BLACK SECRETS AND RED TAPE
Before ever Brent dropped into the chair to which Hawthwaite silently
pointed him, he knew that he was about to hear revelations. He was
conscious of an atmosphere in that drab, sombre little room.
Hawthwaite's glance at him as he entered was that of a man who bids
another to prepare himself for news; Wellesley looked unusually stern
and perplexed.
"Dr. Wellesley got me to send for you, Mr. Brent," said the
superintendent. "He's got something to tell which he thinks you, as
next-of-kin to our late Mayor, ought to know."
Brent nodded, and turned, in silence, to Wellesley. Wellesley, who had
been staring moodily at the fireless grate, looked up, glancing from one
man to the other.
"You understand, Mr. Brent, and you, Hawthwaite, that whatever I tell
you is told in the very strictest confidence?" he said. "As you say,
Hawthwaite, I think it's something that you ought to know, both of you;
but, at present, I don't know if there's anything in it--I mean anything
that has real, practical relation to Wallingford's death, or not. I am
to speak in confidence?"
"To me--yes," answered Brent promptly.
"It'll not go beyond me, doctor," said Hawthwaite with a smile. "I'm
used to this job! Heard more secrets and private communications in my
time than I can remember; I've clean forgotten most of 'em."
"Very well," agreed Wellesley. "This is strictly private, then, at
present. Now, to begin with, I suppose you have both heard--it's pretty
well known through the town, I understand--that Mrs. Mallett has left
her husband?"
"Ay!" replied Hawthwaite. "I've heard that."
"Yes," said Brent. "I too."
"I dare say you both gathered from that evidence, of mine and of Mrs.
Mallett's, at the adjourned inquest, that there was some mystery
underlying her visit to me?" continued Wellesley. "Some secret, eh?"
"Couldn't very well gather anything else, doctor!" replied Hawthwaite.
"Evident!"
"The fact of the case is," said Wellesley suddenly, "that wasn't the
first visit Mrs. Mallett had paid to me--and to Wallingford--in that
way. She'd been twice before, during that week. On the first occasion
she only saw me; on the second she and I saw Wallingford together, in
the Mayor's Parlour; on the third--the one we gave evidence about--she
went to see Wallingford alone, but, as she told you, she found he was
engaged, so she came away."
The three men looked at each other. Hawthwaite voiced what two of the
three were wondering.
"Some business which concerned all three of you, then, doctor?" he
suggested.
"Business which deeply concerned her, and on which she came to consult
me and Wallingford," replied Wellesley. "Now I'll tell you straight out
what it was. Mrs. Mallett had found out that there was some sort of an
intrigue between her husband and Mrs. Saumarez!"
For a moment a deep silence fell over the room. Brent felt his brows
drawing together in a frown--the sort of frown that spreads over a man's
face when he tries to think quickly and clearly over a problem
unexpectedly presented to him. Hawthwaite folded his arms across his
braided tunic, stared at the ceiling, and whistled softly. He was the
first to speak.
"Oh, oh!" he said. "Um! So that's--But she'd have some proof, doctor,
for an assertion of that sort? Not mere guess-work?"
"I'm afraid there's no guess-work about it," said Wellesley. "It's not a
pleasant matter to discuss, but that's unavoidable now. This is what
Mrs. Mallett told Wallingford and myself; Mrs. Mallett, as you know, is
a downright, plain-spoken woman, with strong views of her own, and she's
just the sort to go through with a thing. Some little time ago she
found, evidently through Mallett's carelessness, a receipt for a very
valuable diamond ring from a London jeweller, a lady's ring. This, of
course, aroused her suspicions, and without saying anything to her
husband she determined to have his movements watched. She knew that
Mallett was frequently going away for a day at a time, ostensibly on
business connected with the bank, and she employed a private inquiry
agent to watch him. This man followed Mallett from Hathelsborough to
Clothford one morning, and from Clothford station to the Royal County
Hotel, where, in the lounge, he was joined by Mrs. Saumarez, who had
been previously pointed out to the agent here in Hathelsborough, and who
had evidently cycled over to Clothford. She and Mallett lunched at the
Royal County in a private room and spent the greater part of the
afternoon there; the same thing occurred on two other occasions. So then
Mrs. Mallett came to me and to Wallingford."
"Why to you?" demanded Brent.
"I think," replied Wellesley, with a forced smile, "she may have had a
womanish feeling of revenge, knowing that Wallingford and myself
had--well, both paid a good deal of attention to Mrs. Saumarez. But
there were other reasons--Mrs. Mallett has few friends in the town; I
was her medical attendant, and she and Wallingford frequently met each
other on one or two committees--Mrs. Mallett took a good deal of
interest in social affairs. Anyway, she came and confided in us about
this."
"I suppose you and Wallingford discussed it?" suggested Brent.
"Yes," replied Wellesley. "Briefly, on the night before his death."
"Was that the reason of your saying at the inquest that there was no
jealousy between you, at the time of his death, as regards Mrs.
Saumarez?"
"Just so! There couldn't be any jealousy, could there, after what we'd
heard?"
"You believed this, then?"
"We couldn't do anything else! The man whom Mrs. Mallett employed is a
thoroughly dependable man. There's not the slightest doubt that Mrs.
Saumarez secretly met Mallett and spent most of the afternoon with him,
under the circumstances I mentioned, on three separate occasions."
"And that's the reason of Mrs. Mallett's sudden flight--if you call it
so; is it, doctor?" asked Hawthwaite, who had been listening intently.
"That's the reason--yes," replied Wellesley.
"What's she going to do?" inquired Hawthwaite. "Divorce?"
"She said something about a legal separation," answered Wellesley. "I
suppose it will come to the other thing."
"And how do you think this is related to Wallingford's murder?" asked
Hawthwaite with sudden directness. "Let's be plain, doctor--do you
suspect Mallett?"
Wellesley showed signs of indecision.
"I don't like to say that I do," he replied at last. "And yet, I don't
know. I've rather wondered if there'd been any meeting between Mallett
and Wallingford after Wallingford knew about this: I believe they did
meet, on business, during the day. Now, to tell you the truth,
Wallingford was much more--shall we say upset?--about this affair than I
was: he was very much gone on Mrs. Saumarez. It's struck me that he may
have threatened Mallett with exposure; and exposure, of course, would
mean a great deal to a man in Mallett's position--a bank-manager, and
Town Trustee, and so on. And----But I really don't know what to think."
"There's a thing I'd like to know," said Brent. "What do you think about
the woman in the case? You've had chances of knowing her."
Wellesley gave his questioner a searching look.
"I would rather not say, Mr. Brent," he replied. "Discoveries of this
sort, substantiated, are--well, disconcerting. Besides, they tend to a
revision of opinion; they're sidelights--unfortunate ones."
"Look here," said Brent, "were you greatly surprised?"
"Well, looking back," responded Wellesley thoughtfully, "perhaps not
greatly. I think she's a bit of a mystery."
Brent turned to Hawthwaite. Hawthwaite, however, looked at the doctor.
"Well, doctor," he said, "I think you've done right to tell this.
There's something in the suggestion that there may have been a fatal
quarrel between Mallett and Wallingford. But I don't want to go into
this at present--I'm full up otherwise. Leave it until this Local
Government Board inspection is over."
"Why until then?" asked Wellesley.
"Why, because, for anything we know to the contrary, something may come
out at that which will dovetail into this," replied Hawthwaite. "The
Inspector is coming down at once--we'll leave this over till he's been.
Look here, has Mrs. Mallett let this out to anybody but you?"
"No, I'm sure of that," answered Wellesley. "It's been known in the town
for some time--common knowledge--that she and Mallett weren't on good
terms, but she assured me just before leaving that she hasn't mentioned
the episodes I've detailed to any other person here than myself. And, of
course, Wallingford."
"And he's gone, poor fellow!" said Hawthwaite. "And Mr. Brent and
myself'll be secret as the grave he lies in! All right, doctor--just
leave it to me."
When Wellesley had gone away, Hawthwaite turned to Brent.
"I don't believe for one moment that Mallett murdered your cousin!" he
said. "I'm not surprised about this other affair, but I don't think it's
anything to do with what we're after. No; that's on a side-track. But
I'll tell you what, Mr. Brent--I shouldn't be astonished if I found out
that Mallett knows who the murderer is!"
"I wish you'd tell me if you've any idea yourself who the murderer is!"
exclaimed Brent. "I'm wearying to get at something concrete!"
"Well, if you must have it, I have an idea," answered the
superintendent. "It's a strong idea too. I'm working at it. To tell you
the truth, though nobody knows it but one or two of my trusted men, I've
had a very clever man down from New Scotland Yard for the past
fortnight--he went away yesterday--and he was of great assistance in
unearthing certain facts. And I'm only waiting now for some expert
evidence on a very important point, which I can't get until next week,
in order to make a move. As soon as ever this Local Government Board
inspection's over, I'll make that move. And how do you think that
inspection'll turn out, Mr. Brent?"
"Don't know, can't say, no idea," replied Brent.
"Nor have I!" remarked Hawthwaite. "Candidly, I never expect much from
so-called public inquiries. There's too much officialism about 'em.
Still, every little helps."
These conversations, and the revelations which had transpired during
their course led Brent into a new train of thought. He had been well
aware ever since his coming to Hathelsborough of an atmosphere of
intrigue and mystery; every development that occurred seemed to thicken
it. Here again was more intrigue centring in a domestic imbroglio. There
was nothing much to be wondered at in it, he thought; Mallett was the
sort of man to attract a certain type of woman, and, from all Brent had
heard in the town, a man given to adventure; Mrs. Saumarez was clearly a
woman fond of men's society; Mrs. Mallett, on the other hand, was a
strait-laced, hard sort, given to social work and the furtherance of
movements in which her husband took no interest. The sequence of events
seemed probable to Brent. First there had been Wellesley; then
Wallingford; perhaps a cleverly-contrived double affair with both. But
during a recent period there had been this affair with Mallett--that,
from Wellesley's showing, had come to Wallingford's ears. Brent knew his
cousin sufficiently well to know that Wallingford would develop an ugly
frame of mind on finding that he had been deceived--all sorts of things
might well develop out of a sudden discovery. But had all this anything
to do with Wallingford's murder? That, after all, was, to him, the main
point. And so far he saw no obvious connection. He felt like a man who
is presented with a mass of tangled cord, from which protrude a dozen
loose ends--which end to seize upon that, on being drawn out, would not
reveal more knots and tangles he did not know, for the very life of him.
Perhaps, as Hawthwaite had remarked, it all helped, but as far as Brent
could see it was still difficult to lay hold of a continuous and
unbroken line.
It puzzled him, being still a stranger to the habits and customs of
these people, to see that life in Hathelsborough went on, amidst all
these alarums and excursions, very much as usual. He had already
cultivated a habit of frequenting places of public resort, such as the
smoking-room of his hotel, the big bar-room at Bull's, the rooms of the
Town Club, to which he had without difficulty been duly elected a member
on Tansley's nomination; at all these places he heard a great deal of
gossip, but found no surprise shown at its subjects. Within a day or
two, everybody who frequented these places knew that there had been a
domestic upheaval at Mallett's and had at least some idea of the true
reason of it. But nobody showed any astonishment; everybody, indeed,
seemed to take it as a matter of course. Evidently it made no difference
to Mallett himself, who was seen about the town just as usual, in his
accustomed haunts. And when Brent remarked on this seeming indifference
to Epplewhite, whom he sometimes conversed with at the Club, Epplewhite
only laughed.
"If you knew this town and its people as well as I do, Mr. Brent," he
said, "you'd know that things of this sort are viewed in a light that
outsiders, perhaps, wouldn't view them in. The underhand affairs, the
intrigues, the secret goings-on that exist here are multitudinous.
Hathelsborough folk have a fixed standard--do what you like, as long as
you don't get found out! Understand, sir?"
"But in this case the thing seems to have been found out," remarked
Brent.
"That, in the Hathelsborough mental economy, is the only mistake in it,"
replied Epplewhite dryly. "It's the only thing that Mallett'll get
blamed for! Lord bless you, do you think he's the only man in the place
that's had such an affair? But Hathelsborough folk, men and women, are
past masters and mistresses at secrecy and deception! If you could take
the top off this town, and look deep down under it--ah! there would be
something to see. But, as I dare say you're beginning to find out,
that's no easy job."
"Will the top be lifted at this Local Government Board inspection?"
asked Brent.
Epplewhite shook his head.
"I doubt it, sir!" he answered. "I doubt it very much. I've seen a bit
too much of officialism, Mr. Brent, to cherish any hopes of it. I'll
tell you what'll probably happen when this inspector comes. To start
with, he's bound to be more or less in the hands of the officials. We
know who they are--the three Town Trustees and the staff under them. Do
you think they won't prepare their books and documents in such a fashion
as to ensure getting a report in their favour? Of course! And what's to
stop it? Who's to interfere?"
"I suppose he will hear both sides of the question?" suggested Brent.
"Who is there to put the other side of the question, except on broad
lines, such as you've taken up in your _Monitor_ articles?" asked
Epplewhite. "True, the inspector can ask for information and for
criticism, and for any facts bearing on the subject. But who'll come
forward to give it? Can I? Can Wellesley? Can any of our party? Not one,
in any satisfactory fashion. We've nothing but impressions and
suspicions to go on--we haven't access to the books and papers. The only
man who could have done something was your cousin, our late Mayor; and
he's gone! And talking about that, Mr. Brent, there's a matter that I've
been thinking a good deal about lately, and I think it should be put to
Hawthwaite. You know, of course, that your cousin and I were very
friendly--that came out in my evidence when the inquest was first
opened. Well, he used to tell me things about his investigation of these
Corporation finances, and I happen to know that he kept his notes and
figures about them in a certain memorandum book--a thickish one, with a
stout red leather cover--which he always carried about with him. He'd
have it on him, or on his desk in the Mayor's Parlour, when he met his
death, I'm certain! Now then--where is that book?"
"That's highly important!" said Brent. "I never heard of it. It
certainly wasn't on him, and it wasn't on the desk, for I examined that
myself, in company with the police."
"Well, he had such a book, and search should be made for it," remarked
Epplewhite. "If it could have been produced at this inquiry, some good
might have come of it. But, as things are, I see little hope of any
change. Vested interests and old customs aren't upset in a day, Mr.
Brent."
And Brent was soon to discover that both Tansley and Epplewhite were
correct in their prophecies about the investigation which he himself had
so strenuously advocated in his articles. The Local Government Board
inspector came. He sat in the Moot Hall for two days, in public. He
examined the ancient charters and deeds. He questioned the Town
Trustees. He went through the books. He invited criticism and
objections--and got nothing but a general statement of the policy of the
reforming party from Epplewhite, as its leader: that party, said
Epplewhite, objected to the old constitution as being outworn and wished
for a more modern arrangement. Finally, the inspector, referring to the
articles in the _Monitor_ which had led to the holding of the inquiry,
expressed a wish to see and question their writer.
Brent stood up, in the midst of a crowded court, and confessed himself
sole author of the articles in question.
"Why did you write them?" inquired the inspector.
"From a sense of public duty," replied Brent.
"But I understand that you are a stranger, or a comparative stranger, to
the town?" suggested the inspector.
"I am a burgess, a resident, and a property-owner in the town. I took up
this work--which I mean to see right through!--in succession to my
cousin, John Wallingford, late Mayor of this borough, who was murdered
in this very hall," said Brent. "There are men here who know that he was
working day and night to bring about the financial reforms which I
advocate."
The inspector moved uneasily in his seat at the sound of the word which
Brent emphasized in his reference to his cousin.
"I am sure I sympathize with you, Mr. Brent," he said. "I have been much
grieved to hear of the late Mayor's sad fate. But you say you have
voluntarily taken up his work? Did he leave you any facts, figures,
statistics, particulars, to work on?"
"If he had known that I was going to take up his work he would doubtless
have left me plenty," replied Brent. "But he was murdered! He had such
things--a certain note-book, filled with his discoveries."
"Where is that book?" inquired the inspector. "Can it be produced?"
"It cannot," said Brent. "It was stolen when my cousin was killed."
The inspector hesitated, shuffling his papers.
"Then you have no figures, facts, anything, Mr. Brent?" he said
presently. "Nothing to support your newspaper articles?"
"Nothing of that sort," answered Brent. "My articles refer wholly to the
general principle of the thing."
The inspector smiled.
"I'm afraid governments--national or municipal--aren't run on general
principles, Mr. Brent," he remarked.
"No!" said Brent. "They seem to be run on the lack of them."
The official inquiry came to an end on that--amidst good-humoured
laughter at Brent's apparently ingenuous retort. The inspector
announced that he would issue his report in due course, and everybody
knew what it would be. The good old ways, the time-honoured customs
would have another lease of life. Once more, Simon Crood had come out on
top.
But as he was leaving the Moot Hall, Brent felt his arm touched and
turned to see Hawthwaite. The superintendent gave him a knowing look.
"To-morrow!" he whispered. "Be prepared! All's done; all's ready!"