STILL MORE
Blenkinsop's sudden announcement, not altogether unexpected by
Hetherwick as a result of the last few minutes' proceedings, seemed to
strike Matherfield with all the force of a lightning-like illumination.
His mouth opened; his eyes widened; he turned on Hetherwick as if,
having been lost for a while in a baffling maze, he had suddenly seen a
way pointed out to him.
"Oh, that's it, is it?" he exclaimed. "A twin sister, eh? Then--but
go on, Mr. Blenkinsop; I'm beginning to see things."
"The matter is doubtless puzzling--to outsiders," responded Blenkinsop.
"To clear it up, I shall have to go into some family history. Lady
Riversreade and Madame Listorelle are, I repeat, twin sisters. They
are the daughters of a man who in his time was captain of various
merchant ships--the old sailing ships--and who knocked about the world
a good deal. He married an American woman, and his two daughters were
born in Galveston, Texas. They were educated in America--but there's
no need to go into the particulars of their early lives----"
"There's a certain particular that I should like to have some
information about, if you please," interrupted Hetherwick. "The Mrs.
Whittingham who was at Sellithwaite ten years ago had the figure of a
snake tattooed round a wrist, in various colours. She wore a black
velvet band to cover it. Now----"
Blenkinsop turned to his partner with a smile.
"I thought that would come up," he said. "Well Mr. Hetherwick, if you
want to know about that matter, both sisters are tattooed in the same
fashion. That was a bit of work of the old sea-dog, their father--a
fancy, and a very foolish one, of his. He had the children tattooed in
that way when they were quite young, much to their disgust when they
grew older. Each lady wears a covering velvet armlet--as I know."
"Proceed, if you please," said Hetherwick. "That's cleared up!"
"I gather that you've been making inquiries on your own account,"
observed Blenkinsop. "Well, since we're determined to tell you
everything, we'll be as good as our word. So let's come to the
Sellithwaite affair. You've probably heard only one version--you may
have got it from Hannaford; you may have got it from old newspapers;
you may have got it on the spot--it's immaterial to us. But you
haven't heard the version of the lady who was then Mrs. Whittingham.
That puts a rather different complexion on things. For reasons of her
own, with which we've nothing to do, Mrs. Whittingham--her proper and
legal name at that time--stayed at Sellithwaite for a while. She had
various transactions with a jeweller there; eventually she bought from
him a diamond necklace at a price--three thousand nine hundred pounds.
She gave him a cheque for the amount, fully expecting that by the time
it reached her bankers in Manchester certain funds for her credit would
have reached them from America. There was a hitch--the funds didn't
arrive--the cheque was returned. The jeweller approached the
police--Hannaford, their superintendent there, got out a warrant and
tracked down Mrs. Whittingham. He arrested her, and she got away from
him, left England, and returned to America. For some time she was in
financial straits. But she did not forget her liabilities, and
eventually she sent the Sellithwaite jeweller the agreed price of the
diamond necklace, and eight years' interest at five per cent. on the
amount. She holds his formal receipt for the money she sent him. So
much for that episode--whether Hannaford ever knew of the payment or
not, I don't know. We are rather inclined to believe that he didn't.
But--the necklace was paid for, and paid for handsomely."
"I may as well say that I'm aware of that," remarked Hetherwick. "I
have been informed of the fact at first hand."
"Very good. I see you have been at Sellithwaite," said Blenkinsop with
another of his shrewd smiles. "Now then, we come to what is far more
pertinent--recent events. The situation as regards Lady Riversreade
and Madame Listorelle some little time ago--say, when Hannaford came to
town--was this: Lady Riversreade, widow of Sir John Riversreade, had
inherited his considerable fortune, was settled at Riversreade Court in
Surrey, and had founded a Home for wounded officers close by, of which
my friend and partner, Major Penteney there, is London representative.
Her sister, Madame Listorelle, had a flat at Paddington and another in
New York. She was chiefly in New York, but she was sometimes in London
and sometimes in Paris. As a matter of fact, Madame Listorelle is an
expert in precious stones, and a dealer in them. But she has recently
become engaged to be married to a well-known peer, an elderly, very
wealthy man--which possibly has a good deal to do with what I am going
to tell you."
"Probably, I think, Blenkinsop--not possibly," suggested Penteney.
"Probably!--decidedly."
"Probably, then--probably!" assented Blenkinsop. He leaned forward
across his desk towards the two listeners. "Now, gentlemen, your
closest attention, for I'm coming to the really important points of
this matter--those that affect the police particularly. About a
fortnight ago Lady Riversreade, being in her private office at her
home, close by Riversreade Court, was waited upon by a man who sent in
a card bearing the name of Dr. Cyprian Baseverie. Lady Riversreade
thought that the presenter of this card was some medical man who wished
to inspect the Home, and he was admitted to see her. She soon found
out that he had come on no such errand as she had imagined. He told
her a strange tale. He let her know, to begin with, that he was fully
conversant with that episode in her sister's life which related to
Sellithwaite and the diamond necklace. Lady Riversreade, who knew all
about it, felt that the man's information had been gained at first
hand. He also let her know that Madame Listorelle's whereabouts and
engagement were familiar to him; in short, he showed that he was well
up in the present family history, both as regards Lady Riversreade and
her sister. Then he let his hand be seen more plainly. He told Lady
Riversreade that a certain gang of men in London had become acquainted
with the facts of the Sellithwaite matter, the warrant, the arrest, the
escape, and that they were also aware of Madame Listorelle's engagement
to Lord--we will leave his name out at present, or refer to him as Lord
X--and that they wanted a price for their silence. In other words,
they were determined on blackmail. If they were not paid their price,
they were going to Lord X, with all the facts, to tell him that he was
engaged to a woman who, as they would put it, was still liable by the
law of the land to arrest and prosecution for fraud."
"Isn't she?" asked Matherfield suddenly. "No time-limit in these sort
of cases, I think, Mr. Blenkinsop. Liable ten or twenty or thirty
years after--I think!"
"I've already said that the Sellithwaite affair was one of account,"
replied Blenkinsop. "There was no intent to defraud, and the full
amount and interest on it was duly paid. But that's not the
point--we're dealing with the presentment of this to Lady Riversreade
by the man Baseverie. Of course, Lady Riversreade didn't know how the
law might be, and she was alarmed on her sister's account. She asked
Baseverie what he wanted. He told her plainly then that he could
settle these men--if she would find the money. He had, he said, a
certain hold over them which he could use to advantage. Lady
Riversreade wanted to know what that hold was; he wouldn't tell her.
She then wanted to know how much the men wanted; he wouldn't say. What
he did say was that if she would be prepared to find the money to
silence them, he, during the next week, would exert pressure on them to
accept a reasonable amount, and would call on her on the following
Friday and tell her what they would take. She made that appointment
with him."
"And, I hope, took advice in the meantime," muttered Matherfield.
"Ought to have handed him over there and then!"
"No--she took no advice in the meantime," continued Blenkinsop.
"Madame Listorelle was in Paris--Major Penteney was away on business in
the country. Lady Riversreade awaited Baseverie's next coming. When
he came he told her what his gang wanted--thirty thousand pounds. He
specified, too, the way in which it was to be paid--in a fashion which
would have prevented the payment being traced to the people who
received it. But now Lady Riversreade was more prepared--she had had
time to think. She expected Major Penteney next day; she also knew
that her sister would return from Paris on the following Monday. So
she told Baseverie that she would give him an answer on Monday evening
if he would make an appointment to meet her at some place in London.
Eventually they made an appointment at Vivian's, in Candlestick
Passage. Baseverie went away; next day Lady Riversreade told Major
Penteney all that had happened. As a result, he went with her to
Vivian's on Monday evening. They waited an hour beyond the fixed time.
Baseverie made no appearance----"
"Just so!" muttered Matherfield. "He wouldn't--the Major being there!"
"Perhaps," assented Blenkinsop. "Anyway, he didn't materialise. So
Lady Riversreade went away, leaving Major Penteney behind her. I may
say that he stopped there for some further time, keeping a sharp
look-out for the man whom Lady Riversreade had described in detail--a
remarkable man in appearance, I understand. But he never saw him."
"No!" exclaimed Matherfield cynically. "Of course he didn't! But she
would ha' done--if she'd gone alone!"
"Well, there it was," continued Blenkinsop. "Now for Lady Riversreade.
She drove to her sister's flat in Paddington, and found Madame
Listorelle just returned from Paris. She told her all that had
happened. Madame Listorelle determined to go to New York at once and
get certain papers from her flat there which would definitely establish
her absolute innocence in the Sellithwaite affair. Leaving Lady
Riversreade in the flat, Madame Listorelle set off for Southampton
before five o'clock next morning--yes?"
Matherfield, uttering a deep groan, smote his forehead.
"Aye!" he muttered. "Just so! To be sure! But go on!--go on, sir."
"You seem to be highly surprised," said Blenkinsop. "However--at
Southampton she booked a passage in a name she always used when
travelling--her maiden name--by the _Tartaric_, sailing that afternoon.
That done, she went to a hotel for lunch. Then she began to think
things over more calmly. And in the end, instead of sailing for New
York, she went back, cancelled her booking, and set off by train to
Lord X's country seat in Wiltshire, and told him the whole story. She
wired to her sister as to what she had done, and in the evening wrote
to her. Meanwhile, Lady Riversreade had returned, early in the
morning, to Riversreade Court. Major Penteney went with her. He was
confident that Baseverie would turn up. He did turn up! But he did
not see Lady Riversreade. He saw Major Penteney--alone. And Major
Penteney, after a little plain talk to him, metaphorically kicked him
out, and told him to do his worst. He went--warned that if ever he
showed himself there again he would be handed over to the police."
Matherfield groaned again, but the reason of his distress was obviously
of a different nature.
"A mistake, sir--a great mistake!" he exclaimed, shaking his head at
Penteney. "You shouldn't have let that fellow go like that! You
should have handed him over there and then. Go? You don't know where
he may be!"
"Oh, well, we're not quite such fools as we seem, Matherfield," he
replied. "When I went down to Dorking with Lady Riversreade on Tuesday
morning I had with me a smart man whom I can trust. He saw Baseverie
arrive; he saw Baseverie leave. I think we shall be able to put our
fingers on Baseverie at any moment. Our man won't lose sight of him!"
"Oh, well, that's better, sir, that's much better!" said Matherfield.
"That's all right! A chap like that should be watched night and day.
But now, gentlemen, about this reward! Your notion of offering it
sprang, of course, from this Baseverie business. But--how, exactly?
Did he mention Hannaford to Lady Riversreade?"
"No!" replied Blenkinsop. "I'll tell you how we came to issue the
advertisement. All Sunday afternoon and evening, and for some time on
Monday morning, Lady Riversreade, Major Penteney, and myself were in
close consultation about this affair. I'll tell you at once how and
why we connected it with the poisoning of Hannaford, of which, of
course, all of us had read in the newspapers."
"Aye!--how, now?" asked Matherfield.
"Because of this," answered Blenkinsop. He tapped his desk to
emphasise his words, watching Matherfield keenly as he spoke. "Because
of this: Baseverie told Lady Riversreade that the gang of blackmailers
had in their possession the original warrant for Mrs. Whittingham's
arrest!"
Hetherwick felt himself impelled to jump in his chair, to exclaim
loudly. He repressed the inclination, but Matherfield was less
reserved.
"Ah!" he exclaimed sharply. "Ah!"
"Baseverie made a false step there," continued Blenkinsop. "He should
never have told that. But he did--no doubt he thought a rich woman
easy prey. Now, of course, when we came to consult, we knew all about
the Sellithwaite affair; we knew, too, that Hannaford was
superintendent at the time and that he had the warrant; it was not at
all improbable that he had preserved it in his pocket-book, and had it
on him when he came to London. What, then, was the obvious
conclusion--that the men who now held that warrant had got it, probably
by foul means, from Hannaford, and were concerned in his murder?
And--more than that--did the gang of which Baseverie spoke really
exist? Wasn't it likely that the gang was--Baseverie?"
"Aye!" muttered Matherfield. "I've been thinking of that!"
"Yet," said Blenkinsop, "it was on the cards that there might be a
gang. We searched all the newspapers' accounts thoroughly. We found
that next to no information could be got as to Hannaford's movements
between the time of his arrival in London and the night of his death.
The one man who might have given more information about Hannaford's
doings on the evening preceding his death--Granett--was dead, evidently
poisoned, as Hannaford was poisoned. These were circumstances--they've
probably occurred to both of you--which led us to believe that
Hannaford had formed the acquaintance of folk here in town who were of
a shady sort. And one thing was absolutely certain--if the gang, or if
Baseverie, had really got that warrant, they had got it from Hannaford!
Eh?"
"That may be taken as certain," assented Hetherwick. "Either directly
or indirectly, it must have been from him."
"We think they, or he, got it directly from him," said Blenkinsop.
"Our theory is that if there is a gang Baseverie is an active, perhaps
the leading, member; that Hannaford was previously acquainted with him
or some other member; that Hannaford was with him or them on the
evening preceding his death; that he jokingly told them that he had
discovered the identity of Madame Listorelle with Mrs. Whittingham; and
that they poisoned him--and Granett, as being present--in order to keep
the secret to themselves and to blackmail Madame Listorelle and her
sister, Lady Riversreade. That's our general idea--and that's why, on
Monday noon, we issued the advertisement. We meant to keep things to
ourselves at first, and if substantial evidence came, to pass it over
to the police. Now you know everything. It may be, if there is a
gang, that one member will turn traitor for the sake of five thousand
pounds and if he can exculpate himself satisfactorily; it may be, too,
that matters will develop until we're in a position to fasten things on
Baseverie----"
"I still wish that either Lady Riversreade or Major Penteney had handed
him over to custody!" said Matherfield. "You see----"
"You've got to remember that Baseverie never demanded anything for
himself," interrupted Penteney. "He represented himself as a
go-between. But our man's safe enough--a retired detective, and----"
Just then a clerk opened the door and entered with a telegram.
Blenkinsop tore open the envelope, glanced hurriedly at the message and
flung the form on his desk with an exclamation of annoyance.
"This is from our man!" he said. "Sent from Dover. Followed Baseverie
down there--and Baseverie's slipped him!"