One day in late September I received the following letter from my
lawyer:--
"My Dear Bell,--
"I shall esteem it a favour if you can make it convenient to call
upon me at ten o'clock to-morrow morning on a matter of extreme
privacy."
At the appointed hour I was shown into Mr. Edgcombe's private room. I
had known him for years--we were, in fact, old friends--and I was
startled now by the look of worry, not to say anxiety, on his usually
serene features.
"You are the very man I want, Bell," he cried. "Sit down; I have a great
deal to say to you. There is a mystery of a very grave nature which I
hope you may solve for me. It is in connection with a house said to be
haunted."
He fixed his bright eyes on my face as he spoke. I sat perfectly silent,
waiting for him to continue.
"In the first place," he resumed, "I must ask you to regard the matter
as confidential."
"Certainly," I answered.
"You know," he went on, "that I have often laughed at your special
hobby, but it occurred to me yesterday that the experiences you have
lived through may enable you to give me valuable assistance in this
difficulty."
"I will do my best for you, Edgcombe," I replied.
He lay back in his chair, folding his hands.
"The case is briefly as follows," he began. "It is connected with the
family of the Wentworths. The only son, Archibald, the artist, has just
died under most extraordinary circumstances. He was, as you probably
know, one of the most promising water-colour painters of the younger
school, and his pictures in this year's Academy met with universal
praise. He was the heir to the Wentworth estates, and his death has
caused a complication of claims from a member of a collateral branch of
the family, who, when the present squire dies, is entitled to the money.
This man has spent the greater part of his life in Australia, is badly
off, and evidently belongs to a rowdy set. He has been to see me two or
three times, and I must say frankly that I am not taken with his
appearance."
"Had he anything to do with the death?" I interrupted.
"Nothing whatever, as you will quickly perceive. Wentworth has been
accustomed from time to time to go alone on sketching tours to different
parts of the country. He has tramped about on foot, and visited odd,
out-of-the-way nooks searching for subjects. He never took much money
with him, and always travelled as an apparently poor man. A month ago he
started off alone on one of these tours. He had a handsome commission
from Barlow & Co., picture-dealers in the Strand. He was to paint
certain parts of the river Merran; and although he certainly did not
need money, he seemed glad of an object for a good ramble. He parted
with his family in the best of health and spirits, and wrote to them
from time to time; but a week ago they heard the news that he had died
suddenly at an inn on the Merran. There was, of course, an inquest and
an autopsy. Dr. Miles Gordon, the Wentworths' consulting physician, was
telegraphed for, and was present at the post-mortem examination. He is
absolutely puzzled to account for the death. The medical examination
showed Wentworth to be in apparently perfect health at the time. There
was no lesion to be discovered upon which to base a different opinion,
all the organs being healthy. Neither was there any trace of poison, nor
marks of violence. The coroner's verdict was that Wentworth died of
syncope, which, as you know perhaps, is a synonym for an unknown cause.
The inn where he died is a very lonely one, and has the reputation of
being haunted. The landlord seems to bear a bad character, although
nothing has ever been proved against him. But a young girl who lives at
the inn gave evidence which at first startled every one. She said at the
inquest that she had earnestly warned Wentworth not to sleep in the
haunted room. She had scarcely told the coroner so before she fell to
the floor in an epileptic fit. When she came to herself she was sullen
and silent, and nothing more could be extracted from her. The old man,
the innkeeper, explained that the girl was half-witted, but he did not
attempt to deny that the house had the reputation of being haunted, and
said that he had himself begged Wentworth not to put up there. Well,
that is about the whole of the story. The coroner's inquest seems to
deny the evidence of foul play, but I have my very strong suspicions.
What I want you to do is to ascertain if they are correct. Will you
undertake the case?"
"I will certainly do so," I replied. "Please let me have any further
particulars, and a written document to show, in case of need, that I am
acting under your directions."
Edgcombe agreed to this, and I soon afterwards took my leave. The case
had the features of an interesting problem, and I hoped that I should
prove successful in solving it.
That evening I made my plans carefully. I would go into ----shire early
on the following morning, assuming for my purpose the character of an
amateur photographer. Having got all necessary particulars from
Edgcombe, I made a careful mental map of my operations. First of all I
would visit a little village of the name of Harkhurst, and put up at the
inn, the Crown and Thistle. Here Wentworth had spent a fortnight when he
first started on his commission to make drawings of the river Merran. I
thought it likely that I should obtain some information there.
Circumstances must guide me as to my further steps, but my intention was
to proceed from Harkhurst to the Castle Inn, which was situated about
six miles further up the river. This was the inn where the tragedy had
occurred.
Towards evening on the following day I arrived at Harkhurst. When my
carriage drew up at the Crown and Thistle, the landlady was standing in
the doorway. She was a buxom-looking dame, with a kindly face. I asked
for a bed.
"Certainly, sir," she answered. She turned with me into the little inn,
and taking me upstairs, showed me a small room, quite clean and
comfortable, looking out on the yard. I said it would do capitally, and
she hurried downstairs to prepare my supper. After this meal, which
proved to be excellent, I determined to visit the landlord in the bar. I
found him chatty and communicative.
"This is a lonely place," he said; "we don't often have a soul staying
with us for a month at a time." As he spoke he walked to the door, and I
followed him. The shades of night were beginning to fall, but the
picturesqueness of the little hamlet could not but commend itself to me.
"And yet it is a lovely spot," I said. "I should have thought tourists
would have thronged to it. It is at least an ideal place for
photographers."
"You are right there, sir," replied the man; "and although we don't
often have company to stay in the inn, now and then we have a stray
artist. It's not three weeks back," he continued, "that we had a
gentleman like you, sir, only a bit younger, to stay with us for a week
or two. He was an artist, and drew from morning till night--ah, poor
fellow!"
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"I have good cause, sir. Here, wife," continued the landlord, looking
over his shoulder at Mrs. Johnson, the landlady, who now appeared on the
scene, "this gentleman has been asking me questions about our visitor,
Mr. Wentworth, but perhaps we ought not to inflict such a dismal story
upon him to-night."
"Pray do," I said; "what you have already hinted at arouses my
curiosity. Why should you pity Mr. Wentworth?"
"He is dead, sir," said the landlady, in a solemn voice. I gave a
pretended start, and she continued,--
"And it was all his own fault. Ah, dear! it makes me almost cry to think
of it. He was as nice a gentleman as I ever set eyes on, and so strong,
hearty, and pleasant. Well, sir, everything went well until one day he
said to me, 'I am about to leave you, Mrs. Johnson. I am going to a
little place called the Castle Inn, further up the Merran.'
"'The Castle Inn!' I cried. 'No, Mr. Wentworth, that you won't, not if
you value your life.'
"'And why not?' he said, looking at me with as merry blue eyes as you
ever saw in anybody's head. 'Why should I not visit the Castle Inn? I
have a commission to make some drawings of that special bend of the
river.'
"'Well, then, sir,' I answered, 'if that is the case, you'll just have a
horse and trap from here and drive over as often as you want to. For the
Castle Inn ain't a fit place for a Christian to put up at.'
"'What do you mean?' he asked of me.
"'It is said to be haunted, sir, and what does happen in that house the
Lord only knows, but there's not been a visitor at the inn for some
years, not since Bailiff Holt came by his death.'
"'Came by his death?' he asked. 'And how was that?'
"'God knows, but I don't,' I answered. 'At the coroner's inquest it was
said that he died from syncope, whatever that means, but the folks round
here said it was fright.' Mr. Wentworth just laughed at me. He didn't
mind a word I said, and the next day, sir, he was off, carrying his
belongings with him."
"Well, and what happened?" I asked, seeing that she paused.
"What happened, sir? Just what I expected. Two days afterwards came the
news of his death. Poor young gentleman! He died in the very room where
Holt had breathed his last; and, oh, if there wasn't a fuss and to-do,
for it turned out that, although he seemed quite poor to us, with little
or no money, he was no end of a swell, and had rich relations, and big
estates coming to him; and, of course, there was a coroner's inquest and
all the rest, and great doctors came down from London, and our Dr.
Stanmore, who lives down the street, was sent for, and though they did
all they could, and examined him, as it were, with a microscope, they
could find no cause for death, and so they give it out that it was
syncope, just as they did in the case of poor Holt. But, sir, it wasn't;
it was fright, sheer fright. The place is haunted. It's a mysterious,
dreadful house, and I only hope you won't have nothing to do with it."
She added a few more words and presently left us.
"That's a strange story," I said, turning to Johnson; "your wife has
excited my curiosity. I should much like to get further particulars."
"There don't seem to be anything more to tell, sir," replied Johnson.
"It's true what the wife says, that the Castle Inn has a bad name. It's
not the first, no, nor the second, death that has occurred there."
"You mentioned your village doctor; do you think he could enlighten me
on the subject?"
"I am sure he would do his best, sir. He lives only six doors away, in a
red house. Maybe you wouldn't mind stepping down the street and speaking
to him?"
"You are sure he would not think it a liberty?"
"Not he, sir; he'll be only too pleased to exchange a word with some one
outside this sleepy little place."
"Then I'll call on him," I answered, and taking up my hat I strolled
down the street. I was lucky in finding Dr. Stanmore at home, and the
moment I saw his face I determined to take him into my confidence.
"The fact is this," I said, when he had shaken hands with me, "I should
not dream of taking this liberty did I not feel certain that you could
help me."
"And in what way?" he asked, not stiffly, but with a keen, inquiring,
interested glance.
"I have been sent down from London to inquire into the Wentworth
mystery," I said.
"Is that so?" he said, with a start. Then he continued gravely: "I fear
you have come on a wild-goose chase. There was nothing discovered at the
autopsy to account for the death. There were no marks on the body, and
all the organs were healthy. I met Wentworth often while he was staying
here, and he was as hearty and strong-looking a young man as I have ever
come across."
"But the Castle Inn has a bad reputation," I said.
"That is true; the people here are afraid of it. It is said to be
haunted. But really, sir, you and I need not trouble ourselves about
stupid reports of that sort. Old Bindloss, the landlord, has lived there
for years, and there has never been anything proved against him."
"Is he alone?"
"No; his wife and a grandchild live there also."
"A grandchild?" I said. "Did not this girl give some startling evidence
at the inquest?"
"Nothing of any consequence," replied Dr. Stanmore; "she only repeated
what Bindloss had already said himself--that the house was haunted, and
that she had asked Wentworth not to sleep in the room."
"Has anything ever been done to explain the reason why this room is said
to be haunted?" I continued.
"Not that I know of. Rats are probably at the bottom of it."
"But have not there been other deaths in the house?"
"That is true."
"How many?"
"Well, I have myself attended no less than three similar inquests."
"And what was the verdict of the jury?"
"In each case the verdict was death from syncope."
"Which means, cause unknown," I said, jumping impatiently to my feet. "I
wonder, Dr. Stanmore, that you are satisfied to leave the matter in such
a state."
"And, pray, what can I do?" he inquired. "I am asked to examine a body.
I find all the organs in perfect health; I cannot trace the least
appearance of violence, nor can I detect poison. What other evidence can
I honestly give?"
"I can only say that I should not be satisfied," I replied. "I now wish
to add that I have come down from London determined to solve this
mystery. I shall myself put up at the Castle Inn."
"Well?" said Dr. Stanmore.
"And sleep in the haunted room."
"Of course you don't believe in the ghost."
"No; but I believe in foul play. Now, Dr. Stanmore, will you help me?"
"Most certainly, if I can. What do you wish me to do?"
"This--I shall go to the Castle Inn to-morrow. If at the end of three
days I do not return here, will you go in search of me, and at the same
time post this letter to Mr. Edgcombe, my London lawyer?"
"If you do not appear in three days I'll kick up no end of a row," said
Dr. Stanmore, "and, of course, post your letter."
Soon afterwards I shook hands with the doctor and left him.
After an early dinner on the following day, I parted with my
good-natured landlord and his wife, and with my knapsack and kodak
strapped over my shoulders, started on my way. I took care to tell no
one that I was going to the Castle Inn, and for this purpose doubled
back through a wood, and so found the right road. The sun was nearly
setting when at last I approached a broken-down signpost, on which, in
half-obliterated characters, I could read the words, "To the Castle
Inn." I found myself now at the entrance of a small lane, which was
evidently little frequented, as it was considerably grass-grown. From
where I stood I could catch no sight of any habitation, but just at that
moment a low, somewhat inconsequent laugh fell upon my ears. I turned
quickly and saw a pretty girl, with bright eyes and a childish face,
gazing at me with interest. I had little doubt that she was old
Bindloss's grand-daughter.
"Will you kindly tell me," I asked, "if this is the way to the Castle
Inn?"
My remark evidently startled her. She made a bound forward, seized me by
my hand, and tried to push me away from the entrance to the lane into
the high road.
"Go away!" she cried; "we have no beds fit for gentlemen at the Castle
Inn. Go! go!" she continued, and she pointed up the winding road. Her
eyes were now blazing in her head, but I noticed that her lips
trembled, and that very little would cause her to burst into tears.
"But I am tired and footsore," I answered. "I should like to put up at
the inn for the night."
"Don't!" she repeated; "they'll put you into a room with a ghost. Don't
go; 'tain't a place for gentlemen." Here she burst not into tears, but
into a fit of high, shrill, almost idiotic laughter. She suddenly
clapped one of her hands to her forehead, and, turning, flew almost as
fast as the wind down the narrow lane and out of sight.
I followed her quickly. I did not believe that the girl was quite as mad
as she seemed, but I had little doubt that she had something
extraordinary weighing on her mind.
At the next turn I came in view of the inn. It was a queer-looking old
place, and I stopped for a moment to look at it.
The house was entirely built of stone. There were two storeys to the
centre part, which was square, and at the four corners stood four round
towers. The house was built right on the river, just below a large
mill-pond. I walked up to the door and pounded on it with my stick. It
was shut, and looked as inhospitable as the rest of the place. After a
moment's delay it was opened two or three inches, and the surly face of
an old woman peeped out.
"And what may you be wanting?" she asked.
"A bed for the night," I replied; "can you accommodate me?"
She glanced suspiciously first at me and then at my camera.
"You are an artist, I make no doubt," she said, "and we don't want no
more of them here."
She was about to slam the door in my face, but I pushed my foot between
it and the lintel.
"I am easily pleased," I said; "can you not give me some sort of bed for
the night?"
"You had best have nothing to do with us," she answered. "You go off to
Harkhurst; they can put you up at the Crown and Thistle."
"I have just come from there," I answered. "As a matter of fact, I could
not walk another mile."
"We don't want visitors at the Castle Inn," she continued. Here she
peered forward and looked into my face. "You had best be off," she
repeated; "they say the place is haunted."