"Well," continued the dark-eyed man, "the rude awakening came in the
following way. The thirteenth of January was on Sunday. Kirk, who had
been engaged in watching the movements of the secret agent Leftwich,
sent me a telegram telling me to leave for Edinburgh at 11:30 that
evening, and asking me, if I intended to carry out this suggestion, to
raise and lower the drawing-room blind three times at a quarter past
five. By that I knew that the German agent and his friends had some
desperate game afoot and that Kirk, astute and active, intended to
prevent them carrying out their object."
"If anyone obtained access to the laboratory, then, they could steal the
secret?" I asked.
"They could obtain specimens of the steel which might be analysed," he
said. "And these specimens, in conjunction with the written results of
my experiments, kept in the safe here, in this room, would, of course,
place my process in their hands."
"Then you were acting in obedience with Kirk's suggestion," I said. "He
wished you to go to Scotland out of the way, eh?"
"Exactly. He had previously been ordered by the Government to keep
watch over me, for it was known by the Intelligence Department that
Germany would make a desperate attempt to obtain the secret of what, to
them, would be a most valuable process in the preparation of steel for
use in their new navy."
"And you made the signal to Kirk?"
"Yes. I told Ethelwynn nothing, fearing to alarm her. I merely
remarked that I was compelled to go to Scotland, my intention being to
take her with me at the last moment. I did not dress that night, it
being Sunday. We dined at eight, and afterwards Antonio packed my bags.
After dinner my daughter went up to the drawing-room, while I came in
here to the study, in order to write some letters and attend to one or
two things before departing. At a quarter to ten I recollected that I
should remove a small crucible from the furnace wherein I had placed it
that afternoon, and, passing through the Red Room, I found, to my great
surprise, the two doors leading to the laboratory had been unlocked, and
were slightly ajar.
"Suspecting something amiss, I dashed in, to find to my amazement an
intruder there--the man Leftwich, dressed exactly to resemble myself!
He had in his hand some specimens of the new steel, and as I entered
noiselessly he was in the act of bending over a memorandum book, reading
some notes I had made that day. You may imagine how amazed I was to see
my second self standing there before me! I faced him, demanding to know
what he wanted. I saw that he must have entered with keys made from wax
impressions somehow taken from my own, and that his object in making up
to resemble me was in order to pass upstairs within sight of the
watchful Antonio or any of the other servants. Indeed, it was
afterwards proved that Antonio saw him pass up immediately after dinner,
and believed him to be myself."
"Is this a fact?" I gasped.
"The truth," declared Kirk; "but listen to the end."
"Well," faltered the Professor, "on being challenged, the man, seeing
himself cornered, instantly attacked me with a knife. I closed with
him. He tried to kill me and escape. Ah! it was an exciting moment--
his life or mine! I shouted, but Antonio did not hear me. The fellow
got me by the throat and lifted his hand to strike. He cut my little
finger badly. Then suddenly he slipped upon the tiles, and in an
instant I had pinned him down. I wrenched the knife from him, and--and
I struck him. He--he fell dead in the corner! I stood aghast at what I
had done. I had saved the secret--prevented it from falling into the
hands of Britain's enemies, but I had killed the German agent, who had
apparently escaped Kirk's vigilance.
"What to do next I did not know," continued the Professor. "I stood for
a few moments horrified at my action. Suddenly it occurred to me that,
being dressed exactly like me, it would be believed that I had been
assaulted! But his features were not mine, so I took a bottle of highly
corrosive acid and flung it into his face, and then exchanged my gold
watch and keys for his, and put some of my letters into his pocket.
Afterwards I replaced the one or two things that had been disordered in
the laboratory, switched off the light, and, leaving the dead spy in the
corner, closed both doors, which, as you will see, lock automatically."
"And then?" I asked, amazed at his story.
"Then I came in here, put a piece of plaster upon my finger, opened the
safe, and took the precious books containing the records of my
experiments, in order to make it appear that a robbery had been
committed. After washing myself in my room, I strove to preserve an
outward calm, and asked Ethelwynn to telephone for a sleeping-berth for
me. I had now decided, as there was no further danger of spies, not to
take her with me. Just before I left, I came in here and wrote her a
letter, telling her I should be absent some months, and instructing her
to call Kirk and regard him as her protector during my absence. As I
went out I left the note beneath the salver on the hall table, so that
it might be discovered by the maid when dusting in the morning. At
11:30 I left King's Cross for Edinburgh, without, however, being able to
communicate with Kirk or tell him what had actually occurred."
"I, on my part, naturally believed that the dead man was the Professor,"
Kirk interrupted.
"And when were you aware of the truth?" I asked.
"The day after I had called you in consultation. I then saw that, in
exposing an affair which, at all hazards, must be kept a secret, I had
acted most injudiciously. I did not dare to tell you the truth. I went
to Edinburgh and found the Professor, who was in hiding, fearful lest
the affair should be discovered. He told me exactly what had occurred,
and invoked my aid. My agents watched every move you made. They were
with you in Edinburgh and in Glasgow. Therefore, I was well aware how
strenuously you were seeking a solution of the mystery."
I paused in sheer amazement. As I reflected, I saw that Kirk had been
shielding his friend the Professor all along.
In reply to my questions, he told me that the reason why he could not
satisfactorily prove an alibi if accused of the crime was because at the
hour of the tragedy he was engaged upon a mission for the Government, a
secret transaction with an agent of another foreign Power which was
greatly to our advantage, and betrayal of which would create serious
international complications. His allegations of enmity towards the
Professor had been made to mystify me.
He added, also, that the reason why the Commissioner of Police had not
listened to my story was because I had made accusations against him.
They knew him at "the Yard," he added with a laugh, and it was not
likely they would dare to make inquiry into his actions.
"But I saw Miss Ethelwynn lying dead!" I said, turning to the
Professor--for how could I now doubt that it was actually he?
"Let my daughter relate her own story," he said; and, going to the door,
he recalled her.
"Just tell Mr. Holford, dear, what occurred to you on that evening when
you returned from your aunt's," he said, as she entered the room. "I
have confessed to him the truth."
"Well, dad," she said, "I believed that the man in the laboratory was
you yourself. Besides, Mr. Kirk believed it to be you. The face was,
of course, much disfigured, but the clothes were yours, and in the
pockets were your watch and some of your letters. I was insane with
grief, and with Morgan, to whom Mr. Kirk told a fictitious story, I went
to Lady Mellor's. On the night in question something seemed to prompt
me to return home, enter with my latch-key, and go up to the laboratory
to make sure that it was really you. I somehow could not believe that
you were dead. Remember, I was in the Red Room all night, and you would
certainly have awakened me if you had entered and unlocked the door. So
I went. I crept in softly, in order that Antonio should not hear me,
and, ascending to the laboratory, switched on the light. I examined the
body closely. Ah! it was a gruesome sight--but I satisfied myself that
it was not you! I crept downstairs, back to the dining-room, but as I
entered something was suddenly flung over my head; I smelt a curious
odour--it may have been some anaesthetic. I tried to scream, but could
not, and in a few moments I became unconscious. When I regained my
senses I found myself in a strange house, with Mr. Kirk bending over me.
I believe I was delirious, for I remember shouting and raving, and
charging him with an attempt to kill me. It was impressed upon my
unbalanced mind that he had killed my father. But, on the contrary, he
was all care and attention. On putting my hand to my face I found upon
my cheek a quantity of what seemed like wax, which peeled off in my
hand."
"And you afterwards went down to Broadstairs?" I said.
"Yes; I went with Morgan on the following day."
"But who had attacked you in the diningroom?"
"Ah! that remains to be proved," replied Kirk. "A desperate attempt
was, no doubt, made upon Miss Ethelwynn by somebody who had entered the
house secretly for the same purpose as herself--by somebody who
suspected that Leftwich had come to an untimely end. The would-be
assassin first administered an anaesthetic, and must afterwards have
injected with a hypodermic syringe some curious poison, which gave to
her all the appearance of death, though the dose was fortunately
inefficient. With the remembrance of Leftwich's features--which he had
only seen a few minutes before--being disfigured, it seems that her
assailant tried to disfigure hers by pouring upon her face hot wax from
the candles alight upon the dining-room table. It was, of course, the
act of a person half demented by the desire for revenge."
"And you are unaware of who did this?"
"I have a suspicion--a slight suspicion. It is for me to prove its
truth."
"You will now see the terrible position in which I have been placed, Mr.
Holford," exclaimed Ethelwynn. "I knew that my father had killed a man.
Was it surprising, therefore, that I should endeavour to shield him?"
"Certainly not," I said. "You acted only quite naturally. My chief
complaint is that you have all kept my wife aloof from me."
"We will speak of that later," Kirk interrupted. "Let me continue.
When I had been up to Edinburgh, and knew that the Professor lived and
was in hiding, I returned and set to work to remove all traces of the
unfortunate affair. To allow the facts to leak out to the public might
have provoked a serious quarrel with the German Government, and I could
not afford to allow that. Therefore, on the night when Langton saw the
light in the drawing-room, Ethelwynn, who had come up from Broadstairs,
Pietro, and myself had made up the furnace, and together we got rid of
the gruesome remains, after which we ate a hasty meal.
"I had previously sent Antonio to Italy for a holiday, deeming it best
in the circumstances that he should be absent. Ethelwynn and Pietro had
left the house, when, of a sudden, I heard the bell, and, peeping out,
saw Langton at the door. It was an exciting moment. The young man had,
I knew, had his suspicions aroused by meeting Antonio at Calais, for
Antonio had wired me that he had been recognised. So I waited until
you, very fortunately, came, and allowed me to escape."
For a moment I was silent. Then I said: "You'll remember when we
returned to Bath Road after my first visit to Sussex Place you were rung
up on the telephone. The message caused you great alarm. What was it?"
"Antonio told me of his suspicions that the dead man was not the
Professor," was his reply.
"And on your second visit to this house you signalled by the blind of
the drawing-room, as the Professor had done."
"I signalled to Pietro, who was out in the fog, that you were still with
me. He had, of course, been with Ethelwynn to Foley Street, and I was
about to go there."
"And, tell me, what connection had Doctor Flynn with the affair?" I
demanded, utterly astounded at the very remarkable story unfolded.
"Listen--and I'll tell you the whole truth," Kirk said; and, pausing, he
looked at both father and daughter, as though to obtain their consent to
make further revelations, and thereby elucidate what was certainly the
most extraordinary mystery of modern times.
What I had heard was startling enough, in all conscience, but what I was
yet to learn was still more astounding, as you will see.