That night I went to a music-hall, changing one of Mr. Rothwell"s notes to enable me to do so. Afterwards I supped at a restaurant in the Strand. Then I returned to the hotel to bed. I was more than half afraid of being waylaid by Mrs. Barnes. But, to my relief, it was the maidservant who let me in. I saw and heard nothing of the landlady. I spent the night in peace.
A telegram was brought me the next morning after breakfast. It was short and to the point--
"Shall be with you at twelve-thirty.--DUNCAN ROTHWELL."
As I perceived that it had been despatched from Derby station, I concluded that Mr. Rothwell had telegraphed while in the very act of journeying to town. Half-past twelve arrived, and no one, and nothing came for me. About a quarter to one I went into the hall with some vague idea of seeing if some likely looking person might be coming down the street. The hall was really nothing but a narrow pa.s.sage. The front door was open. With his feet just inside the open doorway was a man lying face downwards on the floor. My first impulse was to beat a retreat, because I at once jumped to the conclusion that Mr. Barnes, or Mr. James Southam, or whatever the landlady"s mysterious husband"s name might be, had returned to the bosom of his family, not only unpleasantly inclined, but drunk. A brief inspection from the other end of the pa.s.sage, however, made it sufficiently clear that, whoever the rec.u.mbent individual was, it was not the gentleman who had first waited on and then a.s.saulted me.
I could see that he was, in every way, a larger man. His silk hat had fallen sufficiently off his head to enable one to perceive that he was bald. As I stood and watched him, I began to be conscious of a curiously unpleasant feeling. He lay so still; and in such an uncomfortable posture. He was a big, fat man; it struck me that he must weigh some seventeen or eighteen stone. He had fallen flat upon his stomach; his face was so close to the floor that he must have found it difficult to breathe. His right arm was bent under him, in a way which disagreeably suggested a broken limb. The man must surely be something more than drunk. He must, I told myself, have fallen in a fit.
With an indefinable feeling of repugnance, I advanced to give him aid.
I bent over him. I laid my hand upon his shoulder; I withdrew it with a start. The man"s coat was wet. I glanced at my own palm; it was covered with some red pigment. Thoroughly aroused I sprang to my feet.
"Help! Mrs. Barnes!" I cried.
Mrs. Barnes and the maidservant came running up together.
"Mrs. Barnes," I said, still staring at the patch of red upon my hand, "I believe there has been murder done."
"Murder! Oh, my G.o.d! Do you think he did it?"
I looked at her. I knew what she meant, but I did not answer her, "You had better send for the police, and for a medical man."
It was the servant who retained sufficient presence of mind to catch at my suggestion.
"Doctor Granger lives across the road. I"ll fetch him!"
She did fetch him. Luckily the doctor was at home. So soon as he learned what urgent need there was for his services, he came hurrying to render them. Presently a policeman came upon the scene. He was followed by others. They kept the street clear, for some distance from the hotel, of the crowd which began rapidly to gather. The whole house, as it were, was taken in charge.
CHAPTER IV
THE ALIAS
"This man was alive within the last few minutes." That was the doctor"s verdict. "He is still quite warm." The doctor looked at me. "What do you know about the matter?"
"Nothing. I was expecting a visitor. As he was late, I came down from the coffee-room, and went into the hall with the intention of seeing if he was coming. As I was coming down the stairs I saw this man lying on the floor."
The body had been moved into the little front room on the ground floor, which, I afterwards learned, was used as a private sitting-room for such visitors to the house as chose to pay for one.
There were present in the room, besides myself, the doctor, a young man with a shrewd but kindly face, an inspector of police, a sergeant, who kept the door, while Mrs. Barnes and the maid kept each other close company in the corner by the fireplace. When I had answered the doctor, the inspector questioned me upon his own account.
"What is that upon your hand?"
I held out the hand to which he referred.
"Blood! This unfortunate man"s blood! When I saw him lying on the floor my impression was that he was either drunk or in a fit. I laid my hand upon his shoulder with a view of rousing him. Directly I did so I found that his coat was wet. When I withdrew my hand I saw that it was covered with blood. It was then I realised that there had been foul play."
The dead man had been laid on the table. It was not large enough to hold the whole of him, so that his feet hung over the edge. He was a big man all over--in particular, he had one of the biggest heads I ever saw. There was not a hair on the top. But on his large, fat cheeks were what used to be called mutton-chop whiskers, which were in colour a dirty red. He was dressed from top to toe in glossy black broadcloth. He wore black kid gloves upon his hands. In the centre of his wide expanse of shirtfront was, so far as I was a judge of such things, a large diamond stud. A heavy gold chain spanned his waistcoat.
"Is this the person you were expecting?" inquired the inspector.
"That is more than I can tell you. The person I was expecting was to me personally a stranger."
"What was his name?"
"Duncan Rothwell. I received a telegram from him this morning to say that he would be here by half-past twelve. Here is the telegram."
I handed it to the inspector.
"Half-past twelve. And when do you say that you discovered this man on the floor?"
"About a quarter to one. When I gave the alarm the landlady of the hotel and the servant came running to me immediately. They will be able to tell you what time it was; and I should say that the doctor was here within five minutes."
The inspector turned to the doctor.
"And what was the time, sir, when you arrived?"
"I should say as nearly as possible about ten minutes to one. I lunch at one; I was just going to wash when I was called."
"And how long do you say, sir, he had then been dead?"
"He had probably been alive five minutes before."
"Then, in that case, he must have been alive when this man says he entered the hall." The inspector pointed to me.
"I do not say that. The man was stabbed in the back, under the left shoulder, probably just as he was in the act of entering the house. I have only made a superficial examination, but I think it probable that the blow killed him in an instant--before, that is, he could breathe the breath which he was breathing, as it were, right out. And I do say this, that if this gentleman had entered the hall a minute before he actually did, he would have seen the man in the very act of being murdered."
The inspector turned again to me.
"Where did this Mr. Duncan Rothwell live?"
"That also is more than I can tell you. The fact is, I know nothing whatever about him. A firm of solicitors placed him in communication with me."
"What was he coming to see you about?"
"With reference to this advertis.e.m.e.nt."
I gave the inspector the advertis.e.m.e.nt which had placed me in the position which, so far, did not promise to be much to my advantage.
"What is your name?"
"James Southam."
"Are you the James Southam here alluded to?"
"That, again, is more than I can tell you. I saw that advertis.e.m.e.nt the day before yesterday. I at once communicated with Messrs. Cleaver and Caxton. Yesterday I received this letter, and this morning the telegram which you already have."