'Tut, tut, Valmont; we mustn't threaten, we mustn't threaten, you
know;' but I went on without heeding him.
'Take for instance, Lord Semptam. You sold him a table for fifty
pounds, on the instalment plan. He was to pay a pound a week, and in
less than a year the debt was liquidated. But he is an absent-minded
man, as all your clients are. That is why you came to me. I had
answered the bogus Willoughby's advertisement. And so you kept on
collecting and collecting for something more than three years. Now do
you understand the charge?'
Mr. Macpherson's head during this accusation was held slightly inclined
to one side. At first his face was clouded by the most clever
imitation of anxious concentration of mind I had ever seen, and this
was gradually cleared away by the dawn of awakening perception. When I
had finished, an ingratiating smile hovered about his lips.
'Really, you know,' he said, 'that is rather a capital scheme. The
absent-minded league, as one might call them. Most ingenious.
Summertrees, if he had any sense of humour, which he hasn't, would be
rather taken by the idea that his innocent fad for Christian Science
had led him to be suspected of obtaining money under false pretences.
But, really, there are no pretensions about the matter at all. As I
understand it, I simply call and receive the money through the
forgetfulness of the persons on my list, but where I think you would
have both Summertrees and myself, if there was anything in your
audacious theory, would be an indictment for conspiracy. Still, I
quite see how the mistake arises. You have jumped to the conclusion
that we sold nothing to Lord Semptam except that carved table three
years ago. I have pleasure in pointing out to you that his lordship is
a frequent customer of ours, and has had many things from us at one
time or another. Sometimes he is in our debt; sometimes we are in his.
We keep a sort of running contract with him by which he pays us a
pound a week. He and several other customers deal on the same plan,
and in return for an income that we can count upon, they get the first
offer of anything in which they are supposed to be interested. As I
have told you, we call these sheets in the office our visiting lists,
but to make the visiting lists complete you need what we term our
encyclopaedia. We call it that because it is in so many volumes; a
volume for each year, running back I don't know how long. You will
notice little figures here from time to time above the amount stated
on this visiting list. These figures refer to the page of the
encyclopaedia for the current year, and on that page is noted the new
sale, and the amount of it, as it might be set down, say, in a
ledger.'
'That is a very entertaining explanation, Mr. Macpherson. I suppose
this encyclopaedia, as you call it, is in the shop at Tottenham Court
Road?'
'Oh, no, sir. Each volume of the encyclopaedia is self-locking. These
books contain the real secret of our business, and they are kept in
the safe at Mr. Summertrees' house in Park Lane. Take Lord Semptam's
account, for instance. You will find in faint figures under a certain
date, 102. If you turn to page 102 of the encyclopaedia for that year,
you will then see a list of what Lord Semptam has bought, and the
prices he was charged for them. It is really a very simple matter. If
you will allow me to use your telephone for a moment, I will ask Mr
Summertrees, who has not yet begun dinner, to bring with him here the
volume for 1893, and, within a quarter of an hour, you will be
perfectly satisfied that everything is quite legitimate.'
I confess that the young man's naturalness and confidence staggered
me, the more so as I saw by the sarcastic smile on Hale's lips that he
did not believe a single word spoken. A portable telephone stood on
the table, and as Macpherson finished his explanation, he reached over
and drew it towards him. Then Spenser Hale interfered.
'Excuse _me_,' he said, 'I'll do the telephoning. What is the call
number of Mr. Summertrees?'
'140 Hyde Park.'
Hale at once called up Central, and presently was answered from Park
Lane. We heard him say,--
'Is this the residence of Mr. Summertrees? Oh, is that you, Podgers? Is
Mr. Summertrees in? Very well. This is Hale. I am in Valmont's
flat--Imperial Flats--you know. Yes, where you went with me the other
day. Very well, go to Mr. Summertrees, and say to him that Mr
Macpherson wants the encyclopaedia for 1893. Do you get that? Yes,
encyclopaedia. Oh, he'll understand what it is. Mr. Macpherson. No,
don't mention my name at all. Just say Mr. Macpherson wants the
encyclopaedia for the year 1893, and that you are to bring it. Yes,
you may tell him that Mr. Macpherson is at Imperial Flats, but don't
mention my name at all. Exactly. As soon as he gives you the book, get
into a cab, and come here as quickly as possible with it. If
Summertrees doesn't want to let the book go, then tell him to come
with you. If he won't do that, place him under arrest, and bring both
him and the book here. All right. Be as quick as you can; we're
waiting.'
Macpherson made no protest against Hale's use of the telephone; he
merely sat back in his chair with a resigned expression on his face
which, if painted on canvas, might have been entitled 'The Falsely
Accused.' When Hale rang off, Macpherson said,--
'Of course you know your own business best, but if your man arrests
Summertrees, he will make you the laughing-stock of London. There is
such a thing as unjustifiable arrest, as well as getting money under
false pretences, and Mr. Summertrees is not the man to forgive an
insult. And then, if you will allow me to say so, the more I think
over your absent-minded theory, the more absolutely grotesque it
seems, and if the case ever gets into the newspapers, I am sure, Mr
Hale, you'll experience an uncomfortable half-hour with your chiefs at
Scotland Yard.'
'I'll take the risk of that, thank you,' said Hale stubbornly.
'Am I to consider myself under arrest?' inquired the young man.
'No, sir.'
'Then, if you will pardon me, I shall withdraw. Mr. Summertrees will
show you everything you wish to see in his books, and can explain his
business much more capably than I, because he knows more about it;
therefore, gentlemen, I bid you good-night.'
'No you don't. Not just yet awhile,' exclaimed Hale, rising to his
feet simultaneously with the young man.
'Then I _am_ under arrest,' protested Macpherson.
'You're not going to leave this room until Podgers brings that book.'
'Oh, very well,' and he sat down again.
And now, as talking is dry work, I set out something to drink, a box
of cigars, and a box of cigarettes. Hale mixed his favourite brew, but
Macpherson, shunning the wine of his country, contented himself with a
glass of plain mineral water, and lit a cigarette. Then he awoke my
high regard by saying pleasantly as if nothing had happened,--
'While we are waiting, Monsieur Valmont, may I remind you that you owe
me five shillings?'
I laughed, took the coin from my pocket, and paid him, whereupon he
thanked me.
'Are you connected with Scotland Yard, Monsieur Valmont?' asked
Macpherson, with the air of a man trying to make conversation to
bridge over a tedious interval; but before I could reply, Hale blurted
out,--
'Not likely!'
'You have no official standing as a detective, then, Monsieur
Valmont?'
'None whatever,' I replied quickly, thus getting in my oar ahead of
Hale.
'This is a loss to our country,' pursued this admirable young man,
with evident sincerity.
I began to see I could make a good deal of so clever a fellow if he
came under my tuition.
'The blunders of our police', he went on, 'are something deplorable.
If they would but take lessons in strategy, say, from France, their
unpleasant duties would be so much more acceptably performed, with
much less discomfort to their victims.'
'France,' snorted Hale in derision, 'why, they call a man guilty there
until he's proven innocent.'
'Yes, Mr. Hale, and the same seems to be the case in Imperial Flats.
You have quite made up your mind that Mr. Summertrees is guilty, and
will not be content until he proves his innocence. I venture to
predict that you will hear from him before long in a manner that may
astonish you.'
Hale grunted and looked at his watch. The minutes passed very slowly
as we sat there smoking, and at last even I began to get uneasy.
Macpherson, seeing our anxiety, said that when he came in the fog was
almost as thick as it had been the week before, and that there might
be some difficulty in getting a cab. Just as he was speaking the door
was unlocked from the outside, and Podgers entered, bearing a thick
volume in his hand. This he gave to his superior, who turned over its
pages in amazement, and then looked at the back, crying,--
'_Encyclopaedia of Sport_, 1893! What sort of a joke is this,
Mr. Macpherson?'
There was a pained look on Mr. Macpherson's face as he reached forward
and took the book. He said with a sigh,--
'If you had allowed me to telephone, Mr. Hale, I should have made it
perfectly plain to Summertrees what was wanted. I might have known
this mistake was liable to occur. There is an increasing demand for
out-of-date books of sport, and no doubt Mr. Summertrees thought this
was what I meant. There is nothing for it but to send your man back to
Park Lane and tell Mr. Summertrees that what we want is the locked
volume of accounts for 1893, which we call the encyclopaedia. Allow me
to write an order that will bring it. Oh, I'll show you what I have
written before your man takes it,' he said, as Hale stood ready to
look over his shoulder.
On my notepaper he dashed off a request such as he had outlined, and
handed it to Hale, who read it and gave it to Podgers.
'Take that to Summertrees, and get back as quickly as possible. Have
you a cab at the door?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Is it foggy outside?'
'Not so much, sir, as it was an hour ago. No difficulty about the
traffic now, sir.'
'Very well, get back as soon as you can.'
Podgers saluted, and left with the book under his arm. Again the door
was locked, and again we sat smoking in silence until the stillness
was broken by the tinkle of the telephone. Hale put the receiver to
his ear.
'Yes, this is the Imperial Flats. Yes. Valmont. Oh, yes; Macpherson is
here. What? Out of what? Can't hear you. Out of print. What, the
encyclopaedia's out of print? Who is that speaking? Dr. Willoughby;
thanks.'
Macpherson rose as if he would go to the telephone, but instead (and
he acted so quietly that I did not notice what he was doing until the
thing was done), he picked up the sheet which he called his visiting
list, and walking quite without haste, held it in the glowing coals of
the fireplace until it disappeared in a flash of flame up the chimney.
I sprang to my feet indignant, but too late to make even a motion
outwards saving the sheet. Macpherson regarded us both with that
self-deprecatory smile which had several times lighted up his face.
'How dared you burn that sheet?' I demanded.
'Because, Monsieur Valmont, it did not belong to you; because you do
not belong to Scotland Yard; because you stole it; because you had no
right to it; and because you have no official standing in this
country. If it had been in Mr. Hale's possession I should not have
dared, as you put it, to destroy the sheet, but as this sheet was
abstracted from my master's premises by you, an entirely unauthorised
person, whom he would have been justified in shooting dead if he had
found you housebreaking and you had resisted him on his discovery, I
took the liberty of destroying the document. I have always held that
these sheets should not have been kept, for, as has been the case, if
they fell under the scrutiny of so intelligent a person as Eugène
Valmont, improper inferences might have been drawn. Mr. Summertrees,
however, persisted in keeping them, but made this concession, that if
I ever telegraphed him or telephoned him the word "Encyclopaedia", he
would at once burn these records, and he, on his part, was to
telegraph or telephone to me "The _Encyclopaedia_ is out of print,"
whereupon I would know that he had succeeded.
'Now, gentlemen, open this door, which will save me the trouble of
forcing it. Either put me formally under arrest, or cease to restrict
my liberty. I am very much obliged to Mr. Hale for telephoning, and I
have made no protest to so gallant a host as Monsieur Valmont is,
because of the locked door. However, the farce is now terminated. The
proceedings I have sat through were entirely illegal, and if you will
pardon me, Mr. Hale, they have been a little too French to go down here
in old England, or to make a report in the newspapers that would be
quite satisfactory to your chiefs. I demand either my formal arrest,
or the unlocking of that door.'
In silence I pressed a button, and my man threw open the door.
Macpherson walked to the threshold, paused, and looked back at Spenser
Hale, who sat there silent as a sphinx.
'Good-evening, Mr. Hale.'
There being no reply, he turned to me with the same ingratiating
smile,--
'Good-evening, Monsieur Eugène Valmont,' he said, 'I shall give myself
the pleasure of calling next Wednesday at six for my five shillings.'