We were morally certain that Madame Rose Gringoire was no other than
the Fraulein Bertha Gerhardt, whom we had been patiently seeking for
six months. But moral certainty is a long way removed from proof
positive, and the client who was employing us was slow to believe
that we had almost cornered our quarry.
You see, the circumstances were not merely peculiar. They were of
desperate moment, and upon the circumvention of Bertha Gerhardt’s
intrigues depended either the reputation or the fortune of a family
which had, by virtue of its wealth and spotless lineage, made itself
a power in its residential county. Sir Arthur and Lady Brackett were
desperately anxious to recover some papers which the whilom
governess had abstracted from a secret drawer in which they were
believed to be in absolutely safe keeping.
Of the precise nature of these documents professional honour forbids
me to speak. Equally momentous secrets are often confided to us, and
the many cases of a delicate nature with which our firm are
entrusted are the outcome of a steadily growing reputation for
discretion and reliability. Were blackmailing our forte, we might
wax rich on our knowledge of the strange events and conditions
which harass the lives, and endanger the prosperity, of the
apparently rich and happy.
To the latter class belonged Sir Arthur and Lady Brackett, and we
were the more anxious to bring their case to a satisfactory issue
because we knew that the somewhat disreputable family doings in
which this trouble originated were condemned by them at the time,
and were beyond their power to prevent.
How Bertha Gerhardt obtained her knowledge of the skeleton in their
cupboard is still a mystery. But it is believed that Sir Arthur’s
scapegrace brother, who hated his father’s heir with a hatred which
could hardly be equalled by men of alien races, had made a confidant
of her, and that she had sought the post of governess as a means of
securing the incriminating documents.
“Have you a photograph of Fraulein Gerhardt?” inquired Mr Bell,
before whom Sir Arthur had just laid his case.
“Yes, we have a small one, though the original does not know,” was
the reply. “My wife is very fond of amateur photography, and has
photographed nearly every nook and cranny of the house and estate.
Miss Gerhardt is not handsome, and she always laughingly refused to
have her plainness perpetuated on paper. One morning Lady Brackett
had had her camera taken into the drawing-room and had embraced
the governess within its scope ere that lady was aware of her
intention. When she discovered she had been photographed she with
difficulty kept back the signs of her anger, and it was rather odd
that the negative of the little picture should have been found
broken a day or two later. But, though Miss Gerhardt was not made
aware of the fact, two or three prints had been taken before the
negative was destroyed, and from one of these we have enlarged her
photograph. Here is a copy. It is not very good, but will no doubt
be useful.”
“Excellent, Sir Arthur! It is evidently a good likeness, and will
suit us even better than one which has been toned down and touched
up by a professional photographer for the sake of flattering a
customer. It is quite apparent that this clever lady meant to take
every precaution against being over-reached. She will be astonished
when we run her to earth.”
“I hope you will manage that feat.”
“I do not think there is much doubt on the subject. It is simply a
matter of time.”
“And meanwhile my fortune is being drained.”
“We will be as expeditious as possible. You say that Miss Gerhardt
must not be arrested.”
“By no means! Everything depends upon strict secrecy. Were this not
the case we would not have parted so readily with the money which
has been demanded of us from time to time.”
“And you have no idea where this woman resides since she quitted
Brackett Hall?”
“Not the slightest. We were surprised and mystified at her sudden
departure, but did not suspect her of any covert act until she wrote
to us. Her letter was an impudent avowal of her abstraction of the
papers upon which our destiny hangs, and she demanded a large amount
of money as the price of her silence. Since then we have had several
letters from her, but both her letters and our remittances all pass
through the hands of a shady solicitor, who lives in a short street
off the Strand, and who will give us no clue to his client’s
whereabouts.”
Mr White elicited several more particulars from the troubled
baronet, and then set about performing the mission entrusted to him.
The fact that Miss Gerhardt transacted all her business through a
London agent made it seem probable that she herself resided in
London, and for several weeks we kept a strict watch upon the
lawyer’s premises, but without result.
The lady evidently knew better than to show herself in that quarter,
and we might have failed to rescue our client from his insatiate
blackmailer had not a very unforeseen occurrence taken place.
“When thieves fall out, honest men get their own,” and this was a
case in point.
One hot July afternoon a lady came to our office to invoke our aid
in bringing back to her an individual who had absconded with a large
sum of money belonging to her. The gentleman she described and
named was Hulbert Brackett, Sir Arthur Brackett’s ne’er-do-weel
younger brother, and our would-be new client bore such a strong
resemblance to the photograph of Bertha Gerhardt, that we believed
this to be that lady herself.
But she gave the name of Madame Rose Gringoire, and professed to be
a French widow, who had entrusted Mr Brackett with all her fortune
to invest for her, and the onus of proof of her identity with the
German schemer whom we were seeking rested with us. She certainly
spoke and comported herself as Frenchified as if to the manner born,
but we soon discovered that she understood German equally well.
Mr Henniker, got up in very Teutonic fashion called in to the office
and bungled so much in his efforts to pass himself off as a needy
German, who couldn’t speak English, that madame was highly amused, and
I, who was an unsuspected witness of the scene, was an unsuspected
witness of the scene, could see that she understood every word that
was said.
This discovery helped to convince us that we were indeed on the
right track, even if the sum of which this adventuress complained of
having been robbed had not tallied exactly with the amount extorted
from Sir Arthur only a week before her visit to us.
“I am afraid the thief has too great a start, but we will do all we
can in the matter,” said Mr Bell. “I hope your entire resources are
not exhausted?”
“By no means! I can always get more money where that came from. But
I have no mind to be such a heavy loser, all the same.”
“Then you will pardon me, I hope, if I inquire whether you would
care to have the matter made public, or not? Most of our clients
prefer us to conduct all their affairs with the utmost secrecy.”
“And so do I. On no account must anyone else know of this business.
If you can find Hulbert Brackett for me, I can soon bring him to
terms again.”
The next day our firm received a note from Madame Gringoire, stating
that she was too ill to keep an appointment she had made to call
again at the office, and asking us to let her know at once if we
heard anything about her absconding friend, who was, we afterwards
discovered, actually married to her.
That note proved very useful to us, as we were anxious to call at
her house, and the usually so ultra-cautious woman had given her
present address upon it. She had been followed home the night
before, and we knew her address already. But having received it
from herself in the way of business simplified matters for us.
That afternoon, armed with an introduction from our firm, I called
upon Madame Gringoire. I found her suffering from a bilious
headache, and she was none too pleased to see me.
“How did you know where to find me?” she asked suspiciously.
“Why, Madame,” I exclaimed, in deprecative surprise; “you gave us
your address in the note you sent this morning, and as we have
already traced your fugitive from London to Liverpool, we thought it
better to consult you at once about him, as we did not know what
further course to take without definite instructions from you.”
In an instant madame was all eagerness and attention, and I was so
well armed with details, thanks to Sir Arthur’s circumstantial
explanations, that I succeeded in convincing her of the plausibility
of my story.
Henceforth all was plain sailing.
The next Atlantic liner would leave Liverpool in two days. There was
time for madame to overtake the fugitive, or rather, it suited us to
persuade her that such was the case.
It was arranged that on the following morning at nine o’clock,
madame was to be at our office, ready to start at once with Mr Bell
and myself to Liverpool. We were to be paid for our services out
of the money recovered from the absconding accomplice.
The lady was all excitement, and rang the bell violently for her
maid.
“Bring some tea upstairs,” she commanded, “and set about packing my
things. I am going to Liverpool in the morning with this lady, and
will be away a few days.”
“With that headache?”
“No, you stupid, not with that headache. I am going to leave the
headache at home for you to take care of while I am away. Now, go on
with your work.”
The next morning at a quarter past nine, while madame was in our
office, I presented myself at her house in a great state of fluster.
“Your mistress has forgotten some papers which she must have with
her. She has other business to do, and has no time to come back for
them. Here is a note from her. Be as quick as you can, please.
Such was the message to Sophie, and she never doubted my bona-fides,
seeing that I was armed with a letter, apparently in her mistress’s
handwriting, authorising me to hunt for a packet of papers of which
the appearance was accurately described.
Sophie had seen her mistress looking at such a packet as was
described, and at once took me to the bureau in which they were
kept. Oddly enough, I had forgotten to bring the key with me, and
there was no time to go back for it, so, rather to Sophie’s horror,
I broke the drawer lock open. Then, having found the great prize I
sought, I hurried to the street, jumped into the hansom waiting for
me, and was soon in the presence of the lady whose schemes I had
circumvented.
She was already impatient at the long delay, and started up in alarm
when she saw me enter the office smiling triumphantly, and holding
in my hands the papers upon which hung the destiny of the Bracketts.
She sprang forward, and would have snatched them out of my hand.
But I was too quick for her. I was also protected by my colleagues,
and Sir Arthur, who had been telegraphed for, arrived at the same
moment.
For awhile the baffled woman shrieked out rage and threats, and
swore that all the world should know the disreputable secret
connected with Sir Arthur’s parents.
But the latter had now the upper hand, and meant to keep it. Taking
the packet from my hand, and opening it to see that all the papers
were there, he promptly threw it into the empty fireplace, set a
match to it, and watched it burn to the last atom.
“You have filched ten thousand pounds out of me because I dreaded to
have my family name disgraced. You will get no more. Every proof of
these past events is now destroyed, and any assertions you might
make would not be believed. I saw the man who claims to be my
brother last night. He tells me that he is married to you. You will
find him in our village if you want him. But he understands as fully
as you must do that any further injury he may attempt to do me will
recoil on his own head.”
Mrs Hulbert Brackett seemed to comprehend the situation thoroughly.
She left the office without another word, and we have never heard
of her since.