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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen of The Ashiel 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 www dot LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Garth Komira, The Ashiel Mystery by Missus Charles Bryce,
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  Speaker 1: chapter sixteen, with her white paint and her scarlet smokestack.
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  Speaker 1: The Inverashiel, one of the two small steamers that during
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  Speaker 1: the summer months plied up and down the loch and
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  Speaker 1: incidentally carried on communication between Inverashiel and Crianan, was a
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  Speaker 1: picturesque addition to the landscape as she approached the wooden
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  Speaker 1: landing stage that stood half a mile below the promontory
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  Speaker 1: on which the castle was built. It was the morning
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  Speaker 1: of Friday, the day following the funeral, and clouds were
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  Speaker 1: settling slowly down on the tops and shoulders of the hills.
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  Speaker 1: In spite of the brilliant sunset of the previous evening,
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  Speaker 1: the lock lay dark and still. Its surface wore an oily,
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  Speaker 1: treacherous look. Every detail of the Inverashiel's tub like shape
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  Speaker 1: was reflected and beautifully distorted in the water, which broke
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  Speaker 1: in long low waves from her bows as she swerved
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  Speaker 1: round to come alongside the pier. As the few passengers
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  Speaker 1: who were waiting for her crossed the short gangway, a
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  Speaker 1: shower burst over the lock, and in a few minutes
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  Speaker 1: had driven everyone into the little cabin except the two
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  Speaker 1: or three men who constituted the officers and crew of
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  Speaker 1: the steamer. One of these was in the act of
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  Speaker 1: slackening the rope by which the boat had been warped
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  Speaker 1: alongside when a running, gesticulating figure appeared in the distance,
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  Speaker 1: shouting to them to wait for him. Waited for accordingly
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  Speaker 1: he was, and in a few minutes Gimblet, rather out
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  Speaker 1: of breath after his run, hurried on board, and with
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  Speaker 1: a word of apology and thanks to the obliging skipper,
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  Speaker 1: turned like the other passengers towards the shelter of the cabin.
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  Speaker 1: With his hand on the knob of the door, he
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  Speaker 1: hesitated through the glass top. He had just caught sight
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  Speaker 1: of a figure that seemed familiar. He had seen that
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  Speaker 1: Tweed before. The short girl, with her back to him,
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  Speaker 1: was wearing the dress in which he had seen her
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  Speaker 1: on the Wednesday night. Searching among Lord Ashiel's papers in
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  Speaker 1: the library at the castle. It was Julia Romaninov beyond
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  Speaker 1: a doubt, and Gimblet drew back quickly and took up
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  Speaker 1: his position behind the funnels on the afterdeck in spite
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  Speaker 1: of the rain. He remained there until the boat reached Crianan,
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  Speaker 1: leaning against the rail with his collar turned up and
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  Speaker 1: his soft felt hat pulled down over his ears so
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  Speaker 1: that little of him was visible except the tip of
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  Speaker 1: his nose. His mind, always active, was busier than usual
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  Speaker 1: as he watched the ripples roll away in endless succession
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  Speaker 1: from the sides of the Inverashiel, which looked so strangely
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  Speaker 1: less white on closer inspection, or followed the smooth, soaring
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  Speaker 1: movements of the gulls that swooped and circled around her
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  Speaker 1: as she puffed and panted her way across the black
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  Speaker 1: Taciturn waters. As they drew near to Crianan, he concealed
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  Speaker 1: himself still more carefully behind a pile of crates, and
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  Speaker 1: not till Miss Romaninov had left the steamer did he
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  Speaker 1: emerge from his hiding place and step warily off the boat.
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  Speaker 1: The young lady was still in sight, making her way
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  Speaker 1: up the steep pitch of the main street, and the
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  Speaker 1: detective followed her, discreetly, loitering before shop windows as if
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  Speaker 1: fascinated by the display of Scottish homespuns or samples of
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  Speaker 1: Royal Stewart Tartan, and taking an extraordinary interest in fishing
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  Speaker 1: tackle and trout flies. But though the girl looked back
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  Speaker 1: more than once, the little man in the ulster, who
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  Speaker 1: was so intent on picking his way between the puddles,
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  Speaker 1: did not apparently provide her with any food for suspicions,
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  Speaker 1: and she made no attempt to see who was so
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  Speaker 1: carefully sheltered beneath the umbrella he cared. At last they
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  Speaker 1: left the cobblestones of the little town and emerged upon
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  Speaker 1: the high road, which here ran across the open moorland.
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  Speaker 1: It was difficult now to continue the pursuit unobserved, and
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  Speaker 1: Gimblet became absorbed in the contemplation of an enormous cairngorm,
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  Speaker 1: which was masquerading as an article of personal adornment in
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  Speaker 1: the window of the last outlying shop. From this position
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  Speaker 1: not without its embarrassments, since a couple of barefooted children
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  Speaker 1: came instantly to the door where they stood and stared
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  Speaker 1: at him unblinkingly. He saw the Russian advancing at a
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  Speaker 1: rapid pace across the moor, and look where he would
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  Speaker 1: could perceive no means of keeping up with her unobserved
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  Speaker 1: upon the bare side of the hill. Just as he
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  Speaker 1: decided that the distance separating them had increased to an
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  Speaker 1: extent which warranted his continuing the chase, he joyfully saw
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  Speaker 1: her slacken her pace, and at the same moment a
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  Speaker 1: man who must have been sitting behind a boulder beside
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  Speaker 1: the road, rose to his feet out of the heather
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  Speaker 1: and came forward to meet her. For ten long minutes
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  Speaker 1: they stood talking, driving poor Gimblet to the desperate expedient
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  Speaker 1: of entering the shop and demanding a closer acquaintance with
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  Speaker 1: the Cairngorm. It is humiliating to relate that he recoiled
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  Speaker 1: before it when it was placed in his hand, and
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  Speaker 1: nearly fled again into the road. However, he pulled himself
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  Speaker 1: together and held the proud proprietus, a gaunt, gray haired
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  Speaker 1: woman with knitting needles ever clicking in her dexterous hands,
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  Speaker 1: in conversation upon the theme of its unique beauties, until
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  Speaker 1: the subject was exhausted to the point of collapse. Every
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  Speaker 1: other minute he must stroll to the door and take
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  Speaker 1: a look up and down the road. A friend, he explained,
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  Speaker 1: had promised to meet him in that place, And though
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  Speaker 1: the shopwoman plainly doubted his veracity and kept a sharp
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  Speaker 1: eye that he did not take to his heels with
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  Speaker 1: the cairngorm, she did not go so far as to
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  Speaker 1: suggest his removing himself from the zone of temptation. At last,
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  Speaker 1: when for the twentieth time he put his nose round
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  Speaker 1: the door post, he saw that the pair had separated
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  Speaker 1: and were walking in opposite directions, the girl continuing on
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  Speaker 1: her way, while the man returned to the town. He
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  Speaker 1: was indeed not one hundred yards off. Gimblet plunged once
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  Speaker 1: more into the shop and fastened upon some pencils, with
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  Speaker 1: his zeal not very convincing. After his disappointing vacillation over
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  Speaker 1: the brooch, the gaunt woman cheered up. However, when he
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  Speaker 1: bought the first seventeen, she offered him and the stock,
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  Speaker 1: being exhausted, finished by purchasing a piece of India rubber,
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  Speaker 1: a stylographic pen, and a penny paper of pins, which
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  Speaker 1: she pressed upon him as particularly suited to his needs,
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  Speaker 1: and charged him fourpence for by the time he issued
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  Speaker 1: forth into the open air, his pockets full of packages.
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  Speaker 1: The stranger had passed the shop and was turning the
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  Speaker 1: corner of the next house to him. Now Gimblet devoted
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  Speaker 1: his powers of shadowing. There was no great difficulty about it.
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  Speaker 1: The man walked straight before him, looking neither to the
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  Speaker 1: right nor to the left, And as he strode along
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  Speaker 1: the wet roads, Gimblet noticed with satisfaction the long, narrow,
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  Speaker 1: pointed footprints that were deeply impressed in the muddy places.
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  Speaker 1: He had no doubt they were the same as those
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  Speaker 1: he had noticed on the beach on the day of
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  Speaker 1: his arrival. At Inverashield. The stranger turned into the Crianan Hotel,
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  Speaker 1: which stands on the lake front, fifty yards from the
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  Speaker 1: landing place of the Loch steamers. Gimblet passed the door
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  Speaker 1: without pausing and went down to the lock, where he
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  Speaker 1: mingled with the boatmen and loafers who congregated by the
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  Speaker 1: water side. He kept, however, a strict eye on the
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  Speaker 1: door of the hotel, and after a quarter of an hour,
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  Speaker 1: saw the object of his attentions emerge with fishing rod
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  Speaker 1: and basket, and crossed the road directly towards him. Gimblet
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  Speaker 1: had not been able to see his face before, but
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  Speaker 1: now he had a good look as he passed close
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  Speaker 1: beside him. He was a tall fair man, evidently a foreigner,
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  Speaker 1: but with nothing very striking about his appearance. A point
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  Speaker 1: yellow beard hid the lower part of his face, and
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  Speaker 1: for the rest his nose was short, his eyes blue
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  Speaker 1: and close together, and his forehead high and narrow. He
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  Speaker 1: looked closely at Gimblet as he went by, and for
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  Speaker 1: a moment the eyes of the two men met, both
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  Speaker 1: equally inscrutable and unflinching. Then the stranger glanced aside and
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  Speaker 1: strode on to where a small boat lay moored. The
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  Speaker 1: detective turned his back while the fair man got in
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  Speaker 1: and pushed off into the lock. Gentlemen going fishing, he
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  Speaker 1: remarked to a man who lounged hard upon the causeway,
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  Speaker 1: he's extra fonded a fishin was the reply for a
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  Speaker 1: that he's a foreign gentleman. Waiting till the boat had
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  Speaker 1: become a distant speck on the face of the waters,
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  Speaker 1: Gimblet made his way into the inn and entered into
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  Speaker 1: conversation with the landlord on the pretext of engaging rooms
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  Speaker 1: for a friend. The landlord was sorry, but the house
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  Speaker 1: was full. If he wanted them in a fortnight's time,
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  Speaker 1: he said, he could hate him the whole hotel. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: but the end of the holidays were filled up. Folks
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  Speaker 1: take their rooms a month in advance. They come here
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  Speaker 1: for the fishing on the loch, and because my houses
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  Speaker 1: to miss comfortably in the highlands. Indeed, I can well
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  Speaker 1: believe that, Gimblet assured him. I suppose you get a
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  Speaker 1: lot of tourists passing through. Though Americans, for instance, we
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  Speaker 1: hardly ever have a room to take him in. Na
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  Speaker 1: I seldom had Americans bitin' here. They may sely get
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  Speaker 1: it down to the loch, said the innkeeper. I thought,
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  Speaker 1: said Gimblet, that was a foreign looking man whom I
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  Speaker 1: saw a little while ago coming out of the hotel.
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  Speaker 1: We hear bien gentleman bay and here who belongs to
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  Speaker 1: fan parents, The landlord admitted, a Polish gentleman. He is
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  Speaker 1: Count Petrovsky, a very nice gentleman. I couldn't just gay
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  Speaker 1: him a tourists. He very keen on a fishin'. He
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  Speaker 1: is up here for it last year as well. He
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  Speaker 1: had an own boat and is head of wet, a
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  Speaker 1: trailer in effort a salmon. A great many sporting foreigners
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  Speaker 1: come to our island nowadays, Gimblet roomed. Does he get
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  Speaker 1: any fish? Ah, that's a gommand place for salmon, said
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  Speaker 1: the innkeeper, with obvious pride in his trout, tack and pike.
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  Speaker 1: May's the plenty, he added. Dear me, said Gimblet, just
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  Speaker 1: what my friend wants. I'm sorry you can't take him in.
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  Speaker 1: I must tell him to write in good time next
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  Speaker 1: year if he wants a room. As he parted from
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  Speaker 1: the landlord upon the doorstep of the Crianan Hotel, the
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  Speaker 1: rob Roy, the second of the two Loch steamers, was
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  Speaker 1: edging away from the pier under a cloud of black
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  Speaker 1: smoke from her funnel. The rain had stopped. The passengers
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  Speaker 1: were scattered on the deck and in the bows of
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  Speaker 1: the vessel. The detective caught sight of Julia Romaninov's tweed
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  Speaker 1: clad form. She was leaning against the rail and gazing
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  Speaker 1: at a distant part of the loch, where a black
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  Speaker 1: speck which might represent a rowing boat could faintly be discerned.
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  Speaker 1: She had come back then from the moorland walk. It
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  Speaker 1: was as Gimblet had expected, and though he chafed at
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  Speaker 1: the delay, he regretted less than he would have otherwise
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  Speaker 1: that he could not catch the rob roy. The Inverashiel
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  Speaker 1: would be due on her homeward trip in a couple
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  Speaker 1: of hours time, and meanwhile, he had other business that
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  Speaker 1: must be attended to. He went first to the post office,
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  Speaker 1: where he registered and posted to Scotland Yard a packet
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  Speaker 1: he had brought with him. Then, after asking his way
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  Speaker 1: of the sociable landlord of the hotel, he proceeded to
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  Speaker 1: the police station, a single storied stone building standing at
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  Speaker 1: the end of a side street. Here he made himself
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  Speaker 1: known to the inspector and imparted information which made that
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  Speaker 1: personage open his eyes considerably wider than was his custom.
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  Speaker 1: If you will bring one of your men and come
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  Speaker 1: with me yourself, said Gimblet at the conclusion of the interview,
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  Speaker 1: I think I shall be able to convince you that
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  Speaker 1: a mistake has been made. In the meantime, there will
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  Speaker 1: be no harm done by a watch being kept on
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  Speaker 1: the foreign gentleman, who is at this moment trolling for
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  Speaker 1: salmon on the loch. The inspector agreed, and when the
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  Speaker 1: Inverashiel started an hour later. On her voyage down the loch,
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  Speaker 1: she carried the two policemen on her deck, as well
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  Speaker 1: as the most notorious detective she was ever likely to
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  Speaker 1: have the privilege of conveying. It was nearly three o'clock
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  Speaker 1: when they landed on the Inverashiel Pier. The weather, which
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  Speaker 1: for the last few hours had looked like clearing, had
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  Speaker 1: now turned definitely to rain. Clouds had descended on the hills,
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  Speaker 1: and the trees in the valleys stooped and dripped in
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  Speaker 1: the saturated, mist laden air. Gimblet conducted the men to
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  Speaker 1: the cottage, where Lady Ruth anxiously awaited them. If you
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  Speaker 1: don't mind their staying here, he suggested to her, while
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  Speaker 1: I go up to the castle and consult Lord Ashiel
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  Speaker 1: about a magistrate. It will be most convenient on account
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  Speaker 1: of the distance. By all means, said Lady Ruth, I
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  Speaker 1: feel safer with them. I expect you will find Miss
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  Speaker 1: Byrne up there. She has not come into lunch, and
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  Speaker 1: I think she probably met Mark and went to lunch
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  Speaker 1: at the castle. She ought to know better than to
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  Speaker 1: go to lunch alone with a young man, and I'm
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  Speaker 1: just wondering if she has changed her mind and accepted him.
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  Speaker 1: After all, girls are kittle cattle. But I've got quite
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  Speaker 1: fond of that one, and I hope she's not forgotten
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  Speaker 1: poor David so soon. I really am feeling anxious about her.
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  Speaker 1: I dare say she has only walked further than she intended,
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  Speaker 1: said Gimblet. Or perhaps she came to a burn or
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  Speaker 1: someplace she couldn't get over and has had to go
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  Speaker 1: round a mile or two. Depend on it, that's what happened.
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  Speaker 1: But I promise you that if I find her at
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  Speaker 1: the castle, I will bring her back when I return.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter sixteen. Recording by Garth Kmierra