The following morning Reginald Davis, resolved to unearth the mystery of
10 Cathcart Square, stood in the private room of Mr Bryant of Scotland
Yard.
He had easily overcome his younger sister's scruples, her terror at
having to give evidence in a court of justice, and being forced to
disclose certain transactions not too creditable to herself. She had
come to see from the point of view artfully suggested by Davis, that, on
the whole, it would be a very good advertisement. It might even take
her from her place in the chorus to a small acting part, and then her
fortune would be made. She might be able to come across another rich
man whom she would like well enough to marry, a man quite different from
the somewhat invertebrate Roddie.
Bryant looked up from his papers, and regarded the young man with his
keen and steady gaze. Davis's good looks, and frank air impressed him
favourably.
"Well, my man, what do you want with me? I don't usually see strangers
who approach me in such a mysterious fashion. You would neither state
your name nor business, only said vaguely that you wanted to interview
me on a matter of great urgency."
"I wished to keep my business for your private ear, sir. Can you throw
your mind back to a certain gruesome affair that happened at 10 Cathcart
Square?"
"Certainly, although I was not in charge of the matter. The man was
identified as Reginald Davis, who was wanted on a charge of murder, the
circumstantial evidence against him being very strong; the verdict
returned was one of suicide. If I recollect rightly, he had broken a
pane of glass in one of the back windows of the house, unhasped the
latch of the window, and cut his throat upstairs after he got inside.
The facts were accepted at the time as conclusive evidence of his
guilt."
"And you recollect, sir, what happened a short time ago with regard to
the crime of which Reginald Davis was accused?"
"Perfectly. The real criminal has confessed. And this poor devil,
overwhelmed no doubt by the circumstantial evidence which told so
strongly against him, acted too hastily."
"If the police had caught him, he would probably have been hanged by
now," said Davis a little bitterly.
Mr Bryant looked a little uneasy. "I should say it is more than
probable from what I remember of the case; well, you know, the law makes
mistakes at times, I will admit."
"And juries at inquests make mistakes at times, also," remarked Davis
quietly. "This particular jury made a mistake. The dead man was no
more Reginald Davis than you are."
It was not easy to startle Mr Bryant, he had been through too many
strange experiences for that, but he exhibited a mild surprise as he put
the question: "And what authority have you for saying that?"
"I think you will admit the best. I, who stand before you, am the
Reginald Davis who was wanted on that false charge of murder, and
branded by that intelligent jury as a suicide."
"You can prove this, of course. I mean that you are the real Reginald
Davis."
"Of course I can, sir; I can bring a dozen witnesses, if necessary, half
of whom have known me since a boy."
Needless to say that a man of Bryant's experience did not, as a rule,
believe one quarter of what he was told. But this man's face--this
man's tones--convinced him that he was listening to the truth.
He rose from his chair. "Wait here a moment, please, while I hunt up
the particulars of this case. As I told you just now, I was not in
charge of it, and I should like to refresh my memory as to certain
details."
He came back after a few moments. "I know it all now, from A to Z. You
were identified by a married sister, a Mrs Masters, who gave some
details of your career, which did not seem to have been a very healthy
one. She was also shown a letter which you were supposed to have
written to the Coroner, and she believed it to be in your handwriting.
This wants some explanation, I think, Mr Davis, to call you by the name
which you say is your right one."
"Quite so, sir," answered Reginald composedly. "It certainly requires a
good deal of explanation, but if you will listen to me with a little
patience, I think I can convince you that the thing is more natural than
it appears." The Inspector threw himself back in his chair: "I have no
doubt it was your sister who identified you, but how did she come to
mistake the actual suicide for you?"
And Mr Davis gave the explanation which Bryant might believe or not, or
believe in part, as he chose.
"My sister Caroline was deeply attached to me. She was in despair when
she heard that I was suspected of murder, and was being hunted by the
police. As day after day, week after week, went by, and there was no
news of my capture, she got it firmly fixed in her mind that I had
committed suicide. She hunted the newspapers every morning to find some
paragraph that would confirm her fears. And then one day she read about
what had happened at Cathcart Square."
Mr Bryant was now deeply interested. He leaned forward in his chair,
and his attitude betokened his eagerness.
"It is possible that her mind had become a little unhinged by her
anxiety. She expected to find me, and she found a man who might have
passed for my twin brother. So she tells me now that I have revealed
myself, for, of course, I lay very low until this belated confession of
the real murderer."
Bryant only made a brief comment on this particular portion of the
narrative which Davis was twisting about with some skill. Of course,
Mrs Masters had not been deceived by the accidental resemblance, but in
pretending to be she had given that brother a new lease of life.
"You say that the man was so like you that the sister, who had known you
from childhood, was ready to swear he was her brother?"
"There is no doubt, sir, that at the time her mind was clouded. She
went there expecting to find me, and as a not altogether unnatural
result, she found what she expected."
"We will let that pass," said the Inspector drily. "No doubt, under
extraordinary circumstances, strange hallucinations are apt to occur.
It was very fortunate for you that your sister made that mistake, and
that it was accepted. As you admitted just now, if you had been caught
and tried it would have gone very hardly with you."
Whatever Bryant thought in his own mind, it was evident that he was
prepared to admit that Mrs Masters had acted in good faith when she
swore that the dead man was her brother. Davis could see there would be
no trouble on that score.
"Now we come to the letter," pursued Davis. "I questioned my sister
very closely about that last night. She says she was so overwhelmed
with the discovery that she read that letter through a mist, as it were,
but she is positive that it closely resembled my handwriting."
"Another hallucination, I suppose, or an accidental resemblance. Well,
if you will leave a specimen of your own calligraphy with us, we can
compare them," said Bryant.
"And I suppose, sir, you will have the body exhumed, for the purpose of
discovering who the man really was?"
"I suppose so," replied the Inspector a little unwillingly. "Although I
don't expect we shall ever find out. Nobody came forward at the time
when your sister made that mistake. Is it likely anybody will come
forward now? Some poor derelict, weary of life I suppose, without kith
or kin to claim him at the end. There are scores of suicides in the
year, Mr Davis, who are buried unidentified."
He added, after a moment's pause: "Of course, before taking any such
steps, we must formally prove, from unimpeachable testimony, that not
only are you Reginald Davis, but the particular Reginald Davis who was
falsely accused of murder."
"I quite understand," answered Davis a little stiffly. "Before I leave
this room, I will indicate the quarters where you can obtain the
information you want."
"Then, when I have verified that, I will ask you to come and see me
again." Bryant's manner as he said these words, indicated that the
interview was at an end.
But Davis kept his seat, he had not finished yet.
"May I take the liberty of detaining you for a few moments longer, sir,
to impress upon you the importance of having that body exhumed? You may
be correct in your theory it is that of some poor derelict, but I have a
different theory altogether."
The Inspector looked sharply at him, and drew a deep breath. "Ah, then,
you have some knowledge of something: your visit to me has been leading
up to this, eh?"
"No actual knowledge, sir, but a surmise that has, I venture to think,
some foundation. I have two sisters. The elder one I have already
spoken of to you."
There was a slight note of sarcasm in the Inspector's voice as he
replied, "Yes, Mrs Masters, whose fortunate mistake was of such
excellent service to you, during the time you were waiting for the real
criminal's confession." Davis did not suffer himself to resent this.
Of course, a man of the world like Bryant did not believe in this
camouflaged story. Mrs Masters was a clever young woman, and had taken
advantage of an accidental resemblance to get her brother out of
jeopardy.
"My other sister, Iris Deane, is in the chorus of the Frivolity Theatre.
I don't suppose you have ever heard of her?"
Mr Bryant shook his head. He knew a great deal about all classes of
criminals, but young ladies in the chorus of the Frivolity, or any other
theatre, were not in his line.
"She was at Mrs Masters's house last night. She came over especially
to welcome me, on my re-introduction to the world which I was supposed
to have quitted. She made to us a very startling confession, and that
confession is intimately associated with the events at Cathcart Square."
And this time, Bryant was genuinely surprised, and was at no pains to
conceal it. Reginald Davis--he was beginning to believe in the man's
identity now--was evidently a member of a very remarkable family.
"You astound me, Mr Davis. Yourself and both your sisters mixed up
with what happened there! It sounds like a romance. Pray proceed!"
Davis told the story as Iris had told him, carefully concealing the
names of the two men concerned in it for the moment. He was careful to
point out that on the night of the suicide she could establish a
complete and unquestioned alibi.
Bryant turned on him sharply. "It occurs to me that you don't think it
was a suicide, Mr Davis."
"I don't, sir, and at present I can't quite tell you why."
"But you must have some reason for thinking that," said Bryant in the
same sharp tone.
"My only reason is this--if the man who was buried under the name of
Reginald Davis is the man I believe him to be, there was no earthly
reason why he should commit suicide. To the best of my belief, he was
murdered for some motive that I cannot guess, and the murderer, after
cutting his throat, put the razor in his stiffening hand."
"It is a theory worth thinking about," said Bryant, who was beginning to
appreciate his visitor very much. "And now, Mr Davis, the name of the
man whom your sister met in the empty house?"
"I have kept that to the last, to surprise you. You will know the name,
but I don't suppose you ever came across the man. It was Major Hugh
Murchison."
At this startling announcement, the Inspector literally jumped from his
chair.
"But I do know Major Hugh Murchison," he cried. "He was in my office
not so very long ago. Let me see, when was it?"
He turned to his diary and verified the date, and gave it to Reginald
Davis. It was longer back than he thought.
"And you have not seen him since that day?"
"No," answered the Inspector. "Wait a moment till I ring up my friend
Parkinson. I couldn't undertake the job he called on, as it was quite a
private matter. I handed it over to Parkinson."
He rang up his old friend and former colleague. Davis could gather
enough from the conversation on Bryant's side to be sure that a
considerable interval had elapsed since Parkinson had seen his client.
Bryant sat down in his chair. "Mr Davis, I cannot say how much obliged
I am to you for your visit, and the information you have given me. Now,
I know a great deal more than you do about the proceedings and movements
of Major Murchison, I know on what business he was engaged, in addition
to that little matter of your sister's. I will go into the inquiries
concerning yourself, and please hold yourself at my disposal, give me an
address where I can communicate with you readily."
Davis did so, and said good-bye to the Inspector.
After he had left, Bryant gave instructions he was not to be disturbed
for an hour. And during that hour he did the hardest bit of thinking he
had ever done in his life.
And now that Davis had mentioned it, the man did bear a superficial
resemblance to Hugh Murchison.