Part 20 (1/2)

”I have not found any one who was intimate with him in private.”

”I see; kept politics and his private life entirely separate,”

said Quarles.

”I am not prepared to say that,” I answered. ”I have not had time to hunt up anybody on the private side yet, and I do not think it will be necessary. One of the men I saw was Reynolds, of the War Office. I was advised to go and see him, as he was supposed to know Bridwell well. He did not have much good to say about him. It seems that for some time past there has been a leakage of War Office secrets, that in some unaccountable way foreign powers have obtained information, and suspicion has pointed to Bridwell being concerned. So far as I can gather, nothing has been actually proved against him, and I pointed out that his intimate knowledge of European affairs made him rather a marked man. Reynolds, however, was very definite in his opinion, spoke as if he possessed knowledge which he could not impart to me. He was not surprised to hear of Bridwell's death. When I spoke of murder he was rather skeptical, remarked that in that case Bridwell must have been double-dealing with his paymasters, and had paid the penalty; but it was far more likely to be suicide, he thought, and said it was the best thing, the only thing, in fact, which Bridwell could do. I have no doubt Reynolds knew that some action had been taken which could not fail to show Bridwell that he was suspected.”

Quarles nodded, evidently much interested.

”This view receives confirmation from the movements of Fisher,” I went on. ”He left Harrow last night--must have gone almost directly after he received the packet. He only occupies furnished rooms in Harrow, and the landlady tells me that during the year he has had them he has often been away for days and even weeks at a time. Announcing his return, or giving her some instructions, she has received letters from him from Berlin, Madrid, Rome, and Vienna. That is significant, Professor.”

”It is. Did she happen to mention any places in England from which she has heard from him?”

”Yes, several--York, Oakham, Oxford, and also from Edinburgh.”

”She did not mention any place in Suss.e.x?”

”No, I think not.”

”It would appear then that Fisher could have had nothing to do with Bridwell's legitimate political business or he would certainly have spent some time in the const.i.tuency. Well, Wigan, what do you make of the case?”

”I think it is fairly clear in its main points,” I answered. ”Bridwell has been selling information to foreign powers, and would naturally deal with the highest bidders. Fisher is a foreign agent, and having received valuable information yesterday, left England with it at once. The two men who came to dinner represented some other power, came no doubt by appointment to receive information, but probably knew that their host was dealing doubly with them. Bridwell's commercial ingenuity in the matter has been his undoing, hence his death. Whether Masini was attached to Fisher, or to the schemes of the other two, it is impossible to say, but I believe he was an accomplice on one side or the other.”

”I built up a similar theory, Wigan; not with the completeness you have, of course, because I knew nothing of the suspicions concerning Bridwell, but when I had made it as complete as I could, I began to pick it to pieces. It fell into ruins rather easily, and you do not help me to build it again.”

”It seems to me the main facts cannot be got away from,” I said.

”Zena a.s.sisted in the ruining process by saying, 'Cherchez la femme.'”

”You see, Murray, you do not account for the woman and the bag,”

said Zena.

”They are extraneous incidents belonging to his private life. It is remarkable how distinct he kept his private from his political life.”

”Very remarkable,” Quarles said. ”Yet the woman is also a fact, and she seems to me of the utmost importance. We must account for her, and your explanation brings me no sense of satisfaction. Let me tell you how I began to demolish my theory, Wigan. I started with Masini. Now, he seemed honest to me. He was very ready to repeat Fisher's exact words, and the very fact of my asking for them would have made him suspicious and put him on his guard had he possessed any guilty knowledge, whether it concerned Fisher or the two visitors. Further, had he been in league with the two visitors and knew they had murdered his master, he would hardly have been so ready to block suspicion in other directions. He would not have said his master's visitors came chiefly from his const.i.tuency, and he certainly would not have scouted the idea of a woman caller. He would have welcomed such a suggestion, fully appreciating how valuable a woman would be in starting an inquiry on a false trail.”

”But you mustn't attribute to an Italian servant all the subtlety you might use under similar circ.u.mstances,” I said.

”I am showing you how I picked my own theory to pieces,” he answered. ”I next considered the visitors. I a.s.sumed they were there for an unlawful purpose--your facts go to show that my a.s.sumption was right--and I asked myself why and how they had murdered Bridwell. If he were a schemer with them, there would be no need to murder him, no need to silence him; were he to talk afterwards he would only injure himself, not them. If they were there to force papers from their host, it seems unlikely that he would be so unsuspicious of them that he would have asked them to dinner, and, even if he were, a moment must have come during, or after dinner, when they must have shown their hand. A man who deals in this kind of commerce does not easily trust people. Bridwell's suspicions would certainly have been aroused; he would in some measure, at any rate, have been prepared, and we should have found some signs of a struggle.”

”I admit the soundness of the argument,” I answered. ”For my part I incline to Reynolds' opinion that it was suicide after all.”

”Oh, no; it was murder,” said Quarles.

”A tablet--” I began.

”I know it was murder,” returned the professor sharply, ”and the manner of it has presented the chief difficulty I have found in demolis.h.i.+ng my theory altogether. Bridwell was poisoned by an injection. The hypodermic needle was inserted under the hair at the back of the head, here in the soft part of the base of the skull, the hair concealing the small mark it made. I believe the secret of the poison used is forgotten, but you may read of it in books relating to the Vatican of old days and concerning the old families of Italy. I might mention the Borgias particularly. So you see my difficulty, Wigan. The crime literally reeked of Italy, and we had two Italians amongst our dramatis personae.”

”A significant fact,” I said.

”Of course I am letting the doctor know of my discovery; that is the good turn I shall do him. He will be considered quite smart over this affair.

Now consider this point. It would surely have been very difficult, once the host's suspicions had been aroused, to make the injection without a struggle on the victim's part.”