Leaving Mr. Tims to meditate for half an hour, and then to call his
clerk, in order to proceed with business of various kinds, we must
follow Cousins, the officer, along the passage, down the six steps at
the end, up the six steps opposite, and thence into another room,
larger and more handsomely furnished, in a different part of the
house. As he entered, the whole demeanor of the officer was as
completely changed as it is possible to imagine; and instead of the
easy and nonchalant, perhaps somewhat listless air, which had
overspread him in the presence of the attorney, he entered the chamber
to which he had been summoned, with a look of brisk activity, mingled
with respect, which strangely altered his whole appearance. The
character of the persons before whom he now presented himself might
easily account for the change; for the officer was too well acquainted
with all ranks and stations of men, and too much accustomed to suit
his conduct to his company, not to make the most marked difference in
his demeanor toward a low attorney, and toward two men of so much
respectability as Dr. Wilton and Mr. Egerton. Neither of those two
gentlemen, it is true, could be considered as so wealthy as Mr. Tims
had lately become; but, thank God! wealth--notwithstanding all its
efforts to confound itself with respectability, has not yet been able
to do so entirely, even in the eyes of the vulgar.
The two magistrates were sitting together after dinner; but glasses
and decanters had been removed, a clerk called in, and each had his
bundle of notes before him. Cousins bowed respectfully, and advanced
to the end of the table, but no farther; while Dr. Wilton--who, as the
reader may have remarked, had been quite bewildered and overcome
during the examination of William Delaware--having now resumed all
that quick and active intelligence which was the ordinary
characteristic of his mind, proceeded to question the officer as to
the result of his investigation during the morning.
"Well, Cousins," he said, "you went to Ryebury, of course? Did you
examine accurately the footmarks that I mentioned to you?"
"Not those in the garden, sir," replied the officer, with a
countenance now full of quick intelligence; "because you see, sir, it
was very evident that such a number of people had been there since the
murder, that there was no use; for we could not have distinguished one
from the other; but I went up into the room where it had been done,
and there the matter was clear enough."
"Ha!" said Mr. Egerton. "And what did you make out there? I saw
nothing but a pool of blood flowing from the dead body."
"I beg your worship's pardon," answered the officer; "but you are
mistaken there. As far as I could make out, it must have been done by
two men--I don't mean to say, mind that there were not three; but if
there were, the other never stepped in the blood; but two there were
certainly, for I got the tread of one very near whole--that is to say
the round of his boot heel and more than three inches of the toe from
the tip, backward--so that one of them had a remarkably long foot.
There is the measure and shape of it, as far as I could get it--more
than twelve inches, you see, sir."
"And the other!" said Dr. Wilton--"the other man's foot--what was the
length of it?"
"Ah, sir, that I could not get at!" replied the officer. "There was
nothing but about five inches of the fore-part of the sole; but that I
got twice; and it is as different a foot, you see, from the other as
one would wish to find--twice as broad, and square toed. And then I
got the mark of a hand, too, which must have been at the poor old
devil's throat when they were cutting it, for it was all blood. It had
rested on the cornice of the dado; and the fellow, whoever he was,
wanted part of the third finger of his left hand."
"Ha, that is a good fact!" said Dr. Wilton, eagerly; "but how did you
make that out Cousins?"
"Why, sir, because it marked all the way up, but left off suddenly
before it got to the end," answered the officer.
"But might not that finger have been bent?" said Mr. Egerton.
"Not unless it bent in the middle of the second joint," replied
Cousins; "but the matter was quite clear, sir; and one has nothing to
do but look at it to satisfy oneself that a part of the finger was
wanting; and what is oddest of all, that it has not been taken off at
the joint. All I saw besides was, that the fellow who cut the old
man's throat must have gone away with his pantaloons very bloody; for
he did it kneeling, and there is just a clear spot where his knee and
part of his leg kept the blood from going over the floor."
"Indeed, that may serve some purpose, too!" said Dr. Wilton; "but did
you find no more steps or marks of any other person?"
"Oh, plenty of steps, sir!" replied the officer. "There were all the
dirty feet of the coroner's inquest. But I think--though I'm not quite
so sure of that--that there must have been somebody left below to keep
watch, while the others went up to do the job. You see, sir, there is
in one place of the passage floor a fresh deal, and I can trace upon
that deal the marks of a shoe with large nails in it, going backward
and forward the matter of twenty times. Now, I hear that the deal was
put in not a week ago, and all the folks here agree, that the old man
never let a person with nails in his shoes twenty times into his house
in all his life; so it looks like as if that were the only time and
way in which it could get so often marked."
The two magistrates looked at each other, and Mr. Egerton answered,
"Your suspicion is a shrewd one, Cousins; but now, tell us sincerely,
from all that you have seen and heard, do you think that Captain
Delaware has been one of those concerned?"
"Why, really, sir, I can not say!" answered the officer; "but to tell
the truth--though there is no knowing, after all--nevertheless--not to
speak for a certainty, you know--but still, I should think not."
"You are now speaking to us in confidence, you know, Cousins," said
Doctor Wilton; "and indeed, we are altogether acting extra-officially
in regard to the murder, though we think it may connect itself with
the other affair. Tell us, therefore, why you judge it was not Captain
Delaware."
"Why, sir, that is difficult to say," replied the officer. "But first
and foremost, do you see, it strikes me that the job was done by as
knowing a hand as ever was on the lay--one that has had a regular
apprenticeship like. Well, as far as I can hear, that does not match
the captain. Then, next, whoever did it, has got in upon the sly by
means of the girl, whether she be an accessory or not. At all events,
she has gone off with her 'complices. She's never murdered--never a
bit of her, take my word for that! Then you see, sir, when I had done
with Ryebury, I went away to Emberton Park House; and though there was
a mighty fuss to get in, all the family being gone, yet I managed it
at last, and got a whole heap of the captain's old boots and shoes,
and measured them with the footmarks, and on oath I could prove that
none of them--neither those up, nor those down stairs--the marks I
mean--ever came off his foot."
"Why, it would seem to me, that what you have said would go very far
to exculpate him altogether," said Dr. Wilton.
"Ay, sir! but that is a mighty rum story about the notes," answered
the officer. "It would make a queer case for the 'sizes, any how.
Nevertheless, I don't think him guilty; and if he would explain
about the money, all would be clear enough--but that story of his
won't go; and if he sticks to it and is caught, he'll be hanged if
Judge ---- tries him. He'll get off if it come before Sir ----. He did
well enough to slip his head out of the collar, any way."
"But do you think that Ruthven will catch him then demanded Dr.
Wilton, with no small anxiety.
"Why, not so easy as if he were an old thief," replied the officer;
"for you see, sir, we know all their haunts, and where they'll take to
in a minute, while this young chap may go Lord knows where!"
Both the magistrates paused thoughtfully for a minute or two, and at
length Dr. Wilton went on: "You see, Cousins, the fact is this, that
the coroner having issued his warrant against Captain Delaware, our
straightforward duty as magistrates is to use all means to put the
warrant in execution; and we are neither called upon, nor have we
perhaps a strict legal right, after a verdict has been pronounced, to
seek for evidence in favor of the person against whom that verdict has
been given. At the same time, we are blamed for not committing the
prisoner at once; and the coroner is blamed for not sending him off to
the county jail the moment the verdict was given, though it was then
night. It is also a part of our clearest duty to do all in our power
to bring the guilty to punishment, an to prepare the case, in a
certain degree, for the officers of the crown; consequently, without
any great stretch of interpretation, we may consider ourselves
justified in using every means to satisfy ourselves who are innocent,
and who are guilty. You think that Captain Delaware is not the
culprit; and you think that three persons have, at all events, been
concerned in the murder. Some suspicion of this kind must also have
been in the minds of the coroner's jury, when they returned a verdict
against Captain William Delaware, and some person or persons unknown.
It is our next business, therefore, to search for those persons
unknown, by every means in our power."
"Why, as to the captain, sir," answered Cousins, "the business would
be soon settled, if we could find out how he came by the money."
"It is the most extraordinary thing in the world," said Dr.
Wilton, "that Mr. Beauchamp can not be found any where--I am really
beginning to be apprehensive concerning him. He left me in a very
low and depressed state; and if his servant, Harding, were not with
him--which, as he is not to be heard of either, it would seem he
is--I should be afraid that his mind had given way."
"Harding! Harding!" said Cousins, thoughtfully; "I wonder if that
could be the Harding who was a sort of valet and secretary to ---- the
banker, and who pocketed a good deal of his cash when he failed. He
had well nigh been hanged, or at least taken a swim across the
pond--but the lawyer let him off for some disclosures be made, and got
him a new place too, they say! I have lost sight of that chap for a
long time. But, however, sir, you were speaking about the persons
unknown. Now I think, do you see, that I have got the end of a clew
that may lead to one of them; and if we get one we can not fail to get
all."
"Who, then, do you think it is," demanded Mr. Egerton. "Let no means
be spared to find out even one of the ruffians."
"Why, sir, you see, I don't mind telling you, because it will go no
farther; but I think it had better be alone," and he looked
significantly at the clerk, who was instantly ordered to withdraw.
"Beg pardon, gentlemen," said Cousins, more freely, when the other had
left the room; "but I have known some of these country clerks that
were the arrantest gossips in the whole neighborhood. However, the
matter is, I hit upon what I think is the head of the right nail, when
I was after the other business, do you see. You told me to inquire
about the burning of the lady's house, and the silver plate that had
disappeared; so, among other things, I went to the coach office, and
examined the books, and just about that time I found that there had
been two parcels sent up to Amos Jacobs, Esq., to be left till called
for. Now, thinks I, who can Amos Jacobs be, but the old Jew of the
Scuttlehole, as they call him. He receives stolen goods, gentlemen,
and is as great a blind as ever swung. Well, I asked the book-keeper
if he had noticed those two parcels, and he said yes, because they
were so small, and yet so heavy. So then I asked him who brought them,
and he said a gentleman who had been lodging three doors down the
street for six weeks or so. So away I went, and looking up at the
house I saw, 'Lodgings to Let' stuck up, and in I walked."
"Mr. Beauchamp's lodgings, I dare say," said Dr. Wilton, smiling.
"No, no, sir!" replied Cousins, "I knew those before. They lie a good
bit farther down. But an old woman came to show me the lodgings,
thinking I was going to take them; so I asked her who had been in them
before, and she up and told me all about it. A very nice gentleman,
she said, he was, who was a great chemist, she believed; for he was
always puddling about over a fire, making experiments, as he told
her--but bless you, gentlemen! he was just making white soup of the
lady's plate--that was what he was doing. So then I asked his name,
and she told me it was Mr. Anthony Smithson. So then the whole matter
came upon me at once. Your worships must understand that, as far as I
know of or remember, there is only one man upon the lay in London who
has lost a bit of his finger, and not having seen him for some time, I
had forgot all about him. His name is Tony Thomson--but sometimes
people call him Billy Winter--and at times he took the name of
Johnson--and Perkins too, I have heard him called--but the name he
went by generally, a good while ago, was Tony Smithson."
"But if the lodgings were to be let, he must of course be gone," cried
Dr. Wilton; "and we are as far off from the facts as ever."
"Oh! he is gone, sure enough!" answered the officer. "That was the
first thing I asked the old woman, and she told me that he went the
very day before the terrible murder, and that he would be so sorry to
hear it, for he used often to walk up that way, and asked her many
questions about Mr. Tims, poor old man. Well, when I heard this, and
had got a good deal more out of her, I thought I might as well look
through the place, for these sort of folks generally are in too great
a hurry not to leave something behind them; and I opened all the
drawers and places--and the old woman thought it very strange, till I
told her who I was. He had cleared all away, however, except this gold
thimble, which had fallen half way down between the drawers and the
wall. It has got 'J. D.' upon it, which, I take it, means 'Something
Darlington.' So it must have been prigged at the time of the fire."
Dr. Wilton and Mr. Egerton both looked at the thimble, and felt
convinced that it belonged to Mrs. Darlington. At all events, the
information which Cousins had obtained, was of course most important,
as it rendered it more than probable that one at least of the persons
who had robbed, if not fired the house upon the hill, had been also a
principal in the murder of the miser. Both the magistrates, therefore,
joined in giving high commendations to the officer, and particular
directions were added for prosecuting the investigation. Cousins,
however, had already anticipated several of the orders he now
received.
"I tried all I could, sir," he replied, "to find out some of the
fellow's stray boots or shoes but he had left none behind. I then went
to all the different shoemakers and cobblers to see if any of them
could give me his measure; but he had been too cunning for that. The
stage coachman, however, remembered taking him up here for London, and
setting him down, by his own desire, at a little public-house four
miles off; so that we have got upon the right scent, beyond doubt; and
if you will give me permission, gentlemen, I will go out this evening,
and find out whom he most kept company with in this place, before the
matter gets blown. I have had a good pumping to-night already; but it
would not do."
"And pray, who took the trouble of pumping you, Cousins!" asked Mr.
Egerton. "Though this is the most gossiping town in Europe, I should
have thought there was roguery enough in it also, to keep the
inhabitants from meddling unnecessarily with a police officer."
"Oh, it was none of the people of the place, sir!" replied Cousins.
"They only stared at me. This was the Mr. Tims who gave the captain in
charge, I hear. He seems a sharp hand, and he has a great good will to
prove the captain guilty, though I don't see, just yet, what good it
could do him either."
Dr. Wilton asked several questions concerning the lawyer, and the
examination to which he had subjected the officer; and then--after
shaking his head, and observing that he believed Mr. Peter Tims to be
a great rogue--he dismissed Cousins to pursue his inquiries in the
town.
It must be here remarked that Mr. Egerton, although he knew William
Delaware personally, and did not think him at all a person to commit
the crime with which he was charged, had never felt that assured
confidence in his innocence which Dr. Wilton had always experienced.
It was not, indeed, that Mr. Egerton thought worse of Captain Delaware
individually than the clergyman did, but he thought worse of the whole
human race. Gradually, however, he had been coming over to Dr.
Wilton's opinion; and his conversation that night with the officer had
completely made a convert of him, by showing him that, notwithstanding
the one extraordinary circumstance which remained yet to be explained,
every new fact that was elicited tended more and more to prove that
the murder had been committed by persons of a very different class and
habits from the supposed delinquent. Feeling, therefore, that in some
degree he had done the unfortunate gentleman injustice, he now
determined to redouble his exertions to apprehend the real culprits,
in the hope and expectation of clearing the character of Captain
Delaware. With this view, he resolved to remain at Emberton that
night, contrary to his former plans; and he proposed to Dr. Wilton to
visit the old miser's house at Ryebury the next morning, in order to
verify the footmarks, as measured by Cousins, lest the new proprietor
might think fit, after the funeral, which was to take place at four
that day, to have all traces of the horrid scene effaced, which he
might do for more reasons than one, if the malevolence Captain
Delaware charged him with were really his motive.
"Why, the truth is," replied Dr. Wilton, in answer to this proposal,
"that I intended to go very early to-morrow to Mrs. Darlington's, to
see poor Blanche Delaware, and try to discover whether she can give
any clew by which Henry Beauchamp can be found."
"Is it likely that she should possess any?" said Mr. Egerton,
laughing.
"Why, they are cousins, you know," answered Dr. Wilton, with a smile
which served to contradict the reason that his words seemed to assign
for the knowledge of her cousin's movements which he attributed to
Miss Delaware. "They are cousins, you know, and I have heard it
reported that there was something more--but, at all events, I am
anxious about the lad, and do not choose to leave any chance of
discovering him untried."
"But, by the way, I forgot," said Mr. Egerton, "I heard an hour or two
ago that Sir Sidney and Miss Delaware had left Mrs. Darlington's, and
had gone to some watering-place, I think the people said."
"Oh, no, impossible!" said Dr. Wilton. "Impossible! they would have
let me hear, as a matter of course." Nevertheless, he rose and rang
the bell, although, so convinced was he of the truth of what he
asserted, that, ere the waiter appeared, he had proceeded to arrange
with Mr. Egerton, that while that gentleman went to Ryebury, and
verified the traces which Cousins had observed, he would drive to Mrs.
Darlington's, and make the inquiries he proposed.
"Pray, have you heard any thing of Sir Sidney Delaware having left
Mrs. Darlington's new house?" demanded Dr. Wilton, when the waiter
appeared.
"Oh, dear, yes, sir!" replied the man. "Mr. Tims--Lawyer Tims, sir--who
was there this morning, could find none of them, and has been
inquiring all over the place to make out where they are gone to. But
nobody can tell, sir, and every one says they have run away."
"Nonsense!" said Mr. Egerton; "that will do!" and the waiter retired.
"This is very extraordinary!" said Dr. Wilton. "Every one seems to be
disappearing one after the other. Nevertheless, I will go up and
inquire of Mrs. Darlington, and will come and join you at Ryebury
afterward."
The meeting was accordingly arranged, and shortly after, Cousins
returned, bringing a vast store of fresh information. Mr. Anthony
Smithson, alias Thomson, alias Perkins, alias Johnson, alias Winter,
fully described and particularized, so as to leave no doubt whatever
of his identity with crushfingered Billy Winter, a notorious London
flashman, had been remarked, by all the wondermongers of Emberton, for
his intimacy with Mr. Harding, Mr. Burrel's servant. He had been also
observed to have a peculiar predilection for the lanes and fields
about the house at Ryebury. This information had led the officers to
fresh inquiries concerning the philosophical Harding himself, who had
been accurately described by the investigating and observing people of
Emberton; and, on his return, Cousins expressed his fullest
conviction, that he was the identical Harding who had, as he before
described, got off in a serious criminal case, solely by the
connivance of an attorney. Who that attorney was, need hardly be
explained; and indeed, to do so, would only lead us into the details
of a previous affair, totally unconnected with this history. Suffice
it, that no sooner did Cousins hear that Harding had been with his
master, at the house of Mrs. Darlington, on the day of the fire, than
he at once declared himself to be perfectly certain that his hands,
and no others, had kindled the flame. He added also, that he did not
doubt that Smithson and Harding--whether they had exactly fixed upon
any precise object or not--had come down to Emberton, with the
intention of acting in concert; and he added, that it would not at all
surprise him to find that they were the two who committed the murder
itself, especially as the people had particularly described to him the
valet's long foot.
While he was speaking, Dr. Wilton rapidly turned over his notes of the
examination of Captain Delaware, and the servants at Emberton Park,
and at length lighted upon the declaration of the man-servant, who
stated, that in returning from some errand in that direction, he had
seen the valet Harding at the back of the park, the lanes surrounding
which led directly toward Ryebury.
"If I could think of any reason for his putting the money in the
captain's room," said Cousins, as the clergyman read this passage, "I
should think that Harding had done it himself, on purpose to hang
him."
"May he not have been instigated to do it by others?" said Mr.
Egerton.
"If one could find out any reason for it," replied the officer.
"Why, Captain Delaware suspected something of the kind himself,"
replied the magistrate, and he read a part of the young fugitive's
letter, watching from time to time, as he did so, the effect it
produced upon the countenance of a man who, like Cousins, was
accustomed to trace and encounter crime in every form. The officer
closed one eye, put his tongue slightly into his cheek, and ended by a
half whistle.
"You had better look to it, gentleman." he said; "you had better look
to it--such things have been done before now--so you had better look
to it!"
"We will!" answered Dr. Wilton; "we will! let us see you to-morrow
about nine, Cousins."
The officer took the hint, and withdrew.