Loyalties by John Galsworthy (romantic love story reading .TXT) š
LADY A. I've told the Dancys--she was in bed. And I got through toNewmarket, Charles, and Inspector Dede is coming like the wind on a motorcycle.
MARGARET. Did he say "like the wind," Adela? He must have imagination.Isn't this gorgeous? Poor little Ferdy!
WINSOR. [Vexed] You might take it seriously, Margaret; it's prettybeastly for us all. What time did you come up?
MARGARET. I came up with Adela. Am I suspected, Charles? Howthrilling!
WINSOR. Did you hear anything?
MARGARET. Only little Ferdy splashing.
WINSOR. And saw nothing?
MARGARET. Not even that, alas!
LADY A. [With a finger held up] Leste! Un peu leste! Oh! Here are theDancys. Come in, you two!
MABEL and RONALD DANCY enter. She is a pretty young woman withbobbed hair, fortunately, for she has just got out of bed, and is inher nightgown and a wrapper. DANCY is in his smoking jacket. Hehas a pale, determined face with high cheekbones, small, deep
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INSPECTOR. [Writing]. We now have the room as it was when the theft was committed. Reconstruct accordinā to āuman nature, gentlemenāassuminā the thief to be in the room, what would he try first?āthe clothes, the dressinā-table, the suit case, the chest of drawers, and last the bed.
He moves accordingly, examining the glass on the dressing-table, the surface of the suit cases, and the handles of the drawers, with a spy-glass, for finger-marks.
CANYNGE. [Sotto voce to WINSOR] The order would have been just the other way.
The INSPECTOR goes on hands and knees and examines the carpet between the window and the bed.
DE LEVIS. Can I come in again?
INSPECTOR. [Standing up] Did you open the window, sir, or was it open when you first came in?
DE LEVIS. I opened it.
INSPECTOR. Drawinā the curtains back first?
DE LEVIS. Yes.
INSPECTOR. [Sharply] Are you sure there was nobody in the room already?
DE LEVIS. [Taken aback] I donāt know. I never thought. I didnāt look under the bed, if you mean that.
INSPECTOR. [Jotting] Did not look under bed. Did you look under it after the theft?
DE LEVIS. No. I didnāt.
INSPECTOR. Ah! Now, what did you do after you came back from your bath? Just give us that precisely.
DE LEVIS. Locked the door and left the key in. Put back my sponge, and took off my dressing-gown and put it there. [He points to the footrails of the bed] Then I drew the curtains, again.
INSPECTOR. Shutting the window?
DE LEVIS. No. I got into bed, felt for my watch to see the time. My hand struck the pocket-book, and somehow it felt thinner. I took it out, looked into it, and found the notes gone, and these shaving papers instead.
INSPECTOR. Let me have a look at those, sir. [He applies the spy-glasses] And then?
DE LEVIS. I think I just sat on the bed.
INSPECTOR. Thinkinā and cursinā a bit, I suppose. Ye-es?
DE LEVIS. Then I put on my dressing-gown and went straight to Mr WINSOR.
INSPECTOR. Not lockinā the door?
DE LEVIS. No.
INSPECTOR. Exactly. [With a certain finality] Now, sir, what time did you come up?
DE LEVIS. About eleven.
INSPECTOR. Precise, if you can give it me.
DE LEVIS. Well, I know it was eleven-fifteen when I put my watch under my pillow, before I went to the bath, and I suppose Iād been about a quarter of an hour undressing. I should say after eleven, if anything.
INSPECTOR. Just undressinā? Didnāt look over your bettinā book?
DE LEVIS. No.
INSPECTOR. No prayers or anything?
DE LEVIS. No.
INSPECTOR. Pretty slippy with your undressinā as a rule?
DE LEVIS. Yes. Say five past eleven.
INSPECTOR. Mr WINSOR, what time did the gentleman come to you?
WINSOR. Half-past eleven.
INSPECTOR. How do you fix that, sir?
WINSOR. Iād just looked at the time, and told my wife to send her maid off.
INSPECTOR. Then weāve got it fixed between 11.15 and 11.30. [Jots] Now, sir, before we go further Iād like to see your butler and the footman that valets this gentleman.
WINSOR. [With distaste] Very well, Inspector; onlyāmy butler has been with us from a boy.
INSPECTOR. Quite so. This is just clearing the ground, sir.
WINSOR. General, dāyou mind touching that bell?
CANYNGE rings a bell by the bed.
INSPECTOR. Well, gentlemen, there are four possibilities. Either the thief was here all the time, waiting under the bed, and slipped out after this gentleman had gone to Mr WINSOR. Or he came in with a key that fits the lock; and Iāll want to see all the keys in the house. Or he came in with a skeleton key and out by the window, probably droppinā from the balcony. Or he came in by the window with a rope or ladder and out the same way. [Pointing] Thereās a footmark here from a big boot which has been out of doors since it rained.
CANYNGE. Inspectorāyou erāwalked up to the window when you first came into the room.
INSPECTOR. [Stiffly] I had not overlooked that, General.
CANYNGE. Of course.
A knock on the door relieves a certain tension,
WINSOR. Come in.
The footman ROBERT, a fresh-faced young man, enters, followed by TREISURE.
INSPECTOR. You valet MrāMr De Levis, I think?
ROBERT. Yes, sir.
INSPECTOR. At what time did you take his clothes and boots?
ROBERT. Ten oāclock, sir.
INSPECTOR. [With a pounce] Did you happen to look under his bed?
ROBERT. No, sir.
INSPECTOR. Did you come up again, to bring the clothes back?
ROBERT. No, sir; theyāre still downstairs.
INSPECTOR. Did you come up again for anything?
ROBERT. No, Sir.
INSPECTOR. What time did you go to bed?
ROBERT. Just after eleven, Sir.
INSPECTOR. [Scrutinising him] Now, be careful. Did you go to bed at all?
ROBERT. No, Sir.
INSPECTOR. Then why did you say you did? Thereās been a theft here, and anything you say may be used against you.
ROBERT. Yes, Sir. I meant, I went to my room.
INSPECTOR. Where is your room?
ROBERT. On the ground floor, at the other end of the right wing, sir.
WINSOR. Itās the extreme end of the house from this, Inspector. Heās with the other two footmen.
INSPECTOR. Were you there alone?
ROBERT. No, Sir. Thomas and Frederick was there too.
TREISURE. Thatās right; Iāve seen them.
INSPECTOR. [Holding up his hand for silence] Were you out of the room again after you went in?
ROBERT. No, Sir.
INSPECTOR. What were you doing, if you didnāt go to bed?
ROBERT. [To WINSOR] Begginā your pardon, Sir, we were playinā Bridge.
INSPECTOR. Very good. You can go. Iāll see them later on.
ROBERT. Yes, Sir. Theyāll say the same as me. He goes out, leaving a smile on the face of all except the INSPECTOR and DE LEVIS.
INSPECTOR. [Sharply] Call him back.
TREISURE calls āRobert,ā and the FOOTMAN re-enters.
ROBERT. Yes, Sir?
INSPECTOR. Did you notice anything particular about Mr De Levisās clothes?
ROBERT. Only that they were very good, Sir.
INSPECTOR. I meanāanything peculiar?
ROBERT. [After reflection] Yes, Sir.
INSPECTOR. Well?
ROBERT. A pair of his boots this eveninā was reduced to one, sir.
INSPECTOR. What did you make of that?
ROBERT. I thought he might have thrown the other at a cat or something.
INSPECTOR. Did you look for it?
ROBERT. No, Sir; I meant to draw his attention to it in the morning.
INSPECTOR. Very good.
ROBERT. Yes, Sir. [He goes again.]
INSPECTOR. [Looking at DE LEVIS] Well, sir, thereās your story corroborated.
DE LEVIS. [Stifly] I donāt know why it should need corroboration, Inspector.
INSPECTOR. In my experience, you can never have too much of that. [To WINSOR] I understand thereās a lady in the room on this side [pointing Left] and a gentleman on this [pointing Right] Were they in their rooms?
WINSOR. Miss Orme was; Captain Dancy not.
INSPECTOR. Do they know of the affair?
WINSOR. Yes.
INSPECTOR. Well, Iād just like the keys of their doors for a minute. My man will get them.
He goes to the door, opens it, and speaks to a constable in the corridor.
[To TREISURE] You can go with him.
TREISURE goes Out.
In the meantime Iāll just examine the balcony.
He goes out on the balcony, followed by DE LEVIS.
WINSOR. [To CANYNGE] Damn De Levis and his money! Itās deuced invidious, all this, General.
CANYNGE. The Inspectorās no earthly.
There is a simultaneous re-entry of the INSPECTOR from the balcony and of TREISURE and the CONSTABLE from the corridor.
CONSTABLE. [Handing key] Room on the left, Sir. [Handing key] Room on the right, sir.
The INSPECTOR tries the keys in the door, watched with tension by the others. The keys fail.
INSPECTOR. Put them back.
Hands keys to CONSTABLE, who goes out, followed by TREISURE.
Iāll have to try every key in the house, sir.
WINSOR. Inspector, do you really think it necessary to disturb the whole house and knock up all my guests? Itās most disagreeable, all this, you know. The loss of the money is not such a great matter. Mr De Levis has a very large income.
CANYNGE. You could get the numbers of the notes from Kentman the bookmaker, Inspector; heāll probably have the big ones, anyway.
INSPECTOR. [Shaking his head] A bookie. I donāt suppose he will, sir. Itās come and go with them, all the time.
WINSOR. We donāt want a Meldon Court scandal, Inspector.
INSPECTOR. Well, Mr WINSOR, Iāve formed my theory.
As he speaks, DE LEVIS comes in from the balcony.
And I donāt say to try the keys is necessary to it; but strictly, I ought to exhaust the possibilities.
WINSOR. What do you say, De Levis? Dāyou want everybody in the house knocked up so that their keys can be tried?
DE LEVIS. [Whose face, since his return, expresses a curious excitement] No, I donāt.
INSPECTOR. Very well, gentlemen. In my opinion the thief walked in before the door was locked, probably during dinner; and was under the bed. He escaped by dropping from the balconyāthe creeper at that corner [he points stage Left] has been violently wrenched. Iāll go down now, and examine the grounds, and Iāll see you again Sir. [He makes another entry in his note-book] Goodnight, then, gentlemen!
CANYNGE. Goodnight!
WINSOR. [With relief] Iāll come with you, Inspector.
He escorts him to the door, and they go out.
DE LEVIS. [Suddenly] General, I know who took them.
CANYNGE. The deuce you do! Are you following the Inspectorās theory?
DE LEVIS. [Contemptuously] That ass! [Pulling the shaving papers out of the case] No! The man who put those there was clever and cool enough to wrench that creeper off the balcony, as a blind. Come and look here, General. [He goes to the window; the GENERAL follows. DE LEVIS points stage Right] See the rail of my balcony, and the rail of the next? [He holds up the cord of his dressing-gown, stretching his arms out] Iāve measured it with this. Just over seven feet, thatās all! If a man can take a standing jump on to a narrow bookcase four feet high and balance there, heād make nothing of that. And, look here! [He goes out on the balcony and returns with a bit of broken creeper in his hand, and holds it out into the light] Someoneās stood on thatāthe stalkās crushedāthe inner corner too, where heād naturally stand when he took his jump back.
CANYNGE. [After examining itāstiffly] That other balcony is young Dancyās, Mr De Levis; a soldier and a gentleman. This is an extraordinary insinuation.
DE LEVIS. Accusation.
CANYNGE. What!
DE LEVIS. I have intuitions, General; itās in my blood. I see the whole thing. Dancy came up, watched me into the bathroom, tried my door, slipped back into his dressing-room, saw my window was open, took that jump, sneaked the notes, filled the case up with these, wrenched the creeper there [He points stage Left] for a blind, jumped back, and slipped downstairs again. It didnāt take him four minutes altogether.
CANYNGE. [Very gravely] This is outrageous, De Levis. Dancy says he was downstairs all the time. You must either withdraw unreservedly, or I must confront you with him.
DE LEVIS. If heāll return the notes and apologise, Iāll do nothingā except cut him in future. He gave me that filly, you know, as a hopeless weed, and heās been pretty sick ever since, that he was such a flat as not to see how good she was. Besides,
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