A WOMAN'S DEBT

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 220, 16 September 1924, Page 14

A WOMAN'S DEBT

By WILLIAM LE QUEUX.

CHAPTER XXIII. •When Morrice returned to Deaney Street about four o'clock he went straight up to Rosabelle's room. The girl was seated in a chair, trying to read; he noticed that she looked very sorrowful and that sho had been crying. She had a most sympathetic nature, and although she. could find no excuse for Mrs. Morrice, she could not but feel a certain compassion for the wretched woman who in the course of a few hours had lost home and husband, all that seemed to make life worth living. "Has she gone?" asked the financier in a hard voice. "Yes, she came down to lunch a few, minutes after you went out. She spoke hardly a word while the servants were present, but when wo had finished she asked mc to come up to her boudoir, and in a broken voice anil with many tears she told .mc what had that you had ordered her to be out of the house before you came back to it." "Did she tell you that this so-called impelled mc to take that apparently harsh step?" Rosabelle nodded. "Yes, she told mc that she was very fond of Archie Brookes and that he traded upon her affection for him; that it was owing to his influence she was forced to lead this double life, to sell her valuables and replace them by spurious substitutes; that she was weary' and tired of the deception, and was "almost glad that it had come to an end; that she would not be sorry to go away v and hide her head from everybody." 'Did she tell you that this so-called Archie Brookes was an imposter,,that he is nephew to neither her nor her confederate in the fraud, that infamous scoundrel, George Clayton-Brookes' V" Yes, Mrs. Morrice had told her that, but had said very little on .the subject, only narrating the bare fact that tlie secret had been discovered. "Did you. urge her' to tell you who the man really was?" "In a rather feeble way, yes," was the girl's answer, "for in her heart-broken state it occurred to ine that she might be more ready to confess her secrets to one of her own sex than to a man. But she evaded what' little attempts I made in that direction. And to tell you the truth, dear uncle, she was so overwrought and seemed so near the verge of an utter collapse that I had not the heart to persevere." The face which had maintained its hard expression for so long softened as he looked at the .pretty girl, whose compassionate soul shone through her beautiful eyes, now dimmed with tears. He, laid his hand very kindly oii her shoulder. "Ah, my little Rosabelle, your heart will ever guide that pretty "little head of yours. Well, I would ,rather it were' so.' Men have to be hard, but .we don't want our women to lose.their softness. And tell mc; you do not, you cannot, blame mc for what I have done? You do not think I could have endured her presence in the house after I had discovered her two acts of treachery, the motives of one of which have yet to be found?'* The girl kissed him tenderlj*. Upright and honourable herself, she could not but sympathise with him in his drastic action, even while she was not without compassion for the wretched victim of his righteous justice. And as she bestowed on him that affectionate caress, she could not but think miserably of the havoc' that had been wrought in that small liousehold in such a brief space of time. -' Her memory went painfully back to that night in December when they had sat in a secluded corner of one of the pretty rooms, and she had urged her lover to screw up his courage to approach Morrice on the subject of their marriage. They had then been a hapyy family of four, always together, taking their pleasures, their amusements, in common. And now that joyous little band had been reduced to two. Mrs. Morrice, the aunt for whom she had always entertained a sincere affection, was exiled, justly exiled, from the home that had sheltered, her for so many years. And Richard, the lover in whose innocence she so firmly believed, was another exile, lying under the ban of his benefactor's displeasure, and eating his heart out in that little cottage at Petersham. "You do not blame mc for what I have (done, my little Rosabelle," repeated her uncle, as he held her slender form against his. "We have both had a great sorrow in our li%'es, my poor child; we must be all in all to each other now." "Oh, no, dearest uncle, I do not blame you. In her case, you had proved every--ihing up to the hilt. Ido not see that you could have taken any other course. If there had been the slightest reason for doubt I should have taken her part against you, I should have held that you were bound to believe her inri'ocent until you proved her guilt}-." He winced a little at those words, for he knew what was at the bank of her mind. He had tried and condemned Richard Croxton, the son of his old sweetheart, on suspicion only—strong suspicion, it is true, but not strong enough to justify absolute conviction: They were interrupted by the entrance of the butler, a staid person who had been in the financier's service for over twenty years. "A Mr. Lane rang up for you about half an hour ago, sir, and wished you particularly to 'phone him up as soon as convenient to yourself." He went down to his room, and was. soon in communication with the office in Shaftesbury Avenue. Lane's measured tones came over the instrument. "Good day, Mr. Morrice. Am I right in concluding that a certain person has left your house by now?" "Quite right; has been gone since shortly after lunch," was the financier's reply. "Has not yet taken away any private property—trunks, boxes or that sort of thing, I suppose?" was the next question. "Xo; these are to be sent when we receive an address." "Good! Then I may run round to you at once. There is 'a little" business I want to embark on without delay." Morrice readily" gave his consent; he had a shrewd inkling of the nature of that business, and thought what a smart fellow Lane was. He never let the grass grow under his feet. A few moments after he had hung up the receiver a taxi deposited the detective in Deanery Street. Uncle and niece were sitting together when he. entered; they had been talking on the old subject: Lane came to the point at once.

"'Mrs. Morrice has left, you say, sir. Has she taken her maid with her?" • He was informed that she had. They did not know where she had gone to. Rosabelle had said good-bye to her aunt in her own room, had not accompanied her clown the staircase into the hall.They had left very quietly, letting themselves out. Presumably they had hailed a passing taxi in the street. • "Do you know what they carried with them?" asked Lane sharply. "Yes," answered Rosabelle. "I went to the top of the stairs with them. Mrs. Morrice would not Ist mc come further. 1 think she wanted to slip away as qu'etiv as possible, not to be seen by any o"f the servants. She had a small attache case; her maid carried a similar one." Rosabelle's answer ,seemed to plca-e him. "I was in my aunt's room while she packed hers, 'i don't know what was in tlie one the maid carried. Mrs. Morrice just put in a few things for the night, saying that she would send instructions for tlie dispatch of the rest of her private property in a day or two." "Thank you, Miss Sheldon." The detective turned briskly towards her uncle. "Well, Mr. Morr.ee, we have proceeded so far in our investigations into this very painful drama. I want now, with your permission, to proceed a step farther." Morrice looked at him gravely and Rosabelle, too. In the minds of both had Hashed a swift idea of what he had come for. He produced from his pocket a small bunch of skeleton keys, and held them in his hand. "These will open everything in this house that has an ordinary lock, Mr. Morrice. Before this lady's property is sent to her—and I think she will want it very soon —I wish to examine N every' box and trunk belonging to her. I cannot of course do this without your permission, and 1 would not ask it if I did' not consider myself justified." For a few seconds Morrice hesitated. Espionage, even practised in a rightful cause, was abhorrent to him, and base as she \Vas, the idea of ransacking this woman's property the moment her back was turned repelled him. Lane observed his hesitation and struck in swiftly. "We have discovered so much, Mr. Morrice, that we may as well investigate a little further. It is in the interests of everybody for whom I act" —he, laid a strong emphasis on the everybody —"that we should leave no quarter unexplored." Those significant words decided the hesitating ;man. "Do as you wish, Mr. Lane. I am sure you would take no action that did not justify itself to your own conscience." Lane bowed in acknowledgment of the compliment. "I would be glad if Miss Sheldon would accompany mc in my search. lam not known to all your servants, and if one of them happened to intrude and find mc alone,/it might be awkw„rd and entail troublesome explanations." Together the detective and Rosabelle left the room, leaving Morrice in his bitter and humiliating thoughts. To think that his house should be tho hunting ground of a . private inquiry agent, even such a courteous aud urbane member of his calling as Lane. A long time passed, half an hour, three-quarters, and still they did not return. The search was evidently a very thorough' one. Then the door opened, and they came in, the girl's face flushed with excitement, and on the detective's usually impassive countenance an .expression of triumph. Once again he had had one of his flashes of inspiration. In his hand he held some sheets of paper, which he handed to the master of the~ house. "Here is the memorandum of the mechanism of the safe which you lost, I think you said about a couple of years ago, Mr. Morrice," he said. "I dare say you remember you made light of it at the time; you told mc that you had mislaid it, and you thought it might turn up some day. In the case of its not doing so, you suggested that in all probability it had been thrown away by some careless servant along with other rubbish, and had passed into the hands of the dustman." Yes, Morrice remembered that conversation well. It was one in which he obstinately maintained his belief in Richard Croxton's guilt, and had shown some annoyance at Lane's rather neutral and judicial attitude in the matter. "To mc the loss of that memorandum assumed considerable significance," the detective went on in grave, convincing tones, "and I was by no means ready to subscribe to your theory of the dustman. Personally, I was convinced that this paper was still in existence, and of considerable use-, to some person unknown. I have had a long search, as you can tell by' the time we have been absent. I found it in the most securely locked box amongst Mrs. Morriee's collection; it took mc a considerable time to open it." A duller man than Morrice could have experienced no difficulty in realising the position, suddenly as it was presented to him. v "Then this woman, not contented with realising everything of her own she could put her hands upon, lias now gone further afield. She is the actual " He paused, and a low groan escaped him; he could not bring his lips to utter the hateful word. - "I am afraid there is no longer any possible doubt," was Lane's uncompromising answer. "For some time, I may tell you, my suspicions have been tending in that direction—from the day, in fact, that I knew that she was abetting this young imposter in his" career of unbridled extravagance. We have ,yet got to find tlie Teal reasons of his sinster influence over her; they were more "than those of ordinary womanly weakness." - Morrice hardly heard those last few words. He was humbled beyond expression by the knowledge that, in his own infallibility, he had cqmmitted a grave injustice towards an innocent man. "And I branded Richard Croxton,. who was the son of the woman dearer to mc than anything on earth, a thief," he cried in a voice of anguish. "It is always a mistake to form hasty judgments,. Mr. Morrice," said Lane soothingly. "But I admit your error was a quite natural one; it would have been committed by nine persons out of ten on such strong circumstantial evidence. I will confess that, at the beginniug, I kept quite an ope» mind on the subject, if Miss Sheldon will forgive mc for saying so."

The girl flashed an indignant glance at •him. "Would he have been such a fool as to consent to my calling in your services, Mr. Lane, if he had not been sure of his innocence?" Lane, unmoved by her angry outburst, bestowed an indulgent smile upon her. ."All, my dear young lady, your heart spoke there rather than your head. But I will not enter into any lengthy defence of myself, and explain to you why I sometimes am compelled to suspect m.' own clients. Well, happily, there is ..vj longer any question of Mr. Croxton's vindication. The fact that his memorandum was found securely locked in the least accessible of Mrs. Morriee's boxes conveys enough to the mind of any reasonable man." Morrice rose up, his face working with the intensity of his emotion. "She must be made to confess, in justice to the innocent. I will go to her at once and wrinyr the truth out of her." "But you do not know where she is," cried Rosabelle swiftly. The tortured man made a gesture of despair. He was longing to confront apain this woman who was callous enough to let another suffer for her own black deeds. "True. I must wait till we hear from her. Great heavens, how can I have the patience to wait?" The grave, resolute man, who never lost his head' under the most perturbing circumstances, interposed: I "Pardon mc, Mr. Morrice, but if you are agreeable, I should be pleased to act for you in this matter. I have had, unfortunately, such a long experience in this kind of case that I am rather successful at bringing an obstinate person to confession. I assume that you are making some provision for Mrs. Morriee's future?" "Yes, through my solicitors." "But. of course, nothing as yet has been absolutely fixed in that direction." ■Morrice nodded assent. "That gives mc a very powerful weapon, then,' said Lane. "Arc you disposed to entrust the matter to mc? It is not as if 1 were unacquainted with the painful details of the affair." Yes, the financier thought he was. He was beginning to have a little less confridence in himself, and to think that the acute and diplomatic Lane might achieve better and speedier results. "Yes, take it in hand, please. But you have got to find her first." Lane smiled. "1 don't think I- shall find much difficulty in that. In fact, Ifaney I could put my hands on her now." "She would naturally go to some small hotel, till she had aranged 'her future plans, not of course to any Vig one where she would be likely to come across people she' knew," suggested Rosabelle. • "I think not, Miss Sheldon," answered the wise Lane. "In this crushing hour of her misfortune's, instinct will lead her to a friend of her youth, whose connection with her up to now has without doubt been a very close one. For a time, till she has got used to the situation, she will avoid even the smallest publicity." "You mean the woman, Alma Buckley," cried Morrice, appreciating this capable man's acumen.

Lane nodded. "It is much more than an even chance. Well, I will set about c it early to-morrow morning, I will give £ her to-day to recover from the first effects of the shock. Xow, Mr. Mor- * rice, I have never seen the lady. 1 * should be glad if you would show mc •her photographs and entrust mc for a ' bVief space with the memorandum. 1 expect I sliall have to flourish that in her face at' the beginning." ( Three photographs were shown to ( him, one in ordinary dress, one in even- , in" attire, one in outdoor costume. j The detective impresses tlie features i "of the wretched woman on his retentive memory. He' would recognise her in . (any garb. He also carried away with him 'the important memorandum, the loss of which the financier had treated so lightly. , Rosabelle accompanied ir.m into tlie hall for a few last words. '"Up to quite recently, Mr. Lane, you have not been very frank with mc," she said. "I think now you might try and . make amends, and. let mc know what led you to fix iipon Mrs. Morrice as the '■ guilty party." I "Well, I could hardly explain very | clearly. I began, of course, with a general distrust of everybody in the house, for I was sure the thief was of j the household." j "Including myself, I suppose?" sug-1 gested the girl. ' "Present company always excepted," replied the detective with a low bow. "But seriously, Miss Sheldon, well brought-up young ladies of your tender ; age do not take to burglary as a general j rule. Well, as I said, I suspected from I the beginning it was somebody in the house. I fear I must touch upon rather j delicate ground for a moment. Reason-1 ing from my theory, Mr. Croxton might as well be the criminal as anybody else, more so because collateral evidence was certainly very strong against him." I "You thought, .in other words, his employing you through mc might have been a bit "of audacious bluff?" "I reckoned it amongst the possibili- j ties of the case," was the frank answer, i "Then came the second robbery when Mr. Croxton was no longer an inmate. TUfis fact gave rise to iresh tions, for I did not greatly believe in the theory of an outside confederate, although i know Mr. Morrice held to it. Then I learned that the original memorandum of the mechanism was lost; it was no longer possible to say for certain that the knowledge it contained was confined to two people, it might have been acquired by more than one other party, and of course from that my area of "suspicion was extended. ■ What, however, finally clinched the matter in my mind, Miss Sheldon —and this is a feather in your cap—was that conversation which you overheard and reported to mc." . "It was quite.good of you not to give mc away, when uncle wanted to know the source of.your information." "I am not quite such a brute as I seem, my dear young lady, I assure you. When I can do a good turn to anybody I like and respect, believe mc it gives' mc pleasure. With regard to my general reticence which I know., must have offended you very much, you must I remember I have moved so much amongst mystery that I have become more than a little mysterious myself."

"And you believe Mrs. Morrice committed these burglaries alone ?" asked Rosabelle. "I am inclined to think so, although we are quite certain where the proceeds went to." ■'And what about those finger-prints of the man who was in Dartmoor at the time of the first burglary?" "That no doubt was a masculine invention, employed'more for purposes of devilment, to lead a detective a uselessdance and make a fool of him. In the second robbery the same game was played, but when the safe was opened a third time, it was dropped. There were no finger-prints then, they had been carefully rubbed out." "How she could have had the courage," exclaimed Rosabelle, "and you know I should not have considered her a very strong-minded or resolute woman.' Lane shrugged his shoulders. "Evidently she was in mortal terror of these two 'scoundrels, hypnotised by them in ia sense. Those restitutions that were i made were certainly a feminine touch. A man would never have ventured back : for such purposes, anything that was iisless to him he would have destroyed."- ---| "It is all very horrible and tragic," said Rosabelle in a sad voice. "My heart bleeds for my dear uncle. Thank Heaven he will have Richard still left jto comf'irt him." "Yes, I am very glad the young fellow !is cleared," said Lane heartily. "Well, I must bb off. Before long I hope to get the whole details of this miserableaffair out of Mrs-TMorrice. Good-bye . for the present." j (To be continued daily.)