in his anxiety to prove his theory, tod would then and there have taken his friend and arnold over to the pixy's house. but gerald, more cool-headed than the impetuous scotsman, pointed out that he had not sufficient grounds upon which to accuse the widow.
"if you ask her to explain her movements on that night she will only refuse to gratify your curiosity," said haskins positively.
"the police could make her speak."
"the police could not arrest her without a warrant, and there is not, to my mind, sufficient evidence to obtain a warrant. and certainly the police cannot ask questions about anyone's private affairs until some reason can be given to show why such questions should be asked."
"those ladies said that they were at bognor, when they really intended to come to devonshire," observed arnold, who seemed to side entirely with macandrew.
"it is a woman's privilege to change her mind, mr. arnold. and i ask you, what possible motive could mrs. crosbie have had to journey all the way to devonshire to commit an unnecessary murder."
"unnecessary?" snorted tod, displeased. "seeing that the murder is ascribed to mavis, who may thus be shut up, to provide rebb with an income, i cannot see that it is unnecessary."
"ah, but mrs. crosbie did not know that the major's income depended upon the seclusion of mavis," said haskins rapidly. "i did not tell her, as there was no reason why i should. and i am quite certain that rebb himself would not explain. if mrs. crosbie had known that his income was so uncertain she would have refused to marry him."
"perhaps she will do so now," said arnold hopefully.
"no! she has come down to see about the repairs to the pixy's house," answered gerald, "and rebb loves her too well to let her go. i believe, tod, that geary is the man who committed the murder."
"it sounds plausible enough," grumbled macandrew, "and a case could easily be built up against him. but the presence of mrs. crosbie on the spot has to be explained."
gerald rose and walked up and down the room, thinking. "i tell you what, tod," he said abruptly. "i am getting tired of poking about in the dark. i believe, as you do, and arnold does, that mavis is entirely innocent. hitherto we have kept her in hiding, so as to prove her innocence, since she may be arrested if she is discovered. well then, i think it would be best to let her be arrested."
both arnold and macandrew jumped up wrathfully! "what?" they exclaimed, and tod continued: "what is the use of charity's sacrifice if you intend to hand over mavis to the law?"
"tod," said gerald seriously, "as things stand now, we are not able to force either geary or mrs. crosbie or rebb to speak. if mavis is put on her trial they can be called as witnesses, and then the truth may come out. also mavis can be examined by two doctors--i shall insist upon that--when her sanity will certainly he proved beyond all doubt. if she is proved to be sane, then rebb will find himself in queer street and will be hard put to it to prove his innocence."
"we could have done all this in the first case," said arnold irritably.
"no," replied haskins sharply, "for then we did not have the evidence to hand that we have now. rebb, geary, and mrs. crosbie are all implicated, and we may also be able to place venosta in the witness-box. but the proof that mavis is responsible for her acts, and has been shut up in the pixy's house, while rebb enjoyed her income, will gain the sympathy of everyone, and will go far to show her innocence. i shall support her throughout the case."
"she is rebb's ward, and is under twenty-one," said tod crossly; "so the major may not allow you to support her."
"i propose to take her out of the major's keeping by making her my wife forthwith," said gerald coolly.
"but if you do, sir," cried arnold, much upset, "mavis will be arrested. indeed i doubt if you will find any clergyman who will marry her to you, seeing that she is said to be a lunatic."
"that's all right," rejoined haskins easily. "i have arranged that in my own mind. there is an old college chum of my late father's who can see both sides of the question, and i can trust him utterly. to-day i am going to london to repeat your experience and get a special license, toddy. our marriages are expensive matters, old boy, aren't they?"
tod grunted, and kicked the carpet. "when you are married, what do you intend to do?"
"i shall bring my wife down here within three days, and we shall all go over to the pixy's house. mrs. crosbie will not have left by that time, as, from the quantity of luggage she brought, i fancy she intends to remain for a week or so. then we can confront her and rebb, and, if possible, tod, i wish you to bring geary on the scene. thus all the actors in this tragedy of real life--as mrs. pelham odin would call it--will be together, and we can bring about the fall of the curtain."
"with mrs. gerald haskins in gaol," said arnold gloomily. "mavis will be arrested on rebb's information, at once."
"that is highly probable. but whether mavis appears early or late she will have to stand her trial, seeing that she is accused. also she will have to be examined as to her sanity. but in both these ordeals, i intend to be beside her as her husband." there was a pause. "well?"
"it's a forlorn hope," said macandrew, hesitating, "and risky. still----" he looked questioningly at arnold.
the little man nodded sadly. "things are so bad that they can scarcely be worse," he remarked, "and certainly, as mr. haskins thinks, a public trial would force the witnesses we want into court. once in the box, and closely examined, the truth might come to light. i think mr. haskins should do as he says, but--it is a risk."
"life is all risks," said gerald cheerfully. "well, i am going to pack up and clear off to london. and you, toddy?"
"i shall keep my eye on geary, and, if possible, i shall see mrs. crosbie, or her mother."
gerald nodded, and, matters thus being arranged, he went up to london that same afternoon, en route for southend, there to make mavis his wife. tod and arnold, left behind, remained at the prince's hotel, and wandered about the country, even as far as leegarth. they heard that the london ladies were still with the major, but did not catch a glimpse of them. and even tod, audacious as he was, shrank from going to the pixy's house and openly accusing the lively widow.
tod took occasion to pay a special visit to the devon maid, and found the hotel in charge of a rough man and his slatternly wife. it appeared that since mrs. geary's disappearance her husband had taken heavily to drink, and refused to attend to his business. his uncivilized instincts had got the better of him, and he was running wild in the neighborhood. mrs. geary, now with her mother in barnstaple, refused to return to him, or to surrender her children, and adonis talked loudly of forcing her stubborn will by law. but, as yet, he had not done anything, perhaps because he was in danger of the law himself. tod learned as much from inspector morgan, whom he met in the silbury high street on the third day after gerald's departure in search of a wife.
in the course of an idle conversation about this, that, and the other thing--for macandrew, during his holiday at the devon maid, had learned to know morgan intimately--the name of the negro was mentioned, and the inspector uttered a grunt.
"he's a black scoundrel, that," he remarked.
"why?" asked tod, pricking up his ears. "i always understood that geary was a meritorious inhabitant of denleigh. he certainly conducted the devon maid well, as i stopped there myself. you know that?"
morgan nodded. "things have changed since you and mr. haskins were there, sir," he said slowly. "it was mrs. geary who kept the inn respectable, and a miserable life she had with that sooty blackguard. but she got fed up with his brutality, and went back to her mother in barnstaple. since then the inn has gone from bad to worse, and geary is drinking."
"i heard something of this," observed tod. "why don't you pull him up?"
"i am going to," said morgan grimly. "i have my eye on him. he is nearly always drunk, and frightens children and insults women and threatens men. sooner or later he will be locked up. and the strength the man has! why, do you know, mr. macandrew, that he knocked down the river wall of the pixy's house--that portion overhanging the pool. i wanted to run him in for that, but major rebb will not prosecute, for some reason."
"he has a sneaking regard for his old servant, i suppose," said tod, smiling. "but this wall, morgan? how the dickens could one man knock it down?"
"oh, the wall has been in a shaky condition for years and years," said the inspector. "it was only held together by the ivy--the bricks and mortar were rotten."
"but even then----"
"a good strong push would have sent it over, and geary gave it that push. he was climbing over, i believe, as he wanted, mad with drink, to get into the pixy's house, and because of the ladies major rebb had ordered the gates to be closed and locked. however, he found that the wall leaned a trifle towards the cliff, and managed to knock it down. the man has an immense strength naturally, and when drink is added to that----" morgan shrugged his big shoulders. "i have known drunken men do some wonderful things in the way of superhuman strength," he finished.
"i think geary must have been superhuman to have pushed that wall over, rotten as it was. if you remember, mr. haskins climbed it."
"i remember, and a good thing it was that it didn't fall and drop him into the pool below. however, it's down now, and on that side the grounds of the pixy's house lie open to the world. by the way, how is mr. haskins? has he got over the death of that crazy girl?"
tod laughed. "i don't think myself that she was crazy, morgan, or that she killed that wretched italian woman. nor do i believe that she is dead," and he looked straightly at the officer's red face.
"have you any reason to think she is alive, sir?"
"her body has not been found," rejoined tod evasively.
"what of that? plenty of bodies are not found. but the girl was never outside the pixy's house before that time she fled after the murder. not knowing the lie of the country, it is more than probable that she tumbled into some river, or water hole, and was drowned. if alive, she certainly would have been caught by now. we have had constables all over the place for weeks."
"even now?"
"well, no. the men have been withdrawn, as so long a time has elapsed since the commission of the crime. we'll hear no more of the matter."
"never prophesy until you know, mr. inspector."
"i do know," said morgan positively. "i don't go about with my eyes shut, mr. macandrew." and after saluting he stalked in a military way down the street, leaving tod to pursue his shopping--which tod had come out to do. macandrew rather chuckled at the positive way in which this official dogberry, who could see no further than his nose, asserted that the pixy's house murder had been relegated to the past.
on the fourth day of gerald's absence tod received a letter from his friend in the character of a bridegroom. everything had gone well, as the clergyman, on hearing the whole story, told in haskins' persuasive manner, had joined mavis and his friend's son in holy matrimony. now rebb had lost his income, as the conditions of the will had been fulfilled, and in spite of all his precautions mavis had come into her own. tod would have been less than human had he not reflected with great glee that, the income being safe from rebb's clutches, his wife, as the twin sister of mavis, would benefit to the extent of three thousand a year. "and lady euphemia called me a fool," chuckled tod complacently. "what will she say when she knows that i have married an heiress and will be able to get back a part of the family estate?"
in his letter, gerald informed macandrew with great pride that mavis had learned how to sign her name, and had produced a singularly fine specimen of calligraphy. "the rest of my darling's education," wrote the young man, "will be completed by me after all these troubles are over, and we can spend a proper honeymoon."
education, as a means of passing a honeymoon, did not commend itself to tod, and he made a grimace. then he sat down and wrote a letter to amsterdam telling charity to come over and repair to mrs. pelham odin's london flat, where he would join her later. he also gave her a full account of all that had taken place, and detailed the story of the major, as to her birth, mentioning also the income which mavis intended to hand over, as soon as the mystery of the crime was solved. when tod posted this letter he took his way to denleigh to see if he could find geary and arrange for him to appear at the pixy's house. it was necessary, as gerald had explained, that all the actors in this drama should come together for the clearing up all perplexities.
but geary was not easy to be found. afraid of the official warning uttered by morgan, he had taken to the hills, and although tod roamed all over the place he could not find the man. he returned to the prince's head quite fatigued, and found a telegram from gerald, stating that he and his bride would be in silbury by the midday train next day. macandrew communicated the joyful news to arnold, who had come back from a round of bookselling--for the gnome did not neglect his business even in these anxious days--and the two had a merry little dinner on that same night, prepared by mrs. jennings' own hands. and the landlady's cooking, when she desired, was something to be wondered at. tod insisted on a bottle of champagne being sent for, and the tutor and the lawyer drank long life and happiness to the bride and bridegroom with all honors. "although," said tod, setting down his glass, "we are not yet out of the wood."
an hour after dinner, and while arnold was detailing his early connection with mavis, mrs. jennings came in, much flustered. "oh, sir," she said, "here's that horrid black landlord of the devon maid. he asks to see you, sir. i wouldn't if i were you. he's always drunk, and may be dangerous."
"never mind, i am not afraid. show him up," said tod valiantly.
mrs. jennings shook her head but did as she was bidden, and in a few minutes mr. adonis geary, looking a wreck of his former stalwart self, came into the room. however, he was perfectly sober, and very much depressed. wanderings on the hills did not agree with him, and he looked as one of his ancestors might have looked when cuban bloodhounds were hunting flesh and blood in the days of slavery.
"you wish to see me, sah?" said geary, after a casual glance at arnold.
"yes, mr. geary," replied tod, settling himself in his chair, "the fact is that things are coming to a climax, and i want you to come to the pixy's house to-morrow afternoon, say at two o'clock, to state what you know of bellaria's murder."
"i doan't know noting, sah," said the negro doggedly.
"mr. haskins believes that you know everything," retorted tod sharply, "and, unless you want to get into trouble, it will be best for you to speak out."
"i doan't know noting," said geary again, and rolled his eyes ferociously at the mention of gerald's name, "and dere's noting can hurt me. i hab sold de hotel, and nex' week i go to jamaica."
"as a pensioner of major rebb's, i suppose?"
"dat's my business, sah. dis place no place for me, when my wife go away wid my chill'n. bellaria dead--dat mad gal dead--an'----"
"you are wrong in thinking that miss durham is dead, mr. geary," said tod, exploding his bombshell according to gerald's written instruction, "she is very much alive."
geary staggered and turned his usual green. "she alive?"
"yes, and married to mr. gerald haskins. you can tell the major that if you like, mr. geary, and tell him also that we are all coming over to-morrow to demand the six thousand a year which major rebb has held for so long. i fear that your jamaican pension is not very safe."
geary stood dumfounded, clutching his breast. his dull brain could scarcely grasp the significance of this speech. but he did grasp the fact that rebb was losing the money, and that he--mr. adonis geary--would not benefit. "i tell de major," he faltered, wheeling.
"by all means," said tod easily. "i sent for you to be my messenger. come, geary, as rebb loses the money, you had better come on our side and tell us who murdered bellaria."
the negro turned at the door and drew himself up. "no, sah," he declared, with something of majesty, "i eat de major's bread, and i no betray de major." after which speech he went out abruptly.
"does that mean rebb is guilty?" tod asked arnold.
"i always said that he was," rejoined the ex-tutor dryly, and later the two retired to their several couches to ponder over the new problem.
the bride and bridegroom duly arrived the next day. tod was slightly uneasy, since geary had probably told the major, and that gentleman would undoubtedly, for his own safety, take steps to have mrs. haskins arrested. however, geary had probably not delivered the message that mavis was alive, for no officer of the law appeared to break the joy of the meeting. mavis looked slightly pale, but her courage was high, and she evidently determined to go bravely through the ordeal. united to her adored prince gerald, she was ready to face anyone and anything by his side.
after greetings and explanations and a hurried meal the whole party drove over to leegarth in a landau for the momentous meeting. as the carriage passed through the village mavis kept her veil down, so she was not recognized. the gates of the pixy's house, marvelous to relate, were open, and the carriage drove up to the house. major rebb with two ladies was on the terrace. mavis alighted and raised her veil.
"great heavens!" cried rebb, pale with terror. "mavis durham!"
"mrs. gerald haskins," she replied proudly, "and i come for my money."
