"I am a forger and a desperate man. Three weeks ago I forged one of
Ridsdale's cheques and lessened my friend's balance to the tune of five
thousand pounds. He and his wife were old friends of mine, but I wanted
the money desperately, and was impervious to sentiment or anything else.
On that first day when you met me, although I seemed cheery enough, I
was fit to kill myself. I had hoped to be able to restore the stolen
money long before Ridsdale was likely to miss it. But this hope had
failed. I saw no loophole of escape, and the day of reckoning could not
be far off. What devil prompted Ridsdale to bring those diamonds on
board, Heaven only knows. The moment I saw them they fascinated me and
I knew I should have a try for them. All during that evening's festivity
I could think of nothing else. I made up my mind to secure them by hook
or by crook. Before we retired for the night, however, I thought I would
give Ridsdale a chance. I asked him if he would lend me the exact sum I
had already stolen from him, five thousand pounds, but he had heard
rumours to my discredit and refused point-blank. I hated him for it. I
went into my tent under the pretence of lying down, but in reality to
concoct and, if possible, carry out my plot. I waited until the quietest
hour before dawn, then I slipped out of my tent, waded into the water,
approached the open window of the Countess's cabin, thrust in my hand,
took out the case, and, going down the river about a quarter of a mile,
threw the diamonds into the middle of the stream. I marked well the
place where they sank; I then returned to my tent and went to bed.
"You know what occurred the following morning. I neither feared Ridsdale
nor his wife, but you, Bell, gave me a considerable amount of
uneasiness. I felt certain that in an evil moment on the night before I
had given you a clue. To a man of your ability the slightest clue was
all-sufficient. I felt that I must take the bull by the horns and find
out whether you suspected me or not. I talked to you, and guessed by the
tone of your remarks that you had your suspicions. My relief was immense
when that telegram arrived which hurried you away from the _Theodora_.
On the following day I returned to my own little place on the banks of
the river four miles below this lock. I knew it was necessary for me to
remain quiet for a time, but all the same my plans were clearly made,
and I only waited until the first excitement of the loss had subsided
and the police and detectives were off their guard. In the meantime I
went to see Ridsdale almost daily, and suggested many expedients for
securing the thief and getting hold of the right clue. If he ever
suspected me, which I don't for a moment suppose, I certainly put him
off the scent. My intention was to take the diamonds out of the country,
sell them for all that I could get, then return the five thousand pounds
which I had stolen from his bank, and leave England for ever. As a
forger I should be followed to the world's end, but as the possessor of
stolen diamonds I felt myself practically safe. My scheme was too
cleverly worked out to give the ordinary detective a chance of
discovering me.
"Two days ago I had a letter from Ridsdale in which he told me that he
intended to put the matter into your hands. Now this was by no means to
my mind, for you, Bell, happened to be the one man in the world whom I
really dreaded. I saw that I must no longer lose time. Under my little
boat-house I had a small submarine boat which I had lately finished,
more as a hobby than anything else. I had begun it years ago in my odd
moments on a model I had seen of a torpedo used in the American War. My
boat is now in the lock outside, and you will see for yourself what
ingenuity was needed to construct such a thing. On the night before the
one which has just passed, I got it ready, and, as soon as it was dark,
started off in it to recover the diamonds. I got through the lock easily
by going in under the water with a barge, but when I reached the spot
where I had sunk the diamonds, found to my dismay that my electric light
would not work. There was no help for it--I could not find the bracelet
without the aid of the light, and was bound to return home to repair the
lamp. This delay was fraught with danger, but there was no help for it.
My difficulty now was to get back through the lock; for though I waited
for quite three hours no boats came along. I saw the upper gates were
open, but how to get through the lower ones I could not conceive. I felt
sure that my only chance was to frighten the lock-keeper, and get him to
open the sluices, for I knew I could pass through them unobserved if
they were open, as I had done once before.
"In my diver's helmet was a thick glass face-piece. This had an opening,
closed by a cap, which could be unscrewed, and through which I could
breathe when above water, and also through which my voice would come,
causing a peculiar hollowness which I guessed would have a very
startling effect, especially as I myself would be quite invisible. I got
into the lock, and shouted to Pegg. I succeeded in frightening him; he
hurried to do what I ordered. He wound up the lower sluice, I shot
through under water, and so got back unseen. All yesterday I hesitated
about trying the experiment again, the risk was so great; but I knew
that Ridsdale was certain to see his bank-book soon, that my forgery was
in imminent danger of being discovered, also that you, Bell, were coming
upon the scene.
"Yes, at any risk, I must now go on.
"I repaired my light, and again last night passed through the lock on my
way up, by simply waiting for another boat. As a matter of fact, I
passed up through this lock under a skiff about eleven o'clock. My light
was now all right, I found the diamond case easily, and turned to pass
down the stream by the same method as before. If you had not been here I
should have succeeded, and should have been safe, but now it is all up."
He paused, and his breath came quickly.
"I doubt if I shall recover," he said in a feeble voice.
"I hope you will," I replied; "and hark! I think I hear the doctor's
steps."
I was right, for a moment or two later old Jimmy Pegg and Dr. Simmons
entered the cottage. While the doctor was examining the patient and
talking to him, I went out with Jimmy to have a look at the submarine
boat. By fixing a rope round it we managed to haul it up, and then
proceeded to examine it. It certainly was the most wonderful piece of
ingenious engineering I had ever seen. The boat was in the shape of an
enormous cigar, and was made of aluminium. It was seven feet long, and
had a circular beam of sixteen inches. At the pointed end, close to
where the occupant's feet would be, was an air chamber capable of being
filled or emptied at will by means of a compressed air cylinder,
enabling the man to rise or sink whenever he wished to. Inside, the boat
was lined with flat chambers of compressed air for breathing purposes,
which were governed by a valve. It was also provided with a small
accumulator and electric motor which drove the tiny propeller astern.
The helmet which the man wore fitted around the opening at the head end.
After examining the boat it was easy to see how Vyner had escaped
through the lock the night before I arrived, as this submarine wonder of
ingenuity would be able to shoot through the sluice gate under water,
when the sluice was raised to empty the lock.
After exchanging a few remarks with Jimmy, I returned to the cottage to
learn the doctor's verdict.
It was grave, but not despairing. The patient could not be moved for a
day or two. He was, in Dr. Simmons's opinion, suffering more from shock
than anything else. If he remained perfectly quiet, he would in all
probability recover; if he were disturbed, the consequences might be
serious.
An hour afterwards I found myself on my way up stream sculling as fast
as I could in the direction of the _Theodora_. I arrived there at an
early hour, and put the case which contained the diamonds into Lady
Ridsdale's hands.
I shall never forget the astonishment of Ridsdale and his wife when I
told my strange tale. The Countess burst into tears, and Ridsdale was
terribly agitated.
"I have known Vyner from a boy, and so has my wife," he exclaimed. "Of
course, this proves him to be an unmitigated scoundrel, but I cannot be
the one to bring him to justice."
"Oh, no, Charlie, whatever happens we must forgive him," said Lady
Ridsdale, looking up with a white face.
I had nothing to say to this, it was not my affair. Unwittingly I had
been the means of restoring to the Ridsdales their lost bracelet; they
must act as they thought well with regard to the thief.
As a matter of fact, Vyner did escape the full penalty of his crime.
Having got back the diamonds Lord Ridsdale would not prosecute. On the
contrary, he helped the broken-down man to leave the country. From the
view of pure justice he was, of course, wrong, but I could not help
being glad.
As an example of what a desperate man will do, I think it would be
difficult to beat Vyner's story. The originality and magnitude of the
conception, the daring which enabled the man, single-handed, to do his
own dredging in a submarine boat in one of the reaches of the Thames
have seldom been equalled.
As I thought over the whole scheme, my only regret was that such ability
should not have been devoted to nobler ends.
V