Nippers "paid attention" forthwith. The idea of being in consultation with any one connected with Scotland Yard tickled his very soul; and, in fancy, he already saw his name getting into the newspapers of London, and his fame spreading far beyond his native weald.
"I won"t trouble you for the full details of the murder, Mr.
Nippers," said Cleek. "Those, I fancy, this Miss Renfrew will be able to supply when I see her. For the present, tell me: how many other occupants does the house hold beyond these two of whom you have spoken--Miss Renfrew and the cook, Mrs. Armroyd?"
"None, sir, but the scullery maid, Emily, and the parlour maid, Clark. But both of them is out to-night, sir--havin" went to a concert over at Beattie Corners. A friend of Mistress Armroyd"s sent her two tickets, and her not bein" able to go herself, her thought it a pity for "em to be wasted, so her give "em to the maids."
"I see, no male servants at all, then?"
"No, sir; not one. There"s Jones--the handy man--as comes in mornin"s to do the rough work and the haulin" and carryin" and things like that; and there"s the gardener and Mr. Kemper--him as is Mr.
Nosworth"s a.s.sistant in the laboratory, sir--but none of "em is ever in the house after five o"clock. Set against havin" men sleep in the house was Mr. Nosworth--swore as never another should after him and Master Harry had their fallin" out. Why, sir, he was that bitter he"d never even allow Mr. Charles to set foot in the place, just because him and Master Harry used to be friends--which makes it precious hard on Miss Renfrew, I can tell you."
"As how? Is this "Mr. Charles" connected with Miss Renfrew in any way?"
"Lummy! yes, sir--he"s her young man. Been sweet on each other ever since they was in pinafores; but never had no chance to marry because Mr. Charles--Mr. Charles Drummond is his full name, sir--he hasn"t one shillin" to rub against another, and Miss Renfrew she"s a little worse off than him. Never gets nothin", I"m told, for keepin"
house for her uncle--just her food and lodgin" and clothes--and her slavin" like a n.i.g.g.e.r for him the whole blessed time. Keeps his books and superintends the runnin" of the house, she do, but never gets a bra.s.s farthin" for it, poor girl. I don"t like to speak ill of the dead, Mr. Headland, sir, but this I must say: A rare old skinflint was Mr. Septimus Nosworth--wouldn"t part with a groat unless un was forced to. But praise be, her"ll get her dues now; fegs, yes! unless old skinflint went and changed his will without her knowin"."
"Oho!" said Cleek, with a strong rising inflection. "His will was made in Miss Renfrew"s favour, was it?"
"Aye. That"s why her come and put up with un and all his hardheartedness--denyin" her the pleasure o" ever seein" her young man just because him and Master Harry had been friends and playmates when t" pair of un was just boys in knickers and broad collars. There be a stone heart for you."
"Rather. Now one more question: I think you said it was Miss Renfrew who gave the alarm when the murder was discovered, Mr. Nippers. How did she give it and to whom?"
"Eh, now! to me and Mistress Armroyd, of course. Me and her war sittin" in the kitchen havin" a bite o" supper at the time. Gorham, he war there, too, in the beginnin"; but un didn"t stop, of course--"twouldn"t "a" done for the pair of us to be off duty together."
"Oh! is Gorham a constable, then?"
"Aye--under constable: second to me. Got un appointed six months ago. Him had just gone a bit of a time when Miss Renfrew come rushin" in and shrieked out about the murder; but he heard the rumpus and came poundin" back, of course. I dunno what I"d "a" done if un hadn"t, for Miss Renfrew her went from one faintin" fit to another--"twas just orful. Gorham helped Ah to carry her up to the sittin"-room, wheer Mistress Armroyd burnt feathers under her nose, and when we"d got her round a bit we all three went outside and round to the laboratory. That"s when we first see the prints of the animal"s feet. Mistress Armroyd spied "em first--all over the flower bed just under the laboratory window."
"Oho! then that is what you meant when you alluded to an "animal"
when you pounced down upon us, was it? I see. One word more: what kind of an animal was it? Or couldn"t you tell from the marks?"
"No, sir, I couldn"t--n.o.body could unless it might be Sir Ralph Droger. He"ll be like to, if anybody. Keeps all sorts of animals and birds and things in great cages in Droger Park, does Sir Ralph. One thing I can swear to, though, sir: they warn"t like the footprints of any animal as I ever see. Theer be a picture o" St. Jarge and the Dragon on the walls o" Town Hall at Birchampton, Mr. Headland, sir, and them footprints is more like the paws of that dragon than anything else I can call to mind. Scaly and clawed they is--like the thing as made "em was part bird and part beast--and they"re a good twelve inches long, every one of "em."
"Hum-m-m! That"s extraordinary. Deeply imprinted, are they?"
"Lummy! yes, sir. The animal as made "em must have weighed ten or twelve stone at least. Soon as I see them, sir, I knowed I had my work cut out, so I left Gorham in charge of the house, rattled up these two men and Mr. Simpkins, here--which all three is employed at Droger Park, sir--and set out hot foot to look for gypsies."
"Why?"
""Cause Mistress Armroyd she says as she see a gypsy lurkin" round the place just before dark, sir; and he had a queer thing like a bear"s muzzle in his hand."
"Ah, I see!" said Cleek; and gave one of his odd smiles as he turned round and looked at the superintendent. "All ready, Mr.
Narkom? Good! Let us go over to the Round House and investigate this interesting case. Dollops, stop where you are and look after the caravan. If we are away more than a couple of hours, tumble into bed and go to sleep. We may be a short time or we may be a long one. In affairs like this one never knows."
"Any ideas, old chap?" queried Narkom in a whisper as they forged along together in the wake of Nippers and his three companions.
"Yes--a great many," answered Cleek. "I am particularly anxious, Mr.
Narkom, to have a look at those footprints and an interview with Miss Renfrew. I want to meet that young lady very much indeed."
CHAPTER VIII
Twenty minutes later his desires in that respect were granted; and, having been introduced by Mr. Nippers to the little gathering in the sitting-room of the house of disaster as "a friend of mine from Scotland Yard, miss," he found himself in the presence of one of those meek-faced, dove-eyed, "mousy" little bodies who seem born to be "patient Griseldas"; and in looking at her he was minded of the description of "Lady Jane" in the poem:
"Her pulse was slow, milk white her skin-- She had not blood enough to sin."
Years of repression had told upon her, and she looked older than she really was--so old and so dragged out, in fact, that Mrs. Armroyd, the cook, appeared youthful and attractive in contrast. Indeed, it was no wonder that Mr. Ephraim Nippers had been attracted by that good soul; for, although her hair was streaked with gray, and her figure was of the "sack of flour" order, and her eyes were a.s.sisted in their offices by a pair of steel-bowed spectacles, her face was still youthful in contour, and Mr. Narkom, looking at her, concluded that at twenty-four or twenty-five she must have been a remarkably pretty and remarkably fascinating woman. What Cleek"s thoughts were upon that subject it is impossible to record; for he merely gave her one look on coming into the room, and then took no further notice of her whatsoever.
"Indeed, Mr. Headland, I am glad--I am very, very glad--that fortune has sent you into this neighbourhood at this terrible time," said Miss Renfrew when Cleek was introduced. "I do not wish to say anything disparaging of Mr. Nippers, but you can see for yourself how unfitted such men as he and his a.s.sistant are to handle an affair of this importance. Indeed, I cannot rid my mind of the thought that if more competent police were on duty here the murder would not have happened. In short, that the a.s.sa.s.sin, whoever he maybe, counted upon the blundering methods of these men as his pa.s.sport to safety."
"My own thought precisely," said Cleek. "Mr. Nippers has given me a brief outline of the affair--would you mind giving me the full details, Miss Renfrew? At what hour did Mr. Nosworth go into his laboratory? Or don"t you know, exactly?"
"Yes, I know to the fraction of a moment, Mr. Headland. I was looking at my watch at the time. It was exactly eight minutes past seven. We had been going over the monthly accounts together, when he suddenly got up, and without a word walked through that door over there. It leads to a covered pa.s.sage connecting the house proper with the laboratory. That, as you may have heard, is a circular building with a castellated top. It was built wholly and solely for the carrying on of his experiments. There is but one floor and one window--a very small one about six feet from the ground, and on the side of the Round House which looks away from this building. Nothing but the door to that is on this side, light being supplied to the interior by a roof made entirely of heavy corrugated gla.s.s."
"I see. Then the place is like a huge tube."
"Exactly--and lined entirely with chilled steel. Such few wooden appliances as are necessary for the equipment of the place are thickly coated with asbestos. I made no comment when my uncle rose and walked in there without a word. I never did. For the past six or seven months he had been absorbed in working out the details of a new invention; and I had become used to his jumping up like that and leaving me. We never have supper in this house--my uncle always called it a useless extravagance. Instead, we defer tea until six o"clock and make that the final meal of the day. It was exactly five minutes to seven when I finished my accounts, and as I had had a hard day of it, I decided to go to bed early, after having first taken a walk as far as the old bridge where I hoped that somebody would be waiting for me."
"I know," said Cleek, gently. "I have heard the story. It would be Mr. Charles Drummond, would it not?"
"Yes. He was not there, however. Something must have prevented his coming."
"Hum-m-m! Go on, please."
"Before leaving the house, it occurred to me that I ought to look into the laboratory and see if there was anything my uncle would be likely to need for the night, as I intended to go straightway to bed on my return. I did so. He was sitting at his desk, immediately under the one window of which I have spoken, and with his back to me, when I looked in. He answered my inquiry with a curt "No--nothing. Get out and don"t worry me!" I immediately shut the door and left him, returning here by way of the covered pa.s.sage and going upstairs to make some necessary changes in my dress for the walk to the old bridge. When I came down, ready for my journey, I looked at the clock on the mantel over there. It was exactly seventeen minutes to eight o"clock. I had been a little longer in dressing than I had antic.i.p.ated being; so, in order to save time in getting to the trysting place, I concluded to make a short cut by going out of the rear door and crossing diagonally through our grounds instead of going by the public highway as usual. I had scarcely more than crossed the threshold when I ran plump into Constable Gorham. As he is rather a favourite with good Mrs.
Armroyd here, I fancied that he had been paying her a visit, and was just coming away from the kitchen. Instead, he rather startled me by stating that he had seen something which he thought best to come round and investigate. In short, that, as he was patrolling the highway, he had seen a man vault over the wall of our grounds and, bending down, dart out of sight like a hare. He was almost positive that that man was Sir Ralph Droger. Of course that frightened me almost out of my wits."
"Why?"
"There was bad blood between my uncle and Sir Ralph Droger--bitter, bad blood. As you perhaps know, my uncle held this ground on a life lease from the Droger estate. That is to say, so long as he lived or refused to vacate that lease, no Droger could oust him nor yet lift one spadeful of earth from the property."
"Does Sir Ralph desire to do either?"
"He desires to do both. Borings secretly made have manifested the fact that both Barnsley thick-coal and iron ore underlie the place.
Sir Ralph wishes to tear down the Round House and this building and to begin mining operations. My uncle, who has been offered the full value of every stick and stone, has always obstinately refused to budge one inch or to lessen the lease by one half hour. "It is for the term of my life," he has always said, "and for the term of my life I"ll hold it!""
"Oho!" said Cleek; and then puckered up his lips as if about to whistle.
"Under such circ.u.mstances," went on Miss Renfrew, "it was only natural that I should be horribly frightened, and only too willing to act upon the constable"s suggestion that we at once look into the Round House and see if everything was right with my uncle."
"Why should the constable suggest that?"
"Everybody in the neighbourhood knows of the bitter ill feeling existing between the two men; so, of course, it was only natural."