Mr. Hawtrey's hope that a clue had been obtained was speedily
dissipated, for the next letter was posted in the south of London, and
the one after it at Brompton. It was clear that the man who sent them
did not confine himself to one particular office, and that it would be
useless to set a watch on that in Claymore Street, Chelsea. Edward
Hampton coming in that afternoon, he relieved his mind by telling what
had happened.
'It is a comfort to talk it over with some one, Ned. You were a
police-officer for some time out in India, I think, and may be able to
see your way through this business. Danvers has been very kind about it,
but so far nothing has come of his suggestions.'
'My Indian police experience is not much to the point. I had a police
district for a year, but my duties consisted principally in hunting down
criminals. Have you told Lord Halliburn?'
'Yes; as soon as the second letter came I went to him; it was only right
that he should know.'
'Certainly. How did he take it, Mr. Hawtrey? if I may ask.'
'He was naturally annoyed at it; though, of course, he agreed with me
that it was simply a piece of malice. A detective, to whom Danvers had
spoken, without mentioning any name, suggested that it might be the work
of some woman who had a grudge against him, or felt herself aggrieved at
his engagement. I mentioned this to him, and he assured me that, so far
as he knew, there was no one who had any complaint against him, and that
he had never had any entanglement of any kind.'
'It is a horribly annoying thing, Mr. Hawtrey, and I am sure Miss
Hawtrey must feel it very much. I thought she was not looking quite
herself when I met her at dinner the night before last. Still, there
must be some way of getting to the bottom of it. If it is not the work
of an enemy, either of Lord Halliburn or of your daughter, it may be the
work of one who has an enmity against yourself--one who is striking at
you through yours.'
'That is just possible, Ned; but beyond men I have sentenced on the
bench I don't know of anyone who would put himself out of his way to
annoy me. Assuredly this cannot be the work of any Lincolnshire rustic.'
'But you have certainly one enemy who is just the sort of man to
conceive and carry out such a blackguard business as this--I mean that
man who was impertinent to you on the racecourse, and whose history you
told us that evening.'
'I had not thought of him. Yes, that suggestion is certainly a probable
one. He is evidently deeply impressed with the sense of injury, though,
Heaven knows, I did not have the slightest ill-feeling against him, but
was driven to do what I did by his own courses, and especially by his
father's earnest request that he should not succeed him. There is no
doubt as to his malice, and there can be as little as to his
unscrupulousness.'
'Danvers and I were both of opinion, Mr. Hawtrey, that by his tone and
manner when he spoke to you about payment of debts, that he had already
done you some injury or had some distinct plan in his head. At that time
your daughter was not engaged to Lord Halliburn, and his ideas may have
been vague ones until the public notice of the engagement met his eye,
when he may have said to himself, "This is my opportunity for taking my
revenge, by annoying both father and daughter."'
'It is possible, Ned. I can hardly bring myself to think that the son of
my old friend would be capable of such a dastardly action, but I admit
that there is at least a motive in his case, and that I can see none in
that of anyone else.'
'At any rate, Mr. Hawtrey, here is a clue worth following, and as I have
nothing whatever to do, and my own time hangs rather heavily on my
hands, I will, if you will allow me, undertake to follow it up.'
'But with no evidence against him, not a particle, what can you do,
Ned?'
'My business will be to get evidence. The first thing is to find out
where the fellow lives, and to have him watched and followed, and if
possible, caught in the act of posting one of these letters.'
'Remember, Ned, I would above all things avoid publicity, for Dorothy's
sake. Nothing is more hateful than for a girl to be talked about, and it
is only as a last resource that I would bring a charge against him at
the Police Court.'
'I can quite understand that, and will certainly call in no police to my
aid until I have previously consulted you and received your sanction to
do so. It will be easy enough to find him, for I should know him in an
instant, and shall probably meet him at the first racecourse I go to. It
is not as if I knew nothing of his habits.'
For the next week Captain Hampton frequented every racecourse within a
short distance of London, but without meeting the man he was looking
for. Men of the same class were there in scores--some boisterous, some
oily-mouthed, some unmitigated ruffians, others crafty rogues.
Several times he accosted one of these men, and inquired if he had seen
a betting man having the name of Marvel on his hat; each time the
response was the same.
'I have not seen him here to-day. I know who you mean well enough, but
he is not here. I can lay you the odds if you like. You would be safe
with me.'
Further inquiry elicited the conjecture that 'he might have gone up
North, or to some other distant races.'
'There are two meetings pretty well every day,' one said, 'sometimes
three, and a man cannot be at them all. What do you want him for? If it
is to get money out of him, you won't find the job a very easy one,
unless he has happened to strike on a vein of luck. You had much better
take the odds from me.'
Captain Hampton explained that his business was a private one, and
altogether unconnected with betting.
'Well, if you will give me your name I will let him know that you want
to see him, if I happen to run up against him. I should say that he will
be at Reading next week.'
But Captain Hampton said his name would be unknown to Marvel, and the
bookmaker, after looking him over suspiciously, concluded that it was of
no use wasting further time, and turning away set up a stentorian shout
of 'Six to one, bar one.'
Captain Hampton tried Reading, but was as unsuccessful here as in his
previous attempts.
'Want Marvel?' one man he asked repeated. 'Well, I have not seen him
here, and I haven't seen him for the last ten days; so I expect he has
either gone down on a country tour, or he is ill, or he is so short of
the dibs that he can't pay his fare down. He would be here if he could;
for he would manage to make enough money to pay his expenses, anyhow. It
is hard when a man cannot do that.'
Captain Hampton was not to be baffled, and after examining a sporting
paper took a ticket early next morning for the North. He was away a
week, and returned home disheartened. He had not seen the man nor did
any of those he had questioned know the name of Marvel. 'It is like
enough I may know the man,' one said confidentially, 'but I don't know
the name; names don't go for much in the outside ring. A man is Marvel
one day, and if when the racing is over he cannot pay his bets and has
to go off quiet, he alters the cut of his hair next time and puts a
fresh name on his hat, and is ready to take his davy, if questioned,
that he was not near the course, and never heard the name of Marvel; and
as he is sure to have some one with him to back him up and swear that he
was with him at the other side of England on that day, the chap as wants
his money concludes that he may as well drop it.'
The day after his return Ned Hampton went to Epsom and there recognised
with a start of satisfaction the man of whom he was in search. He had no
name in his hat, and was talking to two or three men of his own class,
one of whom he recognised as the man who had offered to tell Marvel that
he wished to see him. He moved up in the crowd, and placed himself close
to the men, but with his back towards them. Marvel was speaking.
'But what sort of fellow was he?'
'A military-looking swell.'
'And he said I should not know his name? I should know it sharp enough
if it was down in my book without a pencil mark through the bet. There
are people, you know, who, quite accidentally of course, I haven't
settled up with.'
There was a laugh among the group. 'A good many I should fancy, Jacob,
but I don't think this chap could have been one of them. A man who has
been left in the lurch generally takes it out in strong language. If
this chap had wanted you for a tenner and you had not forked over, he
would probably have spoken of you as a swindling scoundrel and said that
if he met you he would take it out of you in another way if he could not
get the money. Now he didn't seem put out at all; he wanted to see you
about something or other, but I don't think it was anything to do with
money. I can always tell when there is anything wrong about that. A man
may put it as mild as he likes, but there is something in it that says
he is nasty.'
'Well, I don't want to see him whoever he is,' Marvel said, 'so if he
comes across any of you again tell him you hear I've retired, or that I
have drowned myself, or anything else you like, but that anyhow I ain't
likely to be on any of the courses again this season. And mind, you
don't know anything about where I live or where he is likely to get any
news of me.'
'But where have you been the last fortnight, Jacob?'
'I have been on another job altogether, and if it turns out well you
ain't likely to see much more of me here. I have had about enough of
it.'
As he found that he was not likely to hear more, Hampton moved away in
the crowd, but continued to keep Marvel in sight. In two or three
minutes the man separated from his companions, moved off the course, and
stood for a minute or two with his hands in his pockets, meditating.
Then his mind was made up. He pushed his way through the crowd, crossed
the course, and walked quickly towards one of the entrances. Captain
Hampton followed him closely, and was by no means surprised to see him
walk to the station.
'He is evidently nervous about what they have told him,' he said to
himself, 'and although he cannot tell what my business with him may be,
he is determined to avoid me. All the better; I should have had great
difficulty in keeping my eye on him in the crowd later on, and now I
won't lose sight of him again.'
Entering the station, the man waited until a train came up and then took
his place in a third class carriage. Hampton entered the next
compartment, but, to his great annoyance, found on arriving at Waterloo
that Marvel was not in the carriage.
'Confound it,' he muttered angrily, 'he must have slipped out at one of
the other stations without my noticing him. It must have been at
Vauxhall, just as those four men were pushing past me to get out. I am a
nice sort of fellow to take up the amateur detective business. To hunt
for a man for nearly three weeks and then when I have found him to lose
him again like this. I will go across and see Danvers. Of course he will
have the laugh against me. Well, I can't help that; I will take his
advice about it. I am evidently not fit to manage by myself.'
Danvers had just returned from the Courts when Captain Hampton reached
the chambers.
'Hullo, Hampton, where do you spring from? Everyone has missed you from
your accustomed haunts. Some said you had eloped with an heiress; others
that you are wanted for forgery. I met the Hawtreys last night at
dinner. They both asked me after you. The young lady quite seemed to
take your disappearance to heart. The more so, I think, because she had
sent down a servant with a note to your lodgings, and the girl had
learnt from your landlady that you had been away for a week. Of course,
I could not enlighten her. Her father took me apart and asked me quite
seriously about you. He seemed to think that you had been trying to
ferret out something about this confounded letter business. He told me
he had talked it over with you, regarding you as almost one of the
family.'
'That is just what I have been about, Danvers, and I have made an
amazing ass of myself.'
'You don't mean to say that!' Danvers exclaimed in affected surprise.
'Well, I know you used to do it at school sometimes, but I hoped that
you had got out of the habit.'
'Bosh!' Hampton laughed. 'But I own I have done it this time. You
remember that fellow on the racecourse?'
'You mean at the Oaks. Of course I remember him.'
'Well, it struck me that he might be the man who had sent the letters.
He had, as Hawtrey told us in the evening, a bitter grudge against him,
and such a dirty trick as this was just the sort of thing that a
disreputable broken-down knave like him might concoct to gratify his
malice.'
'You are right there; I wonder the idea did not occur to me. Well, I
retract what I said just now; so far you have told me nothing to justify
the epithet you bestowed on yourself.'
'My first idea,' Hampton went on, without noticing the interruption,
'was that as I had nothing particular to do I would go down to some of
the races near town where I felt certain I should find him, follow the
fellow back, and track him to his home. Then I had intended to come to
you and ask your advice as to the next step to be taken.'
'There you showed your sagacity again, Hampton. Well, what came of it?'
'I went for a fortnight to every racecourse near town and asked after
Marvel from bookmakers of his stamp. They all seemed rather surprised at
his absence, and suggested that perhaps having failed to pay up here he
had gone to one of the country meetings up in the North. I was up in
Yorkshire for a week but with no better result. I came up last night and
went to Epsom this morning and there spotted my man.' He then related
the conversation he had overheard and the manner in which he had allowed
the man to slip through his fingers. Danvers could not help laughing,
though he, too, was vexed.
'I can quite understand your missing him at Vauxhall, Hampton. Of course
it is easy to be wise after the event. It would not have done for you to
have got in the same compartment with him at Epsom. You don't look like
a third-class passenger, and the idea that you were the military swell
who had been enquiring after him would probably have occurred to him;
but if you had got out at a station or two further on, and then taken
your place in his carriage, that idea would hardly have entered his
mind.'
'Well, the result is I have thrown away three weeks of my leave in
taking a lot of trouble and we are no nearer than we were before.'
'Not much, except that we have learnt that the man is engaged on a
different matter, in which he intends to make money, and also that there
is but little probability of his being met with again for some time on a
racecourse. Of course, this business may be altogether unconnected with
that of the Hawtreys, but on the other hand it may be. I am afraid there
is little clue left for us to follow up. Getting out at Vauxhall might
mean that he lived in that neighbourhood, or at Camberwell, or Peckham,
or Kennington, or anywhere about there; or he might have crossed the
river, and there is all the region between Chelsea and Westminster to
choose from. If we knew that he went under the name of Marvel something
might be done, but it is a hundred to one against that being the name he
goes by in his domestic circle. If you have come to me for advice I can
give you none; I can see nothing whatever to do but to wait for new
developments. Have you seen the "Liar" this week?'
'No; I never look at it.'
'Well, you see there is a nasty paragraph there that unmistakably
alludes to the affair. I have no doubt it is Halliburn's doing; he got
so annoyed at these letters keeping on coming--and indeed it seems that
some have been sent to him with 'Look before you leap,' 'Be sure that
all is right before it is too late,' and things of that sort--that he
went off to Scotland Yard, kicked up a row there, showed the envelopes
he had received to the authorities, and gave them the whole history
about the others. Of course, they promised that they would do what they
could, and equally of course they will be able to do nothing. Well, I
suppose some understrapper there got to hear of it, and probably sold
the thing to one of the men who gather up garbage for the "Liar." I have
got the paper. There, that is the paragraph: "There is a possibility
that a marriage that has been arranged in high life may not come off
after all. The noble lord who was to figure as bridegroom has received
the unpleasant information that the young lady has been pestered with
demands for money in exchange for compromising letters, and has himself
received missives calculated to make one in his position extremely
uncomfortable. Further developments may be looked for."'
'It is scandalous,' Captain Hampton exclaimed passionately, 'that a
blackguard rag like this is allowed to exist!'
'Quite so, Hampton; I agree with you most heartily. Still, there it is,
and others like it, and we have got to put up with it. If it had not
been for that fool, Halliburn, taking things into his hands this notice
would never have got in. One of Hawtrey's servants came round in a cab
to fetch me this morning. I found him foaming with rage, talking about
horsewhipping and all sorts of things. It is curious how that sort of
thing still lingers in the minds of country squires. I told him, of
course, that would make it ten times worse. Then he talked of an action,
and I said, "Now, my dear Mr. Hawtrey, you are getting altogether beyond
my province. As a friend I am very glad to give you my advice as long as
it is merely a question of endeavouring to find out the authors of these
libels. Now it has assumed an altogether different phase, and you must
go to your lawyer for advice. I am sure that he will tell you that you
can do nothing, especially as in point of fact the statements are
perfectly true. Still, there is no saying how far the thing will go, and
whether it may not be necessary eventually to take legal steps;
therefore it is only fair to your solicitor that you should put him in
possession of the whole circumstances as far as they have gone."
'"Very well," he said, "I will go down at once to Harper and Hawes, and
take their advice about it."'
'There is one comfort,' Captain Hampton said; 'there are not many people
who will understand to whom this paragraph relates. I suppose there have
been a dozen lords of one sort and another who have become engaged
during the season, so that, except for us who are behind the scenes,
there is nothing to point distinctly to the identity of the parties.'
'You need not count on that,' Danvers said shortly. 'This paragraph is
merely intended to whet the curiosity of the public. You will see that
next week there will be another, saying that they are now able to state,
beyond fear of contradiction, that the nobleman and young lady who have
been persecuted by anonymous letters are Lord Halliburn and Miss
Hawtrey.'
'This sort of thing makes one regret that duelling has gone out of
fashion,' Captain Hampton said savagely. 'There is nothing would give me
greater pleasure than to parade the editor of that blackguard paper at
six o'clock to-morrow morning on Wimbledon Common!'
'It would no doubt be a pleasure to you, my dear Hampton,' Danvers said
tranquilly, 'and the result might be a matter of unmingled satisfaction
to all decent people; but, you see, it cannot be done. If it could have
been he would have been shot years ago, noxious beast that he is. It
being impossible, let us change the subject. What are you going to do
this evening?'
'I am going to have dinner first.'
'It is only six o'clock, my dear fellow.'
'All the better. I want to get it over, so as to go round and catch the
Hawtreys before they go out--that is to say, if they are going to a ball
or anything of that sort, and not to a dinner; Mr. Hawtrey knows I have
been doing what I could to find out this betting fellow, but has not
mentioned it to his daughter, for the same reason, probably, that I have
taken pains to avoid meeting them since I began the search. At any rate,
I should not like her to think that I have been away for this three
weeks on my own pleasure, in perfect indifference to the unpleasant
position in which she is placed, so I shall go to report progress--or,
rather, want of progress--and to assure them that I will continue the
search until I have run this fellow to earth.'
Danvers looked at his friend through his half-closed eyes with a gleam
of quiet amusement.
'The Indian sun does not seem to have cooled the enthusiasm of your
youth, Hampton. You used to throw yourself then like a young demon into
the middle of a football scrimmage, and rowed stroke in that four of
yours till you rowed your crew to a standstill, and then tugged away all
to yourself, till they got their wind again. To us, jaded men----'
'Shut up, man!' Hampton said hotly, 'this is no joking matter. Here is
the honour and happiness of a girl who, when she was a little child, was
very dear to me'--Danvers' eyes twinkled momentarily--'and I should be a
brute if I did not do everything I could to put the matter straight; and
I am quite sure,' he went on more quietly, 'that although, of course,
they are not such friends of yours as they are of mine, you would spare
no trouble yourself if you only saw any way in which you could be of
real assistance.'
'Perhaps so, old man, perhaps so; but I should not get into fever heat
about it. You see, the matter at present principally concerns Halliburn.
It is his business and privilege to stand first in the line of defence
of the character of the young lady to whom he is engaged.'
'And a nice mess he has made of his first move,' Captain Hampton agreed,
pointing to the copy of the 'Liar.' 'Well, I won't wait any longer; they
dine at seven o'clock when they are alone, and I will go round at eight
on the chance of finding them in.'
Danvers sat looking at the empty grate for some minutes after he had
left. 'It is about even betting, I should say,' he muttered to himself,
'and I think, if anything, the odds are slightly on Hampton, though he
has not the slightest idea at present that he has entered for the race.
The other one has got the start, but Hampton always had no end of last,
and he will take every fence well, and it seems to me there are likely
to be some awkward ones. Besides, I am not half sure that the other
fellow will run straight when the pinch comes.'
When Captain Hampton presented himself at the house in Chester Square,
he found, to his satisfaction, that Mr. Hawtrey and his daughter were at
home.
'They have just finished dinner, sir,' the servant said; 'dessert is on
the table.'
'Then I will go in,' Captain Hampton said, and, opening the dining-room
door, walked in.
'I am presuming on my old footing to enter unceremoniously, Mr.
Hawtrey,' he said.
'I am glad to see you. You are heartily welcome, Ned. This reminds one
of old times indeed.'
Dorothy's welcome was sensibly cooler, while Mrs. Daintree, who had from
the first set herself strongly against his intimacy at the house, was
absolutely frigid.
Ned saw that Dorothy's colour had perceptibly paled since he last saw
her, and that she looked harassed and anxious.
'It is three weeks since I saw you,' he said.
'Is it?' she asked with an air of indifference. He laughed outright.
'That was really very well done, Dorothy, and I quite understand what it
means. You think I have been neglecting you altogether, and amusing
myself while you were in trouble; and were that the case I should
deserve all the snubbing, and more, that you could give me. I believe
that your father has not told you what I have been doing, and I do not
wish to enter into details now,' and he glanced towards Mrs. Daintree,
'but I feel that I must, in justice to myself, assure you that the whole
of my time has been occupied in the matter, and that although I have no
success to boast of, I have, at least, tried my very best to deserve
it.'
'That is good of you, Ned,' the girl said brightly. 'I have been feeling
a little hurt at your desertion, and thought it did not seem like you to
leave me in trouble. I always used to rely upon you when I got into a
scrape. I don't want to know what you have been doing, though father can
tell me if he likes, but I am quite content to take your word for it.
Now I must go; it is time for us to dress. I wish I could stay at home
and have a quiet evening, but you see I am no longer quite my own
mistress.'
'Well, Hampton, what have you been doing, and why have you not been to
see me before? I heard you were in town--at least, I heard so ten days
ago.'
'I should have come, sir, before, had I had anything to tell you. I have
nothing much now, and in fact have to-day bungled matters considerably;
still, I shall start on a fresh search to-morrow, and hope to be luckier
than I have been so far.' He then gave a detailed account of his visits
to racecourses, of his meeting with Truscott that morning, of the
conversation he had overheard, and of the manner in which the man had
eluded him.
'Well, Ned, you certainly have deserved success, and I am indeed obliged
to you for the immense trouble you have taken over the matter. It is too
bad your spending your time over this annoying affair, when you are only
home on a year's leave. What you have learned is, of course, no direct
proof that Truscott has a hand in this affair; at the same time, what he
said confirms to some extent your suspicions of him. Would it not be as
well to put the search for him into the hands of a detective, now that
there is some one definite to search for? One of these men might be
useful, and I really would vastly rather employ one than know that you
are spending day after day searching for him yourself. These men are
accustomed to the work; they know exactly the persons to whom to apply;
they have agents under them, who know infinitely better the sort of
place where such a fellow would be likely to take up his quarters than
you can do.'
'No doubt that is so,' Captain Hampton admitted reluctantly. 'I should
have liked to have run him down myself, now that I have hunted him so
long. Still, that is a matter of no importance, the great thing is to
lose no time. I will get Danvers to give me a note to the man he spoke
to first.'
'On my behalf, remember, Ned; he must be engaged on my behalf.'
'Very well, sir, if you wish it so; but I would rather that you and I
arrange with him direct, and that it is not done by your solicitors.
Danvers told me that you were going to them this morning about that
infamous paragraph in the "Liar."'
'Certainly they shall have nothing to do with it,' Mr. Hawtrey said
hotly; 'I was a fool to go to them at all; I might as well have gone to
two old women. They have been lawyers to our family for I don't know how
many years, and are no doubt excellent men in their capacity of family
lawyers, but this matter is altogether out of their line. They looked at
each other like two helpless fools when I told them the story, and said
at once that they would not undertake to advise me, but that I had
better go to Levine, or one of the other men who are always engaged in
these what they call delicate cases, that is to say, hideous scandals.
However, I have made up my mind to keep clear of them all as far as I
can; but, of course, I must be guided to some extent by Halliburn's
opinion, or rather his wishes. As to his opinion, I have no confidence
in it one way or the other. I'm glad you did not say anything about what
you had been doing before my cousin; she is worrying herself almost into
a fever about it, the more so because there is no one to whom she can
talk about it. She means well, but were it not that just at present it
is absolutely necessary that Dorothy should show herself everywhere with
a perfectly unconcerned air, I would make some excuse to send Mrs.
Daintree down to the country again; as it is, I must keep her as a
chaperon, but she is very trying I assure you, and I believe would come
into my study to cry over the affair half-a-dozen times a day, if I
would but let her. Now, Ned, you must excuse me, the carriage will be
round in a few minutes, and as, with one thing and another, I got back
too late to dress for dinner, I have not another minute to spare. Shall
I give you a note authorising you to arrange with the detective?'
'There is no occasion for that; I shall speak in your name, and as he
will want to have an interview with you before long, you can then
confirm any arrangement I have made as to his remuneration.'
Hampton called in on Danvers in the morning for the address of the
detective, Slippen, and a card of introduction. The address was in
Clifford's Inn, and on finding the number Hampton saw the name over a
door on the ground floor. A sharp looking boy was sitting on a high
stool swinging his legs. He evidently thought that amusement somewhat
monotonous and was glad of a change, for he jumped down with alacrity.
'The governor is in, sir, but he has got a party in with him. I will
take your card in. I expect he will be glad to get rid of her, for she
has been sobbing and crying in there awful.'
'I am in no particular hurry,' Captain Hampton said, amused at the boy's
confidential manner.
'Divorce, I expect,' the lad went on, as Captain Hampton took a seat on
the only chair in the dark little office. 'I allus notice that the first
time they comes they usually goes on like that. After a time or two they
takes it more business-like. They comes in brisk, and says, "Is Mr.
Slippen in?" just the same as if they was asking for a cup of tea. When
they goes out sometimes they look sour, and I knows then that he,' and
he jerked his thumb towards the inner office, 'hasn't any news to tell
'em; sometimes they goes out looking red in the face and in a regular
paddy, and you can see by the way they grips their umbrellas they would
like to give it to some one.'
'You must find it dull sitting here all day. I suppose you haven't much
writing to do?'
'I doesn't sit here much. I am mostly about. There ain't many as comes
here of a day, and he can hear the knocker. Those as does come calls
mostly in the morning, from ten to eleven. There, she is a-moving.'
The inner door opened, and a stout woman came out looking flushed and
angry; the boy slid off his stool and opened the door for her, and then
took Captain Hampton's card in. A moment later Mr. Slippen himself
appeared at the door.
'Will you walk in, Captain Hampton? I am sorry to have kept you waiting.
I rather expected,' he said, as he closed the door behind him, 'that I
should have a call, either from Mr. Danvers or some one from him, when I
saw that paragraph in the "Liar." I made sure it was the case he was
speaking to me about, and I said to myself, "They are safe to be doing
something now."'
'Yes, it is that case that I come about. I am here on the part of Mr.
Hawtrey, the father of the young lady. I am an intimate friend of the
family. Mr. Danvers gave you the heads of the matter.'
The detective nodded; he was a rather short, slightly-built man, with
hair cut very short and standing up aggressively; his eyes were widely
opened, with a sharp, quick movement as they glanced from one point to
another, but the general expression of the face was pleasant and
good-tempered.
'He told you my opinion so far as I could form it from the very slight
data he gave me?'
'Yes, you thought at first that the writer of the threats really had
possession of compromising letters; but upon hearing that she was
engaged you thought it likely that the letters might be the work of some
aggrieved or disappointed woman.'
'That is it, sir.'
'So far as we can see,' Captain Hampton went on, 'neither view was
correct; certainly the first was not. We have, as we think, laid our
fingers on the writer, who is a man who believes himself to have a
personal grievance against Mr. Hawtrey himself.' He then related the
whole story.
'He may be the man,' Mr. Slippen said, when he had finished. 'At any
rate there is something to go on, which there was not before. There will
be no great difficulty in laying one's hand on him, but at present we
have not a shred of real evidence--nothing that a magistrate would
listen to.'
'We quite see that. Still, it will be something to find him; then we can
have him watched, and, if possible, caught in the act of posting the
letters.'
'You will find that difficult--I do not mean the watching him nor seeing
him post his letters, but bringing it home to him. I would rather have
to deal with anything than with a matter where you have got the Post
Office people to get round. Once a letter is in a box it is their
property until it is handed over to the person it is directed to. Still,
we may get over that, somehow. The first thing, I take it, is to find
the man. You say his betting name is Marvel?'
'That is the name he had on his hat at Epsom on the Oaks day, but he may
have a dozen others.'
'Ah, that is true enough. Still, no doubt he has used it often enough
for others to know him by it; and now for his description.
'Thank you, that will be sufficient. I think I will send a man down to
Windsor at once; the races are on again to-day. He will get his address
out of one or other of his pals. It will cost a five-pound note at the
outside. If you will give me your address, I shall most likely be able
to let you have it this evening.'
'I wish to goodness I had come to you before,' Captain Hampton said.
'Here I have been wasting three weeks trying to find the man, and
spending fifty or sixty pounds in railway fares, stand tickets and
expenses, and you are able to undertake it at once.'
'It is a very simple matter, Captain Hampton. I have been engaged in two
or three turf cases, and one of my men knows a lot of the hangers-on at
racecourses. Watches and other valuables are constantly stolen there,
and as often enough these things are gifts, and are valued beyond their
mere cost in money, their owners come to us to try if we can get them
back for them, which we are able to do three times out of four. Whoever
may steal the things, they are likely to get into one of four or five
hands, and as soon as we let it be known that we are ready to pay a fair
price for their return and no questions asked, it is not long before
they are brought here. I don't say I may be able to find out this man's
exact address, but I can find out the public-house or other place where
he is generally to be met with. I don't suppose the actual address of
one in ten of these fellows is known to others. They are to be heard of
in certain public-houses, but even their closest pals often don't know
where they live. Sometimes, no doubt, it is in some miserable den where
they would be ashamed to meet anyone. Sometimes there may be a wife and
family in the case, and they don't want men coming there. Sometimes it
may be just another way. Many of these fellows at home are quiet,
respectable sort of chaps, living at some little place where none of
their neighbours, and perhaps not even their wives, know that they have
anything to do with racing, but take them for clerks or warehousemen, or
something in the city. So I don't promise to find out the fellow's home,
only the place where a letter will find him, or where he goes to meet
his pals, and perhaps do a little quiet betting in the landlord's back
parlour.'
'That will be enough for us, to begin with at any rate.'
'Of course, the private address is only a matter of a day or two
longer,' Mr. Slippen went on. 'I have only to send that boy of mine up
to the place, and the first time the fellow goes there he will follow
him, if it is all over London, till he traces him to the place where he
lives. If, as he said, he is going to give up attending the races for
the present, he may not go there for a day or two. But he is sure to do
so sooner or later for letters.'
'Thank you. It would be as well to know where he lives, but at any rate
when we have what we may call his business address we shall have time to
talk over our next move.'
'Yes, that is where the real difficulty will begin, Captain Hampton. I
expect you have got to deal with a deep one, and I own that at present I
do not see my way at all clear before me.'