Part 33 (1/2)

”Rather a curt way of disposing of such a large sum,” said Mr. Flexen, taking the letter and going to the window.

”It was the way Lord Loudwater did things,” said Mr. Harrison.

”Yes, yes; I know,” said Mr. Carrington. ”Some things.”

They both looked at Mr. Flexen, who was examining the letter through a magnifying gla.s.s.

He studied it for a good two minutes, turned to them with a quiet smile of triumph on his face and said: ”I've never seen Lord Loudwater's signature. But this is a forgery.”

”A forgery?” said the manager sharply, stepping quickly towards Mr.

Flexen with outstretched hand.

”I'm not surprised to hear it,” said Mr. Carrington.

”Well, the signature is not written with the natural ease with which a man signs his name,” said Mr. Flexen, giving the letter to Mr. Harrison.

Mr. Harrison studied it carefully. Then he pressed a b.u.t.ton on his desk and bade the clerk who came bring all the letters they had received from Lord Loudwater during the last three months of his life and bring them quickly.

Then he turned to Mr. Flexen and said stiffly: ”I'm bound to say that the signature looks perfectly right to me.”

”I've no doubt that it's a good forgery. It was done by a very clever man,” said Mr. Flexen.

”A first-cla.s.s young scoundrel,” Mr. Carrington amended.

”We shall soon see,” said Mr. Harrison, politely incredulous.

The clerk came with the letters. There were eight of them, all written by Mr. Manley and signed by Lord Loudwater.

The manager compared the signatures of every one of them with the signature in question, using a magnifying gla.s.s which lay on his desk.

Then, triumphant in his turn, he said curtly: ”It's no forgery.”

”Allow me,” said Mr. Flexen, and in his turn he compared the signatures, again every one of them.

Then he said: ”As I said, it's an uncommonly good forgery. You see that the bodies of the letters are all written with the same pen, a gold-nibbed fountain-pen; the signatures are written with a steel nib. It cuts deeper into the paper, and the ink doesn't flow off it so evenly.

The forged signature is written with the same kind of nib as the genuine ones. Also, the bodies of the letters are written in a fountain-pen ink--the 'Swan,' I think. The signatures are written in Stephens'

blue-black ink. The forged signature is also written in Stephens'

blue-black ink. No error there, you see.”

”You seem to know a good deal about these things,” said Mr. Harrison, rather tartly.

”Yes. I've been a partner in Punchard's Agency--you know it; we've done some work for you--for the last two years. I didn't need this kind of knowledge for my work in India. I only made a special study of forgery after joining the agency. A private inquiry agency gets such a lot of it,” said Mr. Flexen.

”Well, and if there's an error in these details, where is it? It's not in the signature itself,” said Mr. Harrison.

”Indeed, it is,” said Mr. Flexen. ”It's an uncommonly good signature too.

The 'Loud' is perfect. But the 'water' gives it away. The forger had evidently practised it a lot. In fact, he wrote the 'Loud' straight off.

But the 'water' has no less than five distinct pauses in it--under the microscope, of course--where he paused to think, or perhaps to look at a genuine signature, the endors.e.m.e.nt on the cheque very likely.”