THE Flambards Mystery

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 187, 12 September 1914, Page 4

THE Flambards Mystery

Author of " The Heiress of the Season," The Red Chancellor," " The Master Spirit," etc,

[COPYRIGHT.]

CHAPTER XVl.—(Continued). In company with the voluble lady we .. completed our inspection of the gifts, and then went out into the hall to see the newly-married couple drive away. With their departure the signal was given for dancing to begin; the band struck up a waltz, we hastily found partners, and began to move' round. It . was for Gelston and me an exhilarating change from the rather dull Bohemianism of an artist's life. There were plenty of pretty girls to dance with, and ■are entered thoroughly into the spirit of the entertainment. Presently, about half-way through the programme, what seemed rather a'strange thing came to my notice. At the end of a waltz I took my partner back to her mother, who said that ; she was afraid they must be going thus .' early, as they had a long drive before , them. I thereupon offered my services . to order their carriage round, and went into the hall in search of someone to send out to the stables. As no fodtman was to be seen, I opened the front door .and slipped out, with the intention of taking the message myself. The evening was fine, with a brisk wind driving 1 the flying clouds across the nearly full 'moon. I found my way to the stables, but for a while could come across no one take the order. Passing along in my search, I saw through a small window in a lighted coach-house a man dressed in a big driving coat, sitting in a corner, smoking. I was just about to open the door and ask if he could help me to .find the coachman I wanted, when, as ""-I moved away from the window, the man looked round quickly, and I was lather startled to see a face closely resembling that of Jurby 's friend, Errington. At the same moment, as I just hesitated to open the door, steps sounded behind me on the cobbles of the stable-yard, and a man in livery appeared. I accordingly preferred to address myself to him rather than disturb the man in the coach-house, and the man ran off to summon the required coachman.

s;As I turned to make my way back to the house I saw, that the door of the | eoaeh-house 'iritol which I had looked had opened, and that the man was standing at it, evidently watching me. There was nothing strange in that, and I /parsed on without taking any further notice K of him, which, indeed, I could »ot well have done, even had. his face iiot been muffled in the high, turned-up collar of his big coat. . But it did strike me as being singular that I should have again seen a man the very image of Errington, under such different circumstances, and it set me ■wondering/ not so much whether it was Errington as whether this man in the coach-house could be the same as he ■whom I had seen inside the fly. But, after all, I reflected, the puzzle might]

elxbp. By Sir William Magpay, Bt.

easily admit of a simple explanation, so ' I dismissed it from my mind. Only for a time though, since, a little later in the evening, it was brought back to me in startling fashion. CHAPTER XVII. THE BOOKCASE. I was sitting with a partner in a corner of the inner' hall into which the. doors of the principal rooms opened. A good many couples were passing to and fro, with occasionally a servant bustling into the billiards-room, where a sort of dinner-supper was laid. The band struck up a fresh dance, but as neither of us was engaged for it we were not inclined to hurry into the ball-room. I was just about to suggest taking a turn, when a sight at the farther end of the hall made me stop in astonishment. A baize door had opened, and through it came a little man in evening clothes, who I could have sworn was the same I had lately seen smoking in the coach-house. Again there was nothing very strange in the sight; in the country, we know, it is usuaLfor strange servants to assist in waiting at houses where their masters are entertained. Or the man might, after all, have been a hired waiter from Morningford. Still, what. I could not get over was his likeness to Errington. The figure and height almost exactly corresponded, and though there seemed some indefinable difference in the face, from what I recalled of Errington's yet the resemblance was altogether close enough to pique my curiosity. The man, instead of, as might have been expected, disappearing into the supper-room, passed the door, and went straight into'the library. His action was so assured that it suggested he was one of the household, and, if so, that would account for his being in the fly, which certainly had been coming from the direction of Great Rossington. .When the man had gone into the library I suggested to my partner that we should go and have, another look at the presents. I fancy she seemed a little disappointed that I had not proposed to dance, but I made an excuse, and we strolled aeross to the library.

At the inner end of the room we came across Jurby, in animated talk with the custodian of the valuables. They were examining together a piece of silver, Jurby, so far as I could gather, maintaining that it was not antique, and giving specific reasons for his doubts." The room was now prepared for the night, with the heavy curtains drawn across the windows.

"I looked round in growing astonishment. My partner and I, Jurby and the custodian, together with two old ladies, were the only persons there. Where was the man whom I had seen enter the room a minute.earlier. He was not to be seen. I looked round to see how he could have vanished. There was no other door

in the room, and certainly none masked by book-backs such as are found in many libraries. It was certain that if he had returned the way he came, I must have seen him. It seemed quite mysterious, but not necessarily so. There might easily be an explanatioii of the man's disappearance; these four people had been in the rooom, and they did not seem exercised by the wonder. Just to satisfy my curiosity I would have asked how the man .had vanished, but it would look foolish to put such a question in a strange house. All the same, the more I surveyed the room, the more mightily puzzled did I become. As we moved round inspecting the pretty things, I kept a curious eye for the secret of the man's disappearance, but without being able to account for it, and we presently went back to the ballroom/

At the end of the next dance supper was announced, and everyone trooped into the billiards-room. Gelston and I, with our partners, got a little table to ourselves in a corner, and settled down to it in pleasant fashion. Supper had been in progress about a quarter of an hour, when an exclamation from Gelston called my attention to a commotion by the door. A young fellow, a son of the house, hurried in with a serious face and spoke to his father, who at once rose and hastily left the room. Then there fell a sudden hush upon the company, as from an instinctive feeling that something untoward had happened. A few moments later an announcement flashed through the room. The presents had been stolen!

In an instant the mysterious disappearance of the man in the library flashed back to my mind. With a word of apology I hurried out to the library. There I saw that the report was true enough. The show-table on which the chief pieces of jewellery had lain had evidently been ransacked. Nothing but the empty leather cases and one or two ornaments of comparatively inconsiderable value remained. A silver bowl lay on the floor, as though it had been dropped in haste or knocked over by the escaping thieves. I made haste to tell Mr Ashbury and the jeweller's man my story of the suspicious waiter. "But how on earth did it happen?" I asked in wonder of the custodian.. "Were you not in here?" The modus operandi of the thieves was soon made clear.

It appears that a message, purporting to come from Mr Ashbury, had brought to the guardian of the valuables, to the effect that he might go and have some refreshment which was waiting for him. He was to lock the door and take the key with him, when the room would be safe from entry, the windows being already securely fastened and shuttered. Acting on this presumed authority, the man had left the room as instructed. He was not absent more than ten or" twelve minutes, and had returned to find the place as we then saw it.

I naturally enquired what measures were being taken to pursue the thieves, since it seemed to me strange that nothing appeared to be thought of in that direction. My host, who looked to be taking matters with surprising coolness, assured me that everything possible was being done, and with that vague statement, as it was no affair of mine, I had to be content.

"The man you saw go into the room, Mr Crofton, must have taken an opportunity when no one was looking to slip behind the curtains, where it would be an easy matter to unfasten the shutters, open a window, and so let in his con-

federates, having previously contrived to send a message to Mr Johnson here, calling him out of the room." My host's surmise was very plausible and doubtless quite correct, and I could only marvel at the coolness with which he propounded it. As I was looking round, Jurby came in, and I appealed to him as to whether he had not seen the man in the room.

"Yes," he answered reflectively, "I did see a man in evening dress come in. If I thought at all about it I supposed he was one of the waiters taking a look at the presents. But I remember I was at the moment very much interested in a piece of silver which this gentleman and I were examining together." "While the thief seized the opportunity to slip behind the curtains with the result we see,'' I replied iu some disgust. A pretty private detective this, I thought, to be commissioned to look after valuable jewels. , "I suppose you would recognise the man again?" I asked Jurby. "No; I'm afraid I shouldn't,'' was the unsatisfactory answer. "Except that he was a short man, I can't recall what he was like.''

It was on my tongue to say that the man was uncommonly like his friend, Errington, for I was in a temper to be not too polite to the -man whose illtimed engaging of the custodian's attention had made the robbery possible. I felt very sorry for ray host in this serious loss, and could not help. reflecting that but for the Jurbys' scheming for an invitation it might not have happened. Though to be sure, I said to myself, these people take their loss so indifferently that seems wasted. But perhaps in this high stratum of society it is not good form to show vexation or make a fuss.

And now the strangest thing of all happened, bringing with it the explanation of this incomprehensible absence of excitement.

Mr Ashbury, with Jurby and one or two others who had been in the room had gone out, leaving no one there but Johnson, the incompetent guardian, and myself. I was following, in some illhumour, since I could not help feeling I had been to blame in not calling attention to what I had considered suspicious. On my way to the door I just stopped to look at a" little water-colour which caught my eye; it was exceedingly well done, and I took it up to see the painter's signature. Standing by the wall under a light to examine it I suddenly heard a tapping which seemed to come from the glass door, of the great locked bookcase I have mentioned. "What's that?" I cried.

Johnson met my look with such a curiously guilty and embarrassed expression that for the moment it came to my mind that he was an accomplice of the thieves. And this idea, viewed in the light of his'late incredible carelessness, seemed by no means far-fetched. The sharp 'tapping was repeated. Johnson, to my surprise, took a quick step towards the bookcase whence it proceeded and made a warning sign. Then a muffled voice said, "It's all right, Johns. Don't mind Mr Crofton. Let me out."

Johnson thereupon ran to the door of the room and locked it. Then he went to the mantelpiece, took from under an ornament a key with which he quickly opened the glass door of the bookcase, and began energetically to take out the books. Although the truth of the situation had commenced to jdawn upon me, it gave me nevertheless a thrill of excitement when Johnson's removal of half-a-dozen volumes from an upper shelf disclosed to me the face of—Rolt.

He gave me an amused nod and greeting, whereupon I set about helping to remove the books. They were set upon shallow shelves, evidently made for the purpose of concealing Rolt, for whom, the bookcase being a deep one, there was plenty of room behind them. Having removed the books, we took out the shelves and helped Rolt down. He stretched himself with a great'' whew'' of relief.

'' Had about enough of that durance, '' he said with his rather boyish laugh. " I am glad, though, to have endured it to some purpose. This, Mr Crofton, is detective Johns, who is not such a fool as no doubt you have been thinking him. We all laughed, and I pleaded justification.

"Yes," said Rolt, with a touch of satisfaction, "your mistake was move than excusable. That was a neat little scheme, though a trifle uneomfortabie for me; but it has paid me."

"You have identified the thieves?" I suggested. "I have," was the confident answer. "I wonder if any of them are people of position in the neighbourhood?" I could not resist the question, being ready now for any amazing development.

"Oh, we won't go so far as to suggest that to-day,'' Rolt replied evasively. "-Now, shall we put the books straight again?" "Whoever they were, they haven't got the stuff they wanted," Johns observed sententiously, as he proceeded to take from his pockets a quantity of jewellery, including , the magnificent diamond rosette. CHAPTER XVIII. A SUSPICIOUS RESTITUTION.

"If I were you, David, I should feel inclined to abandon the Jurby portrait. ''

It was the morning after the wedding dance, and I had been reflecting seriously on all that had occurred to give me food for suspicion. Gelston stared at me rather blankly. "Give up the commission, man? Why?" "Well," I answered, "I have my doubts, very grave doubts, as to the respectability of our friends at. Moraingford Place.''

"Well, I never supposed they were very 'classy,' " he replied. "All the same, that is no reason why the lady should not have her portrait painted if they can afford to pay for it." "Certainly not," I agreed. "But there is a vast difference between not being classy and being criminal." Gelston jumped up. "What on earth do vou mean?"

'-'Don't get excited, my dear David. I mean simply this. I have been thinking over the last fortnight's happenings, so far as we have been permitted to know them, and have come to the conclusion that if Rolt cared to tell us everything that is in his mind we might possibly become aware that Morningford Place is the headquarters of a precious set of scoundrels, and " "And ?" "We might not have to look farther for the murderer of Mr Rixon."

Gelston whistled. "This is plain speaking with a vengeance,'' he replied. "But are you not letting your imagination run away with you? I daresay Jurby and his friends may be crooked enough in their businoss dealings; men of that type and position must be unscrupulous in order to make money so quickly. But how or why he should be connected with the Flambards affair, I don't see."

"Noi" do J," was my rejoinder. "All the same, I fancy Mr Eolt understands it. ,:

Gelston laughed uncomfortably. "I can't quite see a murderer in that blatant old money-grubber," he said. '' And I should have agreed with you two days ago," I replied. "But I am pretty certain he had something to do with the rather abortive robbery last evening.'' "I know you think so. He took off Inspector Johns's attention while a fellow slipped behind the curtains and unfastened the windows. But from what you have told mo of the robbery, of the substitution of worthless jewellery for the real things, and of Bolt's place of observation, surely it was intended by them to encourage the thieves. Johns had to pretend to look another way wiiile absorbed in a discussion with someone handy, who happened to be Jurby." . I saw my friend did not want to, be convinced.

-."Very well," I returned. "I won't argue with nothing but suspicions to go upon. But it is more than likely you will find them justified before many days are past. And in the meantime go on with your work, if you care for the risk; but don't forget I have warned you.'' '' I don't see much risk, even if the man is all you suggest," Gelston said, rising and getting his things together. "He won't consider a poor painter worth knocking on the head and robbing. And to the poor painter a nearly 1 finished 60-guinea commission is not to be so easily thrown up. In fact, after what you. have hinted at I shall find some excitement in what has hitherto been rather dull work."

There was nothing more to be said, and I let him go without attempting further argument. All the same, I was now. convinced that something was gravely wrong about the occupants of Morriingford Place. The idea that the man I had seen go into the library and disappear—probably the leading spirit of the actual thieves —was the same person I had met as Errington had now become settled in my mind, ft fitted in with Jurby's conduct, and was plausible enough. And then there had, it was to be remembered, lately been another robbery, that at Glenthorpe Hall, some eight miles away. (To be Continued on Monday.)