A NEW DEVELOPMENT
"You see, Mr. Denzil," said Ferruci, turning triumphantly to Lucian, "I
did not buy this cloak; I am not the Italian this lady speaks of."
Lucian was extremely astonished at this unexpected testimony in favour
of the Count, and questioned the shopwoman sharply. "Are you certain of
what you say?" he asked, looking at her intently.
"Yes, I am, sir," replied the girl stiffly, as though she did not like
her word doubted. "The gentleman who bought the cloak was not so tall as
this one, nor did he speak English well. I had great difficulty in
learning what he wanted."
"But you said that he was dark, with a moustache--and--"
"I said all that, sir; but this is not the gentleman."
"Could you swear to it?" said Lucian, more chagrined than he liked to
show to the victorious Ferruci.
"If it is necessary, I could, sir," said the shopwoman, with the
greatest confidence. And after so direct a reply, and such certain
evidence, Denzil had nothing to do but retire from an awkward position
as gracefully as he could.
"And now, sir," said Ferruci, who had followed him out of the shop, "you
come with me, please."
"Where to?" asked Lucian gloomily.
"To my friend--to my rooms. I have shown I did not buy the cloak you
speak of. Now we must find my friend, Dr. Jorce, to tell you I was not
at Jersey Street when you say."
"Is Dr. Jorce at your rooms?"
"I asked him to call about this time," said Ferruci, glancing at his
watch. "When Mrs. Vrain speak to me of what you say I wish to defend
myself, so I write last night to my friend to talk with you this day. I
get his telegram saying he would come at two hours."
Lucian glanced in his turn at his watch. "Half-past one," he said,
beckoning to a cab. "Very good, Count, we will just have time to get
back to your place."
"And what you think now?" said Ferruci, with a malicious twinkle in his
eyes.
"I do not know what to think," replied Lucian dismally, "save that it is
a strange coincidence that _another_ Italian should have bought the
cloak."
The Count shrugged his shoulders as they got into the hansom, but he did
not speak until they were well on their way back to Marquis Street. He
then looked thoughtfully at his companion. "I do not believe
coincidence," he said abruptly, "but in design."
"What do you mean, Count? I do not quite follow you."
"Some one who knows I love Mrs. Vrain wish to injure me," said the
Italian rapidly, "and so make theirself like me to buy that cloak. Ah!
you see? But he could not make himself as tall as me. Oh, yes, sir, I am
sure it is so."
"Do you know any one who would disguise himself so as to implicate you
in the murder?"
"No." Ferruci shook his head. "I cannot think of one man--not one."
"Do you know a man called Wrent?" asked Lucian abruptly.
"I do not, Mr. Denzil," said Ferruci at once. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I thought he might be the man to disguise himself. But no," added
Lucian, remembering Rhoda's account of Wrent's white hair and beard, "it
cannot be him. He would not sacrifice his beard to carry out the plan;
in fact he could not without attracting Rhoda's attention."
"Rhoda! Wrent! What strange names you talk of!" cried Ferruci
vivaciously.
"No stranger than that of your friend Jorce."
Ferruci laughed. "Oh, he is altogether most strange. You see."
It was as the Italian said. Dr. Jorce--who was waiting for them in the
Count's room--proved to be a small, dried-up atom of a man, who looked
as though all the colour had been bleached out of him. At first sight he
was more like a monkey than a man, owing to his slight, queer figure
and agile movements; but a closer examination revealed that he had a
clever face, and a pair of most remarkable eyes. These were of a
steel-grey hue, with an extraordinary intensity of gaze; and when he
fixed them on Lucian at the moment of introduction the young barrister
felt as though he were being mesmerised.
For the rest, Jorce was dressed sombrely in black cloth, was extremely
voluble and vivacious, and impressed Lucian with the idea that he was
less a fellow mortal than a changeling from fairyland. Quite an
exceptional man was Dr. Jorce, and, as the Italian said, "most strange."
"My good friend," said Ferruci, laying his stern hand on the shoulder of
this oddity, "this gentleman wishes you to decide a--what do you
say?--bet?"
"A bet!" cried the little doctor in a deep bass voice, but with some
indignation. "Do I understand, Count, that you have brought me all the
way from my place in Hampstead to decide a bet?"
"Ah, but sir, it is a bet most important," said Ferruci, with a smile.
"This Mr. Denzil declares that he saw me in Pim--Pim--what?"
"In Pimlico," said Lucian, seeing that Ferruci could not pronounce the
word. "I say that the Count was in Pimlico on Christmas Eve."
"You are wrong, sir," said Jorce, with a wave of his skinny hand. "My
friend, Count Ferruci, was in my house at Hampstead on that evening."
"Was he?" remarked Lucian, astonished at this confident assertion. "And
at what time did he leave?"
"He did not leave till next morning. My friend the Count remained under
my roof all night, and left at twelve o'clock on Christmas morning."
"So you see," said Ferruci airily to Lucian, "that I could not have done
what you think, as that was done--by what you said--between eleven and
twelve on that night."
"Was the Count with you at ten o'clock on that evening?" asked Denzil.
"Certainly he was; so you have lost your bet, Mr. Denzil. Sorry to bring
you such bad fortune, but truth is truth, you know."
"Would you repeat this statement, if I wished?"
"Why not? Call on me at any time. 'The Haven, Hampstead'; that will
always find me."
"Ah, but I do not think it will be necessary for Mr. Denzil to call on
you, sir," interposed the Count rapidly. "You can always come to me.
Well, Mr. Denzil, are you satisfied?"
"I am," replied Lucian. "I have lost my bet, Count, and I apologise.
Good-day, Dr. Jorce, and thank you. Count Ferruci, I wish you good-bye."
"Not even _au revoir_?" said Ferruci mockingly.
"That depends upon the future," replied Lucian coolly, and forthwith
went away in low spirits at the downfall of his hopes. Far from
revealing the mystery of Vrain's death, his late attempts to solve it
had resulted in utter failure. Lydia had cleared herself; Ferruci had
proved himself innocent; and Lucian could not make up his mind what was
now to be done.
In this dilemma he sought out Diana, as, knowing from experience that
where a man's logic ends a woman's instinct begins, he thought she might
suggest some way out of the difficulty. On arriving at the Royal John
Hotel he found that Diana was waiting for him with great impatience; and
hardly giving herself time to greet him, she asked how he had fared in
his interview with Count Ferruci.
"Has that man been arrested, Mr. Denzil?"
"No, Miss Vrain. I regret to say that he has not been arrested. To speak
plainly, he has, so far as I can see, proved himself innocent."
"Innocent! And the evidence against him?"
"Is utterly useless. I brought him face to face with the woman who sold
the cloak, and she denies that Ferruci bought it."
"But she said the buyer was an Italian."
"She did, and dark, with a moustache. All the same, she did not
recognise the Count. She says the buyer was not so tall, and spoke worse
English."
"Ferruci could make his English bad if he liked."
"Probably; but he could not make his stature shorter. No, Miss Vrain, I
am afraid that our Italian friend, in spite of the evidence against him,
did not buy the cloak. That he resembles the purchaser in looks and
nationality is either a coincidence or----"
"Or what?" seeing that Lucian hesitated.
"Or design," finished the barrister. "And, indeed, the Count himself is
of this opinion. He believes that some one who wished to get him into
trouble personated him."
"Has he any suspicions as to whom the person may be?"
"He says not, and I believe him; for if he did suspect any particular
individual he certainly would gain nothing by concealment of the fact."
"H'm!" said Diana thoughtfully, "so that denial of the saleswoman
disposes of the cloak's evidence. What about the Count's presence in
Jersey Street on Christmas Eve?"
"He was not there!"
"But Rhoda, the servant, saw him both in the house and in the back
yard!"
"She saw a dark man, with a moustache, but she could not say that he was
a foreigner. She does not know Ferruci, remember. The man she saw must
have been the same as the purchaser of the cloak."
"Where does Ferruci say he was?"
"At Hampstead, visiting a friend."
"Oh! And what does the friend say?"
"He declares that the Count was with him on Christmas Eve and stayed all
night."
"That is very convenient evidence for the Count, Mr. Denzil. Who is this
accommodating friend?"
"A doctor called Jorce."
"Can his word be trusted?"
"So far as I can judge from his looks and a short acquaintance, I should
say so."
"It was half-past eight when the servant saw the dark man run out of
the yard?"
"Yes!"
"And at half-past eight Ferruci was at Hampstead in the house of Dr.
Jorce?"
"Not that I know of," said Lucian, remembering that he had asked Jorce
the question rather generally than particularly, "but the doctor
declared that Ferruci was with him at ten o'clock on that evening, and
did not leave him until next morning; so as your father was killed
between eleven and twelve, Ferruci must be innocent."
"It would seem so, if this doctor is to be believed," muttered Diana
reflectively, "but judging by what you have told me, there is nothing to
show that Ferruci was _not_ in Pimlico at eight-thirty, and was _not_
the man whom the servant saw."
"Well, certainly he could get from Pimlico to Hampstead in an hour and a
half. However, the main point about all this evidence is, that neither
Ferruci nor Lydia Vrain killed your father."
"No! no! that seems clear. Still! still! they know about it. Oh, I am
sure of it. It must have been Ferruci who was in Pimlico on that night.
If so, he knows who Wrent is, and why he stayed in Jersey Street."
"Perhaps, although he denies ever hearing the name of Wrent. But I would
not be surprised if the man who could solve the mystery is----"
"Who?--who?"
"Doctor Jorce himself. I feel sure of it."