Fergus Hume

“ She had been seen by Giles, by Miss Destiny, and by Lucinda, but from the time my machine had been sent crashing through the five-barred gate by her reckless, or intendedly reckless, driving, she had vanished as completely as though the earth had opened to swallow her up. Yet she might have guessed that the aggressively striking white cloak would betray her. In my opinion, a woman who had so cleverly engineered her escape would scarcely be foolish enough to risk detection by her dress, so I conjectured that she must have got rid of the cloak as she had got rid of the Rippler. ”

“ It was even possible that she had taken the eye in order to find the secret hiding-place of the fortune. Miss Destiny was a miser; Miss Destiny had no great love for her niece, so the theft of the eye would appeal to her avarice and love of making herself disagreeable. And of course, she would know very well, that her niece could say nothing without getting herself into trouble.
No sooner had this idea entered my mind, than I wheeled about and took the road to Miss Destiny's hovel, with the intention of asking questions. ”

“ Striver sneered with pale lips, "she's afraid, you see."
"I am not afraid," cried Gertrude, her eyes flashing, and drawing herself up to her full height. "Cyrus knows everything. I only asked him not to listen because I wish you to go away and rid me of your hateful presence--your hateful presence," she repeated incoherently.
Striver gave a sob. "If you knew how I loved you!"
"Stop!" I had control of my feelings by this time. "It is no use your saying these things, Miss Monk is engaged to me."
"She'll never marry you, never," said the man between his teeth. ”

“ Caldershaw, she must necessarily be the possessor of the glass eye. On the face of it, she appeared to be guilty, but I could not bring myself to condemn her. Yet she could scarcely have the glass eye unless she had murdered her old nurse with that damned hat-pin, which was so grave a proof that the assassin was a woman. But the eye was the clue to some concealed treasure--this appeared to be plain enough from what Striver had said of his late aunt's babble--so if Miss Monk became unexpectedly wealthy, it would prove that she was a thief, if not a murderess. ”

“ At the door a really magnificent motor, far surpassing my machine, was waiting, a brougham motor, with a chauffeur and a liveried footman. How Mr. Monk contrived to live in this style on five hundred a year I could not conceive: the machine alone must have cost three times the amount of his entire income. Then, with indignation, I thought of my dear, uncomplaining girl at Burwain, with her one poor frock and her touching belief in the honesty and kind-heartedness of this little villain. ”

“ Gabriel said that he would leave me a legacy, and he did not. Yet I slaved for many years looking after his house."
"You got board and lodging for your services," said Gertrude coldly.
"I ought to have got a legacy," insisted Miss Destiny. "Gabriel promised me some money. But he left his income and the property to Walter and the rest of his savings to you. You owe me half, and I mean to have half. I don't say, dear," added Miss Destiny significantly, "that you murdered Anne. But if the police knew that you had paid her a visit to ask about the eye you might be asked unpleasant questions." ”

“ I never saw the glass eye save in Anne's head. If I had that eye you must think me guilty." And her eyes searched my face.
"No," I said firmly; "I only thought that perhaps, not quite trusting me, you did not say that Anne Caldershaw had given it to you."
"But she did not. I have told everything. You know the reason why I went to Mootley, and all that took place. I left Anne in good health and walked to Murchester to catch the train. Don't you believe me?"
"Oh," I advanced towards her anxiously, "can't you see that I believe you entirely. Nothing will ever persuade me that you are guilty. ”

“ But Destiny weaves the happenings, brings about the unexpected, and solves the mystery, which is of her ingenious contrivance. And throughout I am only the clay which she, the potter, moulds at her will.
In a motor car it is much easier to go wrong on the outskirts of a town than amidst any other surroundings that I know of. When in the open, one can rise in the car and see one's way; but bewildered by streets and houses and traffic and wary policemen, and misled by those who do not know their own locality over-well, one finds a town somewhat perplexing. ”

“ Truth is always more impossible than fiction."
"An epigram doesn't meet the case," snapped Cannington.
"It sums it up, my boy. Who could ever invent such a situation--I speak as a playwright, you understand. I could never have imagined the tragedy of an old woman killed by a hat-pin for the sake of her glass eye, much less the implicating of an inoffensive stranger, and the theft of his motor by the murderess."
"You are sure she is guilty?"
"Certainly! Who but a woman would use a hat-pin to slay, and who but a woman would have a hat-pin to use?"
"But why should she kill the old woman?" ”

“ Nevertheless I fervently wished that Gertrude would be more frank with me. Only on perfect confidence would perfect love and perfect peace be established, to say nothing of perfect happiness.
After a pause Cannington, having promised to give me his opinion to-morrow, said no more, but began to talk of Lady Mabel. It seemed that Mr. Wentworth Marr had returned to London, and was more attentive than ever. "He's coming here to-day to afternoon tea," said Cannington, glancing at his watch, "in half-an-hour, I expect he'll turn up. Aunt Lucy and Mab will be here also, and Dicky Weston." ”

“ Giles departed next morning before I arose, and I did not see him again. Haunted still by undefined suspicions, I regretted his departure, and determined later to look him up at Mootley. Of course, the mere idea of thinking that the respectable sturdy greengrocer was guilty seemed ridiculous, but in my anxiety to save Gertrude from danger I was willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone. To such a state does love bring the most just of mankind. ”

“ She now wished to be alone in order to consider if her father was guilty of murder as he had been guilty of deception. At least that was my belief, although I had little grounds to go upon. But Gertrude, as I had always thought, was shielding someone whom she had seen in Mrs. Caldershaw's shop. Who could that someone be but her father, since that relationship alone would be a powerful motive for her to hold her tongue, even at the risk of losing her liberty? But, try as I might, I could not see how Walter Monk could be connected with the death of Anne Caldershaw. ”

“ He sent me the cipher."
"Yes," she sneered, "after he had stolen the jewels he could easily send you the cipher. But he had the eye, by your own showing. He must have read the cipher. He had taken the fortune. Oh," she shook her fists in the air, "I wish these two hands were at his throat."
The little creature looked so evil, as she shook and quivered in the sordid room, that I touched Gertrude's shoulder. "Go away, dear. This is no sight for you." Then, when she obeyed me and passed outside, I turned to Miss Destiny. "You will understand that the jewels are lost for ever." ”

“ Certainly Striver, while professing that he loved her, had not ventured to say that there was any response to his daring. Still, for all I knew, the romance might be a reversal of King Cophetua and the beggar-maid, in which not unlikely case, a journey to Burwain would certainly destroy my peace of mind. If I loved the picture of the goddess, how much more would I love the goddess herself, when she became flesh and blood to my hungry eyes. ”

“ Monk kept her. She should have been arrayed in silk attire, and I inwardly swore, when establishing her in a deep-seated armchair by the fire, that some day she should be, at my expense. Meantime I handed her a cup of tea, and piled her with thin bread and butter, much to Mrs. Gilfin's satisfaction. That good lady had looked in to see that we were comfortable. "Eat all you can, miss," urged Mrs. Gilfin, "you don't look as fat as you ought to be."
Gertrude shuddered. "I don't want to grow fat," said she, laughing.
"There's worse things than fat," said Mrs. Gilfin sensibly. ”

“ Anne, so far as I know, never had fits. A lean, spare woman such as Anne was, could not have a fit."
"Lean people may have fits as well as fat ones," said I wisely.
"I am not doctor enough to say," said Miss Destiny wearily, "and I am very tired with the journey and the news I have received. Poor Anne, she was a good and faithful servant."
"She wasn't popular here," said Mrs. Faith tartly.
"She kept very much to herself," said Mrs. Giles, placing the eggs before Miss Destiny; "a very close woman."
"Anne never was one for gossip," observed Miss Destiny, sipping a cup of hot tea. ”

“ If good looks did not tempt the lady, fifty thousand pounds might do so, and should Striver become possessed of the glass eye he stood a remarkably good chance of securing that fortune. So far we were equal, for I knew as much about the case as he did. Nay, I knew more, since I had found the famous cloak with the initial embroidery. I wondered whether it would be better to tell Miss Monk nothing about my discovery, or dare the utmost, and show her that she was in my power. She certainly was, as the mere production of the cloak would result in her arrest. ”

“ His name, by Act of Parliament, is Marr, and yours is Monk. But when you change it to Vance," I gathered her into my arms to kiss her fondly, "there will be no need for Striver to bother."
"There will always be a need until the truth becomes known," murmured Gertrude anxiously. "I shall never be safe from my aunt's threats until the assassin of Anne is found."
"Well, then, let us leave it to Striver," I said cheerfully. "He is ready to behave decently, now that he finds you will never be his wife. Meanwhile, I want you to go to London to-morrow and see your father." ”

“ Gilfin nodded again. "Mr. Miser Monk loved his niece: she was the only person he ever loved. Mr. Walter Monk was always away, as he is now, and being a widower, there was no one to look after the child. Mr. Miser Monk took Miss Gertrude to live with him, when she was quite a baby, and asked Miss Destiny to come to him also. Anne looked after the house, and the four lived together in that tumbledown old place like rats in a cheese. If Miss Gertrude hadn't gone for years to a boarding-school at Hampstead and got good food there, she never would have grown into the handsome young lady she is." ”

“ All I know is, that the fountains of my imagination are dried up, and that I can't write a play which ought to be written if I am to earn enough to keep this car in petrol. I am, therefore--like Balzac--chasing my genius, and who knows upon what glorious adventure I may stumble."
Cannington laughed scornfully. "All the adventure you'll drop across will be in running over some old woman, or in exceeding the speed-limit." ”

“ My captor gave a breathless explanation.
"Murder! murder!" he shouted, still dwelling on a top note. "I found the devil locked in the back room without a light, and the shop," he pointed across the way, "is without a light also. He comes out yelling that there was a dead woman left behind. It's Mrs. Caldershaw for sure, and he's done for her. Murder! murder! Where's the police?"
Almost before he finished his explanation, which was not quite a full one, since he gave no account of my motor car being stolen, the men and women were running into the shop. ”

“ Miss Destiny had not seen the glass eye in the drawing-room, and so far could prove nothing against her niece. I believe that, so far, she was speaking the truth, as if she had seen the eye, she would have only been too pleased to adduce its presence as a proof of Gertrude's guilt. But, as things were, what she knew was damning enough. She could swear to the girl's presence at Mootley on the evening of the murder, and to the ownership of the white cloak, worn by the lady who had stolen my motor car. ”