human
In dealing with my clients, he began,
gpt
I make it a rule instead of simply stating the results of my work to show them how I arrive at my conclusions. Having submitted to them all the facts I have collected, they are able to judge for themselves as to the value of the evidence on which my deductions are based. And so, my lord, I should like to go over the whole case with you from the very beginning.
human
The first point I considered was, whether her Ladyship had premeditated her escape. But in order to determine this, we must first decide whom she could have got to help her to accomplish such a purpose. The most careful inquiry has failed to reveal any one who would have been both willing and able to do so, except the sempstress, and as both mistress and maid disappeared almost simultaneously, one's first impulse is to take it for granted that Prentice was her Ladyship's accomplice. This is what every one, Scotland Yard included, believes.
gpt
And you do not?
human
Before either accepting or rejecting this theory, I decided to visit this girl's home. I did not feel clear in my mind about her. All the servants were impressed by her manner and personality, the butler especially so, and he more than hinted that there must be some mystery attached to her. One of the things that stimulated their curiosity was that she kept up a daily correspondence with some one in Plumtree. On reaching the village I called at once on the vicar. He is an elderly man, much respected and beloved by his parishioners. I found him in a state of great excitement, having just read in the paper of Prentice's disappearance. I had no difficulty in inducing him to tell me the main facts of her history; the rest I picked up from the village gossips. The girl is a foundling. And till she came to Geralton she was an inmate of the vicar's household. He told me that he would have adopted her, but knowing that he had not sufficient means to provide for her future, he wisely refrained from educating her above her station. Nevertheless, I gathered that the privilege of his frequent companionship had refined her speech and manners, and I am told that she now could pass muster in any drawing-room.
gpt
Did she ever learn French?
human
Not that I know of, and I do not believe the vicar would have taught her an accomplishment so useless to one in her position.
gpt
Did she ever go to France?
human
Never. But, why do you ask?
gpt
No matter--I--but go on with your story.
human
Owing partly to the mystery which surrounded her birth and gave rise to all sorts of rumours, and partly to her own personality, the gentry of the neighbourhood made quite a pet of her. As a child she was asked occasionally to play with the Squire's crippled daughter and later she used to go to the Hall three times a week to read aloud to her. So, notwithstanding the vicar's good intentions, she grew up to be neither 'fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring.' Now all went well till about a year ago, when the Squire's eldest son returned home and fell in love with her. His people naturally opposed the match and, as he is entirely dependent upon them, there seemed no possibility of his marrying her. The girl appeared broken-hearted, and when she came to the castle, every one, the vicar included, thought the affair at an end. I am sure, however, that such was not the case, for as no one at the vicarage wrote to her daily, the letters she received must have come from her young man. Furthermore, she told the servants that she had a cousin in Newhaven, but as she has not a relative in the world, this is obviously a falsehood. Who, then, is this mysterious person she visited? It seems to me almost certain that it was her lover.
gpt
Possibly, agreed Cyril.
human
But I don't quite see what you are trying to prove by all this. If Prentice did not help her Ladyship to escape, who did?
gpt
I have not said that Prentice is not a factor in the case, only I believe her part to have been a very subordinate one. Of one thing, however, I am sure, and that is that she did not return to Geralton on the night of the murder.
human
How can you be sure of that?
gpt
Because she asked for permission early in the morning to spend the night in Newhaven and had already left the castle before the doctors' visit terminated. Now, although I think it probable that her Ladyship may for a long time have entertained the idea of leaving Geralton, yet I believe that it was the doctors' visit that gave the necessary impetus to convert her idle longing into definite action. Therefore I conclude that Prentice could have had no knowledge of her mistress's sudden flight.
human
But how can you know that the whole thing had not been carefully premeditated?
gpt
Because her Ladyship showed such agitation and distress at hearing the doctors' verdict. If her plans for leaving the castle had been completed, she would have accepted the situation more calmly.
human
Has nothing been heard of these doctors?
gpt
Nothing. We have been able to trace them only as far as London. They could not have been reputable physicians or they would have answered our advertisements, and so I am inclined to believe that you were right and that it was his Lordship who spread the rumours of her Ladyship's insanity.
human
I am sure of it,
gpt
Very good. Assuming, therefore, that Lady Wilmersley is sane, we will proceed to draw logical inferences from her actions. Judson paused a moment before continuing:
human
Now I am convinced that the only connection Prentice had with the affair was to procure some clothes for her mistress, and these had probably been sometime in the latter's possession.
gpt
H'm! ejaculated Cyril sceptically.
human
I think it would have been pretty difficult to have concealed anything from that maid of hers.
gpt
Difficult, I grant you, but not impossible, my lord.
human
But if Prentice had no knowledge of the tragedy, why did she not return to the castle? What has become of her? Why have the police been unable to find her?
gpt
I believe that she joined her lover and that they are together on the continent, for in Plumtree I was told that the young man had recently gone to Paris. As I am sure that she knows nothing of any importance, I thought it useless to waste time and money trying to discover their exact locality. That the police have not succeeded in finding her, I ascribe to the fact that they are looking for a young woman who left Newhaven after and not before the murder.
human
You think she left before?
gpt
Yes, and I have two reasons for this supposition. First, I can discover no place where he or she, either separately or together, could have spent the night. Secondly, if they had left Newhaven the following morning or in fact at any time after the murder, they would certainly have been apprehended, as all the boats and trains were most carefully watched.
human
But no one knew of her disappearance till twenty-four hours later, and during that interval she could easily have got away unobserved.
gpt
No, my lord, there you are mistaken. From the moment that the police were notified that a crime had been committed, every one, especially every woman, who left Newhaven was most attentively scrutinised.
human
You are certain that Prentice could not have left Newhaven unnoticed, yet her Ladyship managed to do so! How do you account for that?
gpt
Her Ladyship had a very powerful protector, my lord,
human
A protector! Who?
gpt
It's no use beating about the bush, my lord, I know everything.
human
Well then, out with it, cried Cyril impatiently.
gpt
What are you hesitating for? Have you found her Ladyship or have you not?
human
I have, my lord.
gpt
You have! Then why on earth didn't you tell me at once? Where is she?
human
She is at present at the nursing home of Dr. Stuart-Smith,
gpt
Nonsense! exclaimed Cyril, sinking back into his chair and negligently lighting another cigarette.
human
I thought you had discovered something. You mean my wife, Lady Wilmersley----
gpt
Pardon me for interrupting you, my lord. I don't make mistakes like that. I repeat, the Dowager Lady Wilmersley is under the care of Dr. Smith.
human
It isn't true,
gpt
Is it possible that you really do not know who the lady is that you rescued that day from the police?
human
I confess that I do not. But of one thing I am sure, and that is that she is not the person you suppose.
gpt
Well, my lord, I must say that you have surprised me. Yet I ought to have guessed it. It was stupid of me, very.
human
I tell you that you are on the wrong track. Lady Wilmersley has golden hair. Well, this lady's hair is black.
gpt
She has dyed it.
human
She has not, for it has turned completely white,
gpt
Did she tell you so?
human
Yes.
gpt
Her Ladyship is cleverer than I supposed,
human
I am not such a fool as you seem to think, retorted Cyril.
gpt
And I can assure you that the lady in question is incapable of deception.
human
All I can say is, my lord, that I am absolutely sure of her Ladyship's identity and that you yourself gave me the clue to her whereabouts.
gpt
I--how?
human
I of course noticed that when you heard her Ladyship had golden hair, you were not only extremely surprised but also very much relieved. I at once asked myself why such an apparently trivial matter should have so great and so peculiar an effect on you. As you had never seen her Ladyship, I argued that you must that very day have met some one you had reason to suppose to be Lady Wilmersley and that this person had dark hair. By following your movements from the time you landed I found that the only woman with whom you had come in contact was a young lady who had joined you in Newhaven, and that she answered to the description of Lady Wilmersley in every particular, with the sole exception that she had dark hair! I was, however, told that you had said that she was your wife and had produced a passport to prove it. Now I had heard from your valet that her Ladyship was still in France, so you can hardly blame me for doubting the correctness of your statement. But in order to make assurance doubly sure, I sent one of my men to the continent. He reported that her Ladyship had for some months been a patient at Charleroi, but had recently escaped from there, and that you are still employing detectives to find her.
gpt
I did not engage you to pry into my affairs,
human
Nor have I exceeded my duty as I conceive it, retorted the detective.
gpt
As your Lordship refused to honour me with your confidence, I had to find out the facts by other means; and you must surely realise that without facts it is impossible for me to construct a theory, and till I can do that my work is practically valueless.
human
But my wife has nothing to do with the case.
gpt
Quite so, my lord, but a lady who claimed to be her Ladyship is intimately concerned with it.
human
I repeat that is all nonsense.
gpt
If your Lordship will listen to me, I think I can prove to you that as far as the lady's identity is concerned, I have made no mistake. But to do this convincingly, I must reconstruct the tragedy as I conceive that it happened.
human
Go ahead; I don't mind hearing your theory.
gpt
First, I must ask you to take it for granted that I am right in believing that Prentice was ignorant of her Ladyship's flight.
human
I will admit that much,
gpt
Thank you, my lord. Now let us try and imagine exactly what was her Ladyship's position on the night of the murder. Her first care must have been to devise some means of eluding his Lordship's vigilance. This was a difficult problem, for Mustapha tells me that his Lordship was not only a very light sleeper but that he suffered from chronic insomnia. You may or may not know that his Lordship had long been addicted to the opium habit and would sometimes for days together lie in a stupor. Large quantities of the drug were found in his room and that explains how her Ladyship managed to get hold of the opium with which she doctored his Lordship's coffee.
human
This is, however, mere supposition on your part,
gpt
Not at all, my lord. I had the sediment of the two cups analysed and the chemist found that one of them contained a small quantity of opium. Her Ladyship, being practically ignorant as to the exact nature of the drug and of the effect it would have on a man who was saturated with it, gave his Lordship too small a dose. Nevertheless, he became immediately stupefied.
human
Now, how on earth can you know that?
gpt
Very easily, my lord. If his Lordship had not been rendered at once unconscious, he would--knowing that an attempt had been made to drug him--have sounded the alarm and deputed Mustapha to guard her Ladyship, which was what he always did when he knew that he was not equal to the task.
human
Well, that sounds plausible, at all events,
gpt
As soon as her Ladyship knew that she was no longer watched, continued the detective,
human
She may have worn a wig,