One of My Sons Read online

  IX

  THE CLOCK THAT HAD RUN DOWN

  In the commotion which followed, I noted two things. First, that atsight of this violence from one brother to the other, Leighton drewback without offering assistance to the one or rebuke to the other.Secondly, that Alfred's show of anger ceased as soon as it had thusexpended itself, and that his next thought was for Hope.

  But he was not allowed to approach her. The coroner now interferedwith his authority, and all words were forbidden between these membersof a disrupted household, till the police had finished aninvestigation, which had now become as serious as the crime which hadcalled it forth.

  The search was for the little phial which had held the acid, and whenit was generally understood that the investigation would not ceasetill this was found, Miss Meredith, who had clung to me as her onestay in this overturning of every other natural support, asked me inagitated tones if I thought her cousins would be subjected to personalsearch. As no other course was open to the police after the directaccusation which had just been made by the infuriated Alfred, Ianswered in the affirmative; whereupon she attempted to flee theplace, saying she could not endure to see them subjected to suchhumiliation.

  But here Alfred, as if divining her thoughts, offered his person toMr. Gryce with the remark:

  "I have nothing to conceal. Look through my pockets, if you wish. Youwill find nothing to reward your pains. _I_ am not the villain."

  A growl of anger, bridled but concentrated, came from the other sideof the room, and I caught a sudden glimpse of George, quivering underthe restraining hands of Dr. Bennett and Sweetwater, in a mad attemptto reach his brother, whom he seemed to curse between his teeth.

  "If you search him, you must do the same to me," were the words withwhich he seasoned this struggle. "You will find nothing moreincriminating on me than on him; probably less, for my pockets arealways open--while his----" A gnash of his teeth finished these almostinarticulate phrases. He was not as easily roused as his brother, butmore tenacious in his passions, and less readily appeased.

  "Peace, there! You shall both be satisfied," interposed a businesslikevoice. In face of these open accusations, the coroner felt himselfrelieved from the embarrassment which had hitherto restrained him, andmade no further effort to hide his suspicions.

  Miss Meredith, who unconsciously to herself had drawn me as far as thedrawing-room door in her efforts to escape the disquieting scene shehad herself precipitated, paused as these words left the coroner'slips, and, yielding to the terrible fascination of the moment, caughtmy arm, and clinging thus with both hands, turned her eyes again uponthe men under whose roof she had eaten, slept, and loved; ay, loved,as I knew by the tension of her body, communicated to me by thepressure of her hands.

  Suddenly that pressure was removed. Her hands had flown to her eyes,shutting out the spectacle she could no longer confront. Nor was iteasy for me to look on unmoved, or view with even an appearance ofequanimity the scene before me.

  I have not mentioned Leighton. He had not come forward with the othertwo, but he allowed his pockets to be searched without a protest whenhis turn came, though it was very evident that the proceeding causedhim more suffering and a keener sensation of disgrace than it did theother two. Was this on account of the superior sensitiveness of hisnature, or because he shrunk with a proud man's shame from thepublicity entailed upon the anomalous articles which were drawn fromhis inner pockets? When some few minutes later my eyes fell on theseobjects lying piled on the library table, I marvelled over thecharacter of a man who could gather and retain in one place a smallprayer-book, a lock of woman's hair, the programme of some commonmusic hall, and a photograph which after one glance I instinctivelyturned face downwards, lest it should fall under the eye of hiscousin, whose delicacy could not fail to be hurt by it.

  The phial had not been found on any of the young gentlemen.

  When Miss Meredith became aware that the ordeal was over, she let herhands drop, and stepped hastily into the drawing-room. I did notfollow her, but remained in the doorway watching the detectives asthey moved from room to room in the search which was now beingextended to all parts of the house. As I saw these men pass so quietlybut with such an air of authority into rooms where a few hours beforethey would have hesitated to put foot even upon the genial owner'sexpress invitation, I experienced such a realisation of the abyss intowhich this hitherto well-reputed family had fallen that I lost for alittle while that sense of personal bitterness which the predictionsevinced by Miss Meredith had so selfishly awakened.

  But to continue the summary of events.

  Seeing Leighton withdraw upstairs, followed by an officer in plainclothes, who had appeared on the scene as if by magic, I could notrefrain from asking why he was allowed to separate himself from theothers, and was much moved at being informed that he had gone up tosit by his child's bed, that child who of all in the house had foundher wonted rest.

  That he could calm himself down to such a task under the eye of onewho could have little sympathy with his feelings, whether they werethose of outraged innocence or self-accusing guilt, struck me as themost pathetic exhibition of self-control I had ever known; and morethan once during the busy hour that followed, I was visited byfleeting visions of this silent man, sitting out the night under thewatchful eye of one who moved if he so much as lowered his head tokiss the only cheek likely to smile upon him on the morrow as it hadsmiled upon him to-day.

  That the search for the missing phial was likely to be along-continued one soon became apparent to everyone. Two men who hadcarried the investigation into the room where the servants had beenshut up since early evening, came back with the report that nothinghad come to light in that quarter. At the same time two more returnedfrom above with a similar report in regard to the sleeping-rooms ofthe three brothers. Sweetwater and Gryce, who had spent the lasthalf-hour in the dining-room, appeared to have an equallyunsatisfactory tale to tell, and I was wondering what move would nowbe made, when I intercepted a glance from the coroner cast in thedirection of the drawing-room, and realised that the law was norespecter of persons and that she, she too, might be called upon togive proof of not having this tell-tale article upon her person.

  The prospect of such an indignity offered to one I regarded with morethan passing admiration unnerved me to such an extent that I washardly myself when Dr. Frisbie advanced upon me with this remark:

  "I regret the necessity, Mr. Outhwaite; but the emergencies of thecase demand the same compliance on your part as on that of the othergentlemen found upon this scene of crime. It is needless to say thatwe have the utmost confidence in your integrity, but you were herewhen Mr. Gillespie died, and have been close to a certain member ofthis family many times since--and, in short, it is a form which you asa lawyer will recognise and----"

  "No apologies," I prayed, recalling the one son of Mr. Gillespie whohad not been on the scene of crime at the time of his father's death.

  An intelligent glance from the coroner convinced me that he wasthinking of him too. Indeed, he seemed to be more than willing to haveme understand that he exacted this thorough search in order to fix thecrime on Leighton. For if the phial was not to be found anywhere inthe house, the necessary conclusion must be that it had been carriedout of it by the one person known to have left it during the criticalhalf-hour preceding Mr. Gillespie's death.

  "I understand your thoughts," quoth the coroner, who seemed to read myface like an open book. "The phial may have been smashed on thesidewalk or thrown into some refuse barrel. But that would be theunwisest thing a guilty man could do. For its odour is unmistakable,and once it is found by the men I will set looking for it atdaybreak--Well, what now?"

  Sweetwater was whispering in his ear.

  "The child? Do I remember that the father suggested she should be putto bed undressed? Oh, I cannot have you disturb the child. Used as Iam to the subterfuges of criminals I find it impossible to believethat a father could make use of his child as a medium for his ownsafety."r />
  "Or Miss Meredith?" the insidious whisperer went on.

  "Or Miss Meredith. She may have the bottle on her own person, but shewould never pass it over to the child. No, no! curb your extravagancesand confine your attention to Mr. Outhwaite, who is kind enough toallow us to inspect his pockets----"

  Here the curtain at the drawing-room door was disturbed and a pallidface looked forth.

  "I pray you," came in entreaty from Hope's set lips, "spare thisstranger, whose only crime has been to show kindness to a man he didnot know, in an extremity he did not understand. Search me; searchClaire; but do not subject this gentleman to an act so injurious. Iswear that the phial is not on him! I swear----"

  She hardly knew what she was saying. The heaped-up excitements of thelast two hours were fast unsettling her reason.

  She held out her hands imploringly. "I don't know why I care so much,"she murmured in fresh expostulation, "but I feel as if I could notbear it."

  From that moment I loved her, though I knew this interposition in mybehalf sprang from her womanly instinct rather than from thespontaneous impulse of a freshly awakened heart. I must have shown howdeeply I was moved, for the coroner looked distressed, though he gaveno signs of modifying his intention, and I was beginning to empty mypockets before his eyes, when Sweetwater's expressive countenanceshowed a sudden change, and he rushed again to the rear. Here he stooda moment before the dining-room door, striking his forehead inwrathful indecision; then he disappeared within, only to shout aloudin another instant:

  "Fool! fool! And I noticed when I first came in that the clock hadstopped. See! see!"

  We were at his side in an instant. He was standing by the mantelpiece,with the heavy French clock tilted up before our eyes. Under it,tucked away in the space allowed to the pendulum, we saw a smallhomoeopathic bottle. There was one drop of liquid at the bottom,which even before Mr. Gryce lifted the bottle to his nose werecognised by its smell to be prussic acid.

  The phial which had held the deadly dose was found.