Part 6 (1/2)

”Very well. Murder.”

The Inspector's attention was already concentrated upon the letter. He read: Dear Sir, -- In reference to the recent forgeries which have caused, and are still causing, so much loss to the Bank, I should be obliged if you would grant me a private interview, at which I could place certain facts before you.

Yours faithfully, -- Wllliam Rabone.

Inspector Combridge considered this doc.u.ment carefully.

”As it reads,” he asked, ”might it not be the letter of an honest man, who had made certain discoveries in the course of his work, by which his suspicions had been aroused?”

”Yes, on the face of it, so it might. No doubt, that is intended to read. But he would hardly have asked for a private interview with the General Manager under such circ.u.mstances. He would have included it in his ordinary report, or perhaps communicated direct with the Committee which has this investigation in hand. Or, had it been a case of urgency, he would not have proceeded by letter at all. He would have come here at once.”

Before the Inspector could discuss these aspects of the matter, Mr. Jellipot was announced.

Chapter XVII.

MR. JELLIPOT shook hands with a quiet cordiality. He felt confident both in the strength of his own case and in the goodwill of those to whom he proposed to state it. He observed, without resentment, the slight official constraint in the Inspector's manner which it must be his part to dispel.

He said: ”I'm glad you've brought us together, Sir Reginald. It seems to me that this is a case where we've got to pool all that we know, if the guilt is to be laid at the right door. And so long as we're all wasting our wits over the question of Francis Hammerton's complicity in a crime with which he had nothing to do, beyond -- - ”

”Who did you say?” the Inspector asked sharply. He remembered the name in which the cheque had been drawn.

”I said Francis Hammerton. That's my client's true name, as he ought to have had the sense to tell you before.”

The Inspector was quick to see the implications of the new fact. He said: ”Then the order for the cheque-book which his accomplice secured was signed in his true name?”

”Naturally so. But I don't know that you should describe the young lady in that way. If,” he smiled, ”I am correctly instructed, she may turn out to be Sir Reginald's I accomplice rather than his. But,” he added cautiously, ”I am not acting for her, nor am I directly concerned for the veracity of the explanation which she appears to have given of her acquaintance with Rabone.”

Inspector Combridge, while still warily conscious that he must not allow either friends.h.i.+p or respect for Mr. Jellipot to warp his official judgement, was sufficiently well acquainted with him to know that he would not be likely to speak as he did without a solid basis of fact to support his words. He saw also that there was information to be gained, probably from both of his present companions, beyond anything he could have antic.i.p.ated a few moments before, and which it might be vital for him to have. But even now he did not overlook the importance of maintaining an independent position.

”If you think,” he said, ”it to be to your client's interest to disclose the line of defence which he intends to set up, of course I shall be glad to listen.”

”His defence is that he discovered the murder exactly as he told you when he was first asked. Beyond that, I propose to show that he is an absolutely respectable young man, who was foolish enough to make some undesirable friends, and lacked the moral courage to give his true name when he found himself in a particularly distasteful mess.”

The Inspector considered this. He observed a possibility -- no more -- that it might be true; but even if that might be, it seemed a good deal to attempt to demonstrate in the present position. And there were some awkward facts which might excuse doubt of Vaughan's -- or Hammerton's -- absolute innocence in a less sceptical mind than that of an inspector of the Metropolitan Police.

”You're putting it rather high,” he said. ”After all, he's a convicted criminal. I don't see how you get over that.”

”There's the Court of Appeal.”

The Inspector did not dispute the fact, but was doubtful of its use in the present case. ”You know,” he said, ”they won't listen to fresh evidence, if the accused himself withheld it at the trial. They'll say it's too late for that now.”

”It is a difficulty,” Mr. Jellipot admitted, ”which I have already observed. But I hope that we may find a way through.”

The Inspector did not fail to notice that Mr. Jellipot used the plural ”we” as though alluding to his present company, and being confident of their co-operation. He said: ”Well, of course, if you can convince me of Hammerton's innocence, I'll do all that I can. But you won't find it an easy job. What about his pocket being full of Rabone's money when he was arrested half an hour afterwards?”

”The reply is that it wasn't. It was full of his own. You'll find that the blank counterfoil in the cheque-book is a sufficient explanation of that.”

Sir Reginald interposed for the first time. ”Yes, Inspector, I think you'll find that he succeeded in cas.h.i.+ng the cheque. I've had confirmation of that.”

”But two of the notes have been traced to Rabone's possession ”

Mr. Jellipot replied by narrating the circ.u.mstances under which they had pa.s.sed into his client's hands.

”It is an explanation,” the Inspector said dryly, ”which would have been more convincing had he told me at first.”

Mr. Jellipot conceded that. ”So it would. The fact is he forgot.”

The explanation reduced the Inspector to a silent consideration of its plausibility, and in the resulting pause Sir Reginald said: ”Gentlemen, I don't know how you feel, but it's about the time when I begin to have a decided inclination for a good lunch.

”I can't let you go yet, because I want you to meet Mr. Banks of the Texall Enquiry Agency, and a Miss Weston -- a charming girl -- who'll both have some things to tell you that you'll find it worth while to hear.

”I've asked them to come at two o'clock, and as I thought the Inspector mightn't like to be seen lunching publicly with the solicitor on the other side, I've ordered a little meal to be brought in here.”

Neither of the gentlemen concerned making any objection to this hospitable arrangement, they lunched together accordingly, Sir Reginald leading the conversation skilfully backward to a time when they had been allied in the pursuit of a common foe, until Mr. Banks and Miss Weston were shown into the room.

Chapter XVIII.

IT IS a commonplace of the fiction of crime that the brilliant amateur will discover elusive murderers whose ident.i.ty will be hidden from the slower-witted officers of the law. But in this inferiority of truthful narrative it may appear, at this stage at least, that the official mind of Inspector Combridge, and the civilian one of the Head of the Texall Enquiry Agency, were of a close equality, whether of dullness or perspicuity, for it appeared, when they met in Sir Reginald's office, with no excess of cordiality on either side, that they had come to the same decision as to the ident.i.ty of the wanted man.

In arriving at this conclusion it was already evident that Mr. Banks had had the benefit of the knowledge of some circ.u.mstances of the crime of which the Inspector had not been equally well informed, but if we regard the matter with an entire impartiality we must observe also that Mr. Banks had not had the benefit of hearing Sir Lionel Tips.h.i.+ft's opinion that the crime had been the work of a left-handed man.

It was after Miss Weston had completed a narrative which may be conveniently deferred, as it was given with greater precision in the witness-box on a later day, that Mr. Banks said ”Well, I don't know what you think, Inspector, but I should say that you won't have to look farther than the top floor of number seven to find the man that you want.”

”Meaning Entwistle?”

”Meaning Long Pete, of course. That's what he's mostly called in his own crowd.”

The Inspector was aware of the name usually applied to Peter Entwistle in the criminal circles that were supposed to make use of his skill. But he dissented from the enquiry agent's description.

”His own crowd?” he said. ”You can't say there's any to which he really belongs. That's been what's kept him clear of our hands for the last ten years, and he making a fortune the while, at a safe guess. He doesn't drink, he doesn't gamble, he doesn't mix with any of the gangs among whom we may have one or two who know how to give us the information we want at the right time; and so he's kept out of our hands for more years than one of his kind probably ever did since we've been an organized force.”

”The gentleman,” Sir Reginald interrupted, ”seems to be an interesting character. Do you mind telling me what his occupation is supposed to be, and why you conclude that he's the most likely man to have murdered a bank inspector four doors away?”

Inspector Combridge answered: ”It's a matter of deduction, of course. I'm not sure that we've got evidence enough even to justify an arrest. But that's been the difficulty with Mr. Entwistle since I heard of him first in connection with the Bradwell forgeries, nearly ten years ago.