influenced by audrey's love, and touched by her devotion to her mother's memory, shawe had committed himself beyond withdrawal to the rôle of knight-errant. like those of old he was going out, if not to redress a cruel wrong, at least to revenge it. he quite understood why the girl wished to punish the assassin of her mother; but he could not see how the fulfilment of the task she had set him would bring about their marriage. sir joseph cared so little for his late wife that he was quite willing to bury the bitter fact of her existence in oblivion. to reawaken recollections of the objectionable lady branwin by bringing her murderer to justice, and thus revive the whole terrible episode for the benefit of the public, would not be pleasing to the millionaire.
moreover, if shawe did accomplish his aim, branwin would only pay to him the already promised reward. he would be ready enough to give the money, since he had ample means at his disposal, but he certainly would remain firm on the question of the marriage. of course, ralph knew well enough that audrey would not fail him and would remain true. but since she refused to marry him because she fancied she would hinder his career, and since sir joseph certainly would disinherit her if she so persisted, and thus she would not bring him any money to aid that career, it seemed that there was but a faint hope she would become mrs. shawe. still, he had promised, and it only remained for him to keep his promise, with the hope that events would so turn out that the desire of his heart might be fulfilled. with this idea in his mind shawe returned to his chambers in the temple and set about making a start. but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
in the first place, shawe did not see how he could enter madame coralie's shop and ask questions from the woman and her assistants; yet, if he wished to learn anything, it was absolutely necessary to do so. madame coralie herself would certainly refuse to answer any questions, since shawe was not an accredited agent of the police. moreover, for obvious reasons connected with business, she wished the murder to be relegated to the list of undiscovered crimes. the trail assuredly started at the pink shop, as audrey had stated; but if he could not find anyone likely to give him a clue to the beginning of things, ralph disconsolately considered--and very sensibly--that there would be little chance of success. it was at this point of his meditations that he thought of perry toat.
it was a good idea, as she was the very person he required for this especial purpose. peronella toat--called perry for business purposes--was a woman-detective with whom he had come into contact over a divorce case. it was mainly owing to her shadowing of the guilty couple that the petitioner had obtained his freedom, and the judge had complimented miss toat on the way in which she had managed the business. moreover, as she was a woman, she would easily be able to penetrate into a shop entirely devoted to the needs of women, and once within those sacred walls might be able to learn what was necessary in the way of clues.
"i shall write to her at once," shawe said to himself, and drew writing materials towards him. "she's a clever little woman, and i daresay can cajole or force madame coralie into answering what questions are necessary to be put; but i'm hanged if i can see where, or how, she's going to start."
his letter brought miss toat next day to his chambers at ten o'clock, before he started for the courts. she was an undersized, colourless little woman, with a white face and drab-hued hair. her mouth was firm, with thin, pale lips, and her eyes were of a sharp grey, almost steely in their glitter. quietly arrayed in a tailor-made costume, she looked very businesslike, and her crisp, decisive manner showed that she knew the value of time. in silence she listened to shawe's exposition of the case. "it's a difficult mystery to unravel," she said, when he had finished.
"where's the mystery?" asked ralph, somewhat surprised. "the murder was no doubt committed for the sake of the diamonds. the motive is clear."
"how did the assassin know that lady branwin had jewels with her?" asked perry toat, fixing her pale eyes on his face "how did he know the position of the room in which she slept, and how did he gain admission into the court?"
"i can answer that last question," said shawe, easily. "he gained admission into the court by means of a skeleton key, which is now in the possession of the police. inspector lanton has it, i believe."
miss toat drummed on the table with her thin fingers, which were not unlike the claws of a bird of prey. "if the assassin used such a key," she remarked, "he must have examined the lock and have bought a key to fit. that would take some time, mr. shawe."
"well?" asked the barrister, puzzled.
"well," she repeated, raising her sandy eyebrows, "can't you see that the procuring of the key would take some time? yet lady branwin slept at the pink shop on the spur of the moment, as it were, and merely had the diamonds with her by chance; since--according to her daughter--she was taking them to be reset by a jeweller. if i am right," added miss toat, with emphasis--"and i think that i am right in my surmise--the assassin must have had some idea beforehand that lady branwin would sleep in the room wherein she was murdered, and would have the diamonds with her."
"but if, as you say, she slept there on the spur of the moment--"
"exactly. therein lies the difficulty--the mystery to which i alluded. the arrangement of lady branwin to stay was decided in five minutes, let us say; yet the key to the door of the court must have taken a longer time to procure. and it is strange also," mused perry toat, "that the assassin should have known the plan of the shop. how did he learn that when within the court he would be able to gain entrance into the bedrooms, let alone the fact that he could not be sure any visitors were sleeping in them?"
"then you infer," said shawe, promptly, "that the assassin must be someone attached to the pink shop?"
"why not--on the grounds that i have stated?"
"because the evidence went to show that everyone connected with the business accounted for their time. madame coralie, her husband, zobeide, badoura, and parizade, to give them their fantastical names, were in the room devoted to preparing the wares on or about the very time the murder was being committed, according to the medical evidence. peri banou was in the shop, and is the only person who was on the same floor as that of the bedroom wherein the crime took place. do you accuse her?"
"i don't accuse anyone as yet. i shall go to the shop and ask questions."
shawe shook his head sceptically. "if things are as you hint, no one will answer any questions."
"oh, i think so," said miss toat, quietly. "i know how to ask questions."
"madame coralie may not allow you to enter the shop."
"give me a five-pound note," said the detective lady, irrelevantly; and after ralph had placed one in her hand, she continued: "with this i shall buy a few things to make me beautiful for ever"--there was a faint smile on her grey face as she spoke--"between whiles i shall keep my eyes open, and find out what i wish to know."
"if you do, you're a wonder," said the barrister, quickly, for he was very doubtful of the success of her enterprise.
"you can say that," said miss toat, in an unemotional tone, "when i indicate the assassin of lady branwin. good-day."
"but when am i to see you again?" asked ralph, following her to the door.
perry toat looked back with a demure face. "when i have something to report."
"you'll do your best?" shawe urged her.
"i always do my best for my clients," she said, in a tone of faint rebuke.
"but in this case there is much money also."
"oh, i shan't charge you much, mr. shawe."
"i am not alluding to that. i shall pay you well. but if you lay hands on the assassin you shall have the thousand pounds' reward offered by--"
peronella toat interrupted with a flushed face. "one thousand pounds!" she said, drawing a deep breath. "yes, i forgot that. i must earn it. if i do, i can gain my heart's desire."
"what is that?"
she smiled demurely. "a husband," was her reply, and she vanished.
ralph went back to his room with a look of wonder. it seemed impossible that this shadow of a woman should ever be able to gain a husband, even if she had a bribe of one thousand pounds to offer her bridegroom.
for more than a week miss toat remained absent, and during that period she haunted walpole lane. she sought out madame coralie, and declared that she wanted her complexion improved. the owner of the pink shop thought that there was much room for improvement, and did wonders for the five-pound note. this was a less charge than she usually made, but since the murder, business had been bad with madame coralie, and she was willing enough to capture small fish, as the big ones, for the moment, would not be enticed into her net. after miss toat's complexion had been renovated that wily person decided to undergo a course of treatment for hair and figure, which necessitated two or three nights' stay in the shop. it was for this reason that she wrote to shawe and asked him to forward twenty pounds. he did so rather ruefully, for he was not well off, and the search for the assassin promised to be expensive. however, it was for audrey's sake, so ralph parted with very good grace with his hard-earned money.
having thus obtained funds in plenty, the detective took up her abode in the very bedroom wherein lady branwin had been murdered. she knew that it was the fatal chamber, as she had seen the plan of the shop, which the daily papers had published when the murder was the sensation of the day. madame coralie was rather vexed when miss toat mentioned this artlessly to her, on being installed in the room.
"that murder will ruin my business," said the medea of walpole lane, gloomily.
"oh, i don't think so," said her client, sweetly. "i don't mind in the least sleeping in the room where a crime has been committed."
"you are a very sensible woman, miss toat," said madame coralie, energetically. "all my friends seem to have deserted me since the death of lady branwin."
"they will come back, madame." miss toat nodded vigorously. "the event will soon pass out of their minds. by the way, has anything been heard likely to show who is guilty?"
"no," said madame coralie, savagely. "i wish i could find out. i'd kill the man for ruining my business."
"he will be killed in any case, and by the law," said miss toat, in a silky voice. "let us hope that he will be caught."
"amen to that. but i don't think he ever will."
plainly, little evidence was to be got out of madame coralie, and probably she knew nothing of the truth. if she did, she would assuredly have denounced the culprit to the police, if only out of revenge. miss toat saw that she would get no clue in that direction, and submitted herself to the treatment for hair and figure with very good grace. but the proprietress of the pink shop would have been ill-pleased had she seen the little woman slipping about the premises in the dead of night like an eel. being tiny and light-footed--especially since she wore list slippers--miss toat, when all the inmates of the place were buried in slumber, would take a dark lantern and steal round the rooms. she examined the shop itself, the passage running at the back and terminating in the door which opened on to the right-of-way, leading into walpole lane, and noticed that the house-door into the empty court was flush with those of the four bedrooms. to be precise--and miss toat in her investigation was very precise--a quartette of doors led to their several apartments, and the fifth door admitted anyone who was curious into the court. miss toat was curious, and as she found the key on a nail in the still-room--as had been mentioned in the evidence at the inquest--she opened the door and explored the court from end to end.
when her hair had been burnished to a soft golden hue, and her figure had been made less angular, she took an effusive leave of the magician, and went round to make inquiries about her of this person and that. during her stay in the shop, and by dexterous questioning, both by word of mouth and by means of the deaf-and-dumb language, perry had found out a great deal which madame coralie would have rather she had not known. armed with this knowledge, she went from pillar to post, and added to her stock of information, finally presenting herself by appointment at shawe's chambers to report progress.
the barrister scarcely knew her; for, instead of looking like a drab nonentity, she appeared quite pretty in an artificial manner. he really thought that thus transmogrified she would be able to gain the husband she had hinted at, and complimented her on her changed appearance.
"it's all in the way of business," said perry toat, disdainfully, "and as soon as i conclude my task i shall revert to my former state."
"but why?" demanded shawe, wondering if her vanity would allow this sacrifice.
but it appeared that miss toat had no vanity at all. "madame coralie's adornments are too conspicuous for one of my calling," she explained, "and i attract attention in quarters where i wish to be unknown. better to be the ugly duckling, mr. shawe, for then i can be more successful in my profession."
this remark recalled ralph to the business in hand. "i sincerely hope that you have been successful in this instance?" he said eagerly.
the woman, with her artificial air of youth and her garish mask of aggressive beauty, looked thoughtfully at the young man. "i have learnt a great deal which may be of use to you," she said slowly; "but i cannot say--so far as my opinion goes--that i have been successful."
"oh!" ralph dropped back into the chair whence he had risen, and seemed extremely disappointed. "then you have failed?"
"i don't say that."
"in that case you must have succeeded."
"i don't say that either," remarked miss toat, drily.
"you must have done one or the other," cried shawe, exasperated.
"no. i have learnt nothing very definite; but there are certain facts." she drummed on the table--her usual gesture when puzzled. "it is a very difficult case, mr. shawe."
"i know that, and for such a reason i placed it in your hands," he retorted.
miss toat nodded. "i am gratified by your opinion of my skill," she said politely. "all the same, you can't expect me to work miracles."
"is a miracle required in this case?"
"i think so." she produced a mass of notes from her bag, and laid them down before the barrister. "there you will find all that i have been able to learn," she said to her employer. "they contain information about madame coralie--information which reveals much she would give her ears not to have known. read these notes."
ralph turned over the loose papers. "i would rather hear what you have discovered by word of mouth," he said fretfully; for this beating round the bush annoyed him. "in a word, miss toat, do you suspect anyone?"
"yes, i do"--the detective leant forward with bright eyes--"but only theoretically. i suspect"--she paused for effect--"i suspect madame coralie herself as having strangled lady branwin."
