WE ARRIVE IN PARIS.
As we traveled to the sea I narrated what had occurred in my quest for
Dr. Cooper, and was allowed to do so without interruption. Bob was
unusually silent in the presence of his nephew and Barbara, and this
silence was, as it were, enforced by himself. Several times he seemed
to be on the point of interrupting me for the purpose of asking
questions, and on each occasion he pulled up short and said nothing.
Neither did Ronald speak much. It would have been natural had he made
some observations upon the reason of Dr. Cooper's sudden departure in
the company of Mr. Nisbet, and had he inquired whether I really
believed the two men were traveling together. But respecting these
matters he preserved absolute silence, and when he spoke it was upon
any other subject than that of our all-engrossing mission. Barbara,
also, had very little to say for herself--being altogether lost in the
wonder of the adventure which was to introduce her to foreign
countries--so we were not a very lively party as we were whirled to
Dover. We were less inclined for liveliness when we were at sea, all
of us, with the exception of Ronald, being prostrate and helpless, the
passage being a bad one. With the earth beneath our feet we soon
recovered, and were reconciled to life, though Barbara plaintively
inquired if we couldn't get back another way. Her appearance attracted
a great deal of attention to us, of which we took no notice, being too
deeply occupied with our own affairs. We were only twenty minutes
late, and before eight o'clock we alighted at the Hôtel de Bade, where
we engaged rooms, keeping Barbara as much out of sight as possible.
The first thing we did was to go out and purchase a suitable outfit
for the child at an immense establishment, the "Old England," where
everything in the way of dress could be obtained, and when she was
arrayed in her attire she said she felt like a princess. Of course she
was in a state of bewildered admiration at the lights of Paris, which
she declared beat "a theayter," and I have no doubt she thought either
that she was dreaming or taking a part in a ravishing fairy story.
Upon our return to the hotel I found a telegram awaiting me from Mr.
Dickson, from which we learned that Mr. Nisbet and a gentleman who had
accompanied him from London were at the Hôtel Chatham. The last words
of the telegram were, "Do nothing till you hear from me again. If you
make open inquiries you may ruin all." This advice was sound but
irritating, our mistaken impression being that by remaining idle, we
were playing into the enemy's hands. There was nothing else for it,
however; we were bound to wait for further information and
instruction. We sent Barbara to bed early, and bade her not to leave
her room in the morning till we called for her; then we went out and
paced the bright boulevards. As we strolled and chatted Ronald
suggested that we ought to ascertain for ourselves whether Mr. Nisbet
and Dr. Cooper were at the Hôtel Chatham; he had become very restless,
and we endeavored in vain to argue him out of the idea. We only
succeeded in prevailing upon him to allow Bob to go alone to the
hotel, and find some excuse for looking over the book of arrivals in
the office for the names of Nisbet and Cooper.
"Mr. Nisbet knows you," I said to Ronald, "and if he should see you we
may as well return at once to England, for we shall have put him on
his guard and have brought about our own defeat. He may also have some
idea of my appearance, either from seeing me without my being aware of
it, or from the description given of me by Dr. Cooper, and there would
be danger in my going to make inquiries. Your uncle is the safest
party; Mr. Nisbet can know nothing of him, and if they meet his
suspicions will not be aroused."
Bob went by himself to the Hôtel Chatham, not without inward
misgivings, for he knew but a few words of French, and Ronald's
assurance that the waiters and the managers could all speak English
did not set him at his ease. However, he left us at the corner of Rue
Daonou, making us promise not to wander away, in case he should not be
able to find us upon his return, for he was distrustful of himself in
the Paris streets, this being his first visit to the Continent. It was
also my first visit, and I could not help thinking how poor a match
for Mr. Nisbet Bob and I would have been without the assistance of
Ronald Elsdale. Ronald was blind, it is true, but he could speak
French and German fluently, and it was really he who guided us through
the streets; he was familiar with every shop and building of note, and
there was no fear of our losing our way in his company.
Bob was absent fifteen minutes or so, and he came back with the
information that the name of Mr. Oliver Nisbet was on the books as
having arrived this evening, but that he could not find the name of
Cooper.
"Did you see anyone answering to their description?" asked Ronald.
"No one," replied Bob.
"All the better," I remarked.
"Why?" said Ronald. "Do you suppose they have any suspicion that they
are being followed?"
"That is a question I cannot answer," I said, "though the probability
is that Mr. Nisbet believes himself safe, or he would hardly have gone
to so central a hotel as the Chatham; but it is certain that they are
proceeding with some degree of caution, or the name of Cooper would
have been found in the arrival book. Has any idea suggested itself to
you that would be likely to explain the reason of Mr. Nisbet choosing
Dr. Cooper as a companion?"
"Many ideas have suggested themselves," answered Ronald, "of which I
have not yet spoken; but we will follow this one out, to see if we
agree. You paid a visit to Dr. Cooper on Sunday evening, and, as his
wife said to you this morning, he let his tongue run too freely. Her
remark proves that some conversation must have passed between them as
to your visit, and that Dr. Cooper recalled--not very distinctly
perhaps--what it was he said. My belief is that this conversation took
place in the presence of a third party, who was chiefly responsible
for it."
"Of a third party!" I exclaimed.
"The third party," continued Ronald, "being Mr. Oliver Nisbet, who
visited the Coopers on the following night. He must have had some
motive for this visit, for it is not likely--after what you learned
from Dr. Cooper's lips of the feeling he entertained toward Mr.
Nisbet--that this gentleman would have paid his accomplice a visit in
which there was no direct motive. I speak of them as accomplices
because there is no doubt in my mind on the point. Dr. Cooper was
bribed to give a false death certificate, false for the reason that he
was not in a position to give a true one, and for this service Mr.
Nisbet paid him, and made promises (according to Dr. Cooper) which he
did not fulfill. Whether these promises were or were not as Dr. Cooper
hinted is of small moment in what we are discussing, the one thing
certain being that Dr. Cooper labored under a sense of injury, and
believed himself to have been wronged. It is more than probable that,
in some way, Dr. Cooper conveyed this impression to Mr. Nisbet, and
that he was aware of it. This must have occurred years ago, and
shortly afterward Dr. Cooper loses sight of his employer, and has no
means of communicating with him. If he had known where to write to him
he would certainly have done so, in his state of poverty, and would
most likely have thrown out some kind of threat. During this interval
Mr. Nisbet keeps himself hidden from the man who has served him at a
critical time; he has no use for him; all evidence of the crime (the
nature of which has yet to be discovered) he has committed is
destroyed, and there is only one person in the world who can throw the
remotest suspicion upon him; that person is Dr. Cooper, and even he,
if he dared take open action, would find himself implicated in the
consequences. So matters rest for a considerable time, and we come now
to the present. It is on Sunday only that you are informed by the
private inquiry agent you employed that Mr. Nisbet had returned to
London and was staying at the Métropole. Again crops up the hidden
motive for his return. Was it to visit the house in Lamb's Terrace in
which the crime was committed? Was it to seek Dr. Cooper for the
purpose of obtaining his assistance in a fresh crime to be committed
on foreign soil? Conjecture only will assist us here, for we know
nothing; but conjecture, put to a logical use, may lead to the right
conclusion. I assert that Mr. Nisbet's visit to London was expressly
made either to go to Lamb's Terrace or to see Dr. Cooper; certainly
for one of these reasons, perhaps for both. When you learn that he is
in London you are on your way to Dr. Cooper's house; you find him; you
have a singular conversation with him; you return home, and my uncle
informs you of the discovery of the clothes he has found in the attic
cupboard. That those clothes belonged to Beatrice and the servant
cannot be disputed. On Monday morning, after my uncle leaves you to
find a temporary home for poor little Barbara, you also leave the
fated house several hours, and you take especial care to deposit the
clothes in what you believe to be a place of safety; unfortunately, as
it happened, in the place in which they were first discovered. Now,
who knows of that place of deposit? You, my uncle, and Mr. Nisbet.
During your absence Mr. Nisbet obtains easy admission to the house,
goes straight to the attic cupboard, and bears away with him the
garments which, by devious circumstantial evidence, might be a danger
to him. While he is in the house some signs therein lead him to
suspect that it is not absolutely untenanted, and he sets watch upon
it in the night. Looking from the window of the room occupied by you
and my uncle you see Mr. Nisbet standing in the garden in a watchful,
observant attitude; and as he stands there the spectral monitor which
has set this inquiry at work gives you a sign--an unmistakable sign
from the spiritual throne of justice. Rank heresy or blind fatuity
might misinterpret this sign; to you, to my uncle, to me, it is as
clear as sunlight. It declared this man to be guilty of a horrible
crime; it was like the writing on the wall. Satisfied or not, Mr.
Nisbet leaves Lamb's Terrace, and goes to South Lambeth to see Dr.
Cooper, of whose movements during the years that have passed he has
had full knowledge. Mr. Nisbet is not only a dangerous man and a
criminal, he is a man of resource and powerful intellect, and such a
man leaves little to chance. Closeted with Dr. Cooper and his wife, he
hears of your visit to him the previous evening; he worms out of his
accomplice all that the man can recollect of your conversation with
him; and he scents danger. Now, as I have said, whether he went to Dr.
Cooper in the first instance to obtain his assistance in a fresh crime
on foreign soil is hidden from us, but I am convinced that what he
learns during this interview induces him to expedite his movements. He
bids Dr. Cooper hold himself in readiness, and wins the wife's
confidence by giving her money; thus they are both on his side. Were
we and Dr. Cooper now in London you would worm nothing more out of
him. Forewarned is to be forearmed, and his wife would see that he was
not tampered with. When Mr. Nisbet leaves Dr. Cooper last night, he
has not quite settled the order or time of his future movements, but
considering the matter afterward he sees the advisability of getting
out of England without delay. Hence his resolution to leave for the
Continent this morning; hence his telegram to Dr. Cooper to meet him
immediately for the purpose of catching the early train; hence the
hurried and sudden departure, with the particulars of which we are
acquainted. Have I made myself clear?"
"Quite clear."
"He does not suspect that he is being followed; he does not suspect
that his departure is known; least of all does he suspect that I am
taking part in the hunt. But at the same time he recognizes the
necessity of caution, and that is why Dr. Cooper is traveling under an
assumed name."
A question was trembling on my tongue; it was whether, in the light of
all that had been disclosed to him, the delusion he labored under with
respect to Beatrice was now dispelled; but I feared to pain him, and I
did not give utterance to the question.
"Do you not think," he said, "that Mr. Dickson has been rather remiss
in not giving you the name and address of the agent who traveled,
unknown to Mr. Nisbet, from London with him?"
"I wish he had done so," I replied, "for then we could have some
conversation with him to-night, which might have been of service to
us. The telegram he sent me is a long one, and perhaps I shall have a
letter from him in the morning."
This proved to be the case. In it Mr. Dickson acknowledged that it
would have been as well if he had given me the name and address of his
agent in his telegram; the name was Rivers, his address Hôtel
Richmond. He had not heard from Mr. Rivers, he said, but when he did
he would communicate to me everything the letter contained of any
importance. I went at once to the Hôtel Richmond, which was not more
than five minutes' walk from the Hôtel de Bade, and inquired for Mr.
Rivers, and I took Ronald with me as interpreter, leaving Bob to look
after Barbara.
"M. Rivers?" said the waiter, "but he has departed."
"When?"
"This morning early. He slept but one night."
"Do you know where he has gone?"
"No, I do not know; I will ask the manager."
The manager did not know. After his coffee and roll M. Rivers had paid
his bill and given up his room. Did he leave in a cab? No, he left on
foot, carrying his bag with him. Perhaps he went to a railway station?
Ah, it was possible. Perhaps he was still in Paris. Ah, it was
possible. If M. Rivers returned to the hotel, would the manager give
him my card with a few words in pencil on it, asking him to come
immediately to the Hôtel de Bade? M. Rivers should have the card, yes,
with much pleasure. And so, good-morning.
I half expected to receive a letter from my wife, demanding an
explanation of my running away, but there was none for me.
And now, nothing would satisfy Ronald but that Bob should go to the
Hôtel Chatham, to ascertain if Mr. Nisbet was still there. He went and
returned, we waiting for him as before at the corner of the Rue
Daonou. Mr. Nisbet had left the hotel.
"I spoke to a fool of a waiter," said Bob, "who thought he could speak
English, and that is all I could get out of him."
Ronald walked off at once to the hotel, and, knowing it would be
useless to remonstrate, we followed him through the courtyard and into
the office. There he entered into a conversation in French with a
clerk. Yes, M. Nisbet and his friend had partaken of the usual first
meal of the Frenchman, and had paid his bill and given up his room.
Did they expect him to return? No, they did not. Had he and his friend
occupied one room? Yes, a room with two beds. Did they leave on foot
or in a cab? In a cab. For a railway station? Possibly. Did the clerk
know for which railway station? He did not; he would inquire, if it
was of importance. It was of great importance--would he kindly
inquire. The _concierge_ was questioned. He did not know for which
railway station. The waiters were questioned. They did not know for
which railway station. And so, good-morning again. Thus were we left
aground, as it were, with nothing but broken threads in our hands. Mr.
Nisbet and Dr. Cooper had escaped us.