THE FOG CLEARS
A week later Tom brought Roland a letter which he had received from his
cousin. "My dear Tom,--The plot begins to thicken, and I think we are on
the right scent. I was taking drinks with some other stock exchange men
this afternoon, when I said, 'Does anyone know Westerton of Chicago?'
"'Yes, he is a client of ours,' one of them replied. 'He speculates
pretty heavily in all sorts of stock and has dropped a lot of money the
last six months. Do you know him? Because if you do, it is more than
anyone in Chicago seems to. The chief has asked lots of men there about
him, but no one seems to know the name. Of course it does not matter to
us, because there is always ample cover, so we cannot burn our fingers;
but it does seem rum that a man who can go in for such heavy
speculations should not be known to anyone there.'
"'No, I don't know him,' I said, 'but a man was asking me about him. I
fancy he speculates with him too.'
"'Likely enough, these fellows always have two or three agents. We think
it rather probable that it is a false name. There is many a man who
dabbles in speculations, that none of his friends would ever believe did
anything of the sort, such as clergymen, and merchants with solid
businesses, whose credit would be injured if men thought that they
speculated, and so on. We who are behind the scenes would astonish the
world if we were to tell all we know.'
"However, I turned the subject, as I did not want him to suspect that I
had any particular interest in Westerton. So, you see, Tom, the first
step is gained, and we have found out that the respectable president of
Brownsville Bank speculates largely under an assumed name. I don't know
what Partridge's next move may be, but if I can give any further
assistance you can rely upon me."
"What are you going to do next?" Tom said as he closed the letter.
"I haven't the least idea, Tom; but at any rate, I will consult your
father. It is something to learn as much as we have, and we certainly
seem to have got on the right clue. I never quite despaired, but I feel
now pretty certain that we shall get to the bottom of it at last."
"It will do Percy Johnstone a world of good to take down his conceit a
bit--a stuck-up monkey!"
"Don't say that, Tom. I felt it myself so much that I am sure I could
not wish my worst enemy to go through such a thing."
"I don't wish Percy Johnstone any particular ill, Roland; but if
somebody has got to suffer, I would rather it was him than anyone else
in Brownsville. The insufferable airs that fellow gives himself are
disgusting."
Mr. Fernlea was greatly interested when he heard the news. "I have no
doubt whatever that you are on the right track now, Roland. Taking your
father's letter, the points we noticed when we read it, and the facts we
know now, that Johnstone is a heavy and unsuccessful speculator, seem to
show without doubt that he is the real thief. His conduct in not
arresting your father at once, and in allowing him without pursuit to
get across the frontier, is accounted for now. He did not want anything
like a public trial, for in that case the numbers of the missing bonds
must have been made public, and might in that way have been traced to
him. I have no doubt whatever that he is the thief. But the question is,
how are we to prove it?
"Of course if Johnstone goes on at this game and it continues to be
unnoticed, there will be a smash up sooner or later; but even then the
whole thing might not come out. If your father should come back here,
they would be obliged to arrest him. But even if he denounced Johnstone
as the real thief, we have nothing to go upon. The mere fact that he has
speculated would in itself be no proof, or that he did so under an
assumed name, for he would urge that many people do the same, and that
he only adopted this precaution because, being in the position of
president of the bank, he did not wish people here to know that he
dabbled in shares. I own that I do not see what our next step is to be.
It seems to me that we must wait and watch."
"That is what I was thinking, sir. Will you kindly give me leave to be
away from your office till this is done? I should like to come here of a
morning and go in and out as if I was in your employment, in case Mr.
Johnstone was watching me, which is not likely. He would then suppose
that I am still working for you, but went out rather frequently on
errands."
"Certainly, Roland, and if you want any money let me know. Anything that
you may require to carry the matter through I shall be glad to let you
have."
"Thank you, sir! but I hope I shall not be obliged to avail myself of
your kind offer. My mother still has the proceeds of the sale of our
furniture, and I need hardly say how glad she will be to spend it if she
knows that there is a chance of proving my father's innocence."
Roland now kept a strict watch upon Mr. Johnstone's movements, and the
next time that gentleman boarded the train at Brownsville, Roland did
the same, but got into a third-class compartment forward. He was close
at hand, however, when the banker presently took out his ticket, which
was only for a town some thirty miles out; but when the train stopped at
this station the banker ran into the office, and, procuring a ticket for
Chicago, continued his journey to that city. When he alighted there
Roland followed him. He went to a small house in a retired quarter, and
on knocking at the door was admitted without question, and Roland
concluded that he habitually stayed there. He came out in a few minutes
without the bag which he had carried in, and as soon as he was fairly
away Roland, seeing that there was a notice in the window that there was
an apartment to let, knocked at the door.
"You have a room to let," he said. "Can I see it?"
"Certainly, sir;" and Roland followed the woman upstairs. "The room will
do very nicely," he said. "I shall not be a troublesome lodger, for I am
a great deal away, and shall only sleep here occasionally; but I like to
have a place of my own instead of always putting up at an hotel."
"That is just the case with our lodger downstairs, sir. He does not
often sleep here--not more than one night in the week. He travels, I
believe, for some house of business; but, as he says, he likes to have a
quiet place to come to when here."
"He is your only other lodger, I hope?" Roland said, "for above all
things I like quietness."
"Yes, sir; we only let these rooms. He is quiet enough. When he comes
here he generally comes in the afternoon, but goes out directly, and
comes back again at seven to his dinner; and he always goes off at six
o'clock in the morning. A quieter gentleman no one could wish to have
for a lodger than Mr. Westerton."
Roland at once agreed to take the room, and, paying a deposit, said that
he would come on the following day to take possession. "My name is
Rowlands, but it is not likely that anyone will come to enquire for me."
Having watched Mr. Johnstone off by the first train in the morning,
Roland went to his lodgings, where he soon became friendly with his
landlady, who was quite ready to gossip. She was full of praise for her
other lodger. "I expect he has got a good situation," she said. "Money
don't seem of any consequence to him. He always has the best of
everything that is in season, no matter what it costs, and he has got
quite a cellar of wine, and always takes a bottle with his dinner. I am
sure the room was furnished nice enough for anything when he came; but
he had all the furniture turned out, and put in fresh himself, and a
heap of money it must have cost him, I can tell you; fresh paper on the
walls, and looking-glasses, and pictures. They are nice rooms, indeed
they could not be nicer--except that the sitting-room is spoilt by a big
ugly safe he has got, to keep his papers in. It just spoils the room, as
I told him. But he don't seem to mind, so there ain't no reason why I
should."
"I should like to see the rooms," Roland said. "Not that I can afford to
furnish mine like them at present."
"I will show you them with pleasure, sir. Only, if you meets him and
gets to know him afterwards, don't you let out that I showed you his
rooms. He is a mighty perticular sort of gent, though he is so affable
and pleasant."
The rooms were quietly and handsomely furnished, as Roland had expected.
There was nothing whatever in them to give a clue to the identity of
their owner. No letters or papers were lying about. Roland's attention
was particularly drawn towards the safe. It was a strong, burglar-proof
structure, by one of the best makers.
"Yes," he said, "I agree with you. The furniture is very handsome and
good, but I should not care, if it were mine, to spoil it with that
safe."
"He told me he had lost a valuable lot of papers once, and had
determined that he would never run such a risk again, and so he got a
safe that could be neither carried off nor broken into."
The next day Roland returned to Brownsville and informed Mr. Fernlea of
the progress that he had made.
"Capital, Roland! I shall certainly employ you in any detective work
that may in future come into the office. The two next steps to be taken
are clear enough, but it is not so easy to see how we are to take them.
In the first place, we shall have to obtain a list of the missing
securities, and the next to find out whether any of them are still in
that safe. Those are the steps, but how on earth are we to take them?
Your father would hardly be likely to remember the numbers of the
missing bonds, and I could not ask one of the directors without taking
him into our confidence, which I am averse to doing, for they all hold
Johnstone in such respect that our idea would seem to them altogether
preposterous."
"At any rate I could write to my father and ask him," Roland said. "He
may not remember the numbers; it is hardly possible that he should, when
there are such a lot of them missing; but he might be able to give us
some hint how to set about it."
Accordingly Roland wrote a letter to his father informing him of the
steps which he had taken and the discoveries which he had made.
"You see, father," he wrote, "that while Mr. Fernlea has no more doubt
than I have that Johnstone stole the securities which he accused you of
taking, it is very difficult to bring the matter home to him; and as a
first step it is absolutely necessary to get the numbers of the bonds,
and that without there being a possibility of its coming to his ears
that I am moving in the matter. Can you suggest any plan?"
A week later, when Roland had returned to his lodgings after dark, a man
was standing at the gate.
"Roland, my boy, is that you?"
"Good heavens, father, how you startled me! I am glad indeed to see you
again, but it is surely imprudent to venture back just at this moment,
for were your presence here discovered it would upset all our plans. But
come in. I have a key, and you can go up with me. But even if the woman
of the house saw you, she would hardly be likely to recognize you, for
she has not been settled in the town very long."
As soon as they were in his room Roland struck a light, and was able to
look at his father. He would hardly have recognized him, so pale and
haggard was he. "Why, father, have you been ill?"
"Not actually ill, Roland, though almost out of my mind at times; but I
trust that it is nearly over. Your letter has given me new life, for it
has made me hope that this black cloud which has fallen over me will be
cleared away, and that I can again lift up my head and look my
fellow-men in the face. I am ready now to give myself up, if Mr. Fernlea
thinks that it will be the best thing for me to do, and to stand my
trial. Before, I had nothing, save a bare negative, to oppose the
evidence against me. Now there is at least a story to tell."
"We must not tell it at present, father; we must wait till it is
complete. If there is any evidence in that safe at Chicago connecting
Johnstone with the thefts, we may be sure that it would be destroyed the
instant you appeared on the scene. The first thing, as Mr. Fernlea says,
is to obtain a list of, at any rate some of the securities that are
missing. We hardly hoped that you would be able to furnish them."
"No, Roland. I could tell you the stocks to which they belonged, but not
the numbers. And, so far as I know, there is but one way of doing so
besides that of obtaining the list from one of the directors, which, you
said in your letter Mr. Fernlea thinks would be dangerous to do."
"And what is that, father?"
"It is for me to go to the bank and get the book which Johnstone and I
went through together that night."
"But how are you to do that, father? It is probably in the safe if it is
still in existence."
"I supposed so, Roland. But when I went away I never thought of leaving
the keys behind me, and found them days afterwards in the pocket of my
overcoat. Unless they have changed the fastenings, there is nothing to
prevent my unlocking the door, going up to my old room, entering it, and
opening the safe as usual. There would be no occasion even for a light,
for I know the feel of the book so well, with its locked clasp, that I
could tell it in the dark if I put my hand on it."
"But it would be an awful risk, father, were you detected. You would be
accused--" And he hesitated.
"Of trying to rob the bank for a second time," Mr. Partridge said.
"Well, if necessary, I must run the risk."
"At any rate, father, before you attempt it I must speak to Mr. Fernlea.
He has been so good a friend throughout the business that we must not
move a single step without consulting him. I will go up and see him at
once. Before I start I will tell the woman of the house that I have a
friend come to stop with me for a day or two. She has a spare room, and
will get it ready for you. Will you have some supper before I start?"
"No, no, Roland. Go at once, and I will have a nap in your easy-chair
while you are away, for I have travelled without stopping once since I
got your letter. I am not so strong as I used to be."
Mr. Fernlea listened attentively to Roland's account of his interview
with his father.
"It is a dangerous step to take," he said thoughtfully, "but I don't
know that I can propose anything better. Of course, if he is taken, I
should come forward and declare that he was my client, that he has been
wrongly accused all through, and that he was only going to the bank for
the purpose of possessing himself of the book which was his private
property, in order to obtain the list of the missing securities, that he
might, if possible, trace their course. I should reserve suspicion about
Johnstone until the trial, but, of course, there they would have to
accuse him of the original theft of the securities. I will go back with
you now and talk to him myself."
"My poor friend," he said as he entered the room where Mr. Partridge,
too anxious to sleep, was walking restlessly to and fro, "I see that all
this has told upon you sadly. However, I hope that we are in a fair way
of putting matters right at last. I tell you frankly, I thought at the
time that it was foolish of you to run away as you did. But I think now
that it has turned out the best, for we had little or no defence beyond
a bare denial, whereas we could make out a strong case of suspicion
anyhow against Johnstone from what we know already."
"Do you approve of my plan for the recovery of the book?"
"Yes, if it can be carried out. But I fear that they are likely to have
changed the locks. That is the first suggestion which the new cashier,
on learning that the keys were missing, would make."
"I did not think of that till I was half-way here, but I am afraid that
it is only too likely."
"The best plan, father," Roland said, "will be to give me the keys of
the door. I can go round to-night and try it. If I find it opens it, you
can carry out your plan to-morrow night; if not, there is no use your
running the risk of being detected."
"But you might be taken in my place, Roland."
"Not at all, father. I am not going to enter the bank. I shall simply
put the key in the lock and turn it, and see if the door opens, and I
shall take good care that no one is near when I do it. If by any
possible chance I were caught at it--I don't see, though, how such a
thing can happen--I should simply say that, having come across the key,
I went for a matter of curiosity to see if it was the one that would
open the bank door."
"Yes, I don't think there would be much risk in that," Mr. Fernlea
agreed. "You had better go at once, Roland, and I will remain with your
father until you come back. If by any chance you are detected in trying
the door, it would be far better that it should be at this time of the
evening, when you might be passing by accidentally, and have acted upon
the impulse to see if the key fitted, than if you were to go down in the
middle of the night."
In twenty minutes Roland returned.
"A new lock has been put upon the door, father. The key won't go in at
all."
Mr. Partridge gave an exclamation of disappointment.
"Don't trouble about that," Mr. Fernlea said. "I don't think that it
matters very much. You see, the list would only be perfect so far as the
securities you went through which was only a small proportion of those
in the hands of the bank. It is essential that we should get the entire
list. It might happen that he has parted with those which you know to
have been stolen, while he may have some of the others still in his
possession. I will think the matter over to-night, and see if I can hit
upon a plausible excuse for wanting to get the list of the missing
securities without being obliged to hint at the purpose for which we
require them."