man's purpose, and instead of running after him across the meadow, he
had gone round it, and had reached the boundary wall only a few
seconds after the thief had scaled it. There was some talk about the
gunshots that had been heard, and every one supposed that Colonel
Forburg, who was a violent-tempered man, had snatched up a revolver
before giving chase to the burglar, and had taken a potshot at him;
it was fortunate that he had missed him.
"The incident would then have been closed and the interrupted dinner
proceeded with, but for the fact that the host had not yet returned.
Nothing was thought of this at first, for it was generally supposed
that the Colonel had been kept talking by one of his men, or perhaps
by the constable who had effected the capture; it was only when close
on half an hour had gone by that Miss Monica became impatient. She
got the butler to telephone both to the stables and the lodge, but
the Colonel had not been seen at either place, either during or after
the incident with the burglar; communication with the police station
brought the same result; nothing had been seen or heard of the
Colonel.
"Genuinely alarmed now, Miss Monica gave orders for the grounds to be
searched; it was just possible that the Colonel had fallen whilst
running, and was lying somewhere, helpless in the dark, perhaps
unconscious.... Every one began recalling those pistol-shots and a
vague sense of tragedy spread over the entire house. Monica blamed
herself for not having thought of all this before.
"A search party went out at once; for a while stable-lanterns and
electric-torches gleamed through the darkness and past the
shrubberies. Then suddenly there were calls for help, the wandering
lights centred in one spot, somewhere in the middle of the five-acre
meadow near the big elm tree. Obviously there had been an accident.
Monica ran to the front door, followed by all the guests. Through
the darkness a group of men were seen slowly wending their way
towards the house; one man was running ahead, it was the chauffeur.
Young Glenluce, half guessing that something sinister had occurred,
went forward to meet him.
"What had happened was indeed as tragic as it was mysterious; the
search party had found the Colonel lying full-length in the meadow.
His clothes were saturated with blood; he had been shot in the breast
and was apparently dead. Close by a revolver had been picked up. It
was impossible to keep the terrible news from Miss Monica. Her
brother broke the news to her. She bore up with marvellous calm, and
it was she who at once gave the necessary orders to have her
stepfather's body taken upstairs and to fetch both the doctor and the
police.
"In the meanwhile the guests had gone back into the house. They
stood about in groups, awestruck and whispering. They did not care
to finish their dinner, or to go up to their rooms, as in all
probability they would be required when the police came to make
enquiries. Monica and Gerald Glenluce had gone to sit in the
smoking-room.
"It was the most horrible Christmas Eve any one in that house had
ever experienced."
§2
"Murder committed from any other motive than that of robbery," the
Old Man in the Corner went on after a moment's pause, "always excites
the interest of the public. There is nearly always an element of
mystery about it, and it invariably suggests possibilities of
romance. In this case, of course, there was no question of robbery.
After Colonel Forburg fell, shot, as it transpired, at close range
and full in the breast, his clothes were left untouched; there was
loose silver in his trousers pocket, a few treasury notes in his
letter-case, and he was wearing a gold watch and chain and a fine
pearl stud.
"The motive of the crime was therefore enmity or revenge, and here
the police were at once confronted with a great difficulty. Not,
mind you, the difficulty of finding a man who hated the Colonel
sufficiently to kill him, but that of choosing among his many enemies
one who was most likely to have committed such a terrible crime. He
was the best-hated man in the county. Known as 'Remount Forburg,' he
was generally supposed to have made his fortune in some shady
transactions connected with the Remount Department of the War Office
during the Boer War, more than twenty years ago.
"His first wife was said to have died of a broken heart, and he had
no children of his own; some ten years ago he had married a widow
with two young children. She had a considerable fortune of her own,
and when she died she left it in trust for her children, but she
directed that her husband should be the sole guardian of Monica and
Gerald until they came of age; moreover, she left him the interest of
the whole of the capital amount for so long as they were in his house
and unmarried. After his death the money would revert
unconditionally to them.
"Of course it was a foolish, one might say a criminal will, and one
obviously made under the influence of her husband. One can only
suppose that the poor woman had died without knowing anything of
'Remount Forburg's' character. Since her death his violent temper
and insufferable arrogance had alienated from the children every
friend they ever had. Only some chance acquaintances ever came
anywhere near Brudenell Court now. Naturally every one said that the
Colonel's behaviour was part of a scheme for keeping suitors away
from his stepdaughter Monica, who was a very beautiful girl; as for
Gerald Glenluce, Monica's younger brother, he had been sadly
disfigured when he was a schoolboy through a fall against a sharp
object that had broken his nose and somewhat mysteriously deprived
him of the sight of one eye.
"Those who had suffered most from Colonel Forburg's violent tempers
declared that the boy's face had been smashed in by a blow from a
stick, and that the stick had been wielded by his stepfather. Be
that as it may, Gerald Glenluce had remained, in consequence of this
disfigurement, a shy, retiring, silent boy, who neither played games
nor rode to hounds and had no idea how to handle a gun; but he was
essentially the Colonel's favourite. Where Forburg was harsh and
dictatorial with every one else, he would always unbend to Gerald,
and was almost gentle and affectionate toward him. Perhaps an
occasional twinge of remorse had something to do with this soft side
of his disagreeable character.
"Certainly that softness did not extend to Monica. He made the
girl's life almost unbearable with his violence which amounted almost
to brutality. The girl hated him and openly said so. Her one desire
was to get away from Brudenell Court by any possible means. But
owing to her mother's foolish will she had no money of her own, and
the few friends she had were not sufficiently rich, or sufficiently
disinterested, to give her a home away from her stepfather, nor would
the Colonel, for a matter of that, have given his consent to her
living away from him.
"As for marriage, it was a difficult question. Young men fought shy
of any family connection with 'Remount Forburg.' The latter's
nickname was bad enough, but there were rumours of secrets more
unavowable still in the past history of the Colonel. Certain it is
that though Monica excited admiration wherever she went, and though
one or two of her admirers did go to the length of openly courting
her, the courtship never matured into an actual engagement.
Something or other always occurred to cool off the ardour of the
wooers. Suddenly they would either go on a big-game shooting
expedition, or on a tour round the world, or merely find that country
air did not suit them. There would perhaps be a scene of fond
farewell, but Monica would always understand that the farewell was a
definite one, and, as she was an intelligent as well as a fascinating
girl, she put two and two together, and observed that these farewell
scenes were invariably preceded by a long interview behind closed
doors between her stepfather and her admirer of the moment.
"Small wonder then that she hated the Colonel. She hated him as much
as she loved her brother. A great affection had, especially of late,
developed between these two; it was a love born of an affinity of
trouble and sense of injustice. On Gerald's part there was also an
element of protection towards his beautiful sister; the fact that he
was so avowedly the spoilt son of his irascible stepfather enabled
him many a time to stand between Monica and the Colonel's unbridled
temper.
"Latterly, however, some brightness and romance had been introduced
into the drab existence of Monica Glenluce by the discreet courtship
of her latest admirer, Mr. Morley Thrall. Mr. Thrall was a wealthy
man, not too young and of independent position, who presumably did
not care whether county society would cut him or no in consequence of
his marriage with the stepdaughter of 'Remount Forburg.'
"Subsequent events showed that he had observed the greatest
discretion while he was courting Monica. No one knew that there was
an understanding between him and the girl, least of all the Colonel.
Mr. Morley Thrall came, not too frequently, to Brudenell Court; while
there he appeared to devote most of his attention to his host and to
Gerald, and to take little if any notice of Monica. She had probably
given him a hint of rocks ahead, and he had succeeded in avoiding the
momentous interview with the Colonel which Monica had learned to look
on with dread.
"Mr. Morley Thrall had been asked to stay at Brudenell Court for
Christmas, the other guests being a Major Rawstone, with his wife and
daughter, Rachel. They were all at dinner on that memorable
Christmas Eve when the tragedy occurred, and all the men hurried out
of the dining-room in the wake of their host when first the burglary
alarm was given.
§3
"Thus did matters stand at Brudenell Court when, directly after the
holidays, Jim Peyton, a groom recently in the employ of Colonel
Forburg, was brought before the magistrates charged with the murder
of his former master. There was a pretty stiff case against him too.
It seems that he had lately been dismissed by Colonel Forburg for
drunkenness, and that before dismissing him the Colonel had given him
a thrashing which apparently was well deserved, because while he was
drunk he very nearly set fire to the stables, and an awful disaster
was only averted by the timely arrival of the Colonel himself upon
the scene.
"Be that as it may, the man went away swearing vengeance.
Subsequently he took out a summons for assault against Colonel
Forburg and only got one shilling damages. This had occurred a week
before Christmas. There were several witnesses there who could swear
to the threatening language used by Peyton on more than one occasion
since then, and of course he had been caught in the very act of
trying to break into the house through the French window of the
smoking-room.
"On the other hand, the revolver with which 'Remount Forburg' had
been shot, and which was found close to the body with two empty
chambers, was identified as the Colonel's own property, one which he
always kept, loaded, in a drawer of his desk in the smoking-room.
And--this is the interesting point--the shutters of the smoking-room
were found by the police inspector, who examined them subsequently,
to be bolted on the inside, just as they had been left earlier in the
evening by the footman whose business it was to see to the fastening
of windows and shutters on the ground floor.
"This fact--the shutters being bolted on the inside--was confirmed by
Miss Monica Glenluce, who had been the first to go into the
smoking-room after the tragic event. Her brother joined her
subsequently. Both of these witnesses said that the room looked
absolutely undisturbed, the shutters were bolted, the drawer of the
desk was closed: they had remained in the room until after the visit
of the police inspector.
"After the positive evidence of these two witnesses, the police
prosecution had of necessity to fall back on the far-fetched theory
that Colonel Forburg himself, before he hurried out in order to join
in the chase against the burglar, had run into the smoking-room and
picked up his revolver, and that, having overtaken Peyton, he had
threatened him; that Peyton had then jumped on him, wrenched the
weapon out of his hand and shot him. It was a far-fetched theory
certainly, and one which the defence quickly upset. Gerald Glenluce
for one was distinctly under the impression that the Colonel ran from
the dining-room straight out into the garden, and the young footman
who was watching the fun from the front door, and saw the Colonel run
out, was equally sure that he had not a revolver in his hand.
"Peyton got six months hard for attempted house-breaking, there
really was no evidence against him to justify the more serious
charge; but when the charge of murder was withdrawn, it left the
mystery of 'Remount Forburg's' tragic end seemingly more impenetrable
than before. Nevertheless the coroner and jury laboured
conscientiously at the inquest. No stone was to be left unturned to
bring the murder of 'Remount Forburg' to justice, and in this
laudable effort the coroner had the able and unqualified assistance
of Miss Glenluce. However bitter her feelings may have been in the
past towards her stepfather while he lived, she seemed determined
that his murderer should not go unpunished. Nay more, there appeared
to be in all her actions during this terrible time a strange note of
vindictiveness and animosity, as if the unknown man who had rid her
of an arrogant and brutal tyrant had really done her a lasting injury.
"It was entirely through her energy and exertions that certain
witnesses were induced to come forward and give what turned out to be
highly sensational evidence. The police who were convinced that
James Peyton was guilty had turned all their investigations in the
direction of proving their theories; Miss Monica, on the other hand,
had seemingly made up her mind that the murderer was to be sought for
inside the house; it even appeared as if she had certain suspicions
which she only desired to confirm. To this end she had questioned
and cross-questioned every one who was in the house on that fatal
night, well knowing how reluctant some people are to be mixed up in
any way with police proceedings. But at last she had forced two
persons to speak, and it was on the first day of the inquest that at
last a glimmer of light was thrown upon the mysterious tragedy.
"After the medical evidence which went to establish beyond a doubt
that Colonel Forburg died from a gunshot wound inflicted at close
range, both balls having penetrated the heart, Miss Glenluce was
called. Replying to the coroner, who had put certain questions to
her with regard to the Colonel's state of mind just before the
tragedy, she said that he appeared to have a premonition that
something untoward was about to happen. When the butler ran into the
dining-room saying that a burglar had been seen trying to break into
the house, the Colonel had jumped up from the table at once.
"'I did the same,' Miss Monica went on, 'as I was genuinely alarmed;
but my stepfather, in his peremptory way, ordered me to sit still.
"I believe," he said to me, with a funny laugh, "that it's a put-up
job. It's some friend of Thrall's giving him a hand." I could not,
of course, understand what he meant by that, and I looked at Mr.
Thrall for an explanation. I must add that Mr. Thrall had been
extraordinarily moody all through dinner; he appeared flushed, and I
noticed particularly that he never spoke either to my step-father, to
my brother, or to me. However at the moment I failed to catch his
eye, and the very next second he was out of the room, on the heels of
Colonel Forburg.'
"This was remarkable evidence to say the least of it, but
nevertheless it was confirmed by two witnesses who heard the Colonel
make that strange remark: one was Rachel Rawstone, the young friend
who was dining at Brudenell Court that Christmas Eve, and the other
was Gerald Glenluce. Of course, by this time the public was getting
very excited: they were like so many hounds heading for a scent, and
the jury was beginning to show signs of that obstinate prejudice
which culminated in a ridiculous verdict. But there was more to
come. Thanks again to Miss Monica's insistence, the footman at
Brudenell Court, a lad named Cambalt, had been induced to come
forward with a story which he had evidently intended to keep hidden
within his bosom, if possible. He gave his evidence with obvious
reluctance and in a scarcely audible voice. It was generally
noticed, however, that Miss Monica urged him frequently to speak up.
"Cambalt deposed that just before dinner on Christmas Eve, he had
gone in to tidy the smoking-room before the gentlemen came down from
dressing. As he opened the door he saw Mr. Morley Thrall standing in
the middle of the room facing Colonel Forburg who was seated at his
desk. Young Mr. Glenluce was standing near the mantelpiece with one
foot on the fender, staring into the fire. Mr. Thrall, according to
witness, was livid with rage.
"''E took a step forward like,' Cambalt went on, amidst breathless
silence on the part of the public and jury alike, 'and 'e raised 'is
fist. But the Colonel 'e just laughed, then 'e opened the drawer of
the desk and took out a revolver and showed it to Mr. Thrall and
says: "'Ere y'are, there's a revolver 'andy, any way." Then Mr.
Thrall 'e swore like anything, and says: "You blackguard! You d----
scoundrel! You ought to be shot like the cur you are." I thought he
would strike the Colonel, but young Mr. Glenluce 'e just stepped
quickly in between the two gentlemen and 'e says: "Look 'ere, Thrall,
I won't put up with this! You jess get out!" Then one of the
gentlemen seed me, and Mr. Thrall 'e walked out of the room.'
"'And what happened after he had gone?' the coroner asked.
"'Oh!' the witness replied, 'the Colonel 'e threw the revolver back
into the drawer and laughed sarcastic like. Then 'e 'eld out 'is
'and to Mr. Gerald, and says: "Thanks, my boy. You did 'elp me to
get rid of that ruffian." After that,' Cambalt concluded, 'I got on
with my work, and the gentlemen took no notice of me.'
"This witness was very much pressed with questions as to what
happened later on when the burglary alarm was given and the gentlemen
all hurried out of the house. Cambalt was in the hall at the time
and he made straight for the front door to see some of the fun. He
said that the Colonel was out first, and the other three gentlemen,
Mr. Gerald, Mr. Rawstone and Mr. Morley Thrall went out after him;
Mr. Thrall was the last to go outside; he ran across the garden in
the direction of the five-acre field. Major Rawstone remained
somewhere near the house, but it was a very dark night, and he,
Cambalt, soon lost sight of the gentlemen. Presently, however, Mr.
Thrall came back toward the house. It was a few minutes after the
shots had been fired and witness heard Mr. Thrall say to Major
Rawstone: 'I suppose it's that fool Forburg potting away at the
burglar; hell get himself into trouble, if he doesn't look out.'
Soon after that Mr. Gerald came running back with the news that the
burglar had fallen into the arms of a passing constable and Cambalt
then returned to his duties in the dining-room.
"As you see," the Old Man in the Corner went on glibly, "this
witness's evidence was certainly sensational. The jury, which was
composed of farm labourers, with the local butcher as foreman, had by
now fully made up its silly mind that Mr. Morley Thrall had taken the
opportunity of sneaking into the smoking-room, snatching up the
revolver, and shooting 'Remount Forburg,' whom he hated because the
Colonel was opposing his marriage with Miss Monica. It was all as
clear as daylight to those dunderheads, and from that moment they
simply would not listen to any more evidence. They had made up their
minds; they were ready with their verdict and it was: Manslaughter
against Morley Thrall. Not murder, you see! The dolts who had all
of them suffered from 'Remount Forburg's' arrogance and violent
temper would not admit that killing such vermin was a capital crime.
"What I am telling you would be unbelievable if it were not a
positive fact. It is no use quoting British justice and dilating on
the absolute fairness of trial by jury. A coroner's inquest
fortunately is not a trial. The verdict of a coroner's jury, such as
the one which sat on the Brudenell Court affair, though it may have
very unpleasant consequences for an innocent person, cannot have
fatal results. In this case it cast a stigma on a gentleman of high
position and repute, and the following day Mr. Morley Thrall, himself
J.P., was brought up before his brother magistrates on an ignominious
charge.
§4
"It is not often," the Old Man in the Corner resumed after a while,
"that so serious a charge is preferred against a gentleman of Mr.
Morley Thrall's social position, and I am afraid that the best of us
are snobbish enough to be more interested in a gentleman criminal
than in an ordinary Bill Sykes.
"I happened to be present at that magisterial enquiry when Mr. Morley
Thrall, J.P., was brought in between two warders, looking quite calm
and self-possessed. Every one of us there noticed that when he first
came in, and in fact throughout that trying enquiry, his eyes sought
to meet those of Miss Glenluce who sat at the solicitor's table; but
whenever she chanced to look his way, she quickly averted her gaze
again, and turned her head away with a contemptuous shrug. Gerald
Glenluce, on the other hand, made pathetic efforts at showing
sympathy with the accused, but he was of such unprepossessing
appearance and was so shy and awkward that it was small wonder Morley
Thrall took little if any notice of him.
"Very soon we got going. I must tell you, first of all, that the
whole point of the evidence rested upon a question of time. If the
accused took the revolver out of the desk in the smoking-room, when
did he do it? The footman, Cambalt, reiterated the statement which
he had made at the inquest. He was, of course, pressed to say
definitely whether after the quarrel between Mr. Morley Thrall and
the Colonel which he had witnessed, and before every one went in to
dinner, Mr. Thrall might have gone back to the smoking-room and
extracted the revolver from the drawer of the desk; but Cambalt said
positively that he did not think this was possible. He himself,
after he had tidied the smoking-room, had been in and out of the hall
preparing to serve dinner. The door of the smoking-room gave on the
hall, between the dining-room and the passage leading to the
kitchens. If any one had gone in or out of the smoking-room at that
time, Cambalt must have seen them.
"At this point Miss Glenluce was seen to lean forward and to say
something in a whisper to the Clerk of the Justices, who in his turn
whispered to the chairman on the Bench, and a moment or two later
that gentleman asked the witness:
"'Are you absolutely prepared to swear that no one went in or out of
the smoking-room while you were making ready to serve dinner?7
"Then, as the young man seemed to hesitate, the magistrate added more
emphatically:
"Think now! You were busy with your usual avocations; there would
have been nothing extraordinary in one of the gentlemen going in or
out of the smoking-room at that hour. Do you really believe and are
you prepared to swear that such a very ordinary incident would have
impressed itself indelibly upon your mind?'
"Thus pressed and admonished, Cambalt retrenched himself behind a
vague: 'No, sir! I shouldn't like to swear one way or the other.'
"Whereat Miss Monica threw a defiant look at the accused, who,
however, did not as much as wink an eyelid in response.