Part 24 (1/2)

”Well, Mr. Screw, how goes it?” he said. ”It is some time since we met.”

”Happy to meet you, sir; glad to see you,” replied the lawyer, putting out a long hand towards the part of the room where Mr. Barker was standing.

Mr. Screw was Mr. Scratch's partner. Mr. Screw was very tall, very thin, and exceedingly yellow. He had thick yellow hair, streaked with gray.

His face seemed bound in old parchment, and his eyes were like bra.s.s nails driven very deep, but bright and fixed when he spoke. He had a great abundance of teeth of all sizes and shapes; his face was clean shaven; and he wore a stand-up collar, with a narrow black tie neatly adjusted in a bow. His feet and hands were of immense size. He was in evening-dress. He doubled up a few of his joints and deposited himself in a deep arm-chair--the twin of Barker's--on the other side of the fireplace.

”I thought very likely you would be here before the evening was out,”

said Mr. Barker. ”Yes,” he continued after a pause, ”that is the reason I came here. I wanted to see you on business, and I missed you to-day down town.”

”Oh! business, did you say?” inquired the other, rubbing his bony nose and looking at the empty grate.

”Yes, rather important to you--more than to myself, though it concerns me too. You have a new client, I believe; the nephew of our old partner Mr. Lindstrand.”

”Dr. Claudius?” asked the lawyer, looking up.

”He calls himself so, at any rate,” said Barker.

”What do you mean?” asked Mr. Screw quickly, s.h.i.+fting his position.

”Do you think you have taken all the necessary steps towards ascertaining that he is the heir--the right man--the real Dr. Claudius?”

”Great heavens!” exclaimed the lawyer, surprised and terribly frightened by Barker's insinuation, ”you don't mean to say there is any doubt about it, do you?”

”I am inclined to think there is doubt--yes, decidedly. It is a very serious matter, and I thought it best to speak to you about it before talking to my father. You see, though the loss might fall on us, indirectly, the moral responsibility is yours, since you are the lawyers in the case.”

”But your father is one of the executors, Mr. Barker,” said Mr. Screw, who felt obliged to say something, and wanted to gain time.

”My father--yes,” and Barker smiled disagreeably. ”Yes, he is one of the executors. But you yourself are the other, Mr. Screw. And as far as any intelligence in the matter is concerned, you might be alone.” Barker was willing to flatter the lawyer at the expense of his fond parent.

Screw would be of more use to him than many fathers in this matter. Mr.

Screw relapsed into silence, and sat for some minutes, hooking one leg behind the other, and thrusting as much of his hands into his pockets as those receptacles would contain. After a time he changed his position, heaved a species of sigh that sounded like the sudden collapse of a set of organ-bellows, and ran his fingers through his thick hair.

Barker thought he was going to speak. But he was mistaken; Mr. Screw was too much taken aback to speak yet. Then Barker spoke for him.

”Well,” said he, caressing his foot and looking at the ceiling, ”what are you going to do about it?”

”I shall do what is proper in such cases. I will stop his drawing any more money, and investigate the matter. If this is not the real Claudius, the real Claudius must be somewhere, and can be found.”

”Perhaps he is dead,” suggested Barker.

”It is about as easy to find a dead man as a live man,” said Screw. ”It is a surer thing, on the whole. A dead man can't change his clothes, and get his beard shaved off, and cavoort around the corner.”

”Not generally speaking,” said the other, ”no well-regulated corpse would do it, anyhow. Besides, if he is dead, there must have been some notice of it in the Heidelberg papers. He belonged to the University, and they always put those things in the local sheet in Germany.”

”That's so,” said the lawyer. ”Do you know anybody in Heidelberg who would look the matter up, Mr. Barker?”

Mr. Barker did know some one in Heidelberg--the very man, in fact. He would write immediately, and set the inquiry on foot. Meanwhile there were other things to be settled. After the first shock the lawyer was not inclined to let Barker off so easily for having indorsed a man he suspected of being a humbug. Barker retorted that he had found Claudius in possession of the doc.u.ments transmitted by Messrs. Screw and Scratch, and that it was not his fault if he supposed that those astute gentlemen had taken proper precautions to ascertain the ident.i.ty of their client.

He went into many details, explaining how his suspicions had been aroused by degrees in the course of many conversations. He was expecting a question from Mr. Screw. At last it came.

”Mr. Barker,” said Screw, fixing his bra.s.s-headed eyes intently on his companion--for Mr. Screw was no fool--”Mr. Barker, you brought this man over here, and you know him better than any one else. Now, what I want to know is this. He may be the right man, after all. What we are going to do is entirely precautionary. Do you want to appear or not?” Barker had not expected the question to be put so directly, but he was perfectly prepared for it.

”I am sure I do not care,” he said, with a fine indifference. ”I have no objection. It is a mere question of expediency; do not consider me in the matter. Do what you think is right,” he added, emphasising the last word, and meeting Screw's glance boldly enough. Screw looked at him for a moment or two in silence, and then turned his eyes away. There was the faintest reflection of a smile on his yellow face, and the expression became him well. Screw was astute, sharp as a ferret, relentless as a steel-corkscrew, crus.h.i.+ng its cruel way through the creaking cork; but Screw was an honest man, as the times go. That was the difference between him and Barker. Screw's smile was his best expression, Barker's smile was of the devil, and very wily. Screw smiled because he was amused. Barker smiled when he was successful.