So apprehensive was Lord Caterham of being consulted by George that he
spent the whole morning making a tour of his estate. Only the pangs of
hunger drew him homeward. He also reflected that by now the worst would
surely be over.
He sneaked into the house quietly by a small side door. From there he
slipped neatly into his sanctum. He flattered himself that his entrance
had not been observed, but there he was mistaken. The watchful Tredwell
let nothing escape him. He presented himself at the door.
“You’ll excuse me, my lord——”
“What is it, Tredwell?”
“Mr. Lomax, my lord, is anxious to see you in the library as soon as
you return.”
By this delicate method Tredwell conveyed that Lord Caterham had not
yet returned unless he chose to say so.
Lord Caterham sighed, and then rose.
“I suppose it will have to be done sooner or later. In the library, you
say?”
“Yes, my lord.”
Sighing again, Lord Caterham crossed the wide spaces of his ancestral
home, and reached the library door. The door was locked. As he rattled
the handle, it was unlocked from inside, opened a little way, and the
face of George Lomax appeared, peering out suspiciously.
His face changed when he saw who it was.
“Ah, Caterham, come in. We were just wondering what had become of you.”
Murmuring something vague about duties on the estate, repairs for
tenants, Lord Caterham sidled in apologetically. There were two other
men in the room. One was Colonel Melrose, the Chief Constable. The
other was a squarely built middle-aged man with a face so singularly
devoid of expression as to be quite remarkable.
“Superintendent Battle arrived half an hour ago,” explained George. “He
has been round with Inspector Badgworthy, and seen Dr. Cartwright. He
now wants a few facts from us.”
They all sat down, after Lord Caterham had greeted Melrose and
acknowledged his introduction to Superintendent Battle.
“I need hardly tell you, Battle,” said George, “that this is a case in
which we must use the utmost discretion.”
The superintendent nodded in an offhand manner that rather took Lord
Caterham’s fancy.
“That will be all right, Mr. Lomax. But no concealments from us. I
understand that the dead gentleman was called Count Stanislaus—at
least, that that is the name by which the household knew him. Now was
that his real name?”
“It was not.”
“What was his real name?”
“Prince Michael of Herzoslovakia.”
Battle’s eyes opened just a trifle, otherwise he gave no sign.
“And what, if I may ask the question, was the purpose of his visit
here? Just pleasure?”
“There was a further object, Battle. All this in the strictest
confidence of course.”
“Yes, yes, Mr. Lomax.”
“Colonel Melrose?”
“Of course.”
“Well, then, Prince Michael was here for the express purpose of meeting
Mr. Herman Isaacstein. A loan was to be arranged on certain terms.”
“Which were?”
“I do not know the exact details. Indeed, they had not yet been
arranged. But in the event of coming to the throne, Prince Michael
pledged himself to grant certain oil concessions to those companies in
which Mr. Isaacstein is interested. The British Government was prepared
to support the claim of Prince Michael to the throne in view of his
pronounced British sympathies.”
“Well,” said Superintendent Battle, “I don’t suppose I need go further
into it than that. Prince Michael wanted the money, Mr. Isaacstein
wanted oil, and the British Government was ready to do the heavy
father. Just one question. Was anyone else after those concessions?”
“I believe an American group of financiers had made overtures to His
Highness.”
“And been turned down, eh?”
But George refused to be drawn.
“Prince Michael’s sympathies were entirely pro-British,” he repeated.
Superintendent Battle did not press the point.
“Lord Caterham, I understand that this is what occurred yesterday. You
met Prince Michael in town and journeyed down here in company with him.
The Prince was accompanied by his valet, a Herzoslovakian named Boris
Anchoukoff, but his equerry, Captain Andrassy, remained in town. The
Prince, on arriving, declared himself greatly fatigued, and retired to
the apartments set aside for him. Dinner was served to him there, and
he did not meet the other members of the house party. Is that correct?”
“Quite correct.”
“This morning a housemaid discovered the body at approximately 7.45
A.M. Dr. Cartwright examined the dead man and found that death was the
result of a bullet fired from a revolver. No revolver was found, and no
one in the house seems to have heard the shot. On the other hand the
dead man’s wrist watch was smashed by the fall, and marks the crime as
having been committed at exactly a quarter to twelve. Now what time
did you retire to bed last night?”
“We went early. Somehow or other the party didn’t seem to ‘go’ if you
know what I mean, superintendent. We went up about half-past ten, I
should say.”
“Thank you. Now I will ask you, Lord Caterham, to give me a description
of all the people staying in the house.”
“But, excuse me, I thought the fellow who did it came from outside?”
Superintendent Battle smiled.
“I dare say he did. I dare say he did. But all the same I’ve got to
know who was in the house. Matter of routine, you know.”
“Well, there was Prince Michael and his valet and Mr. Herman
Isaacstein. You know all about them. Then there was Mr. Eversleigh——”
“Who works in my department,” put in George condescendingly.
“And who was acquainted with the real reason of Prince Michael’s being
here?”
“No, I should not say that,” replied George weightily. “Doubtless
he realized that something was in the wind, but I did not think it
necessary to take him fully into my confidence.”
“I see. Will you go on, Lord Caterham?”
“Let me see, there was Mr. Hiram Fish.”
“Who is Mr. Hiram Fish?”
“Mr. Fish is an American. He brought over a letter of introduction from
Mr. Lucius Gott—you’ve heard of Lucius Gott?”
Superintendent Battle smiled acknowledgment. Who had not heard of
Lucius C. Gott, the multi-millionaire?
“He was specially anxious to see my first editions. Mr. Gott’s
collection is, of course, unequalled, but I’ve got several treasures
myself. This Mr. Fish was an enthusiast. Mr. Lomax had suggested that
I ask one or two extra people down here this week-end to make things
seem more natural, so I took the opportunity of asking Mr. Fish. That
finishes the men. As for the ladies, there is only Mrs. Revel—and I
expect she brought a maid or something like that. Then there was my
daughter, and of course the children and their nurses and governesses
and all the servants.”
Lord Caterham paused and took a breath.
“Thank you,” said the detective. “A mere matter of routine, but
necessary as such.”
“There is no doubt, I suppose,” asked George ponderously, “that the
murderer entered by the window?”
Battle paused for a minute before replying slowly.
“There were footsteps leading up to the window, and footsteps leading
away from it. A car stopped outside the park at 11.40 last night. At
twelve o’clock a young man arrived at the _Jolly Cricketers_ in a car,
and engaged a room. He put his boots outside to be cleaned—they were
very wet and muddy, as though he had been walking through the long
grass in the park.”
George leant forward eagerly.
“Could not the boots be compared with the footprints?”
“They were.”
“Well?”
“They exactly correspond.”
“That settles it,” cried George. “We have the murderer. The young
man—what is his name, by the way?”
“At the inn he gave the name of Anthony Cade.”
“This Anthony Cade must be pursued at once, and arrested.”
“You won’t need to pursue him,” said Superintendent Battle.
“Why?”
“Because he’s still there.”
“What?”
“Curious, isn’t it?”
Colonel Melrose eyed him keenly.
“What’s in your mind, Battle? Out with it.”
“I just say it’s curious, that’s all. Here’s a young man who ought to
cut and run, but he doesn’t cut and run. He stays here, and gives us
every facility for comparing footmarks.”
“What do you think, then?”
“I don’t know what to think. And that’s a very disturbing state of
mind.”
“Do you imagine——” began Colonel Melrose, but broke off as a discreet
knock came at the door.
George rose and went to it. Tredwell, inwardly suffering from having to
knock at doors in this low fashion, stood dignified upon the threshold,
and addressed his master.
“Excuse me, my lord, but a gentleman wishes to see you on urgent and
important business, connected, I understand, with this morning’s
tragedy.”
“What’s his name?” asked Battle suddenly.
“His name, sir, is Mr. Anthony Cade, but he said it wouldn’t convey
anything to anybody.”
It seemed to convey something to the four men present. They all sat up
in varying degrees of astonishment.
Lord Caterham began to chuckle.
“I’m really beginning to enjoy myself. Show him in, Tredwell. Show him
in at once.”
12