The Riddle of the Spinning Wheel Read online

  CHAPTER XIV

  IN WHICH RHEA TAKES A HAND

  The silence that followed this last solemn remark of Cleek's was fraughtwith unknown, tremendous issues. One could have heard a pin drop in thestill room. Then at last Lady Paula stirred.

  "You have finished, Mr. Deland-- Mr. Narkom? I may go now?"

  "In one more moment, Lady Paula. There is simply the matter of the willnow to be thrashed out before you disperse and leave us to work out theproblem as best we may. You have, no doubt, put it away, Mr. Duggan? Ididn't see it here when I investigated early this morning."

  "I've done nothing of the sort, Mr. Deland."

  "Oh!---is that so? I beg you pardon. Then perhaps you, Miss Duggan?"

  "Certainly not. I've never laid a finger upon it!" returned she, with ashake of the head and amazement written all over her countenance. "I'venever thought about it again from that moment to this! Why, of course itmust have been upon the table when--when poor Father met his--death. Hewas just about to alter the name when the light went out."

  "Then you were using the electric switch last night instead of thecustomary lamp, I take it?"

  "Yes. Father did use it at intervals, and I suppose in this case hethought it better for seeing with. For it was certainly on. A lamp couldnever have failed as that light did, Mr. Deland. No doubt it would havebeen better if we had not used the electricity, for the dreadful thingcould never have taken place then, could it?"

  "And so we must put that down to Ross, and lay the whole blame upon_him_, at any rate!" snapped out Lady Paula in an angry voice; and Cleekthought, for a woman so shortly bereft, she was singularly wellrecovered from the shock--if it had ever been one in the first instance."For if he had not installed this dreadful thing, then surely, surely mypoor, poor husband would never have met with his death at all!'

  "Oh, have done with your nagging, Paula!" responded Ross irritably asshe ceased speaking.

  And Cleek obtained silence simply by stepping into the breach himself.

  "Well," he said serenely, "the will has disappeared, at any rate. Noservant has touched it, I suppose? Or entered this room last nightbefore I came, Miss Duggan?"

  "None that I know of. It's peculiar, to say the least of it."

  H'm. Then among this little company around and about him Cleekregistered the fact that one might include a thief and a murderer. Notany too pleasant a thought, when the guilt could not definitely be fixedupon any single one. But stay!--there was the boy Cyril, and if thatwill had been stolen, why should not he have done it as much as anybody?He and his mother would benefit more if the will disappeared entirelythan by the simple bequests which Maud Duggan had told him had been leftto them. A widow had always a third share by law, that was an understoodthing; and a third share of this enormous estate meant a good deal morethan one at first imagined. The boy Cyril must be interviewed in duecourse.

  Then there was another point to be taken up, the question of CaptainMacdonald's presence in these grounds last night, shortly after themurder had taken place. That gentleman must account for his movements inthe proper quarter. And if by any chance there were footprints outsidethat very window, then--b'gad! he, too, might be included in the circleof possible criminals.

  He strode quickly over to the window and leaned out of it, looking downupon the flower-bed beneath it, just a matter of three feet or so, andthe little walled-in courtyard that girt it about. Eh? what? There weremarks in the soft earth, and plenty of 'em!

  Then the assembled company fairly gasped at his next action, while Mr.Narkom, knowing him better than they did, pelted over to the window andleaned out of it. For Cleek had climbed upon the ledge and had lethimself down--light as a cat--down on to the bed, and stood looking inthrough the window at them with serenely smiling face.

  "Gad!" he ejaculated excitedly. "Well, and why not? Footprints!...Constable, just nip along into the village, and fetch me back CaptainAngus Macdonald. I want to speak to him rather particularly. Tell himit's the Law--and that he's got to come--and he'll come along prettylively, I can promise you."

  The constable nipped along forthwith, while of a sudden Maud Duggan'sflushed face went white as a dead face, and her eyes fairly blazed athim.

  "Captain Macdonald! Oh, it's ridiculous, Mr. Deland!--absurd! What onearth are you dragging _him_ in for? You must be mad to think for onemoment----"

  Cleek held up a silencing hand before he dropped to the ground and beganpeering at the footprints in the soft earth through a magnifying glass.

  "I don't think, Miss Duggan--it's a policeman's business to _know_," heretorted; and then set about his task, while those others in the fatefulroom crowded about the open window and stood looking down at him withblank, unhappy faces.

  Carefully he measured their length with his little foot-rule and notedthe size down in his pocketbook. Then he fitted one of his own slim feetinto the indentation, saw that it was rather larger and broader, steppedback upon the courtyard and faced them, all clustering about him, withserene countenance.

  "A fair-sized boot, ladies and gentlemen," he remarked; "quite afair-sized boot! Number tens, if I know anything of sizes. And lookslike hunting-boots, too. Evidently a chap who rides. Now, this CaptainMacdonald, Lady Paula----"

  "One of the finest horsemen in the country," she returned, with ashrugging of shoulders and an uplifting of brows.

  "Ah! Just so. That was what I imagined when I saw--when I encounteredhim here in these grounds last night. Light of foot, and the properbuild, too. He'll no doubt be along in the course of another threequarters of an hour (if Jameson doesn't have a dickens of a job locatinghim), so in the meanwhile, if Mr. Narkom is willing, we'll take a littleturn together and talk over things, and then come back to you here inthe allotted time. Willing, Mr. Narkom?"

  "Perfectly willing."

  And so it came about that, arm in arm, the two friends went off togetherdown by the wide driveway that led to the great doors of wrought-ironwhich Rhea so ably guarded, and Cleek, stopping in the pathway, pointedup to the statue etched out against the sky in sinister outline, andtold Mr. Narkom the story of it.

  "Cinnamon! But what a magnificent thing it is!" ejaculated thatgentleman with awe, when the tale was finished. "That's something to beproud of--eh, old chap? Now, if I had a fellow like that for an ancestorthere'd be no living with me at all! These old families!--there'scertainly something in this thing they call Birth and Race--though forthe life of me I never can make it out."

  "No," thought Cleek, with a smile, "you wouldn't." But he said nothing,merely passed on toward the iron gates, and seeing that they had beenleft ajar, clanged them to sharply behind them.

  "He'll ring his great bell when the latch falls--that's his ceremoniousway of welcoming the coming and speeding the parting guest," threw inCleek with a laugh. "I'm going to shove down the latch now, so watchhim, my friend. Here goes!"

  He sent the door clanging to with a vigorous pull, but--not a sound rangout over the still air. Rhea had failed in his duty for once in hiswhole long, dutiful lifetime. Cleek spun round and looked at him, facegone suddenly blank.

  "What the--that's the funniest thing! It's never failed before, exceptlast night, when I found it conveniently ajar," he ejaculated, staringup at the sky. "Unless--perhaps it would have failed last night, too.There's no knowing. But Miss Duggan assured me positively that thething had never been stopped. But if it _had_ been stopped for this veryhappening last night, to silence the approach of an unwanted visitor,what's to prevent 'em from swaddling the clapper up--and not had time toundo it again? And yet, when the Inspector came it rang all right.No--_that_ theory won't hold water, my friend."

  "What's that you're mumbling about, Cleek?" threw in Mr. Narkom at thisjuncture. "Clapper swaddled up? You surely don't think the bell's beenstopped for any purpose?"

  "No--simply to protect the sensitive ears of the housekeeper," threwback Cleek with a contemptuous laugh; and then whirled around upon himand caught him by the shoulder. "Forgive me, old
friend. My tonguescampers ahead of my heart sometimes, which is a very poor trait for apoliceman to possess. What I mean to say is simply this: Up to yesterdaythat bell rang--even when we came here for the first time--for I havethe evidence of my own ears to prove it. And now--it doesn't ring. Sowhat's prevented it? I'm going up to see."

  "Cleek, my dear fellow!--to climb that height! And in daylight, too!"

  "What's the harm? say I--if you'll keep watch and tell me of approachingvisitors. Here goes! Keep your eyes peeled upon the high-road, Mr.Narkom, because it wouldn't do to be seen, y'know and if any oneapproaches, whistle 'God Save the King,' and I'll slip into ahiding-place somewhere until the coast's clear. And don't tell anystrangers who you are, will you?"

  Mr. Narkom acceded to all these requests with a quick nod, took up hispost by the gateway leading out upon the road, and let his startled eyestravel backward now and again at Cleek's nimble, crawling figureclimbing steadily up the sides of the huge gates, like a lizard upon awall. Up, up, up he went, scaling the height and clinging here and thereto the twists of iron and bronze that made an easy foot-hold--until,just as the summit was reached, and he was standing abreast of theenormous figure and looking up into its great face, with the belldangling from the bar of iron upon which he stood, he heard the sound of"God Save the King" floating up to him in Mr. Narkom's whistle, dartedquickly through the giant's legs, and drew himself up against the backof him and--hoped for luck. The sound of two men's voices--and one ofthem the Superintendent's--reached him where he stood upon the narrowledge. He recognized the other as that of the bailiff, James Tavish,whom he had encountered upon the high-road only yesterday.

  Mr. Narkom dallied with him for so long, passing the time of day andmaking tactless inquiries about the murder, in his blunderbuss fashion("Dear old bungler!" Cleek apostrophized him inwardly), that he beganto wonder when the man would ever go. Then at length the voices ceased,and he saw Tavish's fine, well-set-up figure swing off in front of himup the driveway, and then himself slid back to the outer side of thestatue, lest the bailiff look back, and waited until Mr. Narkom whistled"Coast all clear" again.

  This done, Cleek swung himself down carefully, clinging on with kneesand feet in a most impossible and seemingly dangerous position whichbrought a hasty warning from Mr. Narkom, and--found the clapper of thebell at last. It wasn't such a big bell--not much bigger than a man'shead, but wrought of solid bronze, which made it almost impossible forhim to swing it up on its chain to the platform upon which he hungpoised above it. But somehow he managed to do the thing, and Mr. Narkom,watching with his heart in his mouth, saw his hand dive down inside ofthe bell and fumble there a moment. Then he heard Cleek's quick whistleof surprise as he swung the bell silently back again, and came down oncemore--empty-handed!

  "Well, what did you discover?" hastily exclaimed the Superintendent asCleek came to earth at last and stood dusting himself. "Or wasn't thereanything at all? Was the bell muffled _before_ last night's tragedy,Cleek--or is it simply a bird's nest that's lodged there and stoppedthe thing? I'm on tenterhooks to know."

  "And know you shall, old friend," said Cleek, straightening himself fromhis self-imposed task and giving his cravat a twitch with nimble fingersto its correct position once more. "It wasn't a bird's nest--not by along chalk! More like a hornet nest, I should say, between you and me;but that's apart from the question. And it wasn't muffled before thetragedy, either, Mr. Narkom. It was muffled _after_! Pretty strange,isn't it?... Yes, I thought you'd think so. Well, anyhow, I'm comingto-night to remove the 'muffling' object when the rest of the people arein bed, and I want you to help me by keeping on the watch-out. We're duefor a full moon to-night, and that'll help matters. So Rhea's in themystery, too, is he? Umm. A difficult subject to tackle as well, onaccount of his silence. But he's told me something this day that hasunravelled _one_ portion of the riddle, at all events. And when I'veunravelled the remainder, you shall hear what it is.

  "Now for Dollops, and the Three Fishers. I'm anxious to hear that 'Crownand Anchor' story from his own lips. And I've other work for him. Socome along."