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The Master Detective

P >> Percy James Brebner >> The Master Detective




"What of the woman he was to have married?"

"She was a Miss Lester, and she introduces a complication. Her people
were comparatively poor, her father being a clerk in a City bank. Mr.
Farrell, according to Miss Lester, had helped her father out of some
difficulty, and it was undoubtedly parental persuasion which had arranged
the marriage. It was a case of gratitude rather than love. But that is
not all. At the Lesters' house there was another constant visitor, a
young doctor named Morrison, and he and Farrell became friends in spite
of the fact that they were two angles of a triangle, Ruth Lester being
the third angle. The position was this: Morrison was in love with the
girl, but remained silent because he was too poor to marry; the girl
loved him, but, thinking that he was indifferent, consented to marry
Farrell. Whether Farrell was aware of this it is impossible to say. Now
on the very day of Farrell's death, Dr. Morrison called and asked for him
at the offices in Austin Friars. The clerk took in his name, and was told
by Mr. Delverton that Mr. Farrell had left for the day. This was the
first intimation the clerks had that he had left, and seems an indirect
proof that no one in the office could have had anything to do with the
tragedy. Farrell had been gone about an hour then. Morrison left no
message, merely asked that Mr. Farrell should be told he had called."

"What was Morrison's explanation?" I asked.

"He said Farrell had requested him to call. He was going to give him a
tip for a little flutter in the mining market."

"Is it known where Farrell went that afternoon?"

"I see you think the doctor's explanation thin, just as I did. Farrell
told his partner that he had an appointment with Miss Lester; Miss
Lester says there was no appointment. Naturally I at once speculated
whether Farrell and Morrison had met later in the afternoon. I followed
that trail every inch of the way. The doctor was poor and somewhat in
debt, and--"

"And Farrell, who died by poison, which is significant, was his
rival?" I said.

"I thought of all that," Southey returned. "Fortunately for him the
doctor could account for every hour of his time. Of course, the man in
the street was suspicious of him--is still, perhaps, to some extent, but
it hasn't prevented his getting on. He married Ruth Lester, and I hear is
getting a good practise together."

"What conclusion did you come to?"

"I am inclined to think there was some international reason at the back
of the mystery, some difficulty with a foreign government, it may be. If
Farrell had become mixed up in such an affair suicide might be the way
out. I suggested this to Mr. Delverton, and he did not scout it as
altogether a ridiculous idea. These foreign bankers are sometimes very
much behind the scenes in European politics."

"Do you know whether the invalid brother was at the office that
day?" I asked.

"He was not. He was quite incapacitated at the time."

I hunted up one or two points which occurred to me, and then went to
Austin Friars to call upon Mr. Delverton.

He was out of town, yachting, but his partner came into the clerks'
office to see me. I told him that my business with Mr. Delverton
was private.

This partner, I discovered, was Kellner, who had formerly been a clerk in
the firm. He was the man who, with the junior, had been the last to leave
the office on the night of the tragedy. He was worth a little attention,
and I spent two days making inquiries about him. He was as smart a man of
business as could be found within a mile radius of the Royal Exchange, I
was informed, a wonderful linguist, with a profound knowledge of
financial matters. Now he was a wealthy man, but three years ago he had
been in very low water.

This discovery sent me to Twickenham again. I said nothing about Kellner
having become a partner in Delverton Brothers'; I merely asked Southey
whether he had satisfactorily accounted for his time on the fatal night.

"Didn't I tell you?" said Southey. "Oh, yes, he had an absolute alibi; so
had the youth Small. I made them my first business."

I did not call on Dr. Morrison, but I went to his neighborhood, and asked
a few questions. Everybody spoke well of the doctor, which, of course,
might mean much or little, and I was fortunate enough to see him with his
wife in a motor. He looked like a doctor, a forceful and self-reliant
man, not one to lose his head or give himself away. He would be likely to
carry through any enterprise he set his mind to. His wife, without being
beautiful, was attractive, the kind of woman you begin to call pretty
after you have known her a little while.

That night I wrote a full report to Christopher Quarles with my own
comments in the margin, and three days later I had a wire from Zena,
saying they were returning to Chelsea at once.

There was no need to ask the professor whether the case interested him or
not. He began by being complimentary about my report, praised my
astuteness in not calling upon the doctor, and he made me give him a
verbal description of Morrison and his wife.

"Of course, Wigan, looks count for nothing, but they are often misleading
evidence, and we are told to beware of that man of whom every one speaks
well. The most saintly individual I ever knew had a strong likeness to a
notorious criminal I once saw, and on a slight acquaintance you and I
would probably have trusted Cleopatra or Helen of Troy, neither of them
very estimable women, I take it. Now apparently this doctor and his wife
are near the center of this mystery."

"It seems so, but--"

"Believe me, I am making no accusation," he interrupted; "indeed, I am
more inclined to argue that they occupy an eccentric point within the
circle rather than the true center. Still, we must not overlook one or
two facts which you have duly emphasized in your report. The rivalry
between Morrison and Farrell does supply, as you say, a motive for the
crime, if crime it was, and it is the only motive that is apparent.
Again, a doctor could obtain and make use of poison with less risk than
most men. And, again, it is curious the doctor should call on Farrell on
that particular day. The visit might be a subtle move to establish his
innocence. True, according to Southey, his time after the visit was
accounted for, but how about the time before the visit? Farrell had
already left the office an hour, and might have met Morrison."

"Do you suggest he was poisoned then, and came back hours afterwards to
die in the office?"

"You think that unlikely?"

"I do."

"Still, we must recollect the action of this particular poison," said
Quarles. "It produces drowsiness, the time necessary to get to this
condition varying in different persons, and the doctor, knowing Farrell,
might be able to gage how long it would take in his case. Of course, we
labor under difficulties. Three years having passed, we cannot rely on
direct investigation. Purposely I gave you no bias when I asked you to
gather up the known facts, and from your report I judge you have come to
the conclusion that Farrell committed suicide, possibly driven into a
corner by some international complication."

"Yes, on the whole, I lean to that idea."

"It is not the belief of Mr. Delverton himself."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I met Martin Delverton in Devonshire. He was yachting round the coast
and came ashore for golf. We played together several times, and became
quite friendly. It was not until he began to talk about it that I
remembered there had ever been a Delverton mystery. Practically he gave
me the same history of the case as your report does, missing some points
certainly, but enlarging considerably on others. That the villain had
escaped justice seemed to rankle in his mind, and he was contemptuous of
the intelligence of Scotland Yard. The tragedy, he said, had hastened his
brother's end, and I judged he had no great love for the Morrisons."

"He knew who you were, I suppose?"

"Oh, yes; and included my intelligence in the sneer at Scotland Yard. He
argued the point with me until he forced me to admit that there was a
large element of luck in most of my successes."

"You admitted that?" I exclaimed.

"I did. I had just beaten him three up and two to play, so was in an
angelic frame of mind. Even then he would not let me alone. He wanted to
know how I should have gone to work had the case been in my hands. To
his evident delight I gave him arguments on the lines of our empty room
conferences, making one thing especially clear, that I should have
enquired far more closely about the Morrisons than had been done. This
interested him immensely, and he did not attempt to hide from me the fact
that his suspicions lay in the same direction. He became keen that I
should look into the mystery; indeed, he challenged my skill. I am taking
up that challenge, and I am going to tell the world the truth about
Farrell's death."

"You know it?"

"Not yet, but the key to it is in this report of yours. Do you know what
has become of the junior clerk, Small?"

"No. He left the firm to go abroad, I understand."

"I should like to have asked him whether John Delverton, the invalid
partner, had seemed worried when he was last at the office."

"He was not at the office that day. I asked that question, and Southey is
certain upon the point."

"Farrell might have left early to see him."

"Of course, we might question Kellner," I suggested.

"Kellner has the interests of the firm at heart, and is not personally
connected with the affair. I don't suppose he will be pleased to have the
old mystery raked up; naturally he will fear damage to the firm. I do not
think he would be inclined to help us in any way, and I can imagine his
being angry with Delverton for mentioning the affair to me."

"Still, I think there is something that wants explaining about Mr.
Kellner," said Zena, "You evidently thought so too, Murray, since you
made such minute inquiries about him."

"I do not think there is anything against him," I answered.

"I am not very interested in Kellner's past," said the professor, "and as
we cannot get hold of Small we must do a little guessing."

"Is there anything further for me to do?" I asked.

"One thing. I want you to get hold of some stockbroker you know, and get
him to tell you whether there was any kind of panic here, or on the
Continent, with regard to any foreign securities between three and four
years ago. Find out, if you can, the names of any members of the House
who were hammered during that period, and the names of any firms
considered shaky at the time. I am not hoping for much useful
information, but we may learn something to assist our guesswork."

The information I obtained on the following day amounted to little. As my
friend in Threadneedle Street said, three years on the Stock Exchange are
a lifetime. In the different markets there had been several crises during
the period I mentioned, and certain men, chiefly small ones, had gone
under. As for shaky firms, it was impossible to speak unless you were
closely interested. A good firm, under temporary stress, would probably
be bolstered up, and a week or two might find it in affluence again.

I went to Chelsea with the information, such as it was, but only saw
Zena. Quarles was out, and I did not see him for nearly a week. Then he
'phoned to me to call for him one evening and to come in evening dress.

"I am dining with Mr. Delverton to-night," he said, "and I asked him if I
might bring you. He returned to town at the beginning of the week, and I
have seen him two or three times, once at the office in Austin Friars. I
did not see Kellner, he happened to be away that day."

Martin Delverton lived in Dorchester Square, rather a pompous house, and
he was rather a pompous individual. Of course he wasn't a bit like
Quarles in appearance, yet I was struck by a certain characteristic
resemblance between them. They both had that annoying way of appearing to
mean more than they said, and of watering down their arguments to meet
the requirements of your inferior intellect.

I had become accustomed to it in Quarles, but in a stranger I should have
resented it had not the professor told me of the peculiarity beforehand,
and warned me not to be annoyed.

He gave us an excellent dinner, and our conversation for a time had
nothing to do with the mystery.

"Well, Mr. Quarles, have you brought this affair to a head?" Mr.
Delverton asked at last.

"I think so."

"Sufficiently to bring the criminal to book?"

"If not, I could hardly claim success, could I?"

"You might claim it," laughed Delverton, "but I should not be satisfied.
Possibly I have my own opinion, but I trust nothing I have said has
influenced you and led you to a wrong conclusion. I do not want you to
get me into trouble by saying that I suggested who the criminal was."

"Not if I could prove that the solution was correct?"

"That might be a different matter, of course."

"It would prove your astuteness, Mr. Delverton," said Quarles. "Mine
would be only the spade work which any one can do when he has been told
how. Perhaps you will let me explain in my own way, and I will go over
the old ground as little as possible, since we three are aware of the
main facts and the investigations which originally took place. First,
then, the manner of Mr. Farrell's death. Now, since he was found in his
own private office, sitting at his own desk, with a tumbler beside him,
it is evident that if he did not commit suicide it was intended that it
should appear as if he had done so. To believe it a case of suicide is
the simplest solution. He could enter the office by the side door at his
will, he could poison himself there at his leisure, and it would never
occur to him to imagine that any one would afterwards suspect he had met
his death in any other way. The one thing missing is the motive. The only
person even to suggest that Farrell had looked worried was the junior
clerk, Small, and his uncorroborated opinion does not count for much.
Besides, his affairs were in order, and he was about to be married. You
must stop me, Mr. Delverton, if I make any incorrect statements."

"Certainly. So far you have merely repeated what every one knows."

"Except in one minor particular," said Quarles. "I lay special emphasis
on the desire of some one to show that it was a case of suicide. If we
deny suicide this becomes an important point, for we have to enquire when
and how the poison was administered. Did Farrell at some time before
midnight bring some one back to the office with him? For what purpose was
he brought there? How was the poison administered? We have evidence that
it was not drunk out of the glass on the table, no trace of poison being
found, and we can hardly suppose that Farrell would swallow a tablet at
any one's bidding. Since there was an evident desire to make it appear a
case of suicide, we should expect to find traces of poison in the glass;
it would have made it appear so much more like suicide. But we are
denying that it was suicide, so we are forced to the conclusion that some
one was present with Farrell in the office, and also that the somebody
ought to have allowed traces of the poison to remain in the glass. That
innocent tumbler is a fact we must not lose sight of. You see, Mr.
Delverton, I am not working along quite the same line as the original
investigation took."

"No; and I am very interested. Still, I think a man might take a tablet
were it offered by one he looked upon as a friend. It might be for
headache."

"Did Mr. Farrell suffer from headaches?" Quarles inquired.

"Not that I am aware of. I am only putting a supposititious case."

"Ah, but we are bound to stick to what we know, or we shall find
ourselves in difficulties," the professor returned. "Now, I understand
that when you left the office that evening only two of the clerks were
there, and they left the office together about ten minutes afterwards.
The junior clerk we may dismiss from our minds, but Kellner merits some
attention. It appears that his subsequent movements that evening are
accounted for; still, it is a fact that he directly profited by Mr.
Farrell's death. Shortly afterwards he became a partner in the firm."

"He had no reason at the time to suppose he would be a partner," said
Delverton.

"And would not have become one but for Farrell's death, I take it?"

"He might. It is really impossible to say. Left alone, I took in Kellner
because he was the most competent man I knew. I may add that I have not
regretted it."

"Had the detective who had the case in hand known that Kellner was to
become a partner, he would undoubtedly have given him more attention,"
said Quarles. "He does not seem to have discovered that Kellner was in
financial straits at the time."

"Was he?" said Delverton.

"I have found that it was so," I answered.

"I am surprised to hear it; but, after all, a clerk's financial
difficulties--" And he laughed as a man will who always thinks in
thousands.

"We come to another person who profited by Farrell's death, Dr.
Morrison," said Quarles. "He married Miss Lester not long afterwards.
It is known that he was friendly, or apparently friendly, with his
rival, for such Farrell was, although he may not have been aware of the
fact; and, curiously enough, Morrison called at the office in Austin
Friars on the fatal day, and wanted to see Farrell an hour or so after
he had left."

"Yes; I thought it was curious at the time."

"He was able to account for his subsequent doings that day," Quarles went
on; "so it seems impossible that he could have been the person Farrell
brought back to the office that night. I think we must say positively he
was not. At the same time we must not overlook the fact that in his case
there was a motive for the crime. Forgetting for a moment our conclusion
that some one must have been in the office with Farrell in order to make
the death appear like suicide, we ask whether in any way it was possible
for Morrison to administer poison to Farrell. Supposing Farrell had met
Morrison immediately upon leaving the office, could the doctor possibly
have given him poison in such a manner that it would not take effect for
hours after?"

"Stood him a glass of wine somewhere, you mean?"

"Or induced him to swallow a tablet," said Quarles.

"It is really a new idea," said our host.

"It is a possibility, of course," Quarles answered; "but not a very
likely one, I fancy. It might account for the tumbler. Farrell might have
felt ill and drunk some plain water, but why was he in the office at all?
I find the whole crux of the affair in that question. Why should he come
back when he had left for the day?"

"Then you are inclined to exonerate Morrison?"

"On the evidence, yes."

"You speak with some reservation, Mr. Quarles."

"I want to bring the whole argument into focus, as it were," the
professor went on. "It was a settlement day on the Stock Exchange. I
believe a point was made three years ago that it was curious no one had
seen Farrell return, since many people who knew him would be about Austin
Friars late that night. This does not seem to me much of an argument. If
he returned between nine and ten he might easily escape notice. What does
seem to me curious is that he should choose such a day to leave the
office early, and tell a lie about it into the bargain. He said he had an
appointment with Miss Lester, and we know he had not."

"Ought we not to say that we know she says he had not?" Delverton
corrected. "I do not wish to be captious, but--"

"You are quite right," said Quarles; "we must be precise. You knew Miss
Lester, of course?"

"I did not see her until after Farrell's death, then I saw her several
times. She seemed rather a charming person."

"You have not seen her since her marriage?"

"No."

"I saw her the other day," said Quarles, "and I quite endorse your
opinion. She is charming, and I do not think she is the kind of woman to
tell a deliberate falsehood. If Farrell had had an appointment with her I
think she would have said so."

"I am making no accusation against her," was the answer. "I was only
sticking to the actual evidence."

"And that does not tell us where Farrell went that day," said Quarles.
"It seems strange that he did not meet any of the scores of people who
knew him as he left the office that afternoon."

"Undoubtedly he did meet many."

"They didn't come forward to say they had seen him."

"I can see no reason why they should do so. There was no question of
fixing the time he left. I was able to give definite information on
that point."

"Well, we seem to have used up our facts," said Quarles, "and are forced
to theorize."

Delverton smiled.

"You must not jump to the conclusion that I have failed," said the
professor quickly. "I did not promise to tell you the name of the
murderer to-night. Let me theorize for a few moments. You told me you
believed that Farrell's tragic end had hastened your brother's death. Did
your brother chance to come to the office that day?"

"No."

"Perhaps he came that night after you had left. I suppose you cannot
bring evidence that he did not?"

"No; but--"

"Or it might have been with him that Farrell had an appointment that day,
which was connected with some affair you were not intended to know
anything about. That would account for his telling you a lie."

"I assure you--"

"Let me follow out my idea to the end," said Quarles, leaning over the
table, and emphasizing his words by patting the cloth with his open hand.
"Three years ago things were rather bad on the Stock Exchange, one or two
men in the House were hammered, and several respected firms were shaky.
Now supposing Farrell had been playing with the firm's money unknown to
his partners, or perchance unknown only to one of them--yourself. Your
brother may have--"

"Really, Mr. Quarles, you are getting absurd."

"I was going to say--"

"Oh, please, let me stop you before you say anything more foolish," said
Delverton. "At that time my brother was very ill and as weak as a rat.
How could he have administered poison to Farrell?"

"It requires no strength to administer poison, only subtlety," said
Quarles. "A glass of wine, perhaps by your brother's bedside, and the
thing would be accomplished. Or there is another alternative. Your
brother may have been playing with the firm's credit, and Farrell may
have found him out."

"Any other alternative, Mr. Quarles? Your fertile brain must hold
others."

"Yes, one more, and two opinions which lead up to it," was the
quick reply.

Delverton laughed.

"It is not so absurd as the others, I trust."

"The two opinions may lead you to change your ideas concerning this
mystery. First, I believe Kellner was made a partner because he knew
too much."

"I am inclined to think the discussion of a glass of my best port will
be more profitable than these speculations," said our host with a smile,
and he took up the cradle which the servant had placed beside him. "I
offered you a glass in the office the other day, but it was not such
good wine as this."

"And I was shocked at the idea of port in the middle of the morning,"
said Quarles.

"But not now, eh?" And Delverton filled our glasses and his own.

"Of course not. My second belief is that Farrell did not leave the office
at all that day. We have only your word for it, you know."

"Shall we drink to your clearer judgment?" said Delverton.

I had raised my glass when Quarles cried out and tossed a spoon across
the table at me.

"So you don't drink, Mr. Quarles," said Delverton, putting down his
emptied glass.

"Not this vintage. It is too strong for me, and also for my friend
Wigan."

"Your judgment of a vintage leaves something to be desired. That glass of
port has made me curious to hear the other alternative."

"I think it was you who had been playing with the firm's money, and your
nephew found you out," said Quarles very deliberately. "That Stock
Exchange settlement was a crisis for you. I think you induced Farrell to
drink a glass of port with you, which was so doctored that he soon fell
into a sleep from which he never woke. Perchance you smiled at his
drowsiness, and suggested he should have half an hour's sleep in his
room. You would look after things in the meanwhile. You did so, and when
a clerk came in to say Dr. Morrison had called, you said Mr. Farrell had
left for the day. You took care to wash the wine glass, but it seemed a
good point to you to leave a tumbler with a little water in it on the
table. You did not leave the office until you knew that the last of the
clerks was ready to leave, and I imagine you waited somewhere in Austin
Friars to see them safely off the premises. You had no doubt that a
verdict of suicide would be returned. Later you were surprised to find
that your clerk, Kellner, knew of your money difficulties, and to silence
him he was taken into partnership. Whether the firm of Delverton
Brothers is running straight now I have no means of knowing, nor can I
say whether Mr. Kellner has any suspicion that the death of Mr. Farrell
was more opportune than natural. You are the kind of man who is much
impressed by his own cleverness, and when you met me in Devonshire it
occurred to you to throw down a challenge, to pit your wits against mine.
I suspected you then, for you overdid certain things, and a sinister
intention had entered into your head. You confessed yourself charmed with
Miss Lester, yet your whole attitude suggested that you believed Dr.
Morrison guilty of murder. You became something more than an ordinary
criminal who takes life to save himself from the consequence of his
actions, you crossed the line and became devilish. Mrs. Morrison believes
you would have asked her to marry you almost directly after Farrell's
death had she not very plainly shown you her loathing of such a union. So
you planned to be revenged when you threw down the challenge to me, and
having failed, you now attempt to be wholesale in your destruction."

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