The Mystery of Ryeburn Manor

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 917, 10 March 1930, Page 5

The Mystery of Ryeburn Manor

By .

JOHN LAURENCE

CHAPTER XXXVI. Harding could not rid his mind of the conviction that the cause of that accident to his-airplane was the result of the machine being tampered with. He had been flying it for six months; it had beet inspected regularly, and there was no reason on earth why one of its wings should crumple up as it did on the' flight with Sheila. But for their parachutes, they would both have been dashed to death. And the insistence of Thornton on thenusing those parachutes which brought them from the dropping airplane to safety on the sands —was the only act for which Harding felt indebted to Lee's secretary. The inspection or the broken machine as it lay nose-buried in the sands revealed indisputable proof that the flying wires had been loosened. While Sheila was recovering from her adventure, Vidler and Harding examined the wreckage of the machine, and the latter voiced his suspicions to the fnan from Scotland Yard. He even went so far as to suggest that Thornton might be the person who had tampered with the airplane. Vidler listened in silence; then gave orders to the policemen who were guarding the wreckage that it was to he roped in and left untouched until it had been examined by Air Ministry officials. "Not that I doubt what you say for one minute, Harding.” Vidler explained, as the two walked across the sands to Rye. “But they’ll be able to prove your case independently.” T can't reaPse yet the temperament of a man who’d do anything like that,” said Harding. “The whole affair has left me dazed in a way. I suppose I shall wake up presently and get a reaction.” "When a man’s got a bee in his bonnet,” said Vidler, “he may go to any lengths. The Yard’s full of records. I could tell you some stories which would make yoursf look pretty thin.” "I feel I could wring Thornton's neck perfectly coldbloodedly. I seem to have got beyond the stage of wanting to kick up a row. I just want to kill.” Harding spoke without any heat, almost in a matter-of-fact tone. He was, in deed, in a cold rage. Thornton, to him, had ceased to be a man. He wanted to destroy him just as he would destroy some poisonous reptile. "I can appreciate your point,” said the inspector. “But’s there nothing to be gained by going back and accusing Thornton. There is always the possibility it was a sheer accident. If Thornton tampered with it we’ve got to prove it, just as much as we’ve got to prove the case against the murderer of Simmonds. Judges don’t

Author of ‘ The Sign of the Double Cross Inn,” etc.

allow witnesses to think. Evidence is what they want. If juries convicted on suspicion and probability, I could name half a dozen murderers who are walking about the streets now who'd have short shrift.” “You’ve got enough evidence to put Thornton under lock and key.” “i doubt it,” returned Vidler. “What you forget, Harding, is that every piece in the puzzle must fit in with every other piece.” “What doesn’t fit in?” growled Harding. “Well, the man who watched Thornton and Miss Sunderland by the summer house, and shook his fist at them. What is his connection with the case? Who is he?” ! "Does it matter? He didn’t murder Simmonds, he didn’t take the pearls.” Vidler laughed. “How do you know what he did, when you don’t even know his identity?” he asked. “Come, let’s he reasonable. And, talking about pearls, what is Miss Sunderland doing with the clasp and the string on which they were? That wants a little explaining, my friend.” VIDLER’S LOGIC Harding shrugged his shoulders helplessly. It seemed to him there were too many side issues which wanted an explanation. Frankly, he was for cutting them all out and going straight for Thornton. He had a belief that by doing so the side issues would clear themselves, and he said so. “They might, but they might not. If they do not, then Thornton’s counsel will have a dickens of a good case,” said Vidler, obstinately. “I should like to know what you think Miss Sunderland’s got to do with it?” “The murder or the pearls?” “Both!” snapped Harding irritably. “Let’s clear the ground, D.V. I guessed last night you’d found the clasp in her room, but it might have been put there»to throw suspicion on her. I‘ve heard of evidence being planted.” “Who wants to involve her? I’m not saying that that isn't a possibility, but in that case who wants her to be accused? Thornton, who’s in love with her, despite his intrigue with the actress in Highgate? Lee, who obviously wants Thornton arrested? Mrs. Lee? Any of the servants?” The logic of the detective was irresistible. In any case. Harding did not believe his own suggestion, for Sheila had acknowledged to him, indeed, that if she were forced to it she might have to tell Vidler the truth. Sometimes Harding wished she were put in that position, though he half dreaded what the truth might be. He wanted t i say “Why not ask her?” but he hadn’t the moral courage. A NEW THEORY “Has it ever occurred to you that the missing pearls might not be missing at. all?” continued Vidler. “I could invent several plausible explantions. Mrs. Lee, for instance, may have taken them to be restrung in defiance of her husband. She would have access to the safe, she would get hold of his keys easily enough. She's had a very convenient headache ever since they disappeared. She’s one of those women who get easily involved in an affair of this kind and then is afraid to face up to things. Don’t forget Lee's got a bit

of a temper. I know that kind of woman. She’d rather let things slide and involve a hundred people than get herself into trouble.” “There’s nothing in acknowledging she’d sent the pearls to be restrung,” protested Harding. “Not to you, of course, hut women are funny creatures, and Mrs. Lee is not normal, in any case. And if she’s sworn Miss Sunderland to secrecy, Miss Sunderland’s quite likely to keep her mouth shut out of sheer loyalty, and because she has agreed not to speak. I don’t doubt she would speak quickly enough if anyone was actually arrested and accused —that is, assuming the suggestion I put forward is correct.” Harding listened eagerly. He had not the inspector’s trained mind, his ability to put forward a number of theories and test them with the known facts. It was this kind of thing the detective was good at. Sooner or later he would evolve a theory which would fit in with all the observed facts, and when he had done this it was only a matter of routine to bring his man into the dock. But as long as there was one single fact left unexplained Vidler remained unsatisfied with any theory he had. “I see one objection to yoiy idea about the pearls,” said Harding. “What about that remark of Miss de Hava’s maid to Jennings about the pearl brooch? Don’t you think it was a hint that his supposed employer might be asked to value some pearls?” “It’s a possibility,” admitted Vidler. “And if he is, then we shall begin to see a certain amount of daylight. I don’t fancy, however, that Jennings will learn very much.” “Why?” “Because if Thornton, say, took the pearls and has handed them over to his lady love as the price of parting with her, why should the clasp be found in Miss Sunderland’s room? He certainly doesn’t want to involve her. Very much the other way round.” “She won’t have anything* to do with him.” Harding spoke quickly, decisively, and Vidler smiled. “So that’s the way the wind blows?” he reflected. “She’s already taken Harding into her confidence.” SUSPICION “Of course,” he said aloud, “there are a good many other points to fit in beside the pearls. There’s the cutting of the two duplicate keys of the safe in London, for inwance. Were Thornton and Simmonds both after the pearls, or something else? And those two scraps of paper with the combination of the safe on them. Neither was in Thornton’s handwriting.” “You know who wrote them?” Harding was astonished. Vidler had kept very quiet about those two scraps of paper, and his companion had almost forgotten about them. In a queer way there came back to him • the knocking over of the inkpot by Lee which had ruined one of the pieces of paper. Harding had not known that Vidler had already taken the precaution to have a photograph j made. “I’m fairly certain,” said the inspector, cautiously. “What about finding a place for tea? It’s a bit late, but I think 1 could enjoy a cup.” They were climbing up the hill and passing through the archway overlooking Camber Sands as he spoke. Harding saw it was nearlj’ 6 o’clock. He nodded his agreement. “Let’s talk about worms and graves ] and epitaphs and other cheerful subjects and follow in the footsteps of the one and only William,” said Vidler, solemnly. “The more we chew this case over the worse muddle we’ll get into. I've got several lines of inquiry being followed up London, and until they are settled we must step warily." Harding felt distinctly better for his tea and his natural high spirits began to return when the two arrived back at Ryeburn Manor, and he found that Sheila, too, was fast recovering from I

her experience. Thornton was the only one who was obviously thoroughly upset. “I warned you, Harding, of the risk,” he cried explosively. “I felt in my bones that something might happen."’ “You are sure it was only in your bones?” replied Harding curtly. CHAPTER XXXVII. “What exactly do you mean by that?” asked Thornton, angrily. “Harding’s upset,” interposed Vidler, in soothing tones. “Don’t get scrapping, and say ‘I told you so.’ It’s bad enough to fall a couple of thousand feet without being reminded of it.” Thornton pulled himself together with an effort, and then smiled. “I’m sorry. 1 didn’t mean it quite that way. I’ve never been up, and the thought of it scares me.” “You’re not interested in airplanes?” asked Vidler, as Harding set his lips. “Frankly, if Harding doesn’t mind my saying so, I hate them. They’re the devil’s own invention. Harding’s machine is the first one I’ve ever been close to. They look unsafe. If I had the power I’d abolish them altogether.” Vidler rubbed his eyelid thoughtfully. Thornton spoke with evident conviciton in his tones, though Harding looked sceptical. If Thornton were not bluffing, if it were true that Harding’s was the first machine he had seen at close quarters, then it was very certain that he would not know the way to tamper with an airplane, as Harding’s had been tampered vith. Only a man with a fairly good knowledge of the way an airplane was constructed would have thought of slackening off tha wire strainers, until the wires were only held by a few threads. Vidler pursued the subject. “I should have thought every man was taking an interest in airplanes nowadays,” he observed. “No more than everyone is taking an interest iu motor-cars and wireless and talking films,” snapped Thornton “There are still a few people in the world who think the benefits science confers have been outweighed by disadvantages. I am one of them ” Vidler pointed out of the window “Well, there’s one of the hated inventions,” he said, with a wink al Harding. “What is it, Harding? A passenger plane from Paris or a military machine, br just a common runabout?” Harding looked up at the machine circling overhead. “That’s a duplicate of my own machine,” he answered, as he watched it descending in a wide spiral. “She looks to me as though she’s coming down.” “As it will be dark in another half an hour it looks as though he’s going to Pay us a visit,” suggested Vidler. "Unless he’s running short of petrol.” “He’s coming down. He’s making for the field.” declared Harding. “Come on, let’s see what the trouble is.” Thornton shook his head and stood looking gloomily out of the window as the detective and Harding hurried away. ‘ Do you believe he knows nothing

about airplanes?” asked the latter, as they made their way to the field where the airplane was descending. “I’m rather Inclined to think he doesn’t,” replied Vidler. “I see no special reason for not believing him.” LEE FLIES BACK Harding opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it with a snap. He was not going to enter into any controversy then about Thornton. Vidler was evidently not going to accuse him without being very sure of his ground, and that attitude of mind was very much opposed to Harding’s. The airplane was turning into the wind, slowly losing flying speed as it prepared to land. Vidler watched with great interest. His flights with Harding had given him a new thrill, a new outlook, and now everything about an airplane was manna to him. He saw the wheels lightly touch, the nose of the machine rise, and the whirling of the propeller cease as the airplane taxied over the ground and came to a stop not 20ft from where he and - Harding were standing. The pilot climbed out of his cock pit and pulled off his goggles and flying helmet as they approached. “Good Lord. It’s Lee!” cried Harding, as he saw the red, smiling triumphant face of the export merchant. “How the dickens did vou get here?” “Walked, of course,” returned Lee. ‘What did you think of my landing’” “Excellent!” praised Harding, ungrudgingly. “Couldn’t have done better myself.” “I didn’t know you were a pilot ” said Vidler. "I wasn’t till yesterday. Took my certificate late yesterday afternoon. I’ve had the airplane for some weeks in anticipation of the event. Should have been here before, but I lost my way and had to land to find out where 1 was. I tried to follow the railway line, but I must have followed the wrong one after leaving London.” He chuckled, while Harding marvelled. Lee was showing an entirely different side to his character. Only a man with sound nerves would have attempted a cross-country flight within a few hours of taking his pilot’s certificate. “You’re a born pilot,” he commented, as he helped Lee to peg down the machine. “Glad you think so,” said Lee, in gratified tones. “Thornton won’t agree with you.” “Why?” asked Vidler, who was standing by watching them. “Why?” echoed Bee. “Because he hates airplanes. He’s scared stiff at the thought of going up. By golly he’ll go up with me, or I’ll sack him.” Vidler caught Harding's eye and winked. , “He’ll have a fit when he knows I ve come back this way,” continued Lee, fishing his bag out of the passenger s cockpit. “I didn’t say anything about taking my certificate, though he knows I’ve been taking lessons.” He looked round the field. “Where’s your bus, Harding?” “On Camber Hills, or rather half in them and half out,” replied Harding. “I was flying this afternoon with Miss Sunderland when a wing came off.” Lee stopped and dropped his bag. What!” he choked. “You —you went up with Miss Sunderland, and had a crash. Is she hurt?” “Luckily, not,” answered Harding. “Thank Heaven,” exclaimed Lee fervently. “You scared me for a minute. \ on shouldn’t have taken her up.” ; “Thornton said the same thing,” said \ idler, as Lee picked up his bag again. “He persuaded them to wear parachutes. They dropped from a couple of thousand feet. It was sheer luck they weren’t killed.” LEE IS UPSET. Lee looked thoroughly upset as he - demanded details of what had actu- j ally happened. Harding did not voice his suspicions that the machine had

been tampered with. He felt that if he did so, Lee would only have an overwhelming row with his secretary, ending in the latter clearing out. And that, Harding knew, was exactly what Vidler did not want to happen. The inspector commented on the occasion as they went upstairs to change for dinner. "I only thought he’d kick Thornton out of the house if I did,” replied Harding. “He’s not too sweet on him, though he apologised for his suspicions.” The accident seemed to fascinate Lee, and he talked about it through the whole of dinner. To Harding’s surprise, he agreed with Thornton that Sheila ought not to have gone up, that airplanes were still only in their infancy, and were liable to break any moment. This to Harding was all rank heresy, and he did not feel any better-tempered as he saw the cynical smile of amusement on Thornton’s face. Sheila went to bed early, and the four men migrated to the billiardsroom and played snooker. By common consent they avoided talking about the mysterious happenings in the manor. From different causes all were keyed up, and it would have taken very little for the game to have ended in a real quarrel, if not between Lee and Thornton, certainly between the latter and Harding. In the middle of the game Vidler was

called away to the telephone, but he made no comment on his return, save to announce shortly that he was going up to town the following morning. “I think I will come with you,” said Harding. A JOURNEY TO TOWN. As the latter’s car was in town, they decided to take the train from Hastings and drive back. There was unexpectedly no news from Jennings, and in the train Harding asked if he had reported to Scotland Yard. “As a matter of fact, he has,” replied Vidler. “That’s why I’m going up. Markham thought I'd better get the story from Jennings first hand, i’ve arranged to meet him there at two o’clock. If you care to come along, do so. “You bet 1 care,” cried Harding. The two had lunch together, and Vidler mentioned that Air Ministry officials had gone down to Rye that morning to investigate the accident. “I’ve been promised their preliminary report by two o’clock,” he answered. “They are going to telephone to the Yard. I told them what to look out for.” The superintendent greeted them In his usual booming fashion. “The commissioner won’t be more than a couple of minutes, D.V. Jennings is downstairs waiting to come up. We’ve been doing some good work while you’ve been holidaying in the country. You look tanned. I hope you've come back ready to get down to a job of work."’ “A little work wouldn’t do you any harm, John.” retorted the inspector. “Found out anything more about Simmonds?” “Not yet.” “Traced Thornton's career back?” “Partly.”

“.Made those inquiries about Lilian de Hava X asked you to?” “They're being made.” “Good Lord! Hark at the man.” cried Vidler in mock disgust. The big-framed superintendent smiled genially. “And what have you done, old scout?” he scoffed. “You were mighty silent over the telephone last night about jour exploits. If you were only half as clever as you’d like yourself to be, you’d have walked in with your prisjner by now.” “When I do, I suppose you and Hamblin will get the credit,” said D.V. “Hello, sparring again?” cried the commissioner, who had heard VidierV words as he entered the room. “What are > r ou taking my name in vain for?” “John’s trying to persuade me you have been doing some work, but it’s all partly, and not quite and progressing. Jam yesterday and jam tomorrow, but never jam today. Now I have got a little bit of jam.” He threw down the clasp tie had found in Sheila’s room, while Harding stared stonily ahead of him. He wondered Vidler had allowed him to be present while the discovery was discussed. (To be Continued Tomorrow.)