as you see, and this is David Graham, the second son."
Polly looked more closely at this last photo, and saw before her a youngface, upon which some lasting sorrow seemed already to have left itsmark. The face was delicate and thin, the features pinched, and theeyes seemed almost unnaturally large and prominent.
"He was deformed," commented the man in the corner in answer to thegirl's thoughts, "and, as such, an object of pity and even of repugnanceto most of his friends. There was also a good deal of talk in Edinburghsociety as to his mental condition, his mind, according to many intimatefriends of the Grahams, being at times decidedly unhinged. Be that as itmay, I fancy that his life must have been a very sad one; he had losthis mother when quite a baby, and his father seemed, strangely enough,to have an almost unconquerable dislike towards him.
"Every one got to know presently of David Graham's sad position in hisfather's own house, and also of the great affection lavished upon him byhis godmother, Lady Donaldson, who was a sister of Mr. Graham's.
"She was a lady of considerable wealth, being the widow of Sir GeorgeDonaldson, the great distiller; but she seems to have been decidedlyeccentric. Latterly she had astonished all her family--who were rigidPresbyterians--by announcing her intention of embracing the RomanCatholic faith, and then retiring to the convent of St. Augustine's atNewton Abbot in Devonshire.
"She had sole and absolute control of the vast fortune which a dotinghusband had bequeathed to her. Clearly, therefore, she was at libertyto bestow it upon a Devonshire convent if she chose. But this evidentlywas not altogether her intention.
"I told you how fond she was of her deformed godson, did I not? Being abundle of eccentricities, she had many hobbies, none more pronouncedthan the fixed determination to see--before retiring from the worldaltogether--David Graham happily married.
"Now, it appears that David Graham, ugly, deformed, half-demented as hewas, had fallen desperately in love with Miss Edith Crawford, daughterof the late Dr. Crawford, of Prince's Gardens. The young lady,however--very naturally, perhaps--fought shy of David Graham, who, aboutthis time, certainly seemed very queer and morose, but Lady Donaldson,with characteristic determination, seems to have made up her mind tomelt Miss Crawford's heart towards her unfortunate nephew.
"On October the 2nd last, at a family party given by Mr. Graham in hisfine mansion in Charlotte Square, Lady Donaldson openly announced herintention of making over, by deed of gift, to her nephew, David Graham,certain property, money, and shares, amounting in total value to the sumof L100,000, and also her magnificent diamonds, which were worthL50,000, for the use of the said David's wife. Keith Macfinlay, a lawyerof Prince's Street, received the next day instructions for drawing upthe necessary deed of gift, which she pledged herself to sign the day ofher godson's wedding.
"A week later _The Scotsman_ contained the following paragraph:--
"'A marriage is arranged and will shortly take place between David,younger son of Andrew Graham, Esq., of Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, andDochnakirk, Perthshire, and Edith Lillian, only surviving daughter ofthe late Dr. Kenneth Crawford, of Prince's Gardens.'
"In Edinburgh society comments were loud and various upon theforthcoming marriage, and, on the whole, these comments were far fromcomplimentary to the families concerned. I do not think that the Scotchare a particularly sentimental race, but there was such obvious buying,selling, and bargaining about this marriage that Scottish chivalry rosein revolt at the thought.
"Against that the three people most concerned seemed perfectlysatisfied. David Graham was positively transformed; his moroseness wasgone from him, he lost his queer ways and wild manners, and becamegentle and affectionate in the midst of this great and unexpectedhappiness. Miss Edith Crawford ordered her trousseau, and talked of thediamonds to her friends, and Lady Donaldson was only waiting for theconsummation of this marriage--her heart's desire--before she finallyretired from the world, at peace with it and with herself.
"The deed of gift was ready for signature on the wedding day, which wasfixed for November 7th, and Lady Donaldson took up her abode temporarilyin her brother's house in Charlotte Square.
"Mr. Graham gave a large ball on October 23rd. Special interest isattached to this ball, from the fact that for this occasion LadyDonaldson insisted that David's future wife should wear the magnificentdiamonds which were soon to become hers.
"They were, it seems, superb, and became Miss Crawford's stately beautyto perfection. The ball was a brilliant success, the last guest leavingat four a.m. The next day it was the universal topic of conversation,and the day after that, when Edinburgh unfolded the late editions of itsmorning papers, it learned with horror and dismay that Lady Donaldsonhad been found murdered in her room, and that the celebrated diamondshad been stolen.
"Hardly had the beautiful little city, however, recovered from thisawful shock, than its newspapers had another thrilling sensation readyfor their readers.
"Already all Scotch and English papers had mysteriously hinted at'startling information' obtained by the Procurator Fiscal, and at an'impending sensational arrest.'
"Then the announcement came, and every one in Edinburgh read,horror-struck and aghast, that the 'sensational arrest' was none otherthan that of Miss Edith Crawford, for murder and robbery, both so daringand horrible that reason refused to believe that a young lady, born andbred in the best social circle, could have conceived, much lessexecuted, so heinous a crime. She had been arrested in London at theMidland Hotel, and brought to Edinburgh, where she was judiciallyexamined, bail being refused."