The Mystery of Lincoln's Inn Read online

  CHAPTER XV

  "As strange a case as any I ever heard of," said Inspector Gale tohimself, after Gilbert had withdrawn. "Now, what do I know about itexactly? Let me see."

  Gale was a shrewd man, with an abundance of sound common sense and anextensive experience in criminal matters. He also had a certain degreeof imagination, which is the quality the ordinary detective lacks.

  From a cabinet he took some sheets of blue paper which were fastenedtogether; they were the memoranda he had made of the facts connectedwith the disappearance of Morris Thornton. Gale read them over rapidlybut carefully. Putting them down on his desk, he reflected.

  "Morris Thornton, a rich colonial," he thought, "came to London on July29th, and put up at the Law Courts Hotel in Holborn. Late in the eveningof the next day, July 30th, he left the hotel for a walk in Holborn orperhaps in Chancery Lane--so he said to the porter. To-day, August 14th,his body is found in a room at the top of a house in Stone Buildings,Lincoln's Inn, that is, on the Chancery Lane side of the Inn. That looksas if he had carried out his intention of taking a stroll in ChanceryLane. This fits in well enough. What next?

  "How did he get up to the room at that time of night? The Inn would beclosed; the night porter of the Inn must have let him in. I must make anote of that. And what took him there? He must have had some object inview. And the room was in the set of chambers occupied by Mr. CooperSilwood, one of the most respectable solicitors in London, and a memberof the very firm of solicitors with whom Mr. Thornton transacted hisbusiness. Could it be that Mr. Thornton had gone to see Mr. Silwoodabout some matter? But surely not at that hour--it hardly seemspossible. Still I must not neglect that phase of the case.

  "As regards Mr. Silwood. As he is now dead, the thing looks like leadingup to a blind wall. He had been for some time away on a holiday. I mustget the date when he left London. If he was in London on July 30th, oron the next day, the case would appear pretty black for him. Then thereis the locked door. The door of the room in which the body was found hada special lock, and of course a special key, which Mr. Silwood carried.Some one locked the door on the dead man; the only one, presumably, whohad the key to lock it was Mr. Silwood. This also looks pretty black forhim.

  "But the motive? Suppose Silwood did kill Morris Thornton, what would behis reason? It must have been some very strong reason indeed that wouldmake a respectable solicitor murder an important client. Mostimprobable--impossible, one would have said; but nothing is impossible,nothing in the world. Yet everything points to the deed having beendone by Silwood. The conclusion is obvious."

  At this point in his reflections Gale took a turn up and down the floor.He was saying to himself, as he had said to Gilbert, that when aconclusion was obvious, then it was necessary to beware of it. His longexperience had taught him that obvious conclusions rarely turned out tobe correct.

  "Well, where are we?" Gale mused, sitting down again. "Let us saySilwood had a motive for murdering Thornton, and did actually kill him,and having committed the murder, fled the country on the pretence oftaking a holiday--suppose all this; where does it land us?"

  Here a curious idea came into Gale's mind. He considered it doubtfullyfor two or three minutes; then, reminding himself of his favouritetheory that nothing was impossible, he gave it tentatively a place inhis thoughts.

  "Suppose," he said to himself, "that Silwood is not dead, and that allthis palaver about the certificate of death from the Italian magistrateis a skilfully manufactured affair, a mere pretence, in fact, with theobject of defeating justice? If this were so, it would complete the casewith a vengeance. Still, why shouldn't Silwood be dead? Well, I mustlook into it, though the idea that he is alive seems ratherfar-fetched."

  Far-fetched or not, the idea fascinated the inspector as it appealed tohis imagination; it haunted him so that he could not drive it out of hismind.

  "Suppose," he kept saying to himself over and over again, "Silwood isnot dead. If he is not dead, what does that imply? Does it mean thatthere is some conspiracy, a conspiracy in which the Eversleighs areinvolved?"

  Gale pondered deeply. He had the feeling that somehow he was on theverge of a great discovery; but, as he thought still further, he was notso sure. It seemed absurd to connect the Eversleighs with anything ofthe sort. Finally, he came to a decision. Rising from his chair, hepressed an electric bell, and told a man who instantly appeared inanswer to his call to ask Mr. Gilbert Eversleigh to step into the room.

  Gilbert, expecting that the coroner had been heard from, came ineagerly.

  "The coroner?" he asked.

  "No, Mr. Gilbert. I wished you to tell me again the name of the place inItaly where Mr. Silwood died."

  "Camajore, in the province of Tuscany--it is in the north of Italy, onthe west coast or a few miles inland."

  "Camajore?" repeated Gale. "How is it spelt?"

  Gilbert spelt the word.

  "Do you know the place?" asked the officer.

  "Not at all."

  "Do you happen to know the best and quickest way of getting to it?"

  "You would take the train for Genoa, I fancy. Camajore is only a shortdistance from Genoa. But why do you ask me this?"

  "It will be necessary, I think, for us to have the death of Mr. Silwoodconfirmed."

  "I understand," said Gilbert, but he had only a glimmering of theinspector's meaning. "It will be as well--as a matter of form."

  "Quite so," said Gale. "All sorts of inquiries will be made, and wemust be in a position to answer them. By the way, Mr. Gilbert, would youmind telling me if Mr. Silwood was on terms of intimacy with Mr.Thornton--would you say that Mr. Silwood was as much of a friend of Mr.Thornton as your father was?"

  "Mr. Thornton certainly knew Mr. Silwood very well, though perhaps hewas hardly on the same terms of intimate friendship as my father was."

  "Still there was a considerable acquaintance?"

  "Undoubtedly."

  "Do you think Mr. Thornton knew Mr. Silwood well enough to go to thelatter's rooms at midnight or thereabouts?"

  "I should scarcely have thought so. It's rather an extreme thing to goto a man's rooms at that time of night."

  "But if there was some pressing reason?"

  "Of course, necessity knows no law, but I can't suppose for one instantthere was such a necessity. I believe that Mr. Thornton's relations withboth Mr. Silwood and my father were of the most cordial character;indeed, I am certain they were. There was absolutely no hint of anythingelse. I know that for many years past Mr. Thornton reposed the greatestconfidence in my father's firm."

  "So I understand," assented Gale. "Now, Mr. Gilbert, I must ask you toleave me. I shall tell you the instant I hear from the coroner."

  And Gilbert went out once more.

  As soon as he had gone, Gale rang his bell again.

  "I cannot go myself," he mused; "I must be present at the inquest--thatis necessary. I must send Brydges."

  Brydges was the detective who ranked next to himself in Scotland Yard.In a moment or two more Brydges was in the presence of the chief.

  "You have heard about the Lincoln's Inn case?" asked Gale.

  "Yes, something, but not accurately--just what they are saying in theYard."

  "And that is?"

  "That the body of the missing millionaire has been found in a room atthe top of a house in Stone Buildings, the said room being thesitting-room of a Mr. Cooper Silwood, a solicitor, a member, in fact, ofthe firm of solicitors who did the dead man's legal business. A verycurious position, is it not?" commented Brydges.

  "Very curious indeed. All the more so because Mr. Silwood too is dead."

  "Yes, I heard that also."

  "It is with reference to Silwood's death that I want you just now. Iwish you to go to Italy, to a place called Camajore, some miles fromGenoa, and find out everything you can about his death."

  "Ah!" exclaimed Brydges; "I see. You think his death may be a fake; isthat it?"

  "Well, it occurred to me that it might be so; at any ra
te, I think itwell worth inquiring further into. You can leave to-night for Genoa?"

  "Yes, certainly."

  "And you will wire the results of your mission in cipher to me as soonas possible," said Gale.

  "Am I to consult the local authorities?"

  "Yes; I'll have a letter of credentials prepared for you. You willpresent it to the police at Genoa, and I do not imagine you will findany difficulty. Now, go and make your preparations."

  Left alone once again, Gale took up the thread of his musings.

  "There is one other point," he thought, "and that is the presence inChancery Lane, on the night when Thornton disappeared, of thatmysterious workman, who possessed the key to the iron gates of the smallfootway communicating with the court of Stone Buildings and ChanceryLane itself.

  "What was it I was told? A workman, or a man dressed as a workman, lethimself out of the iron gate late at night; the man appeared to beflurried, to act in a suspicious manner. In about half an hour hereturned, and let himself in again. He was seen no more that night. Andit was _the_ night--the night presumably of the murder.

  "This assuredly must be followed up; it looks like a clue. I must gethold of the waster who told the story, and hear for myself what he hasto say. I wonder if he spoke the truth, or if he invented the wholething. And if this story is true, and if this workman had something todo with Thornton's death, how is he to be connected with Cooper Silwood?If this workman committed the murder, how did he get possession of thekey to Silwood's chambers? Perhaps, during Silwood's absence, he gotinto the room. Well, it comes back to getting the date on which Silwoodleft London for his holiday--that's what I must ascertain."

  The inspector had reached this conclusion when there was a knock at hisdoor, and a constable entered and informed him that the coroner had senta message to the effect that he was waiting for him in Silwood'schambers.

  Gale called Gilbert, who had been sitting outside wearily andimpatiently, and the two men got into a cab and drove to the scene ofthe discovery of the body. On their way thither Gale put a question.

  "I am very anxious to get to know the day on which Mr. Silwood leftLondon," said the officer; "do you think you could find that out for methis afternoon?"

  "I think the office will be closed, but I'll go and see, if you like."

  "I wish you would. Suppose you go round to New Square while I go on toMr. Silwood's chambers?"

  Gilbert agreed, and presently was in the office of Eversleigh, Silwoodand Eversleigh, where, to his great surprise, he found Williamson stillon the premises, apparently hard at work.

  "What a day this has been, Mr. Gilbert!" cried Williamson. "I thoughtI'd wait to see if there was any more news. Your father and Mr. Ernesthave just gone home. I'm afraid your father, Mr. Gilbert, is verypoorly--not that that is strange, after what has happened."

  "No, indeed," said Gilbert. "Can you tell me, Mr. Williamson," he wenton, "the day on which Mr. Silwood left for his holiday?"

  "A fortnight ago, exactly, to-day I had a note from him, saying he wasoff to Italy. I don't know whether he went by the night mail on theevening of the Friday or by the continental express on the Saturdaymorning; he did not mention which train he was going by."

  "A fortnight ago to-day? That was July 31st. And Friday was the 30th."

  "Precisely," said Williamson, with a touch of malice, "and that is thevery day--that Friday--on which Mr. Thornton disappeared. It has astrange look, Mr. Gilbert; I can make nothing of it--nothing at all."

  "You are sure of the date?" asked Gilbert, sharply.

  "As I said, it was either on the Friday night or on the Saturday morningthat Mr. Silwood left."

  Gilbert, as he went to tell Inspector Gale what he had learned, couldnot but confess to himself that the matter did wear a very strange lookindeed.

  When he got to Stone Buildings, he saw the inspector, the coroner, anassistant, and two constables. It was Gale who spoke.

  "The coroner," he remarked, "is having the body taken to the nearestmortuary, Mr. Gilbert, and he will report later. Meanwhile, I have madean examination of these apartments, and I am bound to say thateverything in them appears to be in good order. I see no sign ofdisorder, no indication of a struggle. And I have looked into thebedroom, and there also I can see nothing to take hold of. Mr. Silwood,I should say, prepared in the most leisurely fashion for his trip; not athing betokens hurry or flurry--this is all satisfactory enough, so faras it goes."

  Gale addressed a few words to the coroner, and then the body wasremoved. As Gilbert turned to leave the room, Gale put his arm on hissleeve.

  "What about the date?" he asked.

  "Mr. Silwood left either that Friday night or next morning--which, isnot certain."

  Gale looked at Gilbert, earnestly, but he did not speak; his silence waseloquent enough.

  "You think," said Gilbert, slowly, "that Silwood murdered----?"

  He did not complete the sentence.

  "I say nothing definite, Mr. Gilbert; but don't you think it looks thatway?"

  "It is impossible--impossible!" said Gilbert.

  But Gale shook his head.

  When Gilbert got to Waterloo, on his way to see Kitty, he heard at thebookstall people eagerly asking for the latest editions of the eveningpapers. On the placards he saw in big black letters--

  "THE BODY OF THE MISSING MILLIONAIRE DISCOVERED."

  "IS IT MURDER?"

  How was he to tell Kitty, his darling? What could he say to her?

  But when he arrived at Surbiton, he was surprised to find that Kittyshowed considerable calmness in the circumstances.

  "I was sure my father was dead," she said to him, as they talked overthe discovery of the body. "I was certain that if he had been alive hewould have come to me. I never had any hope. And, Gilbert, I do notbelieve that Mr. Silwood killed him. Why should he have done so? Iwonder if the darkness which surrounds my father's death will ever becleared away?"

  "It is shrouded in mystery at present, my darling," said Gilbert,immensely relieved that Kitty was bearing up so well; "but perhaps someevidence will be forthcoming at the inquest. It is to take place onTuesday."

  "I think I should like to be present," said Kitty, after a long pause.

  "It may be very painful for you, and I do not believe you will be calledon."

  "It is my duty, I suppose, and I must not shrink from it."

  "My own brave little girl," said Gilbert, kissing her fondly.