Speaker 1: Chapter twenty four of The Double by Edgar Wallace. This
Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by Aetolsharma, Winnipeg, Canada,
Speaker 1: Chapter twenty four. Dick had the room next to the Superintendence,
Speaker 1: a small, narrow apartment which was used at a pinch
Speaker 1: to detain suspected criminals brought to the yard for examination.
Speaker 1: There were steel bars on the window when the furniture
Speaker 1: was of a solid and immovable kind, a necessary precaution
Speaker 1: since that memorable occasion when Loupe Legade almost brained his
Speaker 1: interrogator with a handy chair. Since that occurrence, the furniture
Speaker 1: had been of the simplest and the unhandiest kind. He
Speaker 1: sat down now in his big writing chair to read
Speaker 1: the letters which had accumulated in the past two days.
Speaker 1: There was nothing of importance, and he was feeling in
Speaker 1: his pocket for two letters that had arrived for him
Speaker 1: at the house in which he had not opened. When
Speaker 1: he felt the telephone message and brought it out in
Speaker 1: a hurry. The clerk had not addressed it, and when
Speaker 1: Dick turned the envelope over, he saw that the flap
Speaker 1: was open. He turned it over and over. It would
Speaker 1: be inexpressibly mean to read her private correspondence. It would
Speaker 1: be inexpressibly foolish not to do so. Besides, here was
Speaker 1: a salving thought she might call him on the phone,
Speaker 1: in which case he would be able to communicate the message.
Speaker 1: He laid the envelope on the table and glowered at it.
Speaker 1: Suppose it was something that incriminated her, or a private
Speaker 1: message from some man. He felt a little pang at
Speaker 1: the thought. Rubbish, she said, and with great resolution drew
Speaker 1: the slip from the envelope. It was a cable from
Speaker 1: Cape Town and was addressed Mary de Villiers, Mary de Villiers.
Speaker 1: Then Lordy Browne had made no mistake. The girl he
Speaker 1: attacked that night was the woman he thought she was.
Speaker 1: Dick remembered the reference in the letter which he had
Speaker 1: found in Lordy Browne's pocket, about this mysterious Miss de Villiers, who,
Speaker 1: all the time he was thinking he was reading mechanically
Speaker 1: without grasping the sense of the message. Presently he concentrated
Speaker 1: his mind upon the words before him. It was evidently
Speaker 1: from the indicator. A replied paid message and ran, thank you,
Speaker 1: Miss de Villiers for money, which very handy as we're starving. Sorry,
Speaker 1: about Lordie's death, but that was expected Missus Lordy Brown.
Speaker 1: He read the message over and over again, trying to
Speaker 1: make head or tail of it, though it was obvious enough.
Speaker 1: Mary de Villiers had sent money to this woman and
Speaker 1: at the same time had sent news of Lordie's death.
Speaker 1: Then she had known Lordie. But why should she send money?
Speaker 1: And what money? The solution to that mystery came in
Speaker 1: a flash. When Brown had left his hotel, he had
Speaker 1: a pocket full of bank notes. When his dead body
Speaker 1: was found, his pockets were empty. Somebody had taken that
Speaker 1: money Mary, and she had cabled the money to Missus
Speaker 1: Brown in Cape Town. Why. Three facts were evident. Mary
Speaker 1: Dane had been in the house on the night of
Speaker 1: the murder, had either killed Lordie or found him dying.
Speaker 1: More likely the latter, Lordy Browne had recognized her again
Speaker 1: and had asked her to send the money to his wife.
Speaker 1: Otherwise she could not have known of the woman's necessity.
Speaker 1: It was Mary who had bound up his wounds and
Speaker 1: attended to him. Probably had not left the dying man
Speaker 1: until he had passed. Then who had killed Brown? Where
Speaker 1: the two gangs engaged in the bazaar search and did
Speaker 1: they sometimes clash. The telephone bell at his elbow shrilled,
Speaker 1: and he took down the receiver. Is that you, Dick,
Speaker 1: It was Mary's voice, tense and fearful, Yes, he replied, Mary,
Speaker 1: I have opened that cable. Yes, yes, I know, she
Speaker 1: said impatiently. From missus Browne. They told me when I
Speaker 1: went back, Dick, will you do something for me if
Speaker 1: I can, he began, don't if, darling. She was terribly
Speaker 1: in earnest. You must. What do you want me to do?
Speaker 1: He thought? He heard a whispered colloquy at the other
Speaker 1: end of the wire. And then I want you to
Speaker 1: let me into your house about one o'clock tomorrow morning.
Speaker 1: You must tell Derreck that you are sleeping at Tommy's.
Speaker 1: Stand at the door, and the moment you hear me
Speaker 1: scratch at the panel, open and let me in and
Speaker 1: keep all the lights out. And I want you to
Speaker 1: guard me as if, as if you loved me. Don't
Speaker 1: let me out of your sight. Will you do this?
Speaker 1: Mins knows that I am coming. Please don't ask any questions,
Speaker 1: my dear. Will you do it? Yes? He answered, and
Speaker 1: instantly there was a click, and he was wrung off.
Speaker 1: He hung up his receiver with a bewildered frown. Min's
Speaker 1: knows that I am coming. Was Min's in the swindle?
Speaker 1: If swindle, it was apparently so, here a minor confusion
Speaker 1: that had to be cleared up. After he had been
Speaker 1: home for a quarter of an hour, Mins, imperturbable, came
Speaker 1: to his room to announce that dinner had been served.
Speaker 1: I heard from his lordship to day, Sir. He is
Speaker 1: returning to town at the end of the week. You
Speaker 1: know his lordship is to be married. I am well
Speaker 1: aware of that, but there are a lot of things
Speaker 1: I'm not so well informed about, said Dick, watching him.
Speaker 1: I think you know miss Mary Dane. If he expected
Speaker 1: hesitation or embarrassment, he was to be disappointed, Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: said the butler. Immediately Dick stared at him in amazement.
Speaker 1: You know miss Mary Dane, the nurse, Yes, sir, the
Speaker 1: lady who came here one night. If I remember, sir,
Speaker 1: you saw her to the station. Dick had forgotten that episode,
Speaker 1: which was an excuse at any rate for the butler's calmness.
Speaker 1: Have you had any communication from her, yes, sir several.
Speaker 1: The man did not flinch under his questioning. Are you,
Speaker 1: in a sense a confederate of hers. Mins smiled his
Speaker 1: quiet and deferential smile. Well in a sense, I am, sir,
Speaker 1: I have given her help on several occasions when she
Speaker 1: has been examining the house next door. Good God, gasped Dick,
Speaker 1: almost unable to believe his ears. Do you mean to
Speaker 1: say that you knew Miss Dane has been in the
Speaker 1: habit at Burgling the next house? Not Burgling, Sir, said
Speaker 1: Mins carefully, And I am not absolutely sure that it
Speaker 1: was miss Dane. I understand the young lady has a double.
Speaker 1: At any rate, the person who called herself miss Dane has,
Speaker 1: I know, made several visits to mister Derrick's house. Dick
Speaker 1: was not dreaming. Here was an honest, respectable man who
Speaker 1: had been in the service of Tommy Wielde and his
Speaker 1: father for twenty or thirty years, calmly and brazenly admitting
Speaker 1: that he had assisted in a series of outrages upon
Speaker 1: an unoffending neighbor. I think we'll go into this question
Speaker 1: a little later, Min's, he said, quietly. I am not
Speaker 1: so sure that you haven't got yourself into very serious trouble. Again,
Speaker 1: the butler smiled. At any rate, Sir, I once got
Speaker 1: you out of very serious trouble, he said. Surprisingly, when
Speaker 1: Dick demanded an explanation, the butler asked to be excused.
Speaker 1: This isn't Alice in Wonderland, said Dick, after the man
Speaker 1: had gone This inoffensive butler was. The whole thing was incredible,
Speaker 1: except when he tested Min's conduct by his new theory.
Speaker 1: Derreck called while Dick was having dinner. He had decided
Speaker 1: to sleep in the house that night, he said, and
Speaker 1: would Dick care to share his vigil It was a
Speaker 1: proposal that Dick Staines would not have hesitated to agree to,
Speaker 1: but for the promised adventure of the night. It doesn't
Speaker 1: really matter, said Derrick when he saw the other hesitate.
Speaker 1: I shall be able to fix you up tomorrow much
Speaker 1: more comfortably than I could tonight. If you don't mind,
Speaker 1: I think I'll ask you to put that portable bell
Speaker 1: of yours into operation. If I'm scared, I will cross
Speaker 1: that rather insecure wooden bridge you have fixed onto your balcony. This, also,
Speaker 1: in other circumstances, might have been an acceptable proposal. Mister
Speaker 1: Derrick was perplexed at his reluctance, and he laughed, you
Speaker 1: don't want your beauty sleep disturbed. Eh, well, if you
Speaker 1: expect sleepless nights when you're in my house, I don't
Speaker 1: blame you, but my own view is that in the
Speaker 1: course of the next few days, we're going to lay
Speaker 1: the ghost or ghosts so effectively that they will never
Speaker 1: disturb the peace of Loundes Square. Again, he declined Dick's
Speaker 1: invitation to share a chop. He was dining at his
Speaker 1: club and would call on his way back. I'm in
Speaker 1: twenty three minds about that damned house, he said, as
Speaker 1: he rose to go. I tossed a coin to day
Speaker 1: to decide whether I'd have the thing pulled down from
Speaker 1: roof to basement and a new building put up. If
Speaker 1: there is any secret place, that would be a pretty
Speaker 1: effective way of finding it, he paused at the door.
Speaker 1: I see you were in that bomb affair at Eastbourne.
Speaker 1: What the dickens do you make of that? Who was
Speaker 1: he an anarchist? I do not know the politics of
Speaker 1: mister Hermann, Levinsky, said Dick quietly, But I should imagine
Speaker 1: that there was violence in them. Walter Deryck's eyebrows met
Speaker 1: Levinsky was that his name sounds like a foreigner to me,
Speaker 1: He laughed with great heartiness at this banality, and Dick
Speaker 1: wished for a long time after he'd gone that he hadn't.
Speaker 1: He settled himself down to pass away the hours that
Speaker 1: would intervene before the arrival of Mary on her mysterious
Speaker 1: errand he had ceased to be puzzled, ceased to wonder.
Speaker 1: He had speculated upon Mary's peculiar behavior until his head reeled.
Speaker 1: Mins had brought the coffee in and had set the
Speaker 1: tray solemnly on the table, when, for no reason at all,
Speaker 1: beyond the sudden impulse which prompted the question, Dick asked,
Speaker 1: have you ever been in South Africa? Yes, Sir, Dick
Speaker 1: turned in his chair to face the man. When was
Speaker 1: this after his lordship the late Earl died, Sir, when
Speaker 1: Master Thomas as we called him, was still a child,
Speaker 1: I took service in South Africa. Now there is a
Speaker 1: peculiar expression familiar to every experienced police officer, a kind
Speaker 1: of embarrassment born of uncomfortable self consciousness. And this dawned
Speaker 1: and faded in Min's face. It was only there for
Speaker 1: the fraction of a second, but long enough to be detected.
Speaker 1: Mins said Dick softly, were you ever in trouble in
Speaker 1: South Africa. The man licked his lips. Yes, sir, he
Speaker 1: said huskily. There was an accusation made against me for
Speaker 1: stealing Min's had gone very pale. Yes, sir, I was
Speaker 1: perfectly innocent. Were you convicted? The man shook his head. No, sir,
Speaker 1: than the ghost of a smile hovered on his lips.
Speaker 1: I was one of those innocent men who really was innocent.
Speaker 1: The court dismissed the case, though I will tell you
Speaker 1: this much. It was touch and go until fortunately the
Speaker 1: real criminal was found. Though he was never caught. Lord E. Brown,
Speaker 1: said Dick quickly, and Mins shook his head. His name
Speaker 1: doesn't matter, sir. He obtained a position as footman in
Speaker 1: the house of a well known African millionaire and stole
Speaker 1: a quantity of plate. I could give you all the
Speaker 1: particulars tomorrow, sir, if you wish. My sister in law
Speaker 1: has the newspaper cuttings. When you've read those, I don't
Speaker 1: think you'll doubt for a moment that I was an
Speaker 1: innocent party, hum said Dick thoughtfully. You never told me
Speaker 1: you knew him. Mins did not answer. Did you meet
Speaker 1: miss Dane in South Africa? No, Sir, I met her father,
Speaker 1: but not Miss Dane, Miss de Villiers, she was called,
Speaker 1: suggested Dick. I believe that is so, Sir said Mins.
Speaker 1: Is there anything else you require? This might possibly be
Speaker 1: an explanation for the butler's extraordinary attitude. He knew this
Speaker 1: mysterious family, and then a thought occurred to him. Tommy
Speaker 1: had a library which was mainly devoted to certain works
Speaker 1: of reference. He went upstairs and searched the shells for
Speaker 1: a long time before he found what he sought. It
Speaker 1: was a five year old volume devoted to boxing records,
Speaker 1: and he brought it down and searched the pages diligently.
Speaker 1: There were short biographies of boxers dead and alive, and
Speaker 1: after a while he came upon the name for which
Speaker 1: he had been looking without any great hope. Henry had
Speaker 1: spoken the truth here It was farrs W G. Digger,
Speaker 1: Bill Ferrers, featherweight Champion of Australia, featherweight Champion of South Africa.
Speaker 1: He followed a record of his fights. Dick's finger went
Speaker 1: down the page until it stopped. Cape Town tenth July
Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight, knocked out in thirteenth round by H.
Speaker 1: De Villier's examateur featherweight world champion. Henry had spoken the truth.
Speaker 1: De Villiers. Henry had not only spoken the truth, but
Speaker 1: had disclosed his real name. Mary had told him she
Speaker 1: had a father. It was Henry. End of Chapter twenty four.