after that interview allen came no more to the red house. he was aware that his behaviour appeared shameful; for no other word was applicable to the conduct of a man who forsook a girl to whom he had been engaged a year, and refused to disclose the reason of such desertion. yet he could act in no other way, for the bar to the marriage, as revealed by edermont, was so insuperable and terrible that allen could not bring himself to enlighten dora on the subject. if things looked black against him, he would have to put up with the situation as best he could. but to justify his conduct by telling the truth--he could not do so. in mercy to herself he spared her that revelation.
but if allen remained absent, others did not. when the fact of the murder became known, quite a stream of morbid people set forth to view the scene of the crime. thanks to the presence of the police, and the stubborn fact of the high wall, these folk were unable to push themselves into the house; but they gathered in crowds on the road, staring and staring, as though they hoped to see through the bricks and mortar and behold the dead body within. much speculation was rife as to the cause of the crime, but the generally accepted opinion was that edermont had been murdered by a burglar or burglars. indeed, inspector jedd inclined to this opinion himself.
this official was a fussy, pompous man, with an immense idea of his own importance; now that an opportunity occurred of displaying that importance he made the most of it. what with examining the grounds, the house, the postern-gate; what with questioning the living inmates and the doctor who had examined the body, he was as active as a squirrel, and about as useful. in his sublime self-conceit he could not see an inch beyond his nose, and accepted the first idea that came into his head. the bureau was smashed, the drawers pulled out and emptied of their contents. on these grounds inspector jedd concluded that the death was due to the wrath of an interrupted housebreaker.
"tramp, you see," he said in his jerky way to admiring subordinates. "mr. edermont--rich house, full of treasures and loose cash--mistaken whim, very; but tramp, hearing such tales in beer-shops, believes them. he climbs over the wall; mr. edermont has omitted to lock side-door. tramp enters easily--sees bureau--thinks money there. smashes desk with the bludgeon taken from the wall"--so the inspector denominated the "knobkerrie"--"mr. edermont hears noise--comes in--tramp startled--turns at bay--kills mr. edermont. takes what he can--steals keys from dead man and unlocks postern-gate--gets away. there you are! what could be simpler?"
none of inspector jedd's underlings disputed the theory of their chief, for the simple reason that they believed in it, as they would have believed in any other he chose to put forward. joad sneered when this explanation was repeated in his hearing, but, on the plea that he knew nothing about such matters, he made no comment upon it. dora also disagreed with jedd, but, being a judicious young woman, she said nothing. she herself believed that the death was due to revenge, but as yet she was too uncertain of her ground, too ignorant of mr. edermont's past life, to venture an opinion. the reading of the dead man's will proved that her insight into the matter was keener than jedd's.
but before the reading of the will came the holding of the inquest. jedd gathered together all the obtainable evidence, called all the available witnesses, with the result that nothing was discovered likely to lead to the assassin's detection. the inquest was held in the dining-room of the red house, and everybody who could obtain admittance was present; but when dora looked round the crowded room she noted that three persons whom she expected to see were absent. these were allen scott, because he was her lover, and should have been at hand to support her in this trial; mr. pallant, as he had evidently some knowledge of mr. edermont's past life, and might be curious concerning his violent death; and lady burville, because the sight of her in church had been, as dora truly believed, the genesis of all these woes. but none of the three put in an appearance, and their absence gave dora food for reflection.
the first witness called was meg gance, the cook, who deposed that she was usually locked up in her kitchen, with bedroom attached, by the deceased. on the night of the second of august he had omitted to lock her up as usual--why, she did not know. it was her custom to rise at seven and wait till mr. edermont came to let her into the main portion of the house, so that she could go about her work. she was general servant as well as cook. on the morning of the third she rose as usual, but mr. edermont never came. to her surprise she found the door leading to the front of the house was unlocked. she passed through with broom and dust-pan to seek the study, which she usually cleaned the first thing in the morning. there she saw mr. edermont lying dead near the desk, with his head smashed. the bureau was smashed also, the drawers were pulled out, and their contents untidily tumbled on the floor. near the dead body lay a pistol and a stick (the knobkerrie) which had been taken from the wall. at once she called miss carew. the witness stated that she had heard no noise during the night. she had noticed no tramps or suspicious characters looking round the house of late.
the second witness was dora carew, who stated that she had retired as usual on the previous night at half-past nine, leaving mr. edermont to lock up. her guardian usually locked the door which closed the passage on the first-floor leading to her bedroom. on this night he did not do so, although she was not aware of the fact until summoned by meg the next morning. during the night she was awakened by a cry--as it seemed to her, an appeal for mercy. she listened, but could hear nothing further, and, thinking she had been dreaming, she had lain down and gone to sleep again. when she awoke in the morning she was called by meg to see the dead body. she was aware that mr. edermont considered himself a threatened man, but she had no knowledge of the person or persons whom he feared. in reply to a question, this witness stated that she heard the cry immediately before the clock in the hall struck "one." she believed that the murder had been committed at that time.
the third witness was lambert joad, who gave his evidence as follows:
he was accustomed to leave the red house at nine o'clock every night for his cottage, which was on the other side of the road. on the night of the murder he left as usual, and heard the gate locked behind him. he went to his cottage, and took his supper and read. later on he was joined by mr. pride, a tutor in a local private school, who was, like himself, a classical scholar. pride talked with him till after two o'clock in the morning, when he went away. the witness was up at seven to take a walk before breakfast, as was his custom. in crossing the fields he noticed that the postern door was open. astonished at this, and knowing that mr. edermont was particular about keeping the door closed, he went across to see what was the matter. on entering through the postern gate he went to the house. to gain the front-door he had to follow the path between laurel hedges, which passed by the glass door of the disused drawing-room, off the study. he saw that this door had no shutters up on the glass, as was customary, and was standing wide open. he uttered an exclamation of surprise, which brought miss carew into the drawing-room. she called him in, and he saw the dead body and the smashed desk. he was not aware that mr. edermont had enemies. the witness believed that edermont's fancy of being threatened with a violent death was monomania. he recognised the revolver as the property of the deceased.
the fourth witness was dr. chambers, of canterbury, who deposed that he had been summoned by inspector jedd to examine the body of the deceased. the head was smashed in by a violent blow on the left temple, and death must have been instantaneous, after giving some technical evidence relative to the injuries inflicted, this witness concluded by stating that, from the condition of the body, he was satisfied the crime had been committed between twelve and one o'clock in the morning. this assertion bore out the statement of miss carew, that she had heard the hall clock strike one shortly after the cry for mercy had awakened her.
the fifth and last witness was inspector jedd. he deposed to the state of the body, the state of the bureau, and the finding of the knobkerrie and pistol. evidently the criminal had entered the house through the side-door of the drawing-room, which was wide open, and had retreated the same way. no clue had been obtained likely to lead to the detection of the assassin. the postern gate, usually kept locked, had been found open on the morning after the crime. several tramps had been arrested on suspicion, but one and all had explained their movements on the night of the second. no one but deceased knew what was in the bureau, therefore witness was unable to say if anything was missing.
these five witnesses having given their evidence, the coroner summed up, after which the jury brought in a verdict that julian edermont had been murdered by some person or persons unknown. it was the only conclusion to which they could come in the face of such scanty facts as had been placed before them, and all present departed with the unsatisfactory feeling that the death of mr. edermont was a mystery, and, what is more, was likely to remain a mystery. and so a very trying and exciting day came to a conclusion.
mr. edermont was duly buried in chillum churchyard, and again dora noticed that allen was not present at the funeral. when she returned to the house, mr. carver, the long, lean lawyer from canterbury, produced the will of the dead man, and read it to herself and joad. as mr. edermont had no relations, these two were the only people likely to be interested in the disposition of his property. the will was a peculiar one, and reflected the lifelong fear of edermont. since he had been relieved of that fear by the visit of mr. pallant, he had not troubled to execute another testament; so the document read by mr. carver showed how vivid had been his presentiment of meeting with a violent end. the result had justified his fears.
the property included the red house and its surrounding acres, the pictures and silver, and also the rental of three farms, amounting to two hundred a year. all this--house, pictures, silver, and income--was left to dora, on condition that she remained at the red house, and permitted lambert joad to continue his life there on the same footing as during the life of the deceased. the rest of the property, consisting of stocks and shares and various investments, amounted in all to some fifty thousand pounds. and now came the surprising part of the will. this large sum of money was left unconditionally to such person or persons as should discover and punish the assassin of the testator.
"for years," said the maker of the will, "i have been threatened with violent death by a certain enemy. sooner or later, in spite of all my precautions, he will succeed in carrying out his wicked purpose. in that event i am content to reward the person who punishes him, or whomsoever he employs, with the sum of fifty thousand pounds. the story of my life, which sets forth how i incurred the wrath of this enemy, will be found in my bureau, sealed with my seal. let my ward, dora carew, read the document, and discover the assassin, so that she can at once revenge my death and inherit my money. but in any case she is provided for, as is lambert joad; and the bulk of my estate must go to him or her who punishes my enemy."
then followed the usual clauses ending the will, the signatures of the testator, and of two witnesses.
when carver had finished there was a dead silence, which was broken by the lawyer himself.
"it is a strange will," said he, taking off his spectacles, "and hardly worded in a legal manner. but it holds good, nevertheless, so i can only recommend you, miss carew, or you, mr. joad, to gain fifty thousand pounds if you can."
"will that sum actually be paid over to the discoverer of the assassin?" cried joad, with sparkling eyes.
"my dear sir," said carver, with a solemn smile on his lean face, "the man or woman who discovers the murderer of my late client will receive"--he smacked his lips--"fifty thousand pounds!"
