AT THE BOW STREET POLICE STATION.
"'We have but little time for uninterrupted conversation,' said our
reporter, still speaking in French, 'and must make the best of it. At
the station we shall not be private, as we are now. An explanation is
due from me first. I am, as you have heard, a properly qualified
solicitor, and can therefore defend you legally, although at present I
see little to defend. But the fact that I am your authorized legal
adviser should strengthen your confidence in me, for whatever
information of a secret nature I receive from you I am bound
professionally to respect. You see, therefore, that your interests are
safe in my hands.'
"'I am truly grateful to you,' said the woman.
"'Intended for the Law,' continued our reporter, 'I do not follow it
as a profession. I am a journalist, engaged upon the _Evening Moon_.
You start. The fact of my being so engaged should still further
increase your confidence in me. Now, perhaps, you can understand why I
am so much interested in the advertisement cut from our paper which
you carry about with you. May I accept it that you have read what has
been published in the _Evening Moon_ concerning the death and strange
disappearance of M. Felix?'
"'I have read all that has appeared in the paper,' said the woman, who
was paying the closest attention to what he was saying,
"'Thank you for the frank admission. To my hands has been entrusted
the task of clearing up this strange affair, and of bringing it
forward to the full light of day. That is only a portion of my
mission. I have taken it upon myself to so sift the matter to the
bottom, that, if any innocent person has been wronged, his innocence
shall be made clear, and also to punish the guilty. Where there is
mystery there is generally crime, and where there is crime the
presumption is that innocent beings have been brought to sorrow.
Whether right Or wrong, I have the firmest conviction that there is
some story of wrong-doing underlying this mystery, and if I am
right--which time and good fortune can alone establish--this
wrong-doing must have inflicted suffering upon innocent persons. In
opening my mind to you upon these issues I may be, in your estimation,
speaking at random of details of which you are ignorant, and indeed of
details which exist only in my imagination, and have no foundation in
fact; but I take the chance of that, believing that no harm can be
done by a perfectly open confession of the motives which are urging me
on in the elucidation of a mystery which has caused, and still is
causing, a great deal of excitement. You will now understand why the
discovery surprised me that you should have taken the trouble to so
carefully preserve the advertisement which slipped from your pocket.
It would scarcely have been done by one whom it did not in some way
concern, and it remains to you to enlighten me upon this point. Let me
assure you that the advertisement was inserted in good faith, and that
its terms will be scrupulously observed. Legal assistance is offered,
and will be given, and money will be spent if any good purpose can be
served by it. That is all I have time to say in explanation of the
interest, to you in all probability the singular interest, I have
taken in our meeting to-night. The whole of this evening I have been
engaged in following up a clew connected with the disappearance of the
body of M. Felix, of which, as you read the _Evening Moon_, you are
doubtless aware.'
"'Yes,' said the woman, 'I have read of it.'
"'I am on the track, and I venture to affirm that I shall eventually
succeed in my purpose. I have already more than one ally. May I hope
that I have gained another?'
"'I do not know,' said the woman, and though they were walking now
through unlighted spaces and he could not see her face, our reporter
divined from her broken tones that she was crying. 'I cannot say. All
is dark before me; there is not a star in the future to light me on my
way.'
"'Do not give up hope,' said our reporter. 'I am by your side to help
you. You and your daughter, two women, alone in London as I
understand, without a friend, can do very little, but an earnest,
willing man, who has influence and means to back him up, may do much.'
"In his sincere sympathy our reporter pressed the woman's arm, and she
uttered an exclamation of pain.
"Have I hurt you?' he asked, hurriedly.
"'My arm has been injured,' replied the woman, biting her lip so that
she should not repeat the cry; 'it has been cut to the bone.'
"'I am very sorry. Is it your left arm?'
"'Yes.'
"'Was it recently done?--but I beg your pardon for questioning you so
closely.'
"'You have the right to question me. It was done a few days ago.'
"'You are unfortunate in more ways than one.'
"'Truly, truly,' sighed the woman. 'Your voice, your words are kind,
but I can think of nothing but my dear child. She is waiting for me,
expecting me, listening for my footsteps on the stairs. If I could
escape--if I could get away unseen!'
"'You must not dream of it; you would plunge yourself into deeper
trouble; and my word is pledged.'
"'Yes, yes, I forgot; I am ungrateful.'
"'I will do all I can for you at the Police Station; if it is
possible, you shall in a few minutes go to your daughter; but I must
not disguise from you the chances are very small.'
"'But you will try--you will try?'
"'Yes, I will try; I will stand bail for you; I can do no more just
now.'
"'You have done much, more than I can repay. If they are cruel enough
to detain me, how long shall I have to wait?'
"'Till to-morrow morning. You will be brought up before a magistrate.'
"'It is a terrible disgrace, a terrible, terrible disgrace! But they
cannot punish me if I have done nothing wrong?'
"'No, they cannot punish you unless they can prove something against
you which will render you liable.'
"'Can they upon suspicion?'
"'Upon mere suspicion, no.'
"'When I appear before the magistrate, will you be there?'
"'You may rely upon me. I shall be there to represent you legally, as
I am willing now to assist you privately. We are near the station.
Have you nothing more to say to me?'
"'Did you tell me that I should be searched at the station, or is it
only my fear?'
"'It is almost certain you will be searched.'
"'They must find nothing upon me; they must not know who I am, or my
daughter's happiness is wrecked.'
"Hastily and stealthily she extracted from her pocket a key, a purse
and a handkerchief, and slipped them into his hands. As hastily and
stealthily he slipped them into his own pocket. The policeman had not
observed the proceeding.
"'Will you not require you handkerchief?' asked our reporter.
"'I must do without it. My initials are worked upon it, and it might
lead to my identification. They must not, they must not know!'
"This remark would have seriously disturbed our reporter if he had not
made up his mind to believe thoroughly, for the time being, everything
the woman told him, and to leave it to the future to decide whether
she was or was not deceiving him.
"'Should I be detained,' said the woman, 'you will go to my daughter
and assure her I am in no danger?'
"'I will go with pleasure.'
"'You will not wait till morning? You will go at once?'
"'I will go straight from the station.'
"'Heaven reward you! Believe a suffering, much-wronged woman, sir, your
confidence is not misplaced.'
"They had not time to exchange another word; they were at the station
door.
"The Inspector was within, taking the night charges, and our reporter
saw with satisfaction that it was an officer with whom he was
acquainted.
"'Good-evening, Mr. Jealous,' he said.
"Inspector Jealous looked up. 'Hallo,' he said, 'what brings you
here?'
"'I come on behalf of this lady,' replied our reporter, 'against whom
a policeman on duty on the Thames Embankment has a groundless charge
to make.'
"The Inspector's eyes wandered from our reporter to the lady. The
policeman came forward and laid his charge in a temperate manner.
Inspector Jealous listened in silence.
"'I thought at first,' said the policeman, 'that it was a child she
had thrown into the river, but the gentleman here thinks the other
way, and he is as likely to be right as I am. Of her attempt at
suicide I am certain.'
"'That is a distinct charge,' said Inspector Jealous, dipping his pen
in the ink. 'The bundle, whatever it is, can, I dare say, be
recovered.' He called a constable, and gave him some whispered
instructions; after which the man left the office. 'You can join him
presently on the Embankment. Do you know the woman?' Pinned to
formula, Inspector Jealous ignored our reporter's reference to her as
a lady.
"'Look up,' said our reporter to the woman; 'you have nothing to be
ashamed of.'
"Thus assured and comforted the woman raised her face, so that
everyone in the office could see it clearly. Tears were hanging on her
eyelids, and there was a piteous expression upon the trembling mouth.
"'I don't know her,' said the policeman, honestly.
"The constables in the office craned their necks, then shook their
heads.
"'She's no better than she ought to be! She's no better than I am! I'm
as good as her any day of the week! Go to blazes, the lot of yer!'
"The interruption came from a tipsy woman sitting on a bench.
Inspector Jealous made a slight motion with his head, and the tipsy
creature was taken away. Then Inspector Jealous turned to our
reporter.
"'I have nothing to say against the constable making the charge,' said
our reporter; 'he has performed his duty conscientiously, only he is
mistaken. I was an eyewitness of the affair, and I say that there was
nothing thrown in the river that the lady had not a right to throw
into it--the property being her own--and that she did not attempt to
commit suicide. Under these circumstances I trust you will not subject
her to the indignity of being locked up. She will appear in the
morning; I will be her recognizance.'
"Inspector Jealous nodded his head, and began to dissect.
"'What was in the bundle?' he asked of our reporter.
"'I have told you,' replied our reporter, feeling himself
immediately at a disadvantage; 'her own property.'
"'What was its nature?'
"Manifestly this was a question which our reporter could not answer.
"'You must excuse my asking,' said the Inspector, 'how you come to know
it was her property?'
"'She told me as much.'
"This time, instead of nodding his head, Inspector Jealous shook it.
"'I am afraid I cannot accept that. What is her name?'
"Another question which our reporter could not answer.
"'Where does she live?' pursued the logical and inexorable Inspector.
"Our reporter felt the ground slipping from under him. These two or
three simple questions were like sledge-hammer blows, and he was
staggered.
"'Surely,' he said, lamely parrying, 'you do not question my honesty
in the matter?'
"'Not for a moment,' said Inspector Jealous, with perfect good temper,
'but you must see yourself how it stands. Here is a direct charge
made----'
"'And denied,' interposed our reporter.
"'Exactly,' assented Inspector Jealous; 'but it is usual, you know, to
deny such charges, and the authority to decide which side is right is
not vested in me. There is not only the charge of attempted suicide,
but there is that bundle that was thrown into the river. I am very
sorry, but----'
"He did not finish the sentence, but there was no misunderstanding his
meaning.
"'You must submit,' said our reporter to the woman, and then turned to
Inspector Jealous. 'I may have a few private words with her, I
suppose, out of hearing of the officers present?'
"'Certainly,' replied Inspector Jealous, 'after I have entered the
charge; and although I shall be compelled to detain her here, I
promise to make her as comfortable as possible for the night.'
"'Thank you,' said our reporter; 'I was about to ask you to do so.'
"Only one charge was entered in the book, that of attempted suicide,
the constable's suspicions as to the bundle the woman threw into the
river being deemed of too vague a nature to frame an accusation upon.
"'Your name?' asked the Inspector of the woman.
"At this question she was seized with a sudden trembling; her white
face grew whiter; her hands wandered feebly, aimlessly around, and had
it not been for the support afforded her by our reporter, who held her
up, she might have fallen insensible to the ground.
"'Do not give way,' he whispered, 'think of your daughter.'"