The Talleyrand Maxim - J. S. Fletcher (best ebook reader ubuntu txt) đ
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of hisâParrawhite?â
âI told Mr. Eldrick all I know,â muttered Murgatroyd.
âVery likely,â replied Prydale, âbut thereâs a few questions this
gentleman and myself would like to ask. Can we come in?â
Murgatroyd fetched his wife to mind the shop, and took the callers into
the parlour which she had unwillingly vacated. He knew Prydale by sight
and reputation; about Byner he wondered. Finally he set him down as a
detective from Londonâand was all the more afraid of him.
âWhat do you want to know?â he asked, when the three men were alone. âI
donât think thereâs anything that I didnât tell Mr. Eldrick.â
âOh, thereâs a great deal that Mr. Eldrick didnât ask,â said Prydale.
âMr. Eldrick sort of just skirted round things, like. We want to know a
bit more. This Parrawhiteâs got to be found, dâye see, Mr. Murgatroyd,
and as you seem to be the last man who had aught to do with him in
Barford, why, naturally, we come to you. Now, to start with, you say he
came to you about getting a passage to America? Just soânow, when would
that be?â
âDay before he did get it,â answered Murgatroyd, rapidly thinking over
the memoranda which Pratt had jotted down for his benefit.
âThat,â said Prydale, âwould be on the 23rd?â
âYes,â replied Murgatroyd, â23rd November, of course.â
âWhat time, now, on the 23rd?â asked the detective.
âTime?â said Murgatroyd. âOhâin the evening.â
âBit vague,â remarked Prydale. âWhat time in the evening?â
âAs near as I can recollect,â replied Murgatroyd, âit âud be just about
half-past eight. I was thinking of closing.â
âAh!â said Prydale, with a glance at Byner, who had already told him of
Parrawhiteâs presence at the Green Man on the other side of the town,
a good two miles away, at the hour which Murgatroyd mentioned. âAh!âhe
was here in your shop at half-past eight on the evening of November 23rd
last? Asking about a ticket to America?â
âNew York,â muttered Murgatroyd.
âAnd he came next morning and bought one?â asked the detective.
âI told Mr. Eldrick that,â said Murgatroyd, a little sullenly.
âHow much did it cost?â inquired Byner.
âEight pound ten,â replied Murgatroyd. âUsual price.â
âWhat did he pay for it in?â continued Prydale.
âHe gave me a ten-pound note and I gave him thirty shillings change,â
answered Murgatroyd.
âJust so,â assented Prydale. âNow what line might that be by?â
Murgatroyd was becoming uneasy under all these questions, and his
uneasiness was deepened by the way in which both his visitors watched
him. He was a man who would have been a bad witness in any
caseânervous, ill at ease, suspicious, inclined to boggleâand in this
instance he was being forced to invent answers.
âIt wasâoh, the Royal Atlantic!â he answered at last. âIâve an agency
for them.â
âSo I noticed from the bills and placards in your window,â observed the
detective. âAnd of course you issue these tickets on their paperâIâve
seen âem before. You fill up particulars on a form and a counterfoil,
donât you? And you send a copy of those particulars to the Royal
Atlantic offices at Liverpool?â
Murgatroyd nodded silentlyâthis was much more than he bargained for,
and he did not know how much further it was going. And Prydale gave him
a sudden searching look.
âCan you show us the counterfoil in this instance?â he asked.
Murgatroyd flushed. But he managed to get out a fairly quick reply. âNo,
I canât,â he answered, âI sent that book back at the end of the year.â
âOh, wellâtheyâll have it at Liverpool,â observed Prydale. âWe can get
at it there. Of course, theyâll have your record of the entire
transaction. Heâd be down on their passenger listâunder the name of
Parsons, I think, Mr. Murgatroyd?â
âHe gave me that name,â said Murgatroyd.
Prydale gave Byner a look and both rose.
âI think thatâs about all,â said the detective. âOf course, our next
inquiry will be at Liverpoolâat the Royal Atlantic. Thank you, Mr.
Murgatroydâmuch obliged.â
Before the watchmaker could collect himself sufficiently to say or ask
more, Prydale and his companion had walked out of the shop and gone
away. And then Murgatroyd realized that he was in forâbut he did not
know what he was in for. What he did know was that if Prydale went or
sent over to Liverpool the whole thing would burst like a bubble. For
the Royal Atlantic people would tell the detectives at once that no
passenger named Parsons had sailed under their auspices on November 24th
last, and that he, Murgatroyd, had been telling a pack of lies.
Mrs. Murgatroyd, a sharp-featured woman whose wits had been sharpened by
a ten yearsâ daily acquaintance with poverty, came out of the shop into
the parlour and looked searchingly at her husband.
âWhat did them fellows want?â she demanded. âI knew one of âemâPrydale,
the detective. Now whatâs up, Reuben? More trouble?â
Murgatroyd hesitated a moment. Then he told his wife the whole story
concealing nothing.
âIf they go to the Royal Atlantic, itâll all come out,â he groaned. âI
couldnât make any excuse or explanationâanyhow! Whatâs to be done?â
âYou should haâ had naught to do wiâ that Pratt!â exclaimed Mrs.
Murgatroyd. âA scoundrelly fellow, to come and tempt poor folk to do his
dirty work! Whereâs the money?â
âLocked up!â answered Murgatroyd. âI havenât touched a penny of it. I
thought Iâd wait a bit and see if aught happened. But he assured me it
was all right, and you know as well as I do that a hundred pound doesnât
come our way every day. We want money!â
âNot at that price!â said his wife. âYou can pay too much for money, my
lad! I wish youâd told me what that Pratt was afterâhe should have
heard a bit oâ my tongue! If Iâd only knownâ-â
Just then the shop door opened, and Pratt walked in. He at once saw
Murgatroyd and his wife standing between shop and parlour, and realized
at a glance that his secret in this instance was his no longer.
âWell?â he said, walking up to the watchmaker. âYouâve had Prydale
hereâand youâd Eldrick this morning. Of course, you knew what to say to
both?â
âI wish weâd never had you here last night, young man!â exclaimed Mrs.
Murgatroyd fiercely. âWhat right have you to come here, making trouble
for folk thatâs got plenty already? But at any rate, ours was honest
trouble. Yours is like to land my husband in dishonestyâif it hasnât
done so already! And if my husband had only spoken to meâ-â
âJust let your husband speak a bit now,â interrupted Pratt, almost
insolently. âItâs you thatâs making all the trouble or noise, anyhow!
Thereâs naught to fuss about, missis. Whatâs upset you, Murgatroyd?â
âTheyâre going to the Royal Atlantic people,â muttered the watchmaker.
âOf course, itâll all come out, then. They know that I never booked any
Parsonsânor anybody else for that matterâlast November. You should haâ
thought oâ that!â
Pratt realized that the man was right. He had never thought of
thatânever anticipated that inquiry would go beyond Murgatroyd. But his
keen wits at once set to work.
âWhatâs the system?â he asked quickly. âTell meâwhatâs done when you
book anybody like that? Come on!âexplain, quick!â
Murgatroyd turned to a drawer and pulled out a book and some papers.
âItâs simple enough,â he said. âIâve this book of forms, dâye see? I
fill up this formâsort of ticket or pass for the passenger, and hand it
to himâitâs a receipt as well, to him. Then I enter the same
particulars on that counterfoil. Then I fill up one of these papers,
giving just the same particulars, and post it at once to the Company
with the passage money, less my commission. When one of these books is
finished, I return the counterfoils to Liverpoolâthey check âem.
Prydaleâs up to all that. He asked to see the counterfoil in this case.
I had to say I hadnât got itâIâd sent it to the Company. Of course,
heâll find out that I didnât.â
âLies!â said Mrs. Murgatroyd, vindictively. âAnd they didnât start wiâ
us neither!â
âWho was that other man with Prydale?â asked Pratt.
âLondon detective, I should say,â answered the watchmaker. âAnd judging
by the way he watched me, a sharp âun, too!â
âWhat impression did you getâaltogether?â demanded Pratt.
âWhy!âthat theyâre going to sift this affairâwhatever it isâright
down to the bottom!â exclaimed Murgatroyd. âTheyâre either going to find
Parrawhite or get to know what became of him. Thatâs my impression. And
what am I going to do, now! Thisâll lose me what bit of business Iâve
done with yon shipping firm.â
âNothing of the sort!â answered Pratt scornfully. âDonât be a fool!
Youâre all right. You listen to me. You writeâstraight offâto the
Royal Atlantic. Tell âem you had some inquiry made about a man named
Parsons, who booked a passage with you for New York last November. Say
that on looking up your books you found that you unaccountably forgot to
send them the forms for him and his passage money. Make out a form for
that date, and crumple it upâas if it had been left lying in a drawer.
Enclose the money in itâhere, Iâll give you ten pounds to cover it,â he
went on, drawing a banknote from his purse. âGet it off at onceâyouâve
time nowâplentyâto catch the night-mail at the General. And then, dâye
see, youâre all right. Itâs only a case thenâas far as youâre
concernedâof forgetfulness. Whatâs that?âwe all forget something in
business, now and then. Theyâll overlook thatâwhen they get the money.â
âAye, but youâre forgetting something now!â remarked Murgatroyd. âYouâre
forgetting thisâno such passenger ever went! Theyâll know that by their
passenger lists.â
âWhat the devil has that to do with it?â snarled Pratt impatiently.
âWhat the devil do we care whether any such passenger went or not? All
that youâre concerned about is to prove that you issued a ticket to
Parrawhite, under the name of Parsons. Whatâs it matter to you where
Parrawhite, alias Parsons, went, when heâd once left your shop? You
naturally thought heâd go straight to the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Station, on his way to Liverpool and New York! But, for aught you know,
he may have fallen down a drain pipe in the next street! Donât you see,
man? Thereâs nothing, thereâs nobody, not all the detectives in London
and Barford, can prove that you didnât issue a ticket to Parrawhite on
that date? It isnât up to you to prove that you did!âitâs up to them to
prove that you didnât! Andâthey canât. Itâs impossible. You get that
letter offâat onceâto Liverpool, with that money inside it, and youâre
as safe as housesâand your hundred pounds as well. Get it done! And if
those chaps come asking any more questions, tell âem youâre not going to
answer a single one! Mind you!âdo what I tell you, and youâre safe!â
With that Pratt walked out of the shop and went off towards the centre
of the town, inwardly raging and disturbed. It was very evident that
these people meant to find Parrawhite, alive or dead; evident, too, that
they had called in the aid of the Barford police. And in spite of all
his assurances to the watchmaker and his suggestion for the next move,
Pratt was far from easy about the whole matter. He would have been
easier if he had known who Prydaleâs companion wasâprobably he was, as
Murgatroyd had suggested, a London detective who
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