"MARIE BRACQ!"
Marie Bracq! The name rang in my ears in the express all the way from
Colchester to Liverpool Street.
Just before six o'clock I alighted from a taxi in Scotland Yard, and,
ascending in the lift, soon found myself sitting with Inspector Edwards.
At that moment I deemed it judicious to tell him nothing regarding my
night adventure in the country, except to say:
"Well, I've had a strange experience--the strangest any man could have,
because I have dared to investigate on my own account the mystery of
Harrington Gardens."
"Oh! tell me about it, Mr. Royle," he urged, leaning back in his chair
before the littered writing-table.
"There's nothing much to tell," was my reply. "I'll describe it all some
day. At present there's no time to waste. I believe I am correct in
saying that the name of the murdered girl is Marie Bracq."
Edwards looked me straight in the face. "That's not an English name, is
it?" he said.
"No, Belgian, I should say."
"Belgian? Yes, most probably," he said. "A rather uncommon name, and one
which ought not to be difficult to trace. How did you find this out?"
"Oh, it's a long story, Mr. Edwards," I said. "But I honestly believe
that at last we are on the scent. Cannot you discover whether any girl of
that name is missing?"
"Of course. I'll wire to the Brussels police at once. Perhaps it will be
well to ask the Préfect of Police in Paris if they have any person of
that name reported missing," he said, and, ringing a bell, a clerk
appeared almost instantly with a writing-pad and pencil.
"Wire to Brussels and Paris and ask if they have any person named Marie
Bracq--be careful of the spelling--missing. If so, we will send them over
a photo."
"Yes, sir," the man replied, and disappeared.
"Well," I asked casually, when we were alone, "have you traced the tailor
who made the dead girl's costume?"
"Not yet. The Italian police are making every inquiry."
"And what have you decided regarding that letter offering to give
information?"
"Nothing," was his prompt reply. "And if this information you have
obtained as to the identity of the deceased proves correct, we shall do
nothing. It will be far more satisfactory to work out the problem for
ourselves, rather than risk being misled by somebody who has an axe to
grind."
"Ah! I'm pleased that you view the matter in that light," I said, much
relieved. "I feel confident that I have gained the true name of the
victim."
"But how did you manage it, Mr. Royle?" he asked, much interested.
I, however, refused to satisfy his curiosity.
"You certainly seem to know more about the affair than we do," he
remarked with a smile.
"Well, was I not a friend of the man who is now a fugitive?" I remarked.
"Ah, of course! And depend upon it, Mr. Royle, when this affair is
cleared up, we shall find that your friend was a man of very curious
character," he said, pursing his lips. "Inquiries have shown that many
mysteries concerning him remain to be explained."
For a moment I did not speak. Then I asked:
"Is anything known concerning a woman friend of his named Petre?"
"Petre?" he echoed. "No, not that I'm aware of. But it seemed that he was
essentially what might be called a ladies' man."
"I know that. He used to delight in entertaining his lady friends."
"But who is this woman Petre whom you've mentioned?" he inquired with
some curiosity.
"The woman who is ready to give you information for a consideration," I
replied.
"How do you know that?"
"Well, I am acquainted with her. I was with her last night," was my quick
response. "Her intention is to condemn a perfectly innocent woman."
"Whom?" he asked sharply. "The woman who lost that green horn comb at the
flat?"
I held my breath.
"No, Edwards," I answered, "That question is unfair. As a gentleman, I
cannot mention a lady's name. If she chooses to do so that's another
matter. But if she does--as from motives of jealousy she easily may
do--please do not take any action without first consulting me. Ere long I
shall have a strange, almost incredible, story to put before you."
"Why not now?" he asked, instantly interested.
"Because I have not yet substantiated all my facts," was my reply.
"Cannot I assist you? Why keep me in the dark?" he protested.
"I'm afraid you can render me no other assistance except to hesitate to
accept the allegations of that woman Petre," I replied.
"Well, we shall wait until she approaches us again," he said.
"This I feel certain she will do," I exclaimed. "But if you see her, make
no mention whatever of me--you understand? She believes me to be dead,
and therefore not likely to disprove her allegations."
"Dead!" he echoed. "Really, Mr. Royle, all this sounds most interesting."
"It is," I declared. "I believe I am now upon the verge of a very
remarkable discovery--that ere long we shall know the details of that
crime in South Kensington."
"Well, if you do succeed in elucidating the mystery you will accomplish a
marvellous feat," said the great detective, placing his hands together
and looking at me across his table. "I confess that I'm completely
baffled. That friend of yours who called himself Kemsley has disappeared
as completely as though the ground had opened and swallowed him."
"Ah, Edwards, London's a big place," I laughed, "and your men are really
not very astute."
"Why not?"
"Because the man you want called at my rooms in Albemarle Street only a
few days ago."
"What?" he cried, staring at me surprised.
"Yes, I was unfortunately out, but he left a message with my man that he
would let me know his address later."
"Amazing impudence!" cried my friend. "He called in order to show his
utter defiance of the police, I should think."
"No. My belief is that he wished to tell me something," I said. "Anyhow,
he will either return or send his address."
"I very much doubt it. He's a clever rogue, but, like all men of his
elusiveness and cunning, he never takes undue chances. No, Mr. Royle,
depend upon it, he'll never visit you again."
"But I may be able to find him. Who knows?"
The detective moved his papers aside, and with a sigh admitted:
"Yes, you may have luck, to be sure."
Then, after some further conversation, he looked at the piece of sticking
plaster on my head and remarked:
"I see you've had a knock. How did you manage it?"
I made an excuse that in bending before my own fireplace I had struck it
on the corner of the mantelshelf. Afterwards I suddenly said:
"You recollect those facts you told me regarding the alleged death of the
real Kemsley in Peru, don't you?"
"Of course."
"Well, they've interested me deeply. I'd so much like to know any further
details."
Edwards reflected a moment, recalling the report.
"Well," he said, taking from one of the drawers in his table a voluminous
official file of papers. "There really isn't very much more than what you
already know. The Consul's report is a very full one, and contains a
quantity of depositions taken on the spot--mostly evidence of Peruvians,
in which little credence can, perhaps, be placed. Of course," he added,
"the suspected man Cane seems to have been a very bad lot. He was at one
time manager of a rubber plantation belonging to a Portuguese company,
and some very queer stories were current regarding him."
"What kind of stories?" I asked.
"Oh, his outrageous cruelty to the natives when they did not collect
sufficient rubber. He used, they said, to burn the native villages and
massacre the inhabitants without the slightest compunction. He was known
by the natives as 'The Red Englishman.' They were terrified by him. His
name, it seems, was Herbert Cane, and so bad became his reputation that
he was dismissed by the company after an inquiry by a commission sent
from Lisbon, and drifted into Argentina, sinking lower and lower in the
social scale."
Then, after referring to several closely-written pages of foolscap, each
one bearing the blue embossed stamp of the British Consulate in Lima, he
went on:
"Inquiries showed that for a few months the man Cane was in Monte Video,
endeavouring to obtain a railway concession for a German group of
financiers, but his reputation became noised abroad and he found it
better to leave that city. Afterwards he seems to have met Sir Digby and
to have become his bosom friend."
"And what were the exact circumstances of Sir Digby's death?" I asked
anxiously.
"Ah! they are veiled in mystery," was the detective's response, turning
again to the official report and depositions of witnesses. "As I think I
told you, Sir Digby had met with an accident and injured his spine. Cane,
whose acquaintance he made, brought him down to Lima, and a couple of
months later, under the doctor's advice, removed him to a bungalow at
Huacho. Here they lived with a couple of Peruvian men-servants, named
Senos and Luis. Cane seemed devoted to his friend, leading the life of a
quiet, studious, refined man--very different to his wild life on the
rubber plantation. One morning, however, on a servant entering Sir
Digby's room, he found him dead, and an examination showed that he had
been bitten in the arm by a poisonous snake. There were signs of a
struggle, showing the poor fellow's agony before he died. Cane, entering
shortly afterwards, was distracted with grief, and telegraphed himself to
the British Consul at Lima. And, according to custom in that country,
that same evening the unfortunate man was buried."
"Without any inquiry?" I asked.
"Yes. At the time, remember, there was no suspicion. A good many people
die annually in Peru of snake-bite," Edwards replied, again referring to
the file of papers before him. "It seems, however, that three days later,
the second Peruvian servant--a man known as Senos--declared that during
the night of the tragic affair he had heard his master suddenly yell with
terror and cry out 'You blackguard, Cane, you hell-fiend; take the thing
away. Ah! God! You--why, you've killed me!'"
"Yes," I said. "But was this told to Cane?"
"Cane saw the man and strenuously denied his allegation. He, indeed, went
to the local Commissary of Police and lodged a complaint against the man
Senos for falsely accusing him, saying that he had done so out of spite,
because a few days before he had had occasion to reprimand him for
inattention to his duties. Further, Cane brought up a man living five
miles from Huacho who swore that the accused man was at his bungalow on
that night, arriving at nine o'clock. He drank so heavily that he could
not get home, so he remained there the night, returning at eight o'clock
next morning."
"And the police officials believed him--eh?" I asked.
"Yes. But next day he left Huacho, expressing a determination to go to
Lima and make a statement to the Consul there. But he never arrived at
the capital, and he has never been seen since."
"Then a grave suspicion rests upon him?" I remarked, reflecting upon my
startling adventure of the previous night.
"Certainly. But the curious thing is that no attempt seems to have been
made by the police authorities in Lima to trace the man. They allowed him
to disappear, and took no notice of the affair, even when the British
Consul reported it. I fancy police methods must be very lax ones there,"
he added.
"But what could have been the method of the assassin?" I asked.
"Why, simply to allow the snake to strike at the sleeping man, I
presume," said the detective. "Yet, one would have thought that after the
snake had bitten him he would have cried out for help. But he did not."
Had the victim, I wondered, swallowed that same tasteless drug that I had
swallowed, and been paralysed, as I had been?
"And the motive of the crime?" I asked.
Edwards shrugged his shoulders, and raised his brows.
"Robbery, I should say," was his reply. "But, strangely enough, there is
no suggestion of theft in this report; neither does there seem to be any
woman in the case."
"You, of course, suspect that my friend Digby and the man Cane, are one
and the same person!" I said. "But is it feasible that if Cane were
really responsible for the death of the real Sir Digby, would he have the
bold audacity to return to London and actually pose as his victim?"
"Yes, Mr. Royle," replied the detective, "I think it most feasible. Great
criminals have the most remarkable audacity. Some really astounding cases
of most impudent impersonation have come under my own observation during
my career in this office."
"Then you adhere to the theory which you formed at first?"
"Most decidedly," he replied; "and while it seems that you have a
surprise to spring upon me very shortly, so have I one to spring upon
you--one which I fear, Mr. Royle," he added very slowly, looking me
gravely in the face--"I fear may come as a great shock to you."
I sat staring at him, unable to utter a syllable.
He was alluding to Phrida, and to the damning evidence against her.
What could he know? Ah! who had betrayed my love?