A SURPRISING DISCOVERY
The next day Ferris was brought up before the magistrate on the charge
of murdering Miss Gilmar. He looked pale and ill, and heard the
evidence of his pawning of the necklace in absolute silence. When he
was asked to defend himself he refused to utter a word; he declined
even to engage a solicitor; so in the face of this conduct there was
nothing for it but to commit him for trial. Ferris asked for bail, but
his request being refused, he was taken back to prison, still silent.
He might have been a stone image for all the information the law got
out of him; and every one marvelled at his obstinacy, so dangerous to
himself, so inexplicable to others.
Gebb could not understand why he acted in this way, and risked his
neck in so obstinate a manner. Certainly Ferris declared himself to be
innocent; but he refused to prove the truth of his words, and
preserved an impenetrable silence which at once perplexed and provoked
the detective. The only reason he could conjecture for the mulish
behaviour of the artist was that the evidence against him was too
strong for disproval, and that he knew this to be the case.
"Still he might make an effort to save himself," thought Gebb, as he
sat meditating in his office, "if only to tell a lie; although I don't
quite see what he could say. Mrs. Presk declared that Miss Gilmar wore
her jewels on that evening, and when we found the body those jewels
were gone. The principal jewel--which is a necklace--was pawned the
day after the murder by Arthur Ferris, who knows Miss Wedderburn, who
knew Miss Gilmar; and he refuses to state how the necklace came into
his possession. If he murdered the woman his possession of the
diamonds is easily accounted for: if he is innocent he must have
obtained the necklace from the assassin. Therefore, if not guilty
himself, he must know who is: that is plain logic."
Logic or not, the result of the argument was very unsatisfactory, and
Gebb, in his own mind, was unable to decide either for or against
Ferris. He had that morning informed Prain by letter about the
artist's committal for trial, and asked him to call at the prison to
discover if possible the reason for the strange conduct of Ferris.
Also, he requested Prain to call at his office, and tell him the
result of the interview. So when his meditations were interrupted by a
sharp knock at the door, he quite expected to see the little solicitor
enter. In place of Prain, however, he beheld the burly form of John
Alder, who appeared to be different from his usual genial self.
"You are no doubt surprised to see me here, Mr. Gebb," he said, when
the first greetings had passed, "but I am greatly disturbed about
Ferris. He is a friend of mine, you know."
Gebb did not know about the friendship, but he was well aware that
Ferris was Alder's favoured rival with Edith Wedderburn, so wondered
at the tender-heartedness of the man who was distressed over the
removal of an obstacle to his wooing.
"Why are you disturbed?" asked Gebb, rather sceptically. "What makes
you worry over Ferris?"
"Because I am sure he is innocent of this murder," replied Alder. "Oh,
I heard all about his arrest and committal for trial from Prain, who
has gone round to see him. So I thought I would come and tell you that
I am convinced of his innocence."
"But he pawned the necklace, Mr. Alder; he admits that he did."
"Then he must have obtained the necklace from some one else."
"That may be, sir," said Gebb, quietly; "but if he did he refuses to
say as much. And whosoever gave him the necklace killed Miss Gilmar."
"What defence does he make?" asked Alder, looking puzzled.
"None. He asserts his innocence, but refuses to explain how he became
possessed of the necklace. If he can't explain, or won't explain,
those diamonds will hang him."
"In what way? I don't quite see how you arrive at that point."
"Miss Gilmar wore the necklace on the night she was killed," explained
the detective; "it was gone when we found the body; so by the
strongest of circumstantial evidence the assassin must have taken it."
"All this may be true, Mr. Gebb, but it does not prove that poor
Ferris is guilty."
"I think it does," replied Gebb, coolly, "seeing that he pawned the
necklace in question. If he isn't the principal, he is an accessory
before the fact."
"Won't he confess how he became possessed of the diamonds?"
"No, not to me. He refuses to say a word in his own defence."
"Then I tell you what," said Alder, gravely, "this quixotic young man
is defending another person; he is shielding the assassin."
"If he is, that shows him to be an accessory either before or after
the fact," repeated Gebb. "But who is the person you think he is
shielding?"
"Dean! I believe the man killed my cousin."
"Does Mr. Ferris know Dean?" asked Gebb, looking up sharply.
"No. Nor did he know Miss Gilmar, so far as my knowledge goes," said
Alder, with a nod. "Ferris has been a friend of mine for many years,
and although for certain reasons we are not very intimate, I am sure
he is not guilty of this crime."
"If Ferris did not know Dean, or does not know him, I don't very well
see how he can be shielding him!" cried Gebb, irritably. "If you will
excuse me saying so, Mr. Alder, I think you are talking sheer
nonsense."
"I am sorry you think so," said Alder, stiffly. "Of course I only
state that Ferris is not acquainted with Dean, so far as I am aware;
but he may know him for all that."
"Why?" asked Gebb, pertinently.
"Because I am certain that Dean is guilty."
"Admitting that he is--which I don't on the strength of the romantic
vow--how did Ferris become possessed of the necklace?"
"I don't know. Only Ferris can explain that."
"Well, then, Mr. Alder, he won't explain. So on the face of it he is
guilty, and Dean isn't."
"I tell you he is innocent!" said Alder, angrily, "and my friend Mr.
Basson can prove it."
"Basson--Clement Basson, the barrister?" said Gebb, with a stare.
"Why, what on earth has he got to do with it?"
"He saw Ferris on the night of the murder!"
"Saw him! Where?"
"At Grangebury! In the evening."
"And Miss Gilmar was murdered at Grangebury," said the detective.
"Why, that looks as though Ferris was guilty. Your evidence rather
condemns than exonerates him."
"Not at all," rejoined Alder, tartly. "I read the evidence of the
murder in the daily papers, although I did not know at the time that
Miss Ligram was my cousin, Ellen Gilmar."
"Well. What of that?" inquired Gebb, rather puzzled by the irrelevancy
of this remark.
"This much. Mrs. Presk and her servant were at a lecture on Dickens in
the Grangebury Town Hall."
"I know that."
"Well, Mr. Gebb, that lecture was given by Basson!"
"By Clement Basson, the barrister, who defended Dean twenty years
ago?"
"The same! You must know that Basson is a friend of mine," continued
Alder, conversationally, "and a barrister, like myself. He is by no
means well off, as he is fonder of play than of work. I suggested to
him that he should write and deliver a few lectures in order to make
money, for he has a fine voice and is an excellent orator. He adopted
my suggestion and wrote a lecture on Dickens; but being nervous, he
wished to make an experiment in the suburbs, before attempting to
interest a London audience. I suggested that he should deliver it in
the Grangebury Town Hall, as I know many people in that suburb. He
consented, and delivered the lecture on the twenty-fourth of July,
that is, on the very night my cousin was murdered."
"And Mrs. Presk attended the lecture with her servant," reflected
Gebb. "Did you know that Miss Gilmar was in Grangebury?"
"I! No! She took lodgings in Paradise Row under the name of Ligram,
you know," said Alder. "I had not set eyes on her for years--in fact,
not since she left Kirkstone Hall. Out of terror lest she should be
killed by Dean, she kept her address secret from all, although I
believe she occasionally wrote to Miss Wedderburn on business."
"I know," replied Gebb, with a nod. "But Miss Wedderburn had not heard
from your cousin since six months before the murder; so she was not
aware of Miss Ligram's--or rather Miss Gilmar's--presence in
Grangebury. But what has the lecture to do with Ferris and his
innocence?"
"I'm coming to that," said Alder, quietly. "As I had suggested the
lecture to Basson, I wished him to have a large audience, so I asked
my friends in Grangebury to attend; also I invited some London
acquaintances, amongst them Ferris."
"Did Ferris go to the lecture?"
"Yes. I saw him myself at the door, when I spoke a few words to him.
He sat in a front row, and Basson--who knows him--told me that he
stayed almost to the end of the lecture."
"Oh," said Gebb, meaningly. "Almost to the end!"
"Well, at all events, he stayed until ten o'clock," replied Alder,
rather nettled "And as my cousin was killed about that time, Ferris
could not have murdered her."
"No! Certainly not So far as I can see, Ferris can prove an alibi. If
so, why does he not defend himself in that way?"
Alder shrugged his shoulders. "I can't say; unless he is shielding
some one. I suggest Dean, as I really believe that Dean is guilty; but
then--so far as I know--Ferris is not acquainted with Dean. Nor is
anybody, for the man has not been heard of since he escaped from
prison. But you see, Mr. Gebb, that if my cousin was murdered at ten
o'clock--and the medical evidence says she was--Ferris, who was in the
Grangebury Town Hall at that hour, cannot be guilty."
"I admit that! I shall look into the matter," said Gebb, "and let me
tell you, Mr. Alder, that I think very well of you for coming forward
with this evidence, as I know that Mr. Ferris is your rival."
"With Miss Wedderburn," said Alder, colouring. "True enough; but for
all that I don't want him to be hanged when I know that he is
innocent. If Miss Wedderburn marries Ferris I'll just have to put up
with it, that's all."
Gebb was about to express further admiration of Alder's conduct when
the door opened unexpectedly, and Prain came hurriedly into the room.
The little man looked worried, and with a nod to his brother lawyer,
he threw himself into a chair near the detective's desk.
"Well, Gebb," he said, in a vexed tone, "I have been to see that young
ass, and I can't induce him to speak."
"There will be no need for it," said Gebb, quietly; "I know now that
he is innocent, Mr. Prain."
"How is that?" asked the solicitor, in amazement. Whereat Gebb, with
the assistance of Alder, told him of the presence of Ferris in the
Town Hall at the hour the murder was committed. Prain was more amazed
than ever. "Great Heavens!" he said; "if the man is innocent, and can
prove it, as you say, why doesn't he speak out?"
"Because he is screening some one, I think," said Gebb.
"I know he is," said Alder; "and I believe that the some one is Dean."
"Why?" asked Prain, with a sharp look.
"I believe that Dean committed the crime, Mr. Prain."
"Yes, but you also believe that Ferris does not know Dean," cried
Gebb, crossly; "so why should he shield him?"
"That is a paradox," said Alder, smiling.
Prain looked up with a grave expression on his face. "It is a paradox
which I can explain," he said shortly. "Ferris does know Dean."
"He does know Dean!" cried both his hearers in amazement.
"Yes! I may as well tell you both, that Arthur Ferris is the son of
Marmaduke Dean."