'And remember, sir, that anything you say will be--'
'Excuse me, Mr. Hale,' I interrupted hastily, 'I shall turn over the
case to you in a very few moments, but I ask you to remember our
compact, and to leave it for the present entirely in my hands. Now, Mr
Macpherson, I want your confession, and I want it at once.'
'Confession? Confederates?' protested Macpherson with admirably
simulated surprise. 'I must say you use extraordinary terms,
Mr--Mr--What did you say the name was?'
'Haw-haw,' roared Hale. 'His name is Monsieur Valmont.'
'I implore you, Mr. Hale, to leave this man to me for a very few
moments. Now, Macpherson, what have you to say in your defence?'
'Where nothing criminal has been alleged, Monsieur Valmont, I see no
necessity for defence. If you wish me to admit that somehow you have
acquired a number of details regarding our business, I am perfectly
willing to do so, and to subscribe to their accuracy. If you will be
good enough to let me know of what you complain, I shall endeavour to
make the point clear to you if I can. There has evidently been some
misapprehension, but for the life of me, without further explanation,
I am as much in a fog as I was on my way coming here, for it is
getting a little thick outside.'
Macpherson certainly was conducting himself with great discretion, and
presented, quite unconsciously, a much more diplomatic figure than my
friend, Spenser Hale, sitting stiffly opposite me. His tone was one of
mild expostulation, mitigated by the intimation that all
misunderstanding speedily would be cleared away. To outward view he
offered a perfect picture of innocence, neither protesting too much
nor too little. I had, however, another surprise in store for him, a
trump card, as it were, and I played it down on the table.
'There!' I cried with vim, 'have you ever seen that sheet before?'
He glanced at it without offering to take it in his hand.
'Oh, yes,' he said, 'that has been abstracted from our file. It is
what I call my visiting list.'
'Come, come, sir,' I cried sternly, 'you refuse to confess, but I warn
you we know all about it. You never heard of Dr. Willoughby, I
suppose?'
'Yes, he is the author of the silly pamphlet on Christian Science.'
'You are in the right, Mr. Macpherson; on Christian Science and
Absent-Mindedness.'
'Possibly. I haven't read it for a long while.'
'Have you ever met this learned doctor, Mr. Macpherson?'
'Oh, yes. Dr. Willoughby is the pen-name of Mr. Summertrees. He believes
in Christian Science and that sort of thing, and writes about it.'
'Ah, really. We are getting your confession bit by bit, Mr. Macpherson.
I think it would be better to be quite frank with us.'
'I was just going to make the same suggestion to you, Monsieur
Valmont. If you will tell me in a few words exactly what is your
charge against either Mr. Summertrees or myself, I will know then what
to say.'
'We charge you, sir, with obtaining money under false pretences, which
is a crime that has landed more than one distinguished financier in
prison.'