MR. SYDNEY H. CORBETT
The detective glanced up at Bruce's chambers while passing through
Victoria Street.
"I wonder what he would think if he knew what we are after," he said to
his colleague, one of the two who accompanied him when the barrister was
arrested by mistake.
"What _are_ we after?" said the policeman.
"This time we are going to nail the right Corbett," was the confident
answer.
"Will we cart him off?"
"Well, now, that depends. I think I am quite right in collaring him
unless he explains to my satisfaction, which is hardly likely."
"The charge is one of murder, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Who did he kill?"
"Well, up to now it hasn't come out, for the sake of the family. But if
Corbett is here you will know soon enough."
"It's a funny way to go to work."
"Commissioner's orders, my boy. I am not to reveal the la-- the name
until it cannot be helped. However, as I have said so much, I don't mind
telling you it's a woman, and a big one too."
"Big! Fat, do you mean?"
"No. A woman of high position."
"Phew! A regular society scandal, I suppose?"
"That's about the size of it."
On arrival at Sloane Square they quickly ascended to No. 12 Raleigh
Mansions.
A stout, elderly woman answered their knock, and a glance at her face
revealed the map of Ireland, although her name was Saxon Robinson.
"Mr. Corbett in?" inquired White.
"Faix, he's not."
"Then where is he?"
"I don't know, misther, an' if I did I wouldn't be afther telling when
axed in an oncivil manner."
"All right, Mrs. ----"
"Robinson's my name, if that's anny use to ye."
"Very well, Mrs. Robinson. We wish to have a word with Mr. Corbett, and
we will be much obliged if you can tell us when he is likely to return,
if he is in London."
"Arrah, it's meself is mixed intirely about him. Sure _this_ Mr. Corbett
is in London right enough, and is comin' in to dinner in half-an-hour,
so by yer lave I'll jist go on wid me wurruk."
"May we come in and wait for him?"
Mrs. Robinson surveyed them suspiciously, but seemingly decided in their
favor.
"Stip in here, gintlemen both," she said, and conducted them to the
sitting-room.
A fire now burned brightly in the grate wherein Bruce had made his
pregnant discovery. The damaged bracket still stared at White, so to
speak, but he saw it not.
Mrs. Robinson bustled away to the kitchen, and the two officers sat
silently waiting developments. Suddenly a thought occurred to White, and
he went into the passage.
"Mrs. Robinson," he said, "what did you mean by referring to _this_ Mr.
Corbett?"
A quick step came bounding up the stairs, and a key rattled in the lock.
"You'd betther ax him yerself," responded the housekeeper pithily, and
the door opened to admit a handsome, well-knit man, tall and straight,
with the clearly cut features of the true Westerner, and the easy
carriage of one accustomed to the freedom of the prairie.
He was quietly dressed. The only sign that he was not a Londoner was
given by his wide-awake felt hat, the last token of environment
relinquished by a wandering citizen from the region of the Rockies. In
the semi-darkness of the interior he could but dimly discern the form of
the detective behind the ready-tongued housekeeper.
"There's two gintlemen to see ye, Misther Corbett," said she.
"Well, now, that's curious," he answered cheerfully. "I can only see one
of you, but I'm glad to have you call, stranger, anyway. Come right in.
Are you sent by my friend to kinder cheer me up? I find this big city of
yours a powerful kind of tonic after Wyoming. Come right in."
Mr. White was as greatly nonplussed by the newcomer's attitude as by his
flow of language.
Within the drawing-room Corbett caught sight of the second detective.
"Hello! Here's the other one. Ve-ry glad to meet you both. Now, if
you'll just tell me your names we'll get along straight away, as I guess
you know mine all right."
The man was genuinely pleased by this unexpected visit. He smilingly
pushed towards them a box of cigars, green ones, and helped himself to a
weed.
"My name," said the detective, "is Inspector White, of Scotland Yard,
and my friend here accompanies me officially."
"And hasn't he got a name?"
"Yes; but it doesn't matter."
"Well, if it doesn't matter, we won't quarrel. I guess you've got a
message of some sort for me, else you wouldn't trouble to climb these
stairs. Why don't you have el-e-vators in these big buildings?"
"As I said," began Mr. White, "we are from Scotland Yard."
"That's so. I've got that fixed O.K. Your name is I. White, from
Scotland Yard. I don't know where Scotland Yard is, but we'll worry
along without the geography of it."
"I am in the police. My title is Inspector. It is not my Christian name.
Scotland Yard is the headquarters of the London police."
The American's eyes opened wide in wonder at this announcement, and a
perplexing thought seemed to occur to him. But he said quietly:
"I'll figure it out better when you tell me why you've been good enough
to call. And suppose we all sit down. I'm not used to stone pavements.
I'm tired."
"Your name is Sydney H. Corbett?" said the detective severely, though he
took a chair.
"So my people always told me."
"And you have occupied these chambers since August last?"
"Have I?"
"So I am informed."
"Get along with your story."
"You have just returned to England from Wyoming. The New York police
cabled me that you arrived in Liverpool yesterday."
"Did they now? That was real cute of 'em."
"I want to ask you, in the first instance, the exact date of your
departure from this country."
Before replying to the detective Corbett looked at him fixedly, as
though he was trying to read what was passing in his mind.
At last he said with a smile:
"Say, what are you after, Mr. White of Scotland Yard? What's the game?
Who's been fooling you?"
"That is not the way to talk to me, sir. Answer my question fully and
properly, or it may be worse for you."
"Jehosh! Have you come to wipe the floor with me?"
"Are you going to reply to me or not?"
"I'm not going to speak square to any man who comes along and puts a
thing like you do."
"Very well. I can get my information by other means. You leave me no
alternative--"
Mr. White had half risen and was about to add, "but to arrest you,"
when, with a rapidity known only to those accustomed to "draw" from
boyhood, Corbett whipped a revolver from a hip pocket and covered the
bridge of White's nose with the muzzle.
"Just you sit still, right there, Mr. White of Scotland Yard, or I will
let daylight through you and your nameless friend if he interferes.
You'd better believe me. By gad! I won't speak twice."
Neither White nor his companion were cowards. But they were quite
helpless. They had not grappled with the circumstances with sufficient
alertness, and they were utterly at this man's mercy. They were away
from the door, and a table separated them from Corbett, while there was
that in his eye which told them he would shoot if either of them moved.
They both sprang to their feet, and glared at him impotently.
"Now, gentlemen," said Corbett, with the utmost coolness, "let me
persuade you to sit down again and go on with your story, which
interests me."
White was scarlet with wrath and annoyance.
"Let me tell you--" he roared.
"Sit down!"
"Make the best of it, Jim," murmured the other policeman; and the queer
gathering resumed their seats.
"That's better," said Corbett genially. "Now, we'll have a nice little
chat. Am I correct in supposing that you were about to march me off to
jail just now, when I spoilt the proposition?"
"There's no use in resisting," growled White. "You cannot escape. If you
have an atom of sense left you will come with us quietly, as it's all up
with you."
"It looks like it," said Corbett, with a grim smile. "But if it's so bad
a case as all that, there's no desperate hurry, is there?"
"You're only making matters more difficult for yourself."
"Maybe. But as I happen to be a citizen of the United States, I allow
that I can't be whipped off to prison just because a fool like you
thinks it's good for me. I've been a law-abiding man all my life, and
I've lived in places where each man made his own law. If you can show
good cause for your action, I'll stand the racket. At present I regard
you as a blamed idiot."
The situation overcame the detective. He could only mutter:
"Time will show who's the idiot."
"I'm getting hungry, Mr. White of Scotland Yard, and I've a kind of
notion that the old lady is ready with the eatables. Will you be good
enough to say what you're after?"
"I came here to ask you to account for your movements, and, failing a
satisfactory explanation, to arrest you."
"On what charge?"
"For being concerned in the murder of Lady Dyke, on or about November 6
last."
"Lady Dyke?"
"Yes."
"Arrest _me_?"
"Yes."
"I placed you right away. You are a blamed idiot, Mr. White of Scotland
Yard."
This repetition of his name and address goaded the detective almost
beyond endurance.
"Now you know the charge," he shouted, "are you coming with us quietly,
or--"
"Or what?"
The revolver still hovered across the table.
"Are we going to sit here all night?"
It was a weak conclusion, but to suggest an attack was sheer madness
under the conditions.
"I guess not," was the calm answer. "I want my dinner, and I mean to
have it."
"Very well. Eat your dinner and have done with it."
"That's better. You and your friend shall join me. We'll have a nice
little talk and straighten out matters, which have got kinder mixed."
This was too much for White's associate. He burst out laughing.
"I allowed there was a joke in the deal, somewhere," went on Corbett,
"but I haven't quite got the hang of it yet. Now, Mr. White of Scotland
Yard, are you going to act like a reasonable man, or must I keep your
nose in line with the barrel?"
White was saved from deciding which horn of the dilemma he would land
on, for a sharp rat-tat at the door induced silence, and a moment later
Bruce's voice was heard inquiring:
"Is Mr. Corbett in?"
"Faix, there may be a half-a-dozen of him in by this time," cried Mrs.
Robinson. "I dunno where I am, at all, at all. The gintlemen are in the
parlor, sir."
And Bruce entered.
In order to enfilade the new-comer scientifically, Corbett backed to the
corner. Claude glanced at the three, saw the revolver, and said with a
comical air of relief:
"Thank goodness, nothing has happened. Put away your pistol, Mr.
Corbett; you will not need it."
Although the barrister's manner differed considerably from the brusque
methods adopted by Mr. White, the American remained on his guard. He
said stiffly:
"You all seem to know me fairly well; but if you had the advantage of
closer acquaintance, you would allow that I am not the man to be rushed
on a confidence trick. If somebody doesn't explain quick I will lose my
temper, and there will be trouble."
"I sympathize with you!" cried Bruce. "But the first thing you must
learn in this country is to keep dry cigars for your visitors. Our
respective tastes differ in that respect."
"I guess I'll cotton to you, stranger; but I'm tired holding this
pistol."
"Put it away, then. I tell you it is not wanted. White, listen to me.
You have hit upon the wrong man."
"Wrong man!" cried the detective, feeling more confident in the
barrister's presence. "Why, I've had a cable about him from New York."
"Possibly; but you're mistaken, nevertheless. Mr. Corbett has not been
within five thousand miles of England for years, possibly not in his
life."
"Bully for you, stranger!" broke in Corbett.
"Then who is Mr. Sydney H. Corbett whom you believe, as well as I, to be
the murderer of Lady Dyke?"
"Steady, White. The last time I saw you I appealed to you to go slow.
The man whom you want, simply because he happens to be the real occupant
of these rooms, is at present travelling to London as fast he can from
Florence, and his sister, Mrs. Hillmer, is with him."
"Florence! Mrs. Hillmer!" gasped the policeman. "I've just arranged to
have her watched there."
"Your arrangements, though admirable, are somewhat late in the day."
"Then what is her brother's name?"
"Albert Mensmore. For some reason, hidden at this moment, he lived here
under the name of the gentleman who has, I see, been giving you a
practical lesson in the art of not jumping at conclusions."
"Have you known this long?"
"For some weeks."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I have no definite reason for connecting Mensmore with Lady
Dyke's death. If I had, his action in returning to London the moment he
hears of the charge would shake my belief."
"Who told him?"
"Mrs. Hillmer."
"Oh, this business is quite beyond me. I can't fathom it a little bit."
And White sank dejectedly to his chair again.
"I don't know what you're talking about, gentlemen," said Corbett,
pocketing his revolver; "but it dawns upon me that I shan't be required
to shoot anybody or sleep in jail to-night."
"Why didn't you answer my questions properly, and save all this
nonsense?"
"I'll tell you why, sir. The name of a friend of mine has been
mentioned. Albert Mensmore has been more than a brother to me. I allowed
you meant mischief to him, as you thought you were talking to him all
the time. I don't know much about you, but I hope that your first action
would not be to give away your chum if he is in trouble."
The detective did not answer, though his look of astonishment at
Corbett's declaration of motive was eloquent enough.
"Before we quit this business," went on the American, "let me say one
thing. Any man who tells you that Albert Mensmore murdered a woman is
telling you a lie. I don't know anything about this Lady Dyke, or how
she may have died, but I do know my friend. He's good in a tight place,
but, to think of him killing a woman--Jehosh, it's sickening."
Mrs. Robinson burst in, with face aflame.
"Is this palaverin' to go on all night?" she demanded angrily. "Here's
the dinner sphilin', after all me worry and bother, with the head of me
vexed to know who is the masther and who ishn't."
"All right, mother," laughed Corbett. "Bring in the whole caboodle."
"Mr. Corbett," said Bruce, "I hope you will come and have lunch with me
to-morrow, at this address," handing him a card. "I want to have a long
talk with you. Mr. White, if you come with me I will explain a good deal
to you of which you are now in ignorance."
"Surely, Mr. Corbett will answer a few questions first," said the
detective.
"Don't you think you have troubled him sufficiently for this evening?
Besides, he can tell us nothing. All the explanation is really due to
him, and I propose to give it to him to-morrow. Come, White, this time I
promise you that a considerable portion of your inquiry shall be cleared
up, and I do not speak without foundation, as you have often learned
hitherto."
So the mysterious Sydney H. Corbett was left in undisturbed possession
of his flat and his dinner, while the trio passed out into the quietude
of the streets.