"You say you would not recognize your fare if you saw him," continued Bruce. "Could you tell us, if you were shown a certain person, that he was _not_ the man? You might not be sure of the right man, but you might be sure regarding the wrong one."
"Yes, sir. It wasn"t you, and it wasn"t Mr. White, and it wasn"t a lot of other people I know. I think if I saw the man who really got into my keb, I would be able to swear that "e was like him, at any rate."
"All right. That will do for the present. Leave us your address, so that we may find you again if necessary. Here is a sovereign for you."
When Marsh had gone, Bruce turned to the detective.
"Well," he said, "if Mensmore were here now, I suppose you would want to lock him up."
"No," admitted White sadly; "the more I learn about this affair the more mixed it becomes. Still, I don"t deny but I shall be glad to have Mensmore"s explanation of his movements at that time. And so will you, Mr. Bruce."
CHAPTER XXII
A WILFUL MURDER
Bruce sent a telegram to Mrs. Hillmer at Paris. "Matters satisfactorily arranged pending your arrival," he wired, and early on Monday morning he received a reply:
"Due Charing Cross 7.30 P.M. Will drive straight to your chambers with my brother.
"GWENDOLINE HILLMER."
He forwarded the message with a note to the detective, asking him to be present.
About one o"clock Corbett turned up.
"Guess I slept well last night after the excitement," he said, with a pleasant smile. "You seemed to skeer those chaps more with a few words, Mr. Bruce, than I did with a revolver."
"The English police are not so much afraid of revolvers as they are of making mistakes," was the answer.
"Now, is that so? On our side they wouldn"t have stopped to argy. Both of "em would have drawn on me at once."
"Then I am glad, for everybody"s sake, Mr. Corbett, that the affair happened in London."
"Why, sure. But tell me. Has my friend Mensmore been getting himself into trouble?"
"Not so much as it looks. Others appear to have involved him without his knowledge, and he has lent color to the accusations by involuntary actions of a suspicious nature."
"Well, if it is permissible, I should like to hear the straight story."
Under the circ.u.mstances, Bruce thought that this stranger from America had a right to know why he was in danger of being arrested during his first twenty-four hours" residence in the country, so he gave him a succinct narrative of the _prima facie_ case against Mensmore.
Corbett listened in silence to the recital. When it ended he said:
"Mr. Bruce, my friend was incapable of murdering any woman. He was equally incapable of conducting any discreditable _liaison_ with any woman. I have known him for years, and a straighter, truer, more honorable man I never met. I don"t know what his reason was for a.s.suming my name, which he undoubtedly did, as the agent called this morning, and I find the flat is taken in my name."
"What did you say?"
"Oh, just that Mensmore had acted for me. The man seemed a bit puzzled, but he didn"t kick when I offered to pay up the rent owing since Christmas, and another quarter in advance."
"I don"t suppose he did. The rent was due, then?"
"Yes. It seems that Mensmore, writing in my name, sent a letter from Monte Carlo a month ago, saying he would return about this time and settle up."
"Thus proving his intention all along to come back to London. It is a queer muddle, Mr. Corbett, is it not?"
"Very; but you will pardon me, as an outsider, saying one thing--you all appear to have overlooked a clear trail."
"And what is that?"
"What about Mrs. Hillmer? Who is she? Who are her friends? Who maintains her in such style? Bertie was with me four years and never mentioned her name. She could not have been rich by inheritance, as it was on account of their father going broke that Mensmore had to leave the Army and come to the States. It strikes me, Mr. Bruce, that the woman knows more about this affair than the man."
"You may be right. But do not forget the absolute proofs we possess that the crime occurred in Mensmore"s chambers, and the extraordinary coincidence that he left England immediately afterwards."
"I am not forgetting anything. Those facts tell both ways. Just because he quitted the country at the time somebody may have tried to throw the blame on him."
The theory was plausible, though Bruce could not accept it.
Nevertheless, after Corbett had taken his departure he could not help thinking about his references to Mrs. Hillmer. That there was force in them he could not deny, and with the admission came the unpleasant thought that perhaps he, Bruce, was in some sense responsible for the neglect to clear up her antecedents.
However, a few hours might explain much.
With unwonted impatience the barrister awaited the coming of night. He tried every expedient to kill time, and found each operation tedious.
He dined early, and as half-past seven came and pa.s.sed he wondered why the detective did not appear.
But his doubts on this point did not last long.
"White is looking at Charing Cross to make sure of their arrival," he said to himself.
At ten minutes to eight the detective came in hurriedly.
"They will be here directly," he announced. "A servant has taken their luggage to Mrs. Hillmer"s place, and they are evidently driving straight here after taking some refreshment at the station."
"Have you no faith in human nature, Mr. White? Could you not trust their words?"
"Well, sir, my experience of human nature is that you can very seldom trust anybody"s word."
At last Smith announced Mrs. Hillmer and Mr. Mensmore.
When they entered Bruce was for the moment at a loss to know exactly how to receive them.
But Mrs. Hillmer settled the matter by greeting him with a quiet "Good-evening," and seating herself. Mensmore stood near the door, very pale and stern-looking.
"It appears, Mr. Bruce," he said, "that we met in Monte Carlo under false pretences. You were, it seems, a detective on the track of a murderer, and you were good enough to believe that I was the person you sought. It would have saved some misconception on my part had you explained our _roles_ earlier. However, I am here, to meet the charge."