Ranson's Folly (Fiscle Part 3) by Richard Harding Davis (dar e dil novel online reading TXT) 📕

Zichy Has Utterly Passed Away,  But No One Could Have Dismissed The

Appeal She Made In That Letter. So I Came Here,  And Found Her,  As You

Have Seen Her,  Quite As Beautiful As She Ever Was,  In Very Good

Health,  And,  From The Look Of The House,  In No Need Of Money.

"'I Asked Her What She Meant By Writing Me That She Was Dying In A

Garret,  And She Laughed,  And Said She Had Done So Because She Was

Afraid,  Unless I Thought She Needed Help,  I Would Not Try To See Her.

That Was Where We Were When You Arrived. And Now,' Chetney Added,  'I

Will Say Good-By To Her,  And You Had Better Return Home. No,  You Can

Trust Me,  I Shall Follow You At Once. She Has No Influence Over Me

Now,  But I Believe,  In Spite Of The Way She Has Used Me,  That She Is,

After Her Queer Fashion,  Still Fond Of Me,  And When She Learns That

This Good-By Is Final There May Be A Scene,  And It Is Not Fair To Her

That You Should Be Here. So,  Go Home At Once,  And Tell The Governor

That I Am Following You In Ten Minutes.'

"'That,' Said Arthur,  'Is The Way We Parted. I Never Left Him On More

Friendly Terms. I Was Happy To See Him Alive Again,  I Was Happy To

Think He Had Returned In Time To Make Up His Quarrel With My Father,

And I Was Happy That At Last He Was Shut Of That Woman. I Was Never

Better Pleased With Him In My Life.' He Turned To Inspector Lyle,  Who

Was Sitting At The Foot Of The Bed,  Taking Notes Of All He Told Us.

"'Why,  In The Name Of Common-Sense,' He Cried,  'Should I Have Chosen

That Moment,  Of All Others,  To Send My Brother Back To The Grave?'

For A Moment The Inspector Did Not Answer Him. I Do Not Know If Any

Of You Gentlemen Are Acquainted With Inspector Lyle,  But If You Are

Not,  I Can Assure You That He Is A Very Remarkable Man. Our Firm

Often Applies To Him For Aid,  And He Has Never Failed Us; My Father

Has The Greatest Possible Respect For Him. Where He Has The Advantage

Over The Ordinary Police-Official Is In The Fact That He Possesses

Imagination. He Imagines Himself To Be The Criminal,  Imagines How He

Would Act Under The Same Circumstances,  And He Imagines To Such

Purpose That He Generally Finds The Man He Wants. I Have Often Told

Lyle That If He Had Not Been A Detective He Would Have Made A Great

Success As A Poet Or A Playwright.

"When Arthur Turned On Him,  Lyle Hesitated For A Moment,  And Then

Told Him Exactly What Was The Case Against Him,

"'Ever Since Your Brother Was Reported As Having Died In Africa,' He

Said,  'Your Lordship Has Been Collecting Money On Post-Obits. Lord

Chetney's Arrival,  Last Night,  Turned Them Into Waste-Paper. You Were

Suddenly In Debt For Thousands Of Pounds--For Much More Than You

Could Ever Possibly Pay. No One Knew That You And Your Brother Had

Met At Madame Zichy's. But You Knew That Your Father Was Not Expected

To Outlive The Night,  And That If Your Brother Were Dead Also,  You

Would Be Saved From Complete Ruin,  And That You Would Become The

Marquis Of Edam.'

"'Oh,  That Is How You Have Worked It Out,  Is It?' Arthur Cried. 'And

For Me To Become Lord Edam Was It Necessary That The Woman Should

Die,  Too?'

"'They Will Say,' Lyle Answered,  'That She Was A Witness To The

Murder--That She Would Have Told.'

"'Then Why Did I Not Kill The Servant As Well?' Arthur Said.

"'He Was Asleep,  And Saw Nothing.'

"'And You Believe That?' Arthur Demanded.

"'It Is Not A Question Of What I Believe,' Lyle Said,  Gravely. 'It Is

A Question For Your Peers.'

"'The Man Is Insolent!' Arthur Cried. 'The Thing Is Monstrous!

Horrible!'

"Before We Could Stop Him,  He Sprang Out Of His Cot And Began Pulling

On His Clothes. When The Nurses Tried To Hold Him Down,  He Fought

With Them.

"'Do You Think You Can Keep Me Here,' He Shouted,  'When They Are

Plotting To Hang Me? I Am Going With You To That House!' He Cried At

Lyle. 'When You Find Those Bodies I Shall Be Beside You. It Is My

Right. He Is My Brother. He Has Been Murdered,  And I Can Tell You Who

Murdered Him. That Woman Murdered Him.'

'She First Ruined His Life,  And Now She Has Killed Him. For The Last

Five Years She Has Been Plotting To Make Herself His Wife,  And Last

Night,  When He Told Her He Had Discovered The Truth About The

Russian,  And That She Would Never See Him Again,  She Flew Into A

Passion And Stabbed Him,  And Then In Terror Of The Gallows,  Killed

Herself. She Murdered Him,  I Tell You,  And I Promise You That We Will

Find The Knife She Used Near Her--Perhaps Still In Her Hand. What

Will You Say To That?'

"Lyle Turned His Head Away And Stared Down At The Floor. 'I Might

Say,' He Answered,  'That You Placed It There.'

"Arthur Gave A Cry Of Anger And Sprang At Him,  And Then Pitched

Forward Into His Arms. The Blood Was Running From The Cut Under The

Bandage,  And He Had Fainted. Lyle Carried Him Back To The Bed Again,

And We Left Him With The Police And The Doctors,  And Drove At Once To

The Address He Had Given Us. We Found The House Not Three Minutes'

Walk From St. George's Hospital. It Stands In Trevor Terrace,  That

Little Row Of Houses Set Back From Knightsbridge,  With One End In

Hill Street.

"As We Left The Hospital,  Lyle Had Said To Me,  'You Must Not Blame Me

For Treating Him As I Did. All Is Fair In This Work,  And If By

Angering That Boy I Could Have Made Him Commit Himself,  I Was Right

In Trying To Do So; Though,  I Assure You,  No One Would Be Better

Pleased Than Myself If I Could Prove His Theory To Be Correct. But We

Cannot Tell. Everything Depends Upon What We See For Ourselves Within

The Next Few Minutes.'

"When We Reached The House,  Lyle Broke Open The Fastenings Of One Of

The Windows On The Ground-Floor,  And,  Hidden By The Trees In The

Garden,  We Scrambled In. We Found Ourselves In The Reception-Room,

Which Was The First Room On The Right Of The Hall. The Gas Was Still

Burning Behind The Colored Glass And Red,  Silk Shades,  And When The

Daylight Streamed In After Us It Gave The Hall A Hideously Dissipated

Look,  Like The Foyer Of A Theatre At A Matinee,  Or The Entrance To An

All-Day Gambling-Hall. The House Was Oppressively Silent,  And,

Because We Knew Why It Was So Silent,  We Spoke In Whispers. When Lyle

Turned The Handle Of The Drawing-Room Door,  I Felt As Though Someone

Had Put His Hand Upon My Throat. But I Followed,  Close At His

Shoulder,  And Saw,  In The Subdued Light Of Many-Tinted Lamps,  The

Body Of Chetney At The Foot Of The Divan,  Just As Lieutenant Sears

Had Described It. In The Drawing-Room We Found The Body Of The

Princess Zichy,  Her Arms Thrown Out,  And The Blood From Her Heart

Frozen In A Tiny Line Across Her Bare Shoulder. But Neither Of Us,

Although We Searched The Floor On Our Hands And Knees,  Could Find The

Weapon Which Had Killed Her.

"'For Arthur's Sake,' I Said,  'I Would Have Given A Thousand Pounds

If We Had Found The Knife In Her Hand,  As He Said We Would.'

"'That We Have Not Found It There,' Lyle Answered,  'Is To My Mind The

Strongest Proof That He Is Telling The Truth,  That He Left The House

Before The Murder Took Place. He Is Not A Fool,  And Had He Stabbed

His Brother And This Woman,  He Would Have Seen That By Placing The

Knife Near Her He Could Help To Make It Appear As If She Had Killed

Chetney And Then Committed Suicide. Besides,  Lord Arthur Insisted

That The Evidence In His Behalf Would Be Our Finding The Knife Here.

He Would Not Have Urged That If He Knew We Would Not Find It,  If He

Knew He Himself Had Carried It Away. This Is No Suicide. A Suicide

Does Not Rise And Hide The Weapon With Which He Kills Himself,  And

Then Lie Down Again. No,  This Has Been A Double Murder,  And We Must

Look Outside Of The House For The Murderer.'

"While He Was Speaking,  Lyle And I Had Been Searching Every Corner,

Studying The Details Of Each Room. I Was So Afraid That,  Without

Telling Me,  He Would Make Some Deductions Prejudicial To Arthur,  That

I Never Left His Side. I Was Determined To See Everything That He

Saw,  And,  If Possible,  To Prevent His Interpreting It In The Wrong

Way. He Finally Finished His Examination,  And We Sat Down Together In

The Drawing-Room,  And He Took Out His Note-Book And Read Aloud All

That Mr. Sears Had Told Him Of The Murder And What We Had Just

Learned From Arthur. We Compared The Two Accounts,  Word For Word,  And

Weighed Statement With Statement,  But I Could Not Determine,  From

Anything Lyle Said,  Which Of The Two Versions He Had Decided To

Believe.

"'We Are Trying To Build A House Of Blocks,' He Exclaimed,  'With Half

Of The Blocks Missing. We Have Been Considering Two Theories,' He

Went On: 'One That Lord Arthur Is Responsible For Both Murders,  And

The Other That The Dead Woman In There Is Responsible For One Of

Them,  And Has Committed Suicide; But,  Until The Russian Servant Is

Ready To Talk,  I Shall Refuse To Believe In The Guilt Of Either.'

"'What Can You Prove By Him?' I Asked. 'He Was Drunk And Asleep. He

Saw Nothing.'

"Lyle Hesitated,  And Then,  As Though He Had Made Up His Mind To Be

Quite Frank With Me,  Spoke Freely.

"'I Do Not Know That He Was Either Drunk Or Asleep,' He Answered.

'Lieutenant Sears Describes Him As A Stupid Boor. I Am Not Satisfied

That He Is Not A Clever Actor. What Was His Position In This House?

What Was His Real Duty Here? Suppose It Was Not To Guard This Woman,

But To Watch Her. Let