Fergus Hume

“ At any cost you shall hear the truth so far as I am able to tell it to you. Ask what questions you like, Mr. Fanks, and I shall answer them; when I fail no doubt the worthy doctor there will come to my aid, and shield himself if possible at my expense."
"I shall say nothing," said Binjoy, wiping his lips. "My only desire is to save myself from the consequences of your falsehoods. I wish you no harm."
"Just hear him!" cried Louis, in a mocking tone. "Would you believe that my friend there threatened to blackmail me last week by saying he would denounce me to the police. ”

“ We are dealing with people who are as clever and cleverer than we are. I confess that the outlook is anything but promising," concluded Fanks, with a sigh.
"You cannot guess who committed the crime?"
"No, I cannot. To all appearances it was the negro, but--and this is the main point--was it the negro of Binjoy, and would the negro be clever enough to conceive so subtle a method of committing a crime as the mode of the poisoned needle? Again, would a negro be in possession of such information as would induce Fellenger to permit the use of the needle? ”

“ And it is the reverse with you, Anne."
"Not so far as you are concerned, Ted. I am as weak as water with you. If you see me hard to other people you must set it down to the severe training I have had in the school of adversity. I am only a girl in years, but I am a woman in experience."
"You are the dearest and bravest woman in the whole world," said Hersham fondly, kissing her hand, "and if happiness comes to us in the future, it will be through you. I shall do what you say and hold my tongue. But, my darling, are you sure that you can cope with Fanks." ”

“ Do you know why they killed Sir Gregory? To get money for their scientific experiments. Do you know how they killed Sir Gregory? Ask them about the poisoned needle. Yes. They made use of their scientific knowledge to slay the man whose money they wanted."
"Who put the advertisement in the paper?"
"Ask Mrs. Boazoph, she knows."
"Does she?" said Fanks, disgusted with her malignity, "and perhaps you know about the tattooed cross?"
"No, I don't know about the tattooed cross," said Mrs. Jerusalem, "but I daresay Madaline Garry can tell you."
"Madaline Garry? Do you know her? Is she still alive?" ”

“ Boazoph moaned, and hid her face in her hands. "Ah, no!" she said, in a plaintive voice. "He has suffered enough. My son is dead, so let the other take back his name and estates. My son is dead; he perished in the house of his mother; the mother who was too cowardly to avenge him, who was afraid to reveal the name of the assassin. My son is dead, but not by the hand of his half-brother did he meet with his death."
"Then who killed him. Tell me," cried Fanks, eagerly. "You have sinned. Make what reparation you can for your sins while there is yet time. ”

“ Should Mr. Fanks come here he will go away as wise as he came. I know when to hold my tongue as on this occasion. Matters are too serious to be spoken of openly."
"Oh, dear, dear," said Mrs. Colmer in an agitated tone. "Into what difficulties have we not been led. I wish I had never let Emma go to London."
"Rather wish that she had never met with Herbert Vaud, mother."
"But, Anne, she loved Herbert."
"I do not think so, else she would never have married Sir Gregory. But you know she always was ambitious and impulsive; look where her ambitions have led her. ”

“ Gregory was a brute, I know, and the death of poor Emma lies at his door; but murder--" she shuddered. "It is so terrible to think that he should have been cut off in the midst of his wickedness."
"He has gone down into the pit, child. Let us talk no more of him. It is said that we must forgive our enemies, but it is hard for me to forgive him, even though he is dead. My beautiful Emma, she should have lived as Lady Fellenger, instead of dying through his cruelty. I hope, Anne, that your marriage will turn out happier than that of your poor sister." ”

“ Chance led you to the office of the Vauds; chance made you scribble that name on the paper; chance drew the attention of Herbert Vaud to the name. I have always found that chance is my best friend."
"All this is beside the point," said Garth, impatiently, "what do you say?"
"Your discovery may lead to something," replied Fanks, cautiously. "I shall see Herbert Vaud after I have interviewed Hersham. Between the two of them I may learn something likely to throw light on the darkness of this case; but we are only on the threshold of our difficulties as yet." ”

“ I hear that Hersham gave Garth some money, knowing how hard-up he was, so he has set up a house on the strength of it. I don't envy Garth his housekeeper."
"Oh, she loves him in her own savage way," said Louis, coolly. "I daresay when he marries he will give her the go-by. I am sure she deserves it for the double way in which she treated me. Then she will go to the Union, or become an emigrant to America, like Messrs. Binjoy and Turnor."
"Why America?"
"She has a sister there. I wonder what those two scoundrelly doctors are doing in the States?"
"Evil, you may be sure of that," replied Fanks. ”

“ One would have taken this demure figure, clad in a plain dress of lustreless black, for an hospital nurse, or for a housekeeper. Yet she was--as the police asserted--the most dangerous woman in London, hand and glove with thieves and rogues: not for nothing had she gained her reputation and queenly title.
"Well, Mrs. Boazoph," said Fanks, abruptly, "this last scandal will add largely to the excellent reputation already gained by your house."
"No doubt of it, sir," replied the landlady, without raising her eyes; "it is most unfortunate." ”

“ Fanks arrived at Damington about five o'clock, and put up at The Pretty Maid Inn as he had done before when following Binjoy in the disguise of a parson. But thanks to his cleverness in "making up," no one at the inn suspected that he was the same man. The landlady--a genial soul with a plump person and a kindly face, quite an ideal landlady of the Dickens type--welcomed him without suspicion, as a gentleman come down for the fishing, and detailed all the gossip of the neighbourhood. She was especially conversant with the affairs of Sir Louis Fellenger. ”

“ Fanks shuddered at the sight of the piece of devilish ingenuity. The infernal dexterity of the thing gave him an idea.
"Must have been manufactured by a scientific man," he mused, touching the slender, silver line gingerly. "It's too clever for an amateur. Louis, the new baronet, is a man of science; he has succeeded to the title. Can it be that--but, no!" he added, breaking off abruptly, "he would not commit a crime in so obvious a fashion, much less, leave the means he used at the address of his victim." ”

“ Fanks recognised me as the woman he saw in Tooley's Alley. If he finds me out, he will ask me what I was doing there on the night of the murder. What can I say. I dare not tell him the truth, and he may refuse to believe what I say to him. I acted for the best, it is true, but my good intentions have led me into a position of danger. But I may be wrong--I may be quite safe. That man may never find me. ”

“ All the same, I can come to no conclusion until I see this spy of yours."
"She isn't a spy," said Garth, gloomily. "I did not drag the information out of the creature. She thought that she was doing me a good turn by betraying my cousin. She thinks that if he killed Gregory he ought to suffer, and let me have the property."
"And what do you think?" asked Fanks, with a keen glance.
"I don't want to build up my life on the ruins of another man's; it is a bad foundation. I know you believe that I wish to get my cousin into trouble, but you are wrong. I would help Louis to escape if I could." ”

“ That short conversation with Fanks so astonished Garth, that he went on his errand--which had to do with such conversation--in a state of great surprise and no little nervousness.
At the Red Star Fanks inquired for Mrs. Jerusalem, and was confronted by Dr. Turnor. The ferret looked rather disconcerted as the detective appeared; and tried to dissuade him from seeing Mrs. Boazoph as he wished to do. "She is yet weak," he urged, "and I do not think it will be wise of you to talk with her as yet."
"I don't care how weak she is," said Fanks, grimly. "I intend to talk to her, and to you too." ”

“ Nevertheless, he thought it doubtful that the disguise was the result of an accident. That Binjoy should suggest the idea of blackening the face, that Anne should induce Hersham to dress up in the very clothes of Caesar, both these things seemed suspicious and quite impossible to understand. He could guess Binjoy's object, presuming that Binjoy had designed the murder--it was to avert suspicion from himself and servant by throwing it on Hersham. But what Fanks could not see was why Anne should act as she did, when Hersham was her lover. ”

“ She had given him a clue. "Is the truth to be discovered in Half-Moon Street?" he asked, eagerly.
Anne moistened her dry lips, and turned away her face. "Yes! I believe it is," she murmured, "and I hope you will never discover it."
She was so moved that Fanks thought she was about to faint. With considerable dexterity he left the question alone for a time and turned the conversation toward the subject of Mrs. Boazoph.
"You have not yet told me about this portrait," he said, gently.
"I will do so now," said Anne, recovering her nerve, "Mrs. Boazoph is my mother's sister; she is my aunt." ”

“ I wish to see my employer, Sir Louis, and tell him what I have done; at the same time I intend to observe Binjoy. By the way," added the detective, "did you like Sir Louis?"
Hersham shrugged his shoulders. "So, so," he replied. "He is a dry stick, wrapped up in his scientific studies. He passes most of his days with Binjoy in the laboratory making experiments. A tall, stout fellow, he is, not at all like a dry-as-dust savant."
"Humph!" said Fanks, twisting his ring; "a tall stout creature. Dr. Binjoy is also tall and stout?"
"Yes! and so is the negro, Caesar. The trio are all fat and healthy." ”

“ As I told you, I care nothing for money, and everything for science. Oh, believe me, Mr. Fanks, I am quite content to surrender title and estates, and go back to Taxton-on-Thames, as plain Louis Fellenger."
"You can contest this matter?"
"I shall not contest the matter. I believe that paper to be true. We found it together; and it proved beyond a doubt--by the evidence of the cross tattooed on Hersham's left arm, that he is the rightful Sir Gregory, and the owner of these estates. Let him have them; I shall not raise one finger to prevent his enjoying what is rightfully his own. ”

“ At the present moment we can build up a theory on anything. For instance, I might say that our friend Garth here killed his cousin."
"The deuce!" cried Garth, aghast.
"You are startled," said Fanks, keenly watching the effect of his speech on the young man. "I don't wonder at it. I merely say this to show how slow you should be in condemning Hersham."
"But I don't see how you could bring me in," stammered Garth.
"It is easy enough. You are the heir, failing Sir Louis; you know the purport of that tattooed cross. ”

“ In his heart Garth was flattered that Fanks should have chosen him as his coadjutor, and, dominated by the stronger will of the detective, he quietly took up the position of an underling. Garth was self-willed and not usually amenable to reason; but Fanks had the law at his back, without which Garth could not hope to do anything. Hence his acquiescence.
"Come, now, old fellow," said Fanks, amiably, "we have a hard task before us; so you must make it easier by answering my questions."
"Go on," said Garth, lighting a cigar; "I always give in to a man who has had more experience than myself." ”

“ Same here, Garth. Depend upon it this murder is no bungling affair. It is a cleverly-planned and cleverly-executed scheme; carried out by people who know what they are doing. As the case new stands I cannot see my way. The evidence--in my opinion--leads to nothing. If Crate had this matter in hand he would arrest Binjoy on suspicion, and hunt for the negro servant as the supposed murderer, and by doing so he would make a mess of the whole business. I shall arrest nobody--at present. Save to yourself and perhaps Crate I shall give my opinions to nobody. ”

“ He consented; yet you see when it comes to the point his feebleness makes him shrink from the ordeal."
"You hint at danger to Hersham. May I ask if it is connected with the committal of this crime?
"No, you may not, Mr. Fanks. Edward can tell you the truth for himself in a week; he is foolish but he is not guilty."
Fanks was at once piqued and delighted with this woman. She was so clever and so inscrutable that he could not help respecting her. For the first time for many days he had met with a woman with the mind of a man; and he felt that he would need all his intelligence to beat her. ”

“ And again," added Fanks, with an afterthought, "I saw Hersham shortly after the murder--within two or three days in fact--he then wore a heavy moustache; and you can trust me when I say it was not a false one. If then Hersham was the Tooley Alley negro, who we have agreed committed the murder, how did he manage to grow his moustache in so short a period. The thing is impossible," finished the detective, "that one point alone assures me that Hersham is guiltless of the crime."
"Mrs. Boazoph may have made a mistake," suggested Garth, "remember she did not see the negro go out." ”

“ I hate him still," she flashed out. "He is the evil genius of Louis. If these matters only concerned Dr. Binjoy, I should not keep silent and bear the burden I am doing."
"You have me to bear it with you," said. Hersham, softly.
"I know that, my dear. But there are some things which men and women have to face singly. Such a thing is this coming interview with Mr. Fanks. I wanted you to see him so as to disarm any suspicions which he may entertain. Still, I wish you to take no part in the conversation."
"But why?" asked Ted, with a frown. "I can't leave you to fight my battle." ”