The Mystery of Ryeburn Manor

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 906, 25 February 1930, Page 5

The Mystery of Ryeburn Manor

By

JOHN LAURENCE

CHAPTER XVIII.— (Continued) "I* slightly torn,” interrupted Harding. "I took the opportunity to find that dress when I flew down here,” replied Vidler, coolly. ”3o you were the man began Harding, and shut his mouth with a snap. "Yes. I was the man who took it,” agreed the inspector. ‘‘l see she’s told you of its disappearance. Rather damning, don’t you think?” There was no possible object now, reflected Harding, to continue to suppress the fact that he had first seen Sheila on the roof, first looked into her blue eyes when they were full of terror and apprehension. The fact that he had seen her could clearly be proved beyond any shadow of doubt. “I don’t see how you jumped to the conclusion it was Miss Sunderland,” he said a little lamely. "Come, man, I'm not blind.” replied the inspector, "even if love is. You were absolutely tongue-tied that lunchtime when you first saw her again, terrified out of your mind that I should spot she was the girl on the roof. I must say she carried the situation off much more coolly than you did. AVomen, I believe, rise to a crisis like that better than men.” IN DEFENCE OF SHEILA

“Carry on,” said Harding, dully, throwing his half-finished cigar on to the sand. “Why should she fear to tell her story, if she did not kill Simmonds, unless she knew who did?” The last four words came slowly and the inspector stopped and faced his companion. Harding drew a deep breath. Vidler had hit upon the real reason why Sheila was silent, because she was shielding someone. He returned the detcetive’s scrutiny without flinching. "Frankly, I don’t believe she did kill Simmonds.” continued Vidler. "If 1 did I shouldn’t be stating the case tow, as I see it, to you. But I do think she knows the man who did, and is putting herself in a very dangerous Position by not saying who it was.” "Have you any idea who it was?” asked Harding. “You remember two copies of the safe key were found,” went on the detective, avoiding a direct answer to the question. "I have had extensive inquiries ®ade to find out where those keys were cut. They were cut at two widely-separated locksmiths, one to the order of a man who fits a description of Thornton, the other to the order of Simmonds.” ’Thornton!” echoed Harding. “And Simmonds! ” ‘You rather expected to hear Thornton was involved, eh?” queried : tdler, looking keenly at his companion. Harding nodded. Thornton denied that he was in , e house that night/' continued the inspector. “Yet the key he had had of Lee’s safe is found in the room ?«side the dead body of Simmonds. He says that he was in the flat all

Author of “The Sign of the Double Cross Inn,’’ etc.

the evening reading, a most difficult alibi to prove. It may be that we shall have to call upon him to substantiate that statement in some way or other. It is a prima facie case against him that he had a key of the safe to which he was not entitled. Lee was obviously upset when I showed him the two keys. There was something in that safe both Thornton and Simmonds wanted. That’s how I look at it, and I think they quarrelled.” “You think Thornton killed Simmonds?”

The question was asked quickly, eagerly. It flashed across Harding's mind at once that if D.V.'s theory were correct, then he could not believe Sheila had anything to do with the killing of Simmonds. And if D.V. believed that. Harding felt that his own tongue might, to some extent, at any rate, be freed. “I’m not going to assert he did,” replied the detective cautiously, and smiled as he saw the eager look fade from the other’s eyes. "All I am saying is that there appears a stronger case against Thornton than against anybody else.” “You don’t think there’s a case against Miss Sunderland?” ANOTHER MOTIVE? Harding was not missing a single opportunity of defending her. “I think if she told her story frankly you’d find there was no case at all against her,” replied the inspector. "The difficulty is that as long as she chooses to deny she was in the house there is bound to be a cause for suspicion. I think she’s very foolish.” Harding was not to be drawn yet, though he was very much nearer speaking than he had been when he first accompanied the inspector down to the beach. Vidler made no attempt to press him, but continued to outline bis views as though he were discussing the case with one of his own confreres at the Yard. "The motive’s the trouble,” continued the detective thoughtfully. •And the motive was in the safe. I shall have to persuade Lee to let me look through it. There was nothing missing.” “But don’t you think they xvere after the pearls?” asked Harding, a little puzzled. It seemed to him that the motive was obvious—robbery. With a rope of pearls valued at £30,000 in the safe it had never crossed his mind there might be anything else in the safe worth taking. “That is the obvious thing they were after,” agreed the inspector. “And I fully expected to find they were gone when Lee opened the safe. As they hadn’t, two things immediately occurred to me. One, the safe had not been opened, and the other that something else was the thing they were both after. As Lee told me nothing was missing, the safe wasn’t opened But that doesn’t rule out the nossibiiity that both Simmonds and Thornton were after one of the papers.” CHAPTER XIX. HARDING TELLS HIS STORY* “Have you any idea why Miss Sunderland doesn’t want to acknowledge she was in the house?” asked Hardin Yidier rubbed his eyelid slowly as he answered. “I believe she knew Thornton was there, and is shielding him,” he reP, ‘Why should she shield him?” demanded Harding, astonished by the detective’s insight. "Two secretaries of two such ern-

ployers as Mr. and Mrs. Lee are likely to form an alliance, if in only sheer defence,” said Vidler, with a wink. “I shouldn’t be surprised to learn that at one time they were in love with one another.” “You know so much, D.V., you may as well know the rest,” said Harding. “You won’t feel you are breaking Miss Sunderland’s confidence?” “All I’m concerned about is that she won’t be arrested and accused of having soma part in the murder,” replied Harding, feelingly. Vidler ma.de no reply. He was not committing himself where Sheila was concerned. He' did not believe she had had anything to do with the murder of Simmonds, but he did believe she was an accessory after the fact.. And that meant her position was serious. He could not be responsible for any views the authorities might take. His only concern was to lay the facts and evidence before them for them to act upon. Harding construed the detective’s silence as agreement with his own statement. The least sign of pressure from Vidler aud he would have become suspicious. But the inspector was a shrewd psychologist. He knew his man. and waited patiently while Harding cast round for an opening. “You are quite right,”.he said at last. “I did see Miss Sunderland on the roof that night.” He described his actions and the fear in Sheila’s eyes when he first flashed his torchlight on her trembling figure. And he described in detail the explanation she had given him down by the sea, the first evening after he had found her again, and finally the scene he had watched from his bedroom window between her and Thornton. Interspersed in his narrative he told the detective of the gossip which Jennings had gathered, and the finding of the engagement ring in the grass by the summerhouse. THE OMISSION The one thing he did not mention was the finding of the pearl dropped by Sheila and his own suspicions that it was one from the necklace belonging to Mrs. Lee. He could not bring himself to admit that he, too, had at one time been so suspicious cf the girl he now loved that he had taken the trouble to investigate her story as far as he possibly could. Yet, had Harding but realised it, the finding of the pearl In his rooms and the outburst of Sheila, “Y’ou coward! Y r ou coward!” when she had found him counting the pearls with Lee in the library, were the only things which mattered. If he had told Vidler those incidents that evening the life of at least one person in Ryeburn Manor would have been saved, and the peril to the lives of two others avoided. It was not until Harding finished that Vidler asked any questions. He had thrown off the seriousness of the beginning of the stroll and spoke in much more light-hearted tones. "What a thing it is to be in love!” he said jestingly. “But, judging by this ring, you have one competitor out of the way, unless it was only a lovers’ quarrel,” ha added, with a smile.

“I should have thought in that case there would have been a few inquiries about the ring.” said Harding hopefull}-. “Not as the engagement’s secret, but don’t give up hope, man. She'll not marry Thornton. There might have been a certain glamour about him at first, but it obviously hasn't lasted. That girl’s got courage, and she's not the type to throw herself away on a man who hasn’t the courage to risk an open declaration of love. I can't see you hiding your light under a bushel.”

“Lee’s not the only employer in the world.” saifi Harding sharply. “Exactly, and a man who daren’t risk his job for the girl he loves is not likely to risk much else. You didn’t form any impression who that man was who’d been listening to them ?” “None at all. The moon was behind the clouds, and I only saw him vaguely.” “That’s the most remarkable part of your story, Harding,” commented the inspector, thoughtfully. “Though whether it has anything to do with the murder of Simmonds or not I can't say. But we can’t neglect any line of investigation. That’s the second quarrel Thornton’s been in which has been overheard. The third might prove fatal. I hope your man Jennings doesn’t queer the pitch with his inquiries in London.” “Jennings is discretion itself,” Harding assured him. “If I know him he will come back with a mine of information about Thornton. Jennings has the inquisitive form of mind. I don’t like it, but he’s a very good valet and trustworthy as far as I am concerned. He’s had plenty of opportunities to be otherwise.”

“1 think Thornton’s our man all right,” said the detective briskly. “You’ve saved a good many days’ inquiry for me tonight, Harding. I must telephone to London when 1 get back and get them busy there, and have a talk with Lee.” The two were approaching the gate which opened to the' private pathway leading across the grounds of Ryeburn Manor as he spoke. Suddenly there came a whistling noise past the detective’s ears, followed by a sharp “plop,” rather like the sound of a pop-gun. Vidier looked up quickly, and then caught his companion, fiercely by the arm, nearly wrenching it from its socket. “Down man, down for your life!” he shouted. ATTACKED! Harding, trained to obey and act swiftly by the experiences of war, fell fiat on his face. “Roll over to that bush,” said his companion. “Don’t get up.” Again that curious popping sound as the two gained the shelter of the bush. “Keep down!” whispered the inspector. “What’s happening?” asked Harding. “Somebody’s got a revolver fitted with a silencer. He must have watched us coming along and waited. I saw his hand through one of ttie bushes.” Harding jerked round as the inspector coolly lighted a cigarette. ’‘Somebody’s trying to kill us?” he asked in tones of amazement. “Undoubtedly,” said Vidier solemnly. “I think now he’s failed he won’t hang about, but get back to the house to prove his alibi. We’ll give him a minute or two so he can establish it without losing his breath.” “Thornton’s feeling the hounds are too close on his trail,” said Harding, grimly. “Whether Thornton has discovered he has a hated rival and wants to get rid of him quickly, or I’m the bull’s ej’e for the silent bullets, I don’t know. I didn’t see his face.” Vidier ran quickly through the gule and looked round the bush just behind It. He paced backward and forward, bending down and looking like some eager dog on the trail. “Ground’s too hard for footprints,” he grumbled. “Nothing much to be found here. Ah!” He bent down and picked up a spent cartridge. “That’s useful,” he said, dropping it into his pocket. “I’d like to get my hand on the back of his neck,” cried Harding heatedly.

“Leave it to me,” said Vidier quietly. “An angry man only makes a mess of things. Even if Thornton was out of the house, it doesn’t follow he fired those shots. It’s no use throwing out wild accusations if you can’t prove them. Take my advice, and behave as though nothing had happened. We have been warned, and neither of us wants that kind of warning twice in a lifetime.” UNDER SUSPICION. As they entered Ryeburn Manor one of the servants came up the stairs carrying a tray laden with coffee. “Where’s Mr. Lee?” asked Vidier. “Up in the library, sir,” replied the servant. “He was asking for you half an hour ago, sir.” “And Mr. Thornton?” “With Mrs. Lee and Miss Sunderland in the drawing-room.” “Go up and tell Lee what has happened,” said Vidier in a low voice, as the servant entered the drawing-room. “We’ve got to explain our dusty clothes. I’ll carry on in the other room for a minute or two, and then join you.” “Come, on Mr. Vidier," squeaked Mrs. Lee. “Mr. Thornton’s going to have his fortune told by a new way I’ve discovered.” Thornton looked bored and shrugged his shoulders slightly as the detective approached. “I hope you’ll tell Mr. Vidier his fortune afterwards, Mrs. Lee,” he said, looking at the inspector with a cynical smile. “I shall, of course,” said Mrs. Lee complacently, as she dealt the cards. “I’ve just finished Sheila’s and my own. Mr. Thornton and you have come in at the right moment. Where is Mr. Harding?” “He’s gone upstairs to wash,” replied Vidier glibly. “If you will excuse me, I’ll do the same. We went down on the shore for a stroll, and slipped coming up the pathway. We thought it was too good a night to miss a short walk.” “Leaving me and Sheila to entertain one another,” said Mrs. Lee reproachfully. “I thought Mr. Thornton had gone with you. James is in the library, making money. He wants to see you, Mr. Vidier." “I’ll come back Iu a few minutes and have my fortune told.” replied the detective. “I hope you have no tiling serious in store for Mr. Thornton.” He closed the door softly behind him. and made his way thoughtfully upstairs. So Lee’s secretary had been out of the house, and had arrived back only a few minutes before? Certainly Thornton wanted watching, and by the calm way he had taken the appearance of the detective the latter was beginning to think that Thornton was a man of a greater courage, though misplaced, than he or Harding had yet credited him with. Behind those bored eyes, reflected the inspector, appeared to be an intelligence which was very fully developed. Thornton was now very definitely under suspicion. CHAPTER XX. LEE MAKES A SCENE Vidier found James Lee standing in front of the library fireplace talking angrily to Robert Harding. “I’ll sack him,” heard Vidier, as he pushed open the door. “Who, Thornton?” asked the inspector. “What’s Harding been telling you ?” The merchant threw his half-chewed cigar in the fire and turned toward the other. His normally red, heavy face, was almost purple.

“Yes, Thornton, the damned hypocrite,” he exploded. “Harding says he tried to murder you both as well as Simmonds.” “Harding’s a little prejudiced,” said Vidler soothingly. “He’s inclined to exaggerate. The last thing I want you to do is to sack Thornton or to say anything to him. “Why?” demanded Lee. “Hasn’t he done enough to be hanged ten times over, let alone be sacked? If I’d got rid of him a couple of years ago this wouldll’t have happened.” “One can’t, predict the future,” returned Vidler philosophically. “Let. us look the facts in the face, Mr. Lee. You’re a business man, and if another business man comes to you with a proposition you want proofs of his statement before you put down hard cash. The authorities will want proofs of a good many of my statements before they put Thornton in the dock.” “But if Harding says he tried to kill you as you were coming to the pathway,” said Lee, “that would be good enough for me if I were a judge.” “Harding’ saw no one. He wanted to see Thornton, and so I suppose, thinks he saw him. I caught a glimpse of a hand through a bush holding a revolver, hut I could no . no more swear who it was than Harding could, who never saw that much.” “I told Mr. Lee I thought it must be Thornton,” explained Harding. “There’s no must about it,” pointed out the inspector, a little sharply. “I want It made quite plain, Mr. Lee, that if you get rid of Thornton now you will be adding greatly to the difficulties of my work. Thornton’s under suspicion, but that is all. There’s a very great gap between suspicion and proof. If you want to help, both of you must behave as though nothing out of the way had happened.” “I was sending him up to London tomorrow,” said the merchant, cooling down a little. “But after what you have told me ” “You’ll send him just the same; trust him just the same,” declared the inspector. “If Thornton killed Simmonds he’s not going to run. away now. He’d have done that in the first instance if he’d lost his nerve.” “He’s got. nerve all right,” agreed Lee. “He looks a rat and behaves like a woman with his scented handkerchiefs and marcelle waves, but I’ve never known him lose his head yet. He’s a cool devil.” “Pie knows your business pretty thoroughly, I suppose?” “Backward,” was the curt reply. “I’ve trusted him a damned sight too much. And given him tips for shares. It he’s done What I told him he ought to have a tidy little bit in the bank. He’s crazy on money.” “What did hq say about having been to school with Simmonds?” asked Vidler. “Nothing, except that he lost sight of him after leaving school,” replied Lee. “Why? Don’t you think they were friendly?” “According to gossip among tlie servants. they were not. That was one advantage of having Harding here. They talked freely to his man Jennings, and from what they say Thornton's in their bad books. Not that that means anything so far as the murder of Simmonds is concerned. Many a man’s been heartily disliked who's not a murderer.” A STRONG CASE Lee pursed his thick lips and spoke decisively. “Thornton’s capable of it. So he wasn't friendly with Simmonds. I didn’t know anything about that. How did you find out?" He looked at Harding as he spoke. “Jennings said one of the servants overheard them quarrelling,” replied Harding. “Apparently Simmonds told him he had been a dirty little rotter at school and hadn’t washed since.” “You’ve got your knife into Thornton,” observed Lee. thoughtfully, putting his thick thumbs into the armholes of his waistcoat. “Has he been rude to you?” (To be continued tomorrow)