CREATES ANOTHER PROBLEM
The queer-looking old man sitting there before me, fidgeting slightly
in his chair, was indeed a very grotesque figure. From what he had
said, I could no longer doubt that he was aware of the whole of the
curious circumstances at Nice, and was likewise well acquainted with
the manner in which my relations with Ernest had been broken off.
How he had accomplished his manifestly clever espionage in Nice I
knew not. Certainly I had never noticed his presence, either in Nice
or in the Rooms at Monte Carlo. Besides, if he had presented himself
at the bureau of the Casino in such clothes as he wore at that moment
he would have been refused admission. A man is not allowed to enter
if his trousers are turned up in wet weather, while the cycling
tourist in knickerbockers is promptly shown the door by the
semi-military janitors. Yet from words he had let drop, he showed
himself intimate with all the features of the play of both Ulrica and
Ernest Cameron, and must have been present in the crowd around the
table.
The mystery surrounding the affair increased each moment. And now
this dwarfed old man, of whose name I was unaware, desired me to
combine my efforts with his.
With that end in view he settled to talk with me seriously, pointing
out that poor Reggie had been murdered secretly, and that it was my
duty to discover the truth, and bring his assassin to justice. I
admitted this, of course, but failed entirely to see what connection
the old fellow could have with it. To me, in my ignorance of the
truth, he appeared to have entered into a matter which did not in the
least concern him.
"From what I have already told the signorina, I think she will be
convinced that our interests are really identical," he said
presently, after we had been talking some time. "My own inquiries
have been independent of yours, but the result has been the same. To
put it plainly, neither of us has discovered any clue whatsoever. Is
not that the truth?"
"Unfortunately so," I exclaimed. "All my efforts have been
unavailing."
"That is the reason we must combine," he urged. "A woman cannot hope
to elucidate such a mystery unaided. It is impossible."
He was a crafty old fellow, this dwarfed person, with the grotesque
features. He eyed me strangely, and more than once I entertained
misgivings that he was not acting altogether straightforwardly.
Somehow, his surroundings did not strike me as those of a man who had
sufficient money to travel hither and thither in order to take up a
task in which the police had ignominiously failed. From his rather
reluctant admissions, I gathered that he was acting at the
instigation of poor Reggie's friends; yet he was not altogether
explicit upon that point, and a good deal of doubt existed in my mind.
"Well," I said at last, in order to bring matters to a point, "and
how do you suggest that we should combine our forces, Signor----" and
I hesitated purposely, in order to give him an opportunity of telling
me his name.
"Branca--Francesco Branca," he exclaimed, concluding my sentence.
"Well, Signor Branca, I am ready to listen to any suggestions you may
make in order successfully to trace the assassin."
"We must first understand each other perfectly," responded the queer
old man. "You have not yet told me the full extent of your
inquiries, or whether you entertain any suspicion of any person. You
have been yachting these past five weeks. Has nothing occurred to
arouse suspicion during that period? If we are to combine, we must
know the extent of each other's investigations, and the result," he
added. "What has been the nature of your life on board the
_Vispera_?"
"Pleasant, on the whole," I responded.
"Has nothing occurred?" he inquired, looking at me with a straight
and searching glance.
"You speak as though you already have knowledge of something," I
said, endeavouring to smile.
"I simply ask the question," he squeaked, in his high-pitched voice.
At first I hesitated whether to tell him the truth; yet when I
reflected upon his statement that he was acting in the interests of
Reggie's family, I became induced to tell the old fellow the truth
regarding my discovery in the deck-house, and the plot I had
overheard.
Contrary to my expectations, my statement did not disturb him in the
least. He only raised his grey brows with an expression of surprise,
and said:
"Then I was correct in my surmise that certain persons on board the
yacht are not your friends, signorina. Was I not?"
"You were," I admitted. "But it is Mr. Keppel himself who will be
responsible for the blowing up of the vessel, because he has
acquiesced in a suggestion made by a person unknown."
"You never saw the man who was speaking with this Mr. Keppel? You
are certain of that?"
"Quite. He was very careful not to come within range of the open
ventilator."
"A wary person, evidently," grunted the old fellow. "Depend upon it,
he has some very strong motive for the vessel being sent to the
bottom with all on board. The captain suspects nothing, I take it?"
"Absolutely nothing. Ought we to warn him?"
"Warn him!" cried the old man. "Why, certainly not. We must remain
quite quiet, and be extremely careful not to show our hand. Their
secret is ours. For us that is sufficient at the present juncture,"
he added, with an air of contentment.
"But delay may result in the catastrophe," I said. "The yacht may
sail at any moment when it pleases her owner to cast her away."
"Well," he said, after a few moments of hesitation, "what you have
told me certainly increases the mystery, and is deeply interesting.
You have, I suppose, no suspicion that any of the yacht's officers
are aware of the plot?"
"The unseen originator of the conspiracy may have been an officer,
for aught I know," I said. "I have related the occurrence to you
just as it took place. I know exactly nothing more."
"But you must discover more," he declared anxiously. "The matter
must not rest here. If what you say is really true, then there has
been murder done on board. The mysterious passenger is a perplexing
feature, to say the least. Describe her to me as fully as you can."
I acted upon his suggestion. Unfortunately, however, suspended as I
had been in that tearing wind on the night of my discovery, I had
been unable to take in every detail of her features. But I gave him
a description as minute as was possible, and it apparently satisfied
him.
"Strange," he murmured, "very strange! To me it seems as though your
discovery leads us into an entirely different channel of inquiry.
Surely Keppel himself had nothing to do with the assassination of
young Signor Thorne!" he added slowly, as though the startling theory
only that moment occurred to him.
More than once already had that same suspicion crossed my mind, but I
had always laughed it to scorn. There was an utter absence of
motive, that convinced me of its impossibility.
And yet, had I not actually heard with my own ears Keppel confess to
a murder which he himself had committed?
"Do you think that the lady could have come on board at Algiers?" he
inquired.
"I cannot tell," was my answer. "The deckhouse has been kept closed
and curtained during the whole cruise. It was that fact which
aroused my feminine curiosity."
"If the fact caused you to investigate, it may also have induced
others to make inquiry," he remarked. "Do you think it has?"
"How can I tell? One fact is certain, namely, that I am the only
person who was a witness of the crime, or who overheard the unseen
man's suggestion."
"You would be unable to recognise the voice of that person?" he asked.
"Yes," I responded. "In that wild hurricane it was difficult to
distinguish the tone of voice."
He remained thoughtfully silent for a long time. The muscles of his
grotesque face worked strangely, and in his eyes was a crafty look
which somehow gave me the impression that he was aware of more than
he had told me.
"Well," he exclaimed at last, shifting his position slightly and
looking me straight in the face, "and what is your present
suggestion?"
"It seems very plain that if the yacht sails she is doomed, with all
on board," I said, "therefore, she must not leave Leghorn."
"I quite grant that," responded my companion; "but how can you
prevent it? Her owner is a person of many eccentricities. This
morning he says he will remain here a week, yet to-night, when you
are all calmly asleep, he may order his captain to put to sea. Who
is to prevent him? Neither you nor myself."
"My intention is to keep a strict watch upon his movements, and
ascertain where he goes, and whether any explosive is taken on
board," I said.
"A most laudable intention, but I fear it is one that you will find
very difficult to execute," he said. "If I may be permitted to
advise, you should leave that matter to me, and turn your attention
rather to the locked deck-house. By some means you must gain an
entry, and see what is really concealed there."
"I am well aware of what secret is hidden there, without gaining an
entrance," I responded.
"You tell me that the woman is dead," he observed. "Well, I do not
doubt you; but I nevertheless consider it strange that if she is
dead, and the persons concerned in her decease wished to get rid of
the body, they have not already dropped it overboard. Such a matter
would not be at all difficult in the night. Why would Keppel, a
parsimonious man, consent to the total destruction of a yacht of the
costly character of the _Vispera_? It is utterly unreasonable."
"From one point of view I quite agree with you," I argued; "but there
may be further reasons why the yacht should be cast away--reasons of
which we are ignorant."
"But is it reasonable that the owner of a yacht would enter the port
of Leghorn with a body on board?" he queried. "No. The officials
are too prying. Depend upon it, the body is no longer on board.
They've got rid of the evidence of the crime--Keppel and this unknown
accomplice of his."
"Then if such is the truth, why should they plot to cast the vessel
away?"
"That is exactly my argument. I am convinced that although the
question of blowing up the _Vispera_ may have been mooted, the
project has now been abandoned. At first it appeared to me more
likely that Keppel and his associate would place some explosive on
board and make an excuse for not sailing in the vessel. But on
reflection it seems obvious that the body cannot now be on board, and
therefore no end would be gained by casting the ship away. No, there
is no danger in returning on board--none whatever. True, Keppel is
very eccentric, like many man of great wealth, and may sail again at
any moment; but it is equally certain that the dastardly project is
not to be put into execution."
"Then you believe that all is quite safe on board?"
"I am quite convinced of it. Your best plan of action, if you agree
to combine your efforts with my own, is to return and use every means
to gain an entrance to the deck-house. I have not the slightest
expectation that you will discover any actual trace of the crime, but
I somehow feel confident that what it contains will give us some
clue."
"A clue to the mystery in Nice?" I inquired eagerly.
"Yes," he responded, not without some hesitation. "I believe that we
shall gain knowledge from that carefully-guarded cabin."
"But it is always locked," I protested, "and Keppel keeps the key
upon his chain."
"You must exercise your woman's ingenuity," he laughed. "Already you
have proved yourself to be as keen and resourceful as any
professional detector of crime. Continue, and we shall succeed."
"If, as you appear to anticipate, we sail to-night, we may not meet
again," I remarked. "Shall I address you here in case of necessity?"
"No. Do not write to me. We know not into whose hands the letter
might fall," he answered quickly. "We shall meet again, signorina,
never fear--in Leghorn, or in some other city. I shall travel by
land, you by sea."
"But what causes you to anticipate that the _Vispera_ will leave
to-night?" I demanded, for he spoke with such authority that I was
puzzled.
"I read certain telegrams which Keppel sent off to-day. I followed
him to the telegraph-office, and watched him write. He probably
believed that I could not read English. From the messages, it
appeared that the _Vispera_ is to go direct from here to Ragusa, in
the Adriatic, and thence to Venice."
"Then we are turning back again!" I cried in dismay. "It was
understood that we were on our way to Marseilles, where the party was
to break up."
"Exactly, but the _Vispera's_ itinerary appears to have now been
altered by its eccentric owner, and as soon as possible you will
leave for the Adriatic."
"Well," I said frankly, "to tell the truth, I have no desire to go on
board again."
"But it is imperative," the old fellow declared quickly; "absolutely
imperative! You must not drop your inquiries at this the most
critical moment. You must find means to enter that deck-house.
Spare no pains, and use every endeavour and every wile to gain your
end. We must know what is hidden there."
"Shall you go to Venice and meet me there?" I inquired anxiously.
"Ah, I cannot tell! So much depends upon the inquiries I am making,
and upon future occurrences. But we shall meet soon, never fear!"
Certainly it was curious to find in that Italian port, into which, as
far as I could gather, we had put on mere chance, a man who had the
whole mystery at his fingers' ends, and who, like myself, was sparing
no pains to elucidate it. But had we put into Leghorn by mere
chance; or had it all been cunningly prearranged?
"Then I am not to write to you?" I said, somewhat dissatisfied.
"No, decidedly not," was his response. "We must in this affair
exercise every precaution in order to make certain that our
intentions are not discovered by the guilty parties. Return on
board, remain ever watchful, allow nothing to escape you, and make
Keppel himself your especial study, at the same time seeking for
means by which to enter the forbidden deck-house."
"I take it, Signor Branca, that this apartment is not your own?" I
said, as I glanced round the place.
"Mine!" he laughed. "Oh, dear no! I am only here temporarily, in
order to meet you. In an hour I leave here--whither I know not. I
was in Rome last night, I am here to-night; to-morrow night I may be
in Milan, or Turin, or Nice--who knows?"
He spoke in French for the first time, and I saw by his excellent
accent that, so far from my first estimate of him being correct, he
was a thorough cosmopolitan. It seemed a pity that his personal
appearance was sufficiently ugly to be remarkable.
I glanced at the watch in my bangle and saw that as it was already
past eleven o'clock, it was high time for me to return on board.
Therefore I rose to bid my strange host "_Addio_."
He bowed to me with a courtly grace which rendered his dwarfed figure
more than usually grotesque, bending so low that his fringe of grey
beard almost touched his knees.
"_Addio_, signorina," he said. "Do not relax your efforts for a
single moment. Accompany the _Vispera_ on the remainder of its
cruise, and seek to obtain all the knowledge you can. For my part, I
shall do my best; and I have much to do--very much, I assure you.
But I am confident that before we meet again we shall both have
obtained a clue to the mysterious death of the young Signor Thorne."
"One moment," I said, after some hesitation, for I was reluctant to
approach a subject which preyed ever upon my mind. "Answer me
truthfully. Do you entertain suspicion that Mr. Thorne's assassin
was the man who once loved me--Ernest Cameron?"
He regarded me in profound surprise.
"No," he responded promptly. "I am convinced of the contrary. There
could have been no motive, and besides----"
He paused, not finishing the sentence.
"Well?"
"Besides, the inquiries I made in Nice and Monte Carlo gave a result
identical with those made by the police, namely, that Signor Cameron
was innocent."
"If you have no suspicion of him, then I am content," I declared,
breathing more freely.
My dwarfish companion smiled knowingly, for he was aware that I still
loved the man who had abandoned me. Yet there was a strange look in
his keen dark eyes that I had not before noticed. As I drove back
through the silent streets of the Italian city, down to the port, his
sinister countenance, with its indescribable expression of
craftiness, haunted me incessantly. Why that final glance of his had
produced such an impression upon me I was, even after many hours
spent in wonderment, utterly at a loss to explain.