A MYSTERIOUS DISCOVERY
The safe disposed of, there remained a cupboard, two tables full of
drawers, twenty or thirty tin boxes. Checkley examined every one of
these receptacles. In vain. There was not anywhere any trace of the
certificates.
'Yet,' said Mr. Dering, 'they must be somewhere. We have been hunting
all the morning, and we have not found them. They are not in this room.
Yet they must be somewhere. Certificates and such things don't fly away.
They are of no use to any one. People don't steal certificates. I must
have done something with them.'
'Did you take them home with you?'
'Why should I do that? I have no safe or strong-room at home.'
'Did you send them to the Bank for greater safety? To be sure, they
would be no more safe there than here.'
'Go and ask. See the manager. Ask him if he holds any certificates of
mine.'
The clerk turned to obey.
'No.' Mr. Dering stopped him. 'What's the good? If he held the things,
there would have been dividends. Yet what can I do?' For the first time
in his life the lawyer felt the emotion that he had often observed in
clients at times of real disaster. He felt as if there was nothing
certain: not even Property: as if the law itself, actually the law--was
of no use. His brain reeled: the ground was slipping under his feet, and
he was falling forward through the table, and the floor and the
foundation--forward and down--down--down. 'What can I do?' he repeated.
'Checkley, go. See the manager. There may be something to find out. I
can't think properly. Go.'
When the clerk left him, he laid his head upon his hands and tried to
put things quite clearly before himself. 'Where can the certificates
be?' he asked himself, repeating this question twenty times. He was
quite conscious that if he had been consulted on such a point by a
client he would have replied with the greatest readiness, suggesting the
one really practical thing to do. For himself he could advise nothing.
'Where can the certificates be? Nobody steals Corporation stock and gas
companies' shares. They are no good if you do steal them. They can't be
sold without the authority of the owner: he has got to sign transfer
papers: if they were stolen, the dividends would go on being paid to the
owner just the same. Besides----' Somewhere about this point he
bethought him of the Bank-book. If the stock had been sold the money
would appear to his credit. He snatched the book and looked at it. No;
there was no entry which could possibly represent the sale of stock. He
knew what every entry meant, and when the amount was paid in: his memory
was perfectly clear upon this point.
Checkley's suggestion occurred to him. Had he taken the certificates
home with him? He might have done for some reason which he had now
forgotten. Yes; that was the one possible explanation. He must have
done. For a moment he breathed again--only for a moment, because he
immediately reflected that he could not possibly do such a thing as take
those securities to a house where he never transacted any business at
all. Then he returned to his former bewilderment and terror. What had
become of them? Why had he taken them out of the safe? Where had he
bestowed them?
And why were there no dividends paid to him on these stocks? Why? He
turned white with terror when he realised that if he got no more
dividends, he could have no more stocks.
During a long professional career of fifty years, Mr. Dering had never
made a mistake--at least he thought so. If he had not always invested
his money to the greatest profit, he had invested it safely. He did not
get the interest that some City men expect, but he made no losses. He
looked upon himself, therefore, as a man of great sagacity, whereas in
such matters he was only a man of great prudence. Also, during this long
period he was always in the enjoyment of a considerable income.
Therefore he had never known the least anxiety about money. Yet all his
life he had been counselling other people in their anxieties. It was
exactly as if a specialist in some mortal disease should be himself
attacked by it. Or it was as if the bo'sun, whose duty it is to
superintend the flogging, should be himself tied up.
Nothing came to him: no glimmer of light: not the least recollection of
anything. Then he thought desperately, that perhaps if he were to
imagine how it would be if somebody else, not himself at all, were to
come to himself and lay the story before him as a solicitor, for advice.
Or how it would be if he himself were to go to himself as a solicitor
and put the case.
When Checkley came back, he found his master leaning back in his chair,
his eyes wide open and staring at him as he opened the door--yet they
saw nothing. Checkley stood under the gaze of those eyes, which saw him
not. 'Good Lord!' he murmured. 'Is the time come? Is he going to die?'
His face was white. He seemed to be listening anxiously: his lips were
parted. 'He's in a fit of some kind,' thought the old clerk.
He stood watching. He ought, perhaps, to have called for assistance. He
did not think of it. He stood and watched, his face as pale as his
master's. Was it the end? If so--we all think of ourselves first--what
about his berth and salary?
Suddenly his master's eyes closed; he dropped his head: he heaved a deep
sigh: he moved his head and opened his eyes. He was restored to himself.
The fit, whatever it was, had passed.
'Checkley,' he said, 'I've been trying to put the thing to myself as if
some other man--a client--was putting his case to me. I began very well.
The other man came--that is, I myself called upon myself. I sat and
heard my own story. I forgot, somehow, what the story was'--he shook his
head impatiently. 'Forget--forget--I always forget. But I remember that
it wasn't the story I wanted him to tell. It was another story
altogether. He didn't tell me what I wanted to know. That is--what has
become of the certificates. I'm no nearer than I was. He made out that I
was actually selling the certificates myself.'
'You're wandering a bit,' said Checkley, anxiously watching him. 'That's
all. You'll be all right presently. You've bin shook up a bit, with the
certificates and the notes and all. If I were you I'd have a glass of
something stiff.'
'No--no; I shall come round presently. Yes--that's it. I'm a good deal
upset by this business. Somehow, I don't seem able to think clearly
about it. Let me see'--he sighed heavily--'I think you went
somewhere--somewhere for me, before--before the other man came.'
'For Lord's sake, don't talk about the other man. There's no such
person. Yes--I did go for you; I went to ask the manager of the Bank
whether he held any stock for you.'
'The manager of the Bank. True. Well, and does he hold anything?'
'Not a scrap. Never had any.'
'Then, Checkley'--Mr. Dering dropped his hands helplessly--'what is to
be done?'
'I don't know, I'm sure,' the clerk replied with equal helplessness. 'I
never heard of such a thing before in all my life. Thirty-eight thousand
pounds! It can't be. Nobody ever heard of such a thing before. Perhaps
they are about the place somewhere. Let's have another search.'
'No--no. It is useless. Why--I have had no dividends. The shares were
all transferred, and nothing has been paid for them. The shares have
been stolen. Checkley, I can't think. For the first time in my life, I
can't think--I want some one to advise me. I must put the case in
somebody's hands.'
'There's your young partner--a chance for him to show that he's worth
his pay. Why don't you consult him, and then come back to the old plan
of you and me? We're knocked a bit silly just at first; but the case
will come to us in the long run. You would have a partner--nothing would
do but a partner. The boy's in his own room now, I suppose, with a crown
upon his head and the clerks kneelin' around--as grand as you please.
Send for him.'
Mr. Dering nodded.
The partner, when he arrived a few minutes later, found the Chief
walking about the room in uncontrollable agitation. On the table
lay piled the whole contents of the safe. In front of it stood
the ancient clerk, trembling and shaking--head, hands, knees, and
shoulders--following the movements of his master with eyes full of
anxiety and terror. This strange fit, this forgetfulness, this rambling
talk about another man, this new restlessness, frightened him.
'You are come at last.' Mr. Dering stopped and threw himself into his
chair. Now, my partner, hear the case and resolve the difficulty for
us, if you can.--Tell him, Checkley--or--stay; no. I will tell it
myself. Either I have lost my reason and my memory, or I have been
robbed.'
George stood at the table and listened. Something of the utmost gravity
had happened. Never before had he seen his Chief in the least degree
shaken out of his accustomed frigidity of calm. Now he was excited; his
eyes were restless; he talked fast, he talked badly. He made half a
dozen attempts to begin: he marshalled his facts in a slovenly and
disorderly manner, quite unlike his usual clear arrangement: for fifty
years he had been marshalling facts and drawing up cases, and at his own
he broke down.
'I think I understand the whole,' said George, when his Chief paused and
Checkley ceased to correct and to add. 'You had certificates
representing investments to the amount of 38,000_l_.: these are gone,
unaccountably gone: no dividends have been paid for some months, and
your broker speaks of large transfers.'
'That's not all,' said Checkley. 'Tell him about the notes.'
'Yes. The fact may have some bearing upon the case. While we were
looking for the certificates, and in order, I suppose, to complicate
things and to bewilder me the more, we found in the safe the very
notes--give me the bundle, Checkley--there they are--that were paid over
the Bank counter to the man who forged my name eight years ago.'
'What? The case in which Athelstan Arundel was accused?'
'The same. There they are--you hold them in your hand--the very notes!
Strange! on the very day when I am threatened with another and a worse
robbery! Yes--yes; the very notes!--the very notes! This is wonderful.
Who put them there?'
'How can I know?'
'Well--but in any case one thing is certain. Athelstan's name is cleared
at last. You will tell his mother that.'
'Not at all,' said Checkley. 'Why shouldn't he put 'em in himself? I saw
him edging up towards the safe----'
'Saw him edging--stuff and nonsense! His name is cleared. This will be
joyful news to his mother and sisters.'
'Austin, get me back my certificates,' said Mr. Dering; 'never mind
those notes now. Never mind the joyful news. Never mind Athelstan's
name; that can wait. The thought of him and the old forgery only
bewilders my brain at this juncture. I cannot act. I cannot think. I
feel as if I was blinded and stupefied. Act for me--think for me--work
for me. Be my solicitor, George, as well as my partner.'
'I will do my best. It is difficult at first to understand--for what has
happened? You cannot find--you have mislaid--certain papers. Certain
dividends which were due do not appear to have been paid: and your
brokers, Ellis & Northcote, have used a phrase in a letter which you do
not understand. Would it not be well to get them here; or shall I go
into the City and ask them exactly what they meant and what has been
done?'
'If I could remember any transactions with them during the last six
months. But I cannot, except a small purchase of Corporation stock last
month--a few hundreds. And here are the papers belonging to that.'
'Which of the partners do you deal with?'
'The old man, Ellis--he's always acted for me. He has been my friend for
close on fifty years.'
'Well, I will send for him, and tell him to come as soon as possible,
and to bring along with him all the letters and papers he has.'
'Good, good,' said Mr. Dering, more cheerfully. 'That is practical. I
ought to have thought of that at the very outset. Now we shall get
along. The first thing is to arrive at the facts--then we can act. If it
was another man's case, I should have known what to do. But when it is
your own--and to lose the certificates, and when a sum of nearly forty
thousand pounds is at stake--it looks like losing the money itself--and
the feeling of uncertainty----'
'All taken together, becomes rather overwhelming. Of course I should
like to see the letter-book, and we must run through the letters to see
if they throw any light upon the business. Perhaps the papers themselves
may be found among them.'
The presence of this young man, cheerful, decided, taking practical
measures at once, cheered up the lawyer, and steadied his shattered
nerves. But Checkley the clerk looked on gloomily. He replaced the
papers in the safe, and stood beside it, as if to guard it; he followed
the movements of the new partner with watchful, suspicious eyes; and he
muttered sullenly between his teeth.
First George sent a telegram to the City for the broker. Then, while the
old clerk still stood beside the safe, and Mr. Dering continued to show
signs of agitation uncontrollable, sometimes walking about the room and
sometimes sitting at his table, sometimes looking into the empty shelves
of the safe, he began to look through the copied letters, those, that
is, which had gone out of Mr. Dering's office. He searched for six
months, working backwards.
'Nothing for six months,' he said.--'Checkley, give me the letters.' He
went through these. They were the letters received at the office, all
filed, endorsed, and dated. There was not one during the letters of six
months which he examined which had anything to do with the sales of
stocks and shares.
'If,' he said, 'you had written to Ellis & Northcote, a copy of your
letter would be here in this book. If they had written to you, these
letters would be among these bundles. Very well. Since no such letters
are here, it is clear that no such letters were written. Therefore, no
sales.'
'Then,' said Mr. Dering, 'where are my certificates? Where are my
dividends?'
'That we shall see. At present, we are only getting at the facts.'
Then Mr. Ellis, senior partner of Ellis & Northcote, arrived, bearing a
small packet of papers. Everybody knew Mr. Ellis, of Ellis & Northcote,
one of the most respectable stockbrokers in London--citizen and Lorimer.
He belonged eminently to the class called worthy: an old gentleman,
carefully dressed, of smooth and polished appearance, pleasing manners,
and great integrity. Nobody could look more truly _integer vitae_ than
Mr. Ellis. Nor did his private practice belie his reputation and his
appearance. His chin and lips looked as if they could not possibly
endure the burden of beard or moustache; his sentiments, one observed at
a glance, would certainly be such as one expects from a citizen of his
respectability.
'Here I am, dear sir,' he said cheerfully--'here I am, in immediate
obedience to your summons. I hope that there is nothing wrong; though
your request that I would bring with me certain papers certainly made me
a little apprehensive.'
'There is, I fear, a good deal wrong,' said Mr. Dering. 'Sit down, my
old friend.--Give Mr. Ellis a chair, Checkley.--Austin, you will tell
him what he wants to know.'
'You wrote to Mr. Dering yesterday recommending a certain
investment----'
'I certainly did. A very favourable opportunity it is, and a capital
thing it will prove.'
'You mentioned in your letter certain transfers and sales which,
according to your letter, he had recently effected.'
'Certainly.'
'What sales were they?'
Mr. Ellis looked at his papers. 'February last--sale of various stock,
all duly enumerated here, to the value of 6,500_l_. March last, sale of
various stock, also all duly enumerated, to the value of 12,000_l_. odd.
April last, sale of stock to the value of 20,000_l_.--more or
less--realising----'
'You note the dates and amounts, Austin?' said Mr. Dering.
'Certainly; we will, however, get the dates and the amounts more exactly
in a moment.--Now, Mr. Ellis, of course you received instructions with
the papers themselves. Were they in writing or by word of mouth?'
'In writing. By letters written by Mr. Dering himself.'
'Have you got these letters with you?'
'Everything is here, and in proper order.' He laid his hand upon the
papers. 'Here, for instance, is the first letter, dated February 14,
relating to these transactions.--You will no doubt remember it, Mr.
Dering.' He took up a letter, and read it aloud: '"MY DEAR ELLIS,--I
enclose a bundle of certificates and shares. They amount to somewhere
about 6,500_l_. at current price. Will you have these transferred to the
name of Edmund Gray, gentleman, of 22 South Square, Gray's Inn? Mr.
Edmund Gray is a client, and I will have the amount paid to my account
by him. Send me, therefore, the transfer papers and the account showing
the amount due to me by him, together with your commission.--Very
sincerely yours, EDWARD DERING." That is the letter. The proceeding is
not usual, yet not irregular. If, for instance, we had been instructed
to buy stock for Mr. Dering---- But of course you know.'
'Pardon me,' said George. 'I am not so much accustomed to buy stock as
my partner. Will you go on?'
'We should have done so, and sent our client the bill for the amount
with our commission. If we had been instructed to sell, we should have
paid in to Mr. Dering's bank the amount realised less our commission. A
transfer is another kind of work. Mr. Dering transferred this stock to
Edmund Gray, his client. It was therefore for him to settle with his
client the charges for the transfer and the value of the stock. We
therefore sent a bill for these charges. It was sent by hand, and a
cheque was received by return of the messenger.'
George received the letter from him, examined it, and laid it before his
partner.
* * * * *
Mr. Dering read the letter, held it to the Checkley.
'If anybody knows my handwriting,' he said, 'it ought to be you. Whose
writing is that?'
'It looks like yours. But there is a trembling in the letters. It is not
so firm as the most of your work. I should call it yours; but I see by
your face that it is not.'
'No; it is not my writing. I did not write that letter. This is the
first I have heard of the contents of that letter.--Look at the
signature, Checkley. Two clots are wanting after the word Dering, and
the flourish after the last "n" is curtailed of half its usual
dimensions. Did you ever know me to alter my signature by a single
curve?'
'Never,' Checkley replied. 'Two clots wanting and half a flourish.--Go
on, sir; I've just thought of something. But go on.'
'You don't mean to say that this letter is a forgery?' asked Mr. Ellis.
'Why--then---- Oh! it is impossible. It must then be the beginning of a
whole series of forgeries. It's quite impossible to credit it. The
letter came from this office: the post-mark shows it was posted in this
district: the answer was sent here. The transfers--consider--the
transfers were posted to this office. They came back duly signed and
witnessed--from this office. I forwarded the certificate made out in the
name of Edmund Gray--to this office: and I got an acknowledgment--from
this office. I sent the account of the transaction with my commission
charges--to this office, and got a cheque for the latter--from this
office. How can such a complicated business as this--only the first of
these transactions--be a forgery? Why, you want a dozen confederates at
least for such a job as this.'
'I do not quite understand yet,' said George, inexperienced in the
transfer of stocks and shares.
'Well, I cannot sell stock without the owner's authority; he must sign a
transfer. But if I receive a commission from a lawyer to transfer his
stock to a client, it is not my business to ask whether he receives the
money or not.'
'Yes--yes. And is there nothing to show for the sale of this 6,000_l_.
worth of paper?' George asked Mr. Dering.
'Nothing at all. The letters and everything are a forgery.'
'And you, Mr. Ellis, received a cheque for your commission?'
'Certainly.'
'Get me the old cheques and the cheque-book,' said Mr. Dering. The
cheque was drawn, as the letter was written, in Mr. Dering's
handwriting, but with the slight difference he had pointed out in the
signature.
'You are quite sure,' asked George, 'that you did not sign that cheque?'
'I am perfectly certain that I did not.'
'Then as for this Edmund Gray of 22 South Square, Gray's Inn--what do
you know about him?'
'Nothing at all--absolutely nothing.'
'I know something,' said Checkley. 'But go on--go on.'
'He may be a non-existent person, for what you know.'
'Certainly. I know nothing about any Edmund Gray.'
'Wait a bit,' murmured Checkley.
'Well, but'--Mr. Ellis went on--'this was only a beginning. In March you
wrote to me again; that is to say, I received a letter purporting to be
from you. In this letter--here it is--you instructed me to transfer
certain stock--the papers of which you enclosed--amounting to about
12,000_l_.--to Edmund Gray aforesaid. In the same way as before the
transfer papers were sent to you for signature: in the same way as
before they were signed and returned: and in the same way as before the
commission was charged to you and paid by you. It was exactly the same
transaction as before--only for double the sum involved in the February
business.'
Mr. Dering took the second letter and looked at it with a kind of
patient resignation. 'I know nothing about it,' he said--'nothing at
all.'
'There was a third and last transaction,' said the broker, 'this time in
April. Here is the letter written by you with instructions exactly the
same as in the previous cases, but dealing with the stock to the amount
of 19,000_l_., which we duly carried out, and for which we received your
cheque--for commission.'
'Every one of these letters--every signature of mine to transfer papers
and to cheques--was a forgery,' said Mr. Dering slowly. 'I have no
client named Edmund Gray: I know no one of the name: I never received
any money from the transfers: these investments are stolen.'
'Let me look at the letters again,' said George. He examined them
carefully, comparing them with each other. 'They are so wonderfully
forged that they would deceive the most careful. I should not hesitate,
myself, to swear to the handwriting.'
It has already been explained that Mr. Dering's handwriting was of a
kind which is not uncommon with those who write a good deal. The
unimportant words were conveyed by a curve, with or without a tail,
while the really important words were clearly written. The signature,
however, was large, distinct, and florid--the signature of the House,
which had been flourishing for a hundred years and more, a signature
which had never varied.
'Look at it,' said George again. 'Who would not swear to this writing?'
'I would for one,' said Mr. Ellis. 'And I have known it for forty years
and more.--If that is not your own writing, Dering, it is the very
finest imitation ever made.'
'I don't think my memory can be quite gone.--Checkley, have we ever had
a client named Edmund Gray?'
'No--never. But you've forgotten one thing. That forgery eight years
ago--the cheque of 720_l_.--was payable to the order of Edmund Gray.'
'Ah! So it was. This seems important.'
'Most important,' said George. 'The forger could not possibly by
accident choose the same name. This cannot be coincidence. Have you the
forged cheque?'
'I have always kept it,' Mr. Dering replied, 'on the chance of using it
to prove the crime and convict the criminal. You will find it, Checkley,
in the right-hand drawer of the safe. Thank you. Here it is. "Pay to the
order of Edmund Gray;" and here is his endorsement. So we have his
handwriting at any rate.'
George took it. 'Strange,' he said. 'I should without any hesitation
swear to your handwriting here as well. And look--the signature to the
cheque is exactly the same as that of these letters. The two dots
missing after the name, and the flourish after the last "n" curtailed.'
It was so. The handwriting of the cheque and of the letters was the
same: the signatures were slightly, but systematically, altered in
exactly the same way in both letters and cheque.
'This again,' said George, 'can hardly be coincidence. It seems to me
that the man who wrote that cheque also wrote those letters.'
The endorsement was in a hand which might also be taken for Mr. Dering's
own. Nothing to be got out of the endorsement.
'But about the transfer papers,' said George. 'They would have to be
witnessed as well as signed.'
'They were witnessed,' said the broker, 'by a clerk named Lorry.'
'Yes, we have such a man in our office.--Checkley, send for Lorry.'
Lorry was a clerk employed in Mr. Dering's outer office. Being
interrogated, he said that he had no recollection of witnessing a
signature for a transfer paper. He had witnessed many signatures, but
was not informed what the papers were. Asked if he remembered especially
witnessing any signature in February, March, or April, he replied that
he could not remember any, but that he had witnessed a great many
signatures: that sometimes Mr. Dering wanted him to witness his own
signature, sometimes those of clients. If he were shown his signature he
might remember. Lorry, therefore, was allowed to depart to his own
place.
'There can be no longer any doubt,' said George, 'that an attempt has
been made at a robbery on a very large scale.'
'An attempt only?' Mr. Dering asked. 'Where are my certificates?'
'I say attempt, because you can't really steal stock. Dividends are only
paid to those who lawfully possess it. This Edmund Gray we can find, if
he exists. I take it, however, that he does not. It is probably a name
assumed by the forger. And I suppose that he has made haste to sell his
stock. Whether or no, you will certainly recover your property. People
may as well steal a field as steal stocks and shares.'
'We can easily find out for you,' said Mr. Ellis, 'what has become of
your paper.'
'If the thieves have kept it,' George went on, 'all they could make
would be the dividends for five months. That, however, is only because
the Bank-book was not examined for so long. They could not reckon upon
such an unusual stroke of luck. It seems almost certain that they must
get rid of the stock as quickly as they could. Suppose that they have
realised the whole amount. It is an immense sum of money. It would have
to be paid by cheque into a bank: the holder could only draw out the
money gradually: he might, to be sure, go to America and have the whole
amount transferred, but that would not help him much unless he could
draw it out in small sums payable to confederates. In fact, the robbery
seems to me hedged about with difficulties almost impossible.'
'It is the most extraordinary attempt at robbery that ever was,' said
Mr. Ellis. 'Thirty-eight thousand pounds in shares. Well, I will find
out for you if they have been sold and to whom. Meantime, my old friend,
don't you be down-hearted about it. As Mr. Austin says, you will
certainly get your property back again. What? We live in a civilised
country. We cannot have large sums like 40,000_l_. stolen bodily.
Property isn't kept any longer in bags of gold. Bank notes, banks,
investments, all tend to make great robberies impossible. Courage; you
will get back your property.'
Mr. Dering shook his head doubtfully.
'There is another chance,' George suggested. 'One has heard of robberies
effected with the view of blackmail afterwards. Suppose we were to get a
letter offering the whole to be returned for a certain sum.'
'No--no. It is now four months since the thing was done. They have sold
out the stock and disappeared--gone to America, as you suggested. Why,
the things may have been sold a dozen times over in the interval. That
is the danger. Suppose they _have_ been sold a dozen times over.
Consider. Here is a share in the Great Western. I transfer it from A to
B. Very good. The share now belongs to B, and stands in his name whether
honestly come by or not. B sends it to another broker, who sells it to
C. He, again, to D. Every transaction is right and in form except the
first. You can trace the share from owner to owner. B has vanished. A
says to C: "You bought that share of a thief." C says: "Very sorry. How
was I to know? D has got it now." D says that it is his, and he will
stick to it. We go to law about the share. What is going to happen? Upon
my word, I don't know. Well--but this is only conjecture. Let me first
find out what has become of the shares. Of course there is a record, to
which I have only to refer. I will let you know by to-morrow morning, if
I can.'
When Mr. Ellis was gone, George began to sum up, for the clearing of his
own mind, the ascertained facts of the case, so far as they had got.
'First,' he said, 'the letters to Ellis and Northcote were written on
our headed paper. Clearly, therefore, the writer must have had access to
the office. Next, he knew and could copy your handwriting. Third, he was
able to intercept the delivery of letters, and to prevent your getting
any he wished to stop, because the correspondence was conducted openly
through the post. That seems to be a very important point. Fourth, the
letters were all, apparently, in your handwriting, very skilfully
imitated, instead of being dictated and then signed. Fifth, he must at
least have known of the last forgery, or how did he arrive at the name
of Edmund Gray?' And was it out of devilry and mockery, because that
forgery escaped detection, that he used the name again? Sixth, he must
have had access to the safe where the cheque-book (as well as the
certificates) was kept. Seventh, he must have known the office pretty
well, or how did he find out the names of your brokers? Eighth, the
handwriting appeared to be exactly the same as that of the former
forgery.'
'It is the same as last time,' said Checkley. 'That forgery was done in
the office, if ever a thing was done here. Same with this--same with
this. Well--time will show. Same with this.' He glared from under his
great eyebrows at the young partner, as if he suspected that the young
gentleman could throw some light upon that mystery if he wished.
'We have given Time long enough to discover the author of the last
business,' said Mr. Dering; 'but he has not chosen to do so as yet. The
loss of property,' he groaned--'the loss of close on forty thousand
pounds.'
'I don't believe it is lost,' said George. 'It can't be lost. It is a
bit of a railway--part of a reservoir--a corner of the gas-works--you
can't lose these things--unless, indeed, the difficulty suggested by Mr.
Ellis occurs.'
Here Mr. Dering pushed back his chair and began again to walk about the
room in restless agitation. He was no longer the grave and serious
lawyer; he became one of his own clients, lamenting, as they had so
often lamented in that room, the greatness of his misfortune. He uttered
the actual commonplaces of men in distress--there is a dreadful sameness
about the Lamentations of Ill Luck. We all know them--the hardness of
the thing: the injustice of it: the impossibility of warding it off: his
own sagacity in taking every precaution: the dreadfulness of being
singled out of a whole generation for exceptional misfortune. Mr. Dering
himself, the grave, calm, reserved old lawyer, who seemed made of
granite, broke down under the blow and became an ordinary human
creature. In the lower walks, they weep. Checkley would have wept. Mr.
Dering became eloquent, wrathful, sarcastic. No retired General who has
ruined himself by gambling in stocks could so bemoan his luck. George
listened, saying nothing. It was an experience. No man so strong but has
his weak point. No man is completely armoured against the arrows of
fate.
Presently he grew a little more calm, and sat down. 'Forgive me,
George,' he said gently--'forgive this outbreak. There is more in the
business than you know of. I feel as if I know something about it, but
can't bring it out. I am growing so forgetful--I forget whole days--I am
filled with the feeling that I ought to know about it. As for the loss,
what I have said is true. You do not yet feel as I do about Property.
You are too young: you have not got any Property yet. Wait a few
years--then you will be able to agree with me that there is nothing in
the world so hard as to lose your Property--the Property that you have
made--by your own exertions--for yourself.'
'Now you talk like yourself,' said Checkley. 'That's sense. Nothing so
dreadful as to lose Property. It's enough to kill people, it has killed
many people.'
'Property means everything. You understand that the more the older you
get.'
'You do,' echoed Checkley. 'There's nothing in the world worth
considering except Property.'
'It means--remember--all the virtues--prudence--courage--quick
sight--self-restraint--tenacity--all the fighting qualities. We do well
to honour rich men. I hoped to receive honour myself as a rich man. When
you have put together a few thousands--by the exercise of these finer
qualities, so that the thought of this gives you dignity----'
'Ah!' cried Checkley, straightening himself.
'To feel that they are gone--gone--gone--it is cruel.--George, you don't
understand it. You are young: as yet you have no money.--Checkley, you
have saved----'
'Me? Oh! A trifle, a trifle.' But he covered his mouth with his hand to
conceal the smile of satisfaction.
'You are reputed rich.'
'No--no--no. Not rich. My chances have been few. I have not let them go.
But rich? No--no.'
'How would you regard the loss--the robbery of your property--Checkley?'
The old clerk shook his head. He had no words adequate to the question.
'Apart from the loss,' Mr. Dering went on, 'there is the sense of
insecurity. I felt it once before when the other forgery took place.
There seems no safety anywhere. Papers that I keep in my private safe,
to which no one has a key but myself, which I never leave open if I
leave the room even to go into another room, are taken. Cheque-books
which I keep there are taken out and cheques stolen. Finally, things are
put in--the bundle of notes--for instance. I say that I feel a sense of
helplessness, as if everything might be taken from me and I should be
powerless to resist.'
'Let us first get back the certificates,' said George, 'and we will find
out and defeat this gang, if it is a gang, of confederates. Yes--it is
as you say--the ground itself seems sinking beneath one's feet--when
one's own investments are sold for nothing by a letter so like your own
writing that it would deceive anybody.'
'Done in the office,' Checkley murmured--'in the office. Same as last
time. Well--we shall find him--we shall find him.' He began to bundle
the papers back into the safe, murmuring: 'Same as last time--done in
the office--we shall find him--we shall find him. We found him before,
and we'll find him now.'