IX. THE MOUSE NIBBLES AT THE NET
The next day saw me at police headquarters begging an interview from theinspector, with the intention of confiding to him a theory which musteither cost me his sympathy or open the way to a new inquiry, which Ifelt sure would lead to Mr. Durand's complete exoneration.
I chose this gentleman for my confidant, from among all those with whomI had been brought in contact by my position as witness in a case ofthis magnitude, first, because he had been present at the mosttragic moment of my life, and secondly, because I was conscious ofa sympathetic bond between us which would insure me a kind hearing.However ridiculous my idea might appear to him, I was assured that hewould treat me with consideration and not visit whatever folly I mightbe guilty of on the head of him for whom I risked my reputation for goodsense.
Nor was I disappointed in this. Inspector Dalzell's air was fatherly andhis tone altogether gentle as, in reply to my excuses for troubling himwith my opinions, he told me that in a case of such importance hewas glad to receive the impressions even of such a prejudiced littlepartizan as myself. The word fired me, and I spoke.
"You consider Mr. Durand guilty, and so do many others, I fear, in spiteof his long record for honesty and uprightness. And why? Because youwill not admit the possibility of another person's guilt,--a personstanding so high in private and public estimation that the very ideaseems preposterous and little short of insulting to the country of whichhe is an acknowledged ornament."
"My dear!"
The inspector had actually risen. His expression and whole attitudeshowed shock. But I did not quail; I only subdued my manner and spokewith quieter conviction.
"I am aware," said I, "how words so daring must impress you. But listen,sir; listen to what I have to say before you utterly condemn me. Iacknowledge that it is the frightful position into which I threw Mr.Durand by my officious attempt to right him which has driven me tomake this second effort to fix the crime on the only other man who hadpossible access to Mrs. Fairbrother at the fatal moment. How could Ilive in inaction? How could you expect me to weigh for a momentthis foreigner's reputation against that of my own lover? If I havereasons--"
"Reasons!"
"--reasons which would appeal to all; if instead of this person's havingan international reputation at his back he had been a simple gentlemanlike Mr. Durand,--would you not consider me entitled to speak?"
"Certainly, but--"
"You have no confidence in my reasons, Inspector; they may not weighagainst that splash of blood on Mr. Durand's shirt-front, but such asthey are I must give them. But first, it will be necessary for you toaccept for the nonce Mr. Durand's statements as true. Are you willing todo this?"
"I will try."
"Then, a harder thing yet,--to put some confidence in my judgment. I sawthe man and did not like him long before any intimation of the evening'stragedy had turned suspicion on any one. I watched him as I watchedothers. I saw that he had not come to the ball to please Mr. Ramsdell orfor any pleasure he himself hoped to reap from social intercourse,but for some purpose much more important, and that this purpose wasconnected with Mrs. Fairbrother's diamond. Indifferent, almost morosebefore she came upon the scene, he brightened to a surprising extent themoment he found himself in her presence. Not because she was a beautifulwoman, for he scarcely honored her face or even her superb figure with alook. All his glances were centered on her large fan, which, in swayingto and fro, alternately hid and revealed the splendor on her breast; andwhen by chance it hung suspended for a moment in her forgetful hand andhe caught a full glimpse of the great gem, I perceived such a changein his face that, if nothing more had occurred that night to giveprominence to this woman and her diamond, I should have carried home theconviction that interests of no common import lay behind a feeling soextraordinarily displayed."
"Fanciful, my dear Miss Van Arsdale I Interesting, but fanciful."
"I know. I have not yet touched on fact. But facts are coming,Inspector."
He stared. Evidently he was not accustomed to hear the law laid down inthis fashion by a midget of my proportions.
"Go on," said he; "happily, I have no clerk here to listen."
"I would not speak if you had. These are words for but one ear as yet.Not even my uncle suspects the direction of my thoughts."
"Proceed," he again enjoined.
Upon which I plunged into my subject.
"Mrs. Fairbrother wore the real diamond, and no imitation, to theball. Of this I feel sure. The bit of glass or paste displayed to thecoroner's jury was bright enough, but it was not the star of light I sawburning on her breast as she passed me on her way to the alcove."
"Miss Van Arsdale!"
"The interest which Mr. Durand displayed in it, the marked excitementinto which he was thrown by his first view of its size and splendor,confirm in my mind the evidence which he gave on oath (and he is awell-known diamond expert, you know, and must have been very well awarethat he would injure rather than help his cause by this admission) thatat that time he believed the stone to be real and of immense value.Wearing such a gem, then, she entered the fatal alcove, and, witha smile on her face, prepared to employ her fascinations on whoeverchanced to come within their reach. But now something happened. Pleaselet me tell it my own way. A shout from the driveway, or a bit of snowthrown against the window, drew her attention to a man standing below,holding up a note fastened to the end of a whip-handle. I do not knowwhether or not you have found that man. If you have--" The inspectormade no sign. "I judge that you have not, so I may go on with mysuppositions. Mrs. Fairbrother took in this note. She may have expectedit and for this reason chose the alcove to sit in, or it may have been asurprise to her. Probably we shall never know the whole truth about it;but what we can know and do, if you are still holding to our compact andviewing this crime in the light of Mr. Durand's explanations, is that itmade a change in her and made her anxious to rid herself of the diamond.It has been decided that the hurried scrawl should read, 'Take warning.He means to be at the ball. Expect trouble if you do not give him thediamond,' or something to that effect. But why was it passed up to herunfinished? Was the haste too great? I hardly think so. I believe inanother explanation, which points with startling directness to thepossibility that the person referred to in this broken communication wasnot Mr. Durand, but one whom I need not name; and that the reason youhave failed to find the messenger, of whose appearance you have receiveddefinite information, is that you have not looked among the servantsof a certain distinguished visitor in town. Oh," I burst forth withfeverish volubility, as I saw the inspector's lips open in what couldnot fail to be a sarcastic utterance, "I know what you feel tempted toreply. Why should a servant deliver a warning against his own master? Ifyou will be patient with me you will soon see; but first I wish to makeit clear that Mrs. Fairbrother, having received this warning just beforeMr. Durand appeared in the alcove,--reckless, scheming woman that shewas!--sought to rid herself of the object against which it was directedin the way we have temporarily accepted as true. Relying on her arts,and possibly misconceiving the nature of Mr. Durand's interest in her,she hands over the diamond hidden in her rolled-up gloves, whichhe, without suspicion, carries away with him, thus linking himselfindissolubly to a great crime of which another was the perpetrator. Thatother, or so I believe from my very heart of hearts, was the man I sawleaning against the wall at the foot of the alcove a few minutes beforeI passed into the supper-room."
I stopped with a gasp, hardly able to meet the stern and forbidding lookwith which the inspector sought to restrain what he evidently consideredthe senseless ravings of a child. But I had come there to speak, andI hastily proceeded before the rebuke thus expressed could formulateitself into words.
"I have some excuse for a declaration so monstrous. Perhaps I am theonly person who can satisfy you in regard to a certain fact about whichyou have expressed some curiosity. Inspector, have you ever solved themystery of the two broken coffee-cups found amongst the debris at Mr
s.Fairbrother's feet? It did not come out in the inquest, I noticed."
"Not yet," he cried, "but--you can not tell me anything about them!"
"Possibly not. But I can tell you this: When I reached the supper-roomdoor that evening I looked back and, providentially or otherwise--onlythe future can determine that--detected Mr. Grey in the act of liftingtwo cups from a tray left by some waiter on a table standing justoutside the reception-room door. I did not see where he carried them;I only saw his face turned toward the alcove; and as there was no otherlady there, or anywhere near there, I have dared to think--"
Here the inspector found speech.
"You saw Mr. Grey lift two cups and turn toward the alcove at a momentwe all know to have been critical? You should have told me this before.He may be a possible witness."
I scarcely listened. I was too full of my own argument.
"There were other people in the hall, especially at my end of it. Aperfect throng was coming from the billiard-room, where the dancing hadbeen, and it might easily be that he could both enter and leave thatsecluded spot without attracting attention. He had shown too early andmuch too unmistakably his lack of interest in the general company forhis every movement to be watched as at his first arrival. But thisis simple conjecture; what I have to say next is evidence. Thestiletto--have you studied it, sir? I have, from the pictures. It isvery quaint; and among the devices on the handle is one that especiallyattracted my attention. See! This is what I mean." And I handed hima drawing which I had made with some care in expectation of this veryinterview.
He surveyed it with some astonishment.
"I understand," I pursued in trembling tones, for I was much affected bymy own daring, "that no one has so far succeeded in tracing this weaponto its owner. Why didn't your experts study heraldry and the devicesof great houses? They would have found that this one is not unknown inEngland. I can tell you on whose blazon it can often be seen, and socould--Mr. Grey."