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18 - Ashiel Mystery - A Detective Story by Mrs. Charles Bryce · Ashiel Mystery - A Detective Story

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Speaker 1: Chapter eighteen of The Asheyl Mystery. This is a LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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Speaker 1: by Mary Herndon Bell. The Asheyl Mystery by Missus Charles Bryce,
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Speaker 1: chapter eighteen. Later on in the afternoon, when Gimblet arrived
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Speaker 1: at the castle, he was immediately shown into the presence
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Speaker 1: of Lord Ashell, who was pacing the smoking room restlessly,
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Speaker 1: a cigarette between his teeth. He looked pale and haggard.
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Speaker 1: The strain of the last few days had evidently been
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Speaker 1: too much for him. Gimblet greeted him sympathetically. You have
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Speaker 1: not found your uncle's will I can see, he began,
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Speaker 1: And you are fretting at the idea of keeping his
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Speaker 1: daughter out of her fortune. But set your mind at rest.
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Speaker 1: We shall be able to put that right. Is she here,
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Speaker 1: by the way, he added, remembering Lady Ruth's anxiety here,
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Speaker 1: of course? Not, what do you mean, cried Mark, stopping
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Speaker 1: suddenly in his walk. Well, I was sure she was not,
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Speaker 1: Gimblet replied, But I promised to ask. Lady Ruth is
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Speaker 1: rather upset because miss Byrne did not come in to lunch.
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Speaker 1: I told her she had probably gone for a longer
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Speaker 1: walk than had been her intentions, he added soothingly, for
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Speaker 1: Mark was looking at him with a disturbed expression. He
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Speaker 1: seemed relieved, however, by the detective's suggestion. Yes, no doubt
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Speaker 1: that would be the reason, he murmured, lighting a fresh
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Speaker 1: cigarette and throwing himself down in an easy chair with
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Speaker 1: his hands clasped behind his head. No, I haven't found
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Speaker 1: any will, and there's not a corner left that I
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Speaker 1: haven't turned inside out. I suppose he never really made it,
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Speaker 1: just talked about it, probably as people are so fond
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Speaker 1: of doing. And now I'm at a loose end, all
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Speaker 1: alone in this big house, with no one to speak
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Speaker 1: to and nothing to do with myself. It's a beast
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Speaker 1: of a day. Or I should go out and try
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Speaker 1: for a salmon in self defense. Tomorrow I shall go south.
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Speaker 1: And you have you found out anything new about the
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Speaker 1: murder yet? I have found out one thing which you
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Speaker 1: will be glad to hear, said Gimblet. And that is
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Speaker 1: the place where the missing will is concealed. What cried Mark,
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Speaker 1: leaping to his feet, Where is it? What? Does it say,
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Speaker 1: give it to me. I haven't got it, Gimblet told him.
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Speaker 1: I don't know what it says, but I know where
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Speaker 1: to look for it. It is in the statue your
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Speaker 1: uncle put up on the track known as the green Way.
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Speaker 1: I have found a memorandum of his which sets the
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Speaker 1: matter beyond a doubt. And he related at length the
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Speaker 1: story of the half sheet of paper with the mysterious writing,
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Speaker 1: and how he had learnt by accident of the manner
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Speaker 1: in which the statue fitted in with the obscure directions,
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Speaker 1: omitting nothing except the fact that he had already acted
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Speaker 1: on the information so far as to make certain of
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Speaker 1: the actual existence of the tin box, and saying that
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Speaker 1: he should prefer the papers to be brought to light
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Speaker 1: in the presence of a magistrate. I believe there are
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Speaker 1: other documents there besides the will, he said, without troubling
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Speaker 1: to explain what excellent reasons he had for such a belief.
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Speaker 1: I understood from your uncle that there might be some
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Speaker 1: of an almost international importance in case any dispute should
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Speaker 1: subsequently arise about them. I wish to have more than
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Speaker 1: one reliable witness to their being found. Can you send
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Speaker 1: a man over to the lodge at Glen Liquet and
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Speaker 1: ask General Tenby to come back with him. I am
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Speaker 1: told that he is a magistrate. Gimblet did not think
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Speaker 1: it necessary to relate how he had obtained possession of
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Speaker 1: the sheet of paper bearing the injunction to face curiosity.
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Speaker 1: His adventures on that night savored too strongly of house
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Speaker 1: breaking to be drawn attention to. Your uncle must have
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Speaker 1: posted it to me in London the day before he died,
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Speaker 1: he said, mendaciously. It was forwarded here, and at first
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Speaker 1: I could make neither head nor tail of it. Why
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Speaker 1: didn't you tell me, Mark asked impatiently. And yet he added,
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Speaker 1: reflecting I might not have seen to what it referred. Yes,
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Speaker 1: of course I will send over for General Tenby. He
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Speaker 1: can't come for three or four hours, though, which will
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Speaker 1: make it rather late. Are you sure we had not
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Speaker 1: better open the thing sooner? The bull's horn at the
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Speaker 1: southeast corner turns like a key, you say, suppose some
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Speaker 1: one else finds that out and makes off with whatever
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Speaker 1: may be hidden there. I am absolutely sure we needn't
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Speaker 1: fear anything of the sort, because I have the best
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Speaker 1: of reasons for being positive that no one has the
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Speaker 1: slightest inkling of the secret, Gimblet assured him. There is
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Speaker 1: a whole gang of scoundrels after the document of which
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Speaker 1: your uncle told me, who are ready to spend any
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Speaker 1: money or risk any penalty in order to obtain it.
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Speaker 1: They will not be deterred even by having to pay
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Speaker 1: for it with their lives. You may be quite sure
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Speaker 1: that if any one had suspected where it was concealed,
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Speaker 1: it would not have been allowed to remain there, and
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Speaker 1: we should find the cash empty. But we may safely
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Speaker 1: argue that they have not found it, since in that
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Speaker 1: case they certainly would not hang about the neighborhood. Do
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Speaker 1: you mean to say, cried Mark, that you think there
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Speaker 1: are any of these kneedless people lurking about that letter
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Speaker 1: which came from Uncle Douglas, the letter from Paris. I
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Speaker 1: guessed it meant something of the sort. There is a
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Speaker 1: foreigner's staying at Criannon's, said Gimblet, whom I have every
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Speaker 1: reason to suspect more than that, there has been a
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Speaker 1: Russian in your very midst, who I am afraid you
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Speaker 1: will be shocked to hear is hand in glove with him.
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Speaker 1: Whom do you mean, exclaimed Mark, not not Julia Romaninov.
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Speaker 1: It seemed to the detective that he winced as he
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Speaker 1: uttered the name of the girl silently. Gimblet bowed his head,
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Speaker 1: and for a minute the two men stood without a word.
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Speaker 1: Then stammered, Mark, you think that she that she? Oh,
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Speaker 1: he cried, I can hardly believe that. Gimblet did not reply,
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Speaker 1: but after a few moments walked over to the writing
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Speaker 1: table and spread out a piece of notepaper. He kept
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Speaker 1: his back turned towards the young man, who seemed thankful
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Speaker 1: for an opportunity to recover his composure. His face was
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Speaker 1: still working nervously, however, when at length the detective turned
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Speaker 1: and held out a pen towards him. Will you not
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Speaker 1: write at once to General Tenby, he suggested. Mark sat
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Speaker 1: down before the blotting pad. He will be at home,
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Speaker 1: he said, mechanically. This weather will have driven them in
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Speaker 1: early if they have been shooting. The note was written
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Speaker 1: and dispatched by a groom on horseback, and then Gimblet
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Speaker 1: bad and revoir to his host at the door of
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Speaker 1: the castle. I will go back to the cottage, he said,
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Speaker 1: I have an accumulation of correspondence that absolutely must be
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Speaker 1: attended to, and I do not think there is anything
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Speaker 1: to be done up here before General Tenby comes. Once
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Speaker 1: we have the Nielis papers in our hands, I have
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Speaker 1: a little plan by which I think our birds may
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Speaker 1: be trapped. Will you meet me at the cottage at
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Speaker 1: half past six? The General will have to pass it
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Speaker 1: on the way to Verashall, and we can stop him
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Speaker 1: as he goes by. It will be about seven o'clock,
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Speaker 1: I expect, said Mark, when he gets down from Glen Liquick.
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Speaker 1: I'll be with you before he is. The Lord knows
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Speaker 1: how I shall get through the time till he comes.
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Speaker 1: I loathe writing letters, but this afternoon i'm dashed. If
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Speaker 1: I don't almost envy you and your correspondence, I know
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Speaker 1: it is the waiting that tells on one Gimblet said,
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Speaker 1: his voice full of kindly sympathy. What you want is
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Speaker 1: to get right away from this place. Its associations must
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Speaker 1: be horrible to you. No one could really be astonished
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Speaker 1: if you never set foot in it again. Mark laughed
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Speaker 1: rather bitterly. That's just what I feel like, he said. Shortly.
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Speaker 1: My uncle killed, my cousin, arrested, my friend, accused Miss
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Speaker 1: Byrne refusing to let me behave decently to her about
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Speaker 1: the money. Oh well, he pulled himself up and spoke
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Speaker 1: in a more guarded tone. One gets used to everything
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Speaker 1: in time, no doubt, But just at present, I'm afraid
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Speaker 1: I am rather depressing company. See you later. They went
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Speaker 1: their ways, Gimblet going forth into the drenching rain, which
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Speaker 1: was now falling down the road through the soaking woodland,
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Speaker 1: to the cottage, where the cry ann and policemen still
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Speaker 1: smoked their pipes undisturbed. Lady Ruth met him at the gate,
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Speaker 1: running down in her waterproof When she saw him approaching,
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Speaker 1: Where is Juliet? She cried, wasn't she at Induraschel? Hasn't
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Speaker 1: she come back? Asked Gimblet, answering her question by another
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Speaker 1: No sign of her. What can have happened, mister Gimblet,
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Speaker 1: I am really getting dreadfully anxious. She must have gone
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Speaker 1: on to the hills and lost her way in the mist.
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Speaker 1: She is sure to get back in time, Gimblet tried
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Speaker 1: to reassure her, though he himself was beginning to wonder
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Speaker 1: at the girl's absence. Perhaps, he added, she is at
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Speaker 1: missus Clutchum's I dare say that's the truth of it.
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Speaker 1: She can't be there, Lady Ruth answered, Missus Clutsam told
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Speaker 1: me she was going out all day to day to
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Speaker 1: visit her husband's sister, who is staying somewhere twenty miles
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Speaker 1: from here on the open road, and longing, of course,
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Speaker 1: to hear all about the murder at first hand. Relations
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Speaker 1: are so exacting, and if they are relations in law,
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Speaker 1: they become positive shylocks. Juliet may have gone to the lodge, though,
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Speaker 1: all the same, and stayed to keep the Romaninov girl company.
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Speaker 1: She seemed to be satisfied with this explanation, and Gimblet
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Speaker 1: had tea with her and then went to write his letters.
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Speaker 1: Soon after six, one of the policemen went down to
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Speaker 1: the high road to lie and wait for General Tenby,
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Speaker 1: and about twenty minutes past the hour, wheels rattled on
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Speaker 1: the gravel of the short carriage drive, and the General
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Speaker 1: drove up to the door. He was a tall, soldierly
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Speaker 1: looking man of between fifty and sixty, with a red
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Speaker 1: face and a keen blue eye and a precise jerky manner. Ah,
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Speaker 1: Lady Ruth, glad to see you bearing up so well
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Speaker 1: under these tragic circumstances, he said, shaking hands with that
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Speaker 1: lady who came to the door to welcome him. Poor
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Speaker 1: Ashyle ought to have had shudders to his windows. Dreadful mistake.
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Speaker 1: No shutters, let's in drafts and coals in the head.
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Speaker 1: If nothing worse. These old houses are all the same,
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Speaker 1: no safety in them from anything. Young mc conachan wrote
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Speaker 1: me an urgent note to come over. Don't quite see
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Speaker 1: what for, but here I am eh. What do you say,
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Speaker 1: oh detective from London? Is it how d'ye do? Perhaps
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Speaker 1: you can tell me what the program is? Young Lord
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Speaker 1: Ashell promised to meet us here at half past six.
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Speaker 1: Gimblet told him we expect to put our hands on
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Speaker 1: some important documents, and I was anxious you should be present.
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Speaker 1: Quite unnecessary, absolutely ridiculous. Still here, I am may as
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Speaker 1: well come along. The General went on talking to Lady Ruth,
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Speaker 1: but after a few minutes the inspector from Crianan sent
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Speaker 1: in to ask if he could speak to him, and
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Speaker 1: they retired together to Lady Ruth's little private seating room,
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Speaker 1: where they remained closeted for some time while the old
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Speaker 1: soldier was listening to what the policeman had to tell him.
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Speaker 1: Gimblet began to show signs of restlessness. He went to
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Speaker 1: the door and looked about him. The weather was clearing,
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Speaker 1: the clouds breaking and scudding fast before a wind which
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Speaker 1: had arisen in the north. A tinge of blue showed
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Speaker 1: here and there in the interstices between them, while a
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Speaker 1: veil of mists that trailed after them shone faintly orange
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Speaker 1: in the rays of the hidden sun. Gimblet went back
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Speaker 1: and sat down in the drawing room with the Scotsman
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Speaker 1: in his hand. He put it down after a few minutes, however,
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Speaker 1: and began fidgeting about the room. Then he went and
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Speaker 1: conferred with the second of the two policemen, and as
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Speaker 1: he was talking to him, the General and the inspector reappeared.
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Speaker 1: I think, said Gimblet, coming towards them, that we will
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Speaker 1: not wait any longer for Lord, ashele General Tenby, staring
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Speaker 1: at him with rather a strange expression, nevertheless silently assented,
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Speaker 1: and the four men started on their walk to the Greenway.
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Speaker 1: As they went up the glen, a ray of sunshine
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Speaker 1: emerged from between the flying clouds and fell upon the
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Speaker 1: statue at the end of the enclosed glade away to
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Speaker 1: the right. Their eyes could follow the track of a
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Speaker 1: distant shower, and as they went, a rainbow curved across
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Speaker 1: the sky, stretching from hill to hill, like some great
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Speaker 1: monumental arch set up for the celestial armies to march
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Speaker 1: under on their return from the conquest of the Earth.
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Speaker 1: That statue, Gimblet remarked to the general who walked beside him,
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Speaker 1: is a specimen of the worst modern Italian sculpture. The
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Speaker 1: figure of Pandora is modeled like a sack of potatoes.
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Speaker 1: The composition is weak and unsatisfactory, and the pediment on
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Speaker 1: which the whole group is poised large enough to support
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Speaker 1: three others of the same size. The General grunted, I
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Speaker 1: always understood that the late Lord ashele knew what he
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Speaker 1: was about. He said stiffly. He told me himself that
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Speaker 1: it cost him a great deal of money. Gimblet sighed.
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Speaker 1: He could not help feeling that it was a pity
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Speaker 1: Lord Asheyle had not earlier fallen into the habit of
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Speaker 1: consulting him. Still, he was bound to admit that though
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Speaker 1: the stone group, regarded as a work of art, was
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Speaker 1: altogether deplorable, the general effect of the erection, in its
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Speaker 1: rectangular setting of the forest was excellent. The whole scene
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Speaker 1: was one of peaceful and romantic beauty. Poets might have
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Speaker 1: sat themselves down in that moist and shining spot, and,
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Speaker 1: forgetful of the possibilities of rheumatism, found their muse inspiring
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Speaker 1: beyond the ordinary. Gimblet was at heart something of a poet,
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Speaker 1: but he felt no inclination to communicate the feelings which
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Speaker 1: the place and hour aroused in him to any of
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Speaker 1: his companions. And it was in a silence which had
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Speaker 1: in it something dimly foreboding, that the party drew near
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Speaker 1: to the statue. In silence, Gimblet approached the great block
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Speaker 1: of stone and laid his hand upon the projecting horn
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Speaker 1: of the bull, equally silently. The two policemen had taken
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Speaker 1: up positions at the end of the pedestal. The General
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Speaker 1: stood behind them, alert and interested. After a swift glance
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Speaker 1: which took in all these details, Gimblet turned the horn
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Speaker 1: round in its socket. The hidden door swung open, and
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Speaker 1: there was a sound of muttered exclamations from the police
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Speaker 1: and a loud oath from the General. Gimblet sprang around
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Speaker 1: the corner of the pedestal, and there as he expected,
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Speaker 1: cowering in the mouth of the disclosed cavity and looking
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Speaker 1: in his fury of fear and mortification for all the
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Speaker 1: world like some trapped vermin. Prouched Lord ashele, glaring at
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Speaker 1: his liberators with a rage that was hardly sane. Beyond
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Speaker 1: him on the floor at the back, they could see
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Speaker 1: the tin dispatch box standing open and empty. The two policemen,
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Speaker 1: acting on instructions previously given them, made one simultaneous grab
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Speaker 1: at the young man and dragged him into the open
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Speaker 1: with several sound seconds despair, before the door slammed to
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Speaker 1: again in obedience to the invisible mechanism that controlled it.
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Speaker 1: They set him on his legs on the wet turf
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Speaker 1: and stood one on each side of him, a retaining
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Speaker 1: hand still resting on either arm. For a moment, Mark
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Speaker 1: gazed from the General to the detective, his eyes full
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Speaker 1: of hatred. Then he controlled himself with an effort, and
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Speaker 1: when he spoke it was with a forced lightness of manner.
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Speaker 1: I have to thank you for letting me out, he said.
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Speaker 1: The air in there was getting terrible. He paused and
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Speaker 1: filled his lungs ostentatiously, but no one answered him. Losing
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Speaker 1: something of his assumed calmness. He went on uneasily. I
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Speaker 1: just thought i'd come along and see if there was
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Speaker 1: any truth in mister Gimblet's story, and I was quite
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Speaker 1: right to doubt it, since there isn't. He's not quite
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Speaker 1: as clever as he thinks, for he was as positive
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Speaker 1: as you like that my uncle's will was hidden here.
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Speaker 1: But as a matter of fact, it's not. As I
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Speaker 1: was taking the trouble to make sure when that cursed
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Speaker 1: statue shut me in. There's nothing in it of any
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Speaker 1: sort except an empty tin box. There's nothing in it now,
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Speaker 1: said Gimblet, speaking for the first time, because I had
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Speaker 1: no doubt you meant to destroy the will if you
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Speaker 1: found it, so I moved it to a safe place
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Speaker 1: last night. As for the other papers, I have sent
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Speaker 1: them to London, where they will be still safer. I
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Speaker 1: knew you would give yourself away by coming here. That's
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Speaker 1: why I told you the secret of the Bull's Horn.
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Speaker 1: Mark's face was dreadful to see. He made a menacing
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Speaker 1: step forward, as if he would throw himself upon the detective,
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Speaker 1: but the strong right hands of Inspector Cameron and Police
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Speaker 1: Constable Fraser tightened on his arms and restrained his further action.
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Speaker 1: He seemed for the first time to be conscious of
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Speaker 1: their presence. Leave go of my arm, he shouted. What
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Speaker 1: the devil do you mean by putting your dirty hands
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Speaker 1: on me, my lord, said the inspector. You had better
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Speaker 1: come quietly. I am here to arrest you for the
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Speaker 1: murder of your uncle, Lord ashele and I warn you
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Speaker 1: that anything you say may be used against you. Are
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Speaker 1: you going to arrest the whole family? Scoffed Mark, where's
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Speaker 1: your warrant? Man? I have it here, my lord, replied
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Speaker 1: the inspector, fumbling in his pocket for the paper the
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Speaker 1: astonished general had signed when the inspector had imparted to
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Speaker 1: him in Lady Ruth's little sitting room the information he
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Speaker 1: had received from mister Gimblet. As Inspector Cameron fumbled, the
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Speaker 1: young man with a sudden jerk which found them unprepared,
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Speaker 1: threw off the hold upon his arms and leaped aside.
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Speaker 1: As he did so, he plunged his hand into his
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Speaker 1: pocket and drew forth a little file. You shall never
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Speaker 1: take me alive, he cried, and lifted it to his lips.
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Speaker 1: Stop him, shouted Gimblet, throwing his whole weight upon the
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Speaker 1: uplifted arm. He forced the file away from Mark's already
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Speaker 1: open mouth. The other men rushed to his assistance, and
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Speaker 1: between them, the frustrated would be suicide was overpowered and
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Speaker 1: held firmly while the inspector fastened a pair of handcuffs
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Speaker 1: over his wrists. When it was done, he raised his
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Speaker 1: pinioned hands as well as he could and shook them
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Speaker 1: furiously at Gimblet. It's you I have to thank for this,
19:26
Speaker 1: he shouted. Curse you, you eve's dropping spy. But there
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Speaker 1: are surprises in store for you, my friend. You've got me,
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Speaker 1: it seems. And you say you've got the will, you'll
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Speaker 1: find it more difficult to lay your hands on the
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Speaker 1: arras the words, and still more the triumphant tone in
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Speaker 1: which they were uttered, cast a chill upon them all.
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Speaker 1: What do you mean? Cried Gimblet. But not another syllable
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Speaker 1: could be got out of the prisoner, and the inspector, besides,
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Speaker 1: protested against questions being addressed him. With all the elation
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Speaker 1: over his captor taken out of him, and with a
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Speaker 1: mind full of brooding anxiety, Gimblet hurried on ahead of
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Speaker 1: the returning party and burst in upon Lady Ruth with
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Speaker 1: eager inquiries, but Juliet had not returned. How was any
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Speaker 1: one to know that she had? That morning made her
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Speaker 1: way into the secret passage of the old Tower and
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Speaker 1: watched through the slip of glass in the case of
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Speaker 1: the clock, what Julia Romaninov was doing in the library,
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Speaker 1: But leaving Gimblet and Lady Ruth to organize a search
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Speaker 1: for her, we will return to Juliet in her hiding
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Speaker 1: place and see what was the end of her adventure.
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Speaker 1: End of Chapter eighteen.