LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1072, 4 December 1877, Page 3

LITERATURE.

A QUEER CLUE. [From 'Chambers' Journal.'J {Concluded.') It is always my rule to strike the iron while it's hot, and nothing could possibly be got by waiting now ; so 1 had made up my mind just to run home, get a few things in my bag, and go down by the ten o'clock train. My wife, you may be sure, was very much astonished; but, as I expected she would be, was just as confident in the murder being found out as young Lytherly himself. Of course the latter'was ready. And we were put down at our destination about twelve o'clock ; too late for anything that night, but still we were on the spot to begin the first thing in the morning. And accordingly directly after breakfast we began. John Lytherly would have begun before breakfast, but as an old hand I knew better than that; because the party, after five years' rest, wasn't going to bolt now; so it was no case for hurrying and driving. Well, soon after breakfast, I sauntered into the bar, and began talking with the landlord, who was an elderly sort of party about my own age, and who bragged—as if it was a thing to be proud of- before we had talked three minutes, that he had lived, man and boy, in Chumpley, which was the name of the lively place, for more than fifty years. ! ' Then you are just the fellow for nie,' I thought; and then began talking of an old master of mine who was now living somewhere down in this neighborhood, by the name of Wyndham. 'Wyndham? Let me sec: Wyndham?' says the landlord, putting on his wisest look. 'No ; I can't remember any party of that name. There's Wilkinson and Wiggins; perhaps it's one of them.' I told him they would not do ; and then added, that the party I meant was something of an artist, painted pictures partly for pleasure and partly for profit. This was only a guess of mine, but it was a pretty safe one.

'Oh ! there's lots of them about here ! ' exclaims the old boy, grinning very much, as if it was a capital idea. 'There's Mr De Lancy Chorkle, Miss Belvidera Smith, Mrs Galloon Whyte, Mr Hardy Canute, and a lot more ; but I don't think there's a Wyndham '

• All, well, it don't matter,' I said, very carelessly still; I may be mistaken. I heard, however, he lived down here at a place called the Mount. Is there such a place?' ' la there such a place?' says the landlord, with as much contempt in his vuico as if I

"ght to be ashamed of myself for uowing. ' Yes, there is ; and a first-rat entleman a'tint lives there too ; but hi ame ain't Wyndham ; his name happens t< >e Parkway, sir, Mr Philip Parkway hough I have heard that he is too proud t< iaint under his own name.' i «I think, landlord,' I said, ' that I'll havt just three-penn'orth of brandy, cold ;' whicl I took, and left him without another word or when I heard this name, I felt struck all >f a heap, because it made a guess into a certainty, though in a way I had never Ireamt of. I couldn't even go back to Lytherly for a little while ; it was all so wonderful; and I was so angry with myself for never having thought at the ime that the man who, of all others in the world, had the most to gain by the poor woman's death, might have been the one who killed her. In the bitterness of my feeling I could not help saying that any one but a detective would have pounced upon this fellow at the first. However, I got over the vexation, and went back to Lytherly to tell him my news. We were each very conn" dent that we had the right scent now ; but yet it was not easy to see what we were to do. I could not very well apply for a warrant against a man because he had painted a picture ; and so we walked and talked until we could think of nothing better than going down to Combestead, and with our fresh information to help us, seeing if we could not rake up something there. We came to this resolution just as we reached a toll-gate, close by which stood a little house, which appeared to be the beershop, baker's, post-office, and grocer's for the neighbourhood. Not much of a neighbourhood, by-the-by, for excepting a few gentlemen's seats, there was hardly another house within sight. One small but comfortable looking residence we were informed by the chatty old lady who owned the * store,' was the Mount, where Mr Parkway lived. He was a very retired, silent sort of a gentleman, she said, and people thought his wife didn't have the happiest of lives with him. He had been married for a few years, the old lady went on; soon after a relation had died, and left him a good bit of money. Before that he only rented apartments in the village; but then he married Miss Dellar, who was an orphan, with a good bit of money too, but quite a girl to him, and they went to live at the Mount. At this point the old lady broke suddenly off, and said—'Here they are!' going to the door immediately, and dropping her very [ best courtesy. We followed her into the J little porch ; and there, sure enough, was a ! low carriage drawn by one horse, and in it I sat a gloomy dark man, whom I had no J difficulty in recognising, and by his side a i slight, very pretty, but careworn-looking young woman. Mr Parkway looked coolly enough at us, and we as carelessly returned his glance, for we were both so much changed since the Combestead days, that there was little fear of his remembering us. It seemed they had called about a servant which the post-office keeper was to have recommended, and Mrs Parkway alighted from the carriage to write some memorandum on the business. Parkway had never spoken and I thought I could see in his harsh features traces of anxiety and remorse. 1 ytherly had followed Mrs Parkway into the shop, and, as I could see from where I stood, on the lady asking for a pen, he drew his gold pencil case from his pock, and offered it, as probably containing a better implement than any the post-office could afford. The lady stared, looked a little startled, but after a moment's hesitation accepted it with a sweet soiile. While Mrs Parkway was engaged writing her letter, Lytherly stood by her side, and sauntered out after her. I had been waiting in the porch, watching her husband, whose face was so familiar to me that I half expected to see a look of recognition come into his eyes; but nothing of the sort happened. Lytherly watched them drive off, then turning suddenly round, exclaimed: 'lts as good as over, Robinson ! We've got them !' •Why, what is there afresh V I asked. •Just sufficient to hang the scoundrel,' said Lytherly. ' You remember, of course, that among other things which were stolen | on the night of the murder was a curious 1 locket which poor Miss Parkway used to i wear, and thot some fragments of the chain were afterwards found.' j I remembered this very well, and told I him so. ] ' Very good,' he continued. 'I gave that f locket and chain to the poor old girl; it was \ the only valuable I possessed in the world ; I and Mrs Parkway has the central carbuncle J in her brooch now.' ' * Nonsenoe ! ' I exclaimed, not knowing ] exactly what I did say at the moment. ' It is a fact,' he said ; ' and I can swear | to it. What is more to the point, perhaps, \ is that although the stone is in a strange j setting, and no one but myself, probably, | could recognise it, yet I can identify it. On the side are my initials cut in almost micro- ! scopical characters. If they are there, that settles it; ii they are not, put me down as an impostor, and fix the murder on me if you like.' There was a good deal more said after this, but the upshot of it was that we went over to Colchester, and laid the matter before the authorities ; when after a little hesitation, a warrant was granted for the apprehension of Mr Philip Parkway ; and two officers, accompanied by Lytherly and myself, went over to execute it. It was after nightfall when we arrived at the Mount; and on knocking at the door, we found that Mr Parkway was in : but his wife was out, having gone up (so the elderly woman that was called by the footboy informed us), to play the harmonium at the weekly rehearsal of the village choir. 'About the only amusement she has, poor thing,' the woman muttered, and she seemed in a very bad temper about something. We said we wanted to see her master, and that she need not announce us. And, as I live, I uehevo that womau guessed directly who we were, and what we had come for. At any rate, quite a glow uf triumph came into her face, and she pointed to a door nearly oppodite to wheic we stood. We opened it, and found ourselves in a sort of large study, where, seated at a table, reading, was the man we wanted. He looked up in surprise 13 we entered, snd the light falling strongly on hia face, while all the rest of the room was in darkness, I thought I saw a paleness come and go on his gloomy features; but hat might have been fancy. ' What is your business ?' he began; but Mr Banes, the chief constable, cut him short. 4 1 am sorry to inform you, Mr Parkway,' ho said, ' that X hold a warrant for your

<rrest, and you must consider yourself in ustody '

Parkway stared at him, mechanically closed he book he was reading, and said, ' On what harge, sir?' ' For murder,' says Banes : and then I vo,h sure Parkway did turn very white. For the murder of Miss Parkway, at Jombestead, in 186—.'

Parkway looked from one to the other of is for a few seconds without speaking; at Last his eyes settled for an instant on Lytherly ; then turning to Banes, he said, pointing straight at Lytherly : ' It was that man, I have no doubt, who set you on.' 'You had better not say anything, sir,' said the chief constable, ' but just give your servants what orders you wish, and come with us, as we cannot stop.' ' I daresay it was he.' continued Parkway, uot answering Mr Banes, but seeming to go with his own thoughts. ' I fancied he was dead, for what I took to be his ghost, has been in my room every night for this month past. Where is my wife ?' We told him she was not at home, and that we were anxious to spare her as far as possible ; but he gave such a bitter smile, aud said : 'She will certainly be vexed to have had a husband that was hanged ; but she will be glad to be a widow on any terms.'

We didn't want to hear any more of this, so got him away; not without some little trouble though ; and if there had not been so many of us, we should have had a scene ; as it was, we were obliged to handcuff him. The servants, four of them, were naturally alarmed, and were in the hall when we went out. Mr Parkway gave a few directions, and the elderly woman grinned quite spitefully at him. ' Don't insult the man, now he's down,' I said in a whisper, while Parkway and the two officers got into the fly. Lytherly and I were to ride outside and drive. ' Insult him ! the wretch !' she said. ' You don't mean to suppose he has any feelings to hurt. He has been trying to drive my poor young mistress-that I nursed when a baby —into her grave, and he would have done it, if I had not been here. The only exouse is, he is. and always has been, a dangerous lunatic'

We drove off, I saw no more of her, and never heard how Mrs Parkway took the intelligence. The lady was present at the preliminary examination ; ard to her great surprise her carbuncle brooch was taken from her and used against her husband. This examination •was on the next morning, and we obtained more evidence than we had at first expected. Not only was the carbuncle marked as Lytherly bad said it would be, but I had been up at the station, being unable to shake off old habits, and had made some inquiries there, i* trangelyenough, the man who was head porter now had baen head porter there five j ears ago (it is a very sensible way railways have of keeping a good man in the same position always ; promotion generally upsets and confuses things); and he was able, by secondary facts, to fix the dates and to show that not only did Mr Parkway go to Combestead for the funeral, but that he went to London and back just before; from London, of course, he could easily get to Combestead, and his absence left him about time to do so. We proposed then to have a remand and get evidence from Combestead ; but it was never needed.

Parkway had been expecting this blow for years, and always kept some deadly poison concealed in the hollow of his watch-seal. This he took, on the night after his examination, and was found dead in his cell by the officer who went the rounds. He first wrote a very long and minute confession, or rather justification, showing that his motive had been to prevent his cousin's marriage with Lytherly, whom he seemed to hate very much. He said he went to Combestead to get possession of the money his misguided relative had drawn, and to kill her. He felt that if he left her alive, she would carry out her scandalous plan, and therefore it was his duty to kill her , so in doing this he felt he had committed no crime, but had only been an instrument of justice. So I suppose he was, as the housekeeper declared, a dangerous lunatic. However, the reward of one hundred pounds had never been withdrawn, and I got it; it was paid out of Parkway's estate too, which was about the strangest go I ever heard of. Lytherly and his wife are great friends with Mrs Robinson and myself; indeed we have usually one of their young ones staying with us, when we haven't one or two from my married daughter. Mrs Parkway, I heard, sold off at the Mount, and went away ; and some time after I saw by the papers that she was married to some one else. I hope she made a better match the second time.

On the whole, on looking back I am inclined to think that of all the clues by which I ever found anybody out, this was really the queerest.