The Talleyrand Maxim - J. S. Fletcher (best ebook reader ubuntu txt) š
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lay on her table, she poured out a little of the sherry and smelled and
tasted it. No smellāother than that which ought to be there; no
tasteāother than was proper. Pratt would suspect nothing even if he
drunk the whole bottle.
Esther Mawson had anticipated Prattās desires in the way of refreshment,
and she now went to a cupboard and took from it a plate of sandwiches,
carefully swathed in a napkin. Carrying these in one hand, and the
bottle of sherry and a glass in the other, she stole quietly back to the
disused part of the house, and set her provender before its expectant
consumer. Pratt poured out a glassful of the sherry, and drank it
eagerly.
āGood stuff that!ā he remarked, smacking his lips. āSome of old John
Mallathorpeāsāno doubt.ā
āIt was here when we came, anyhow,ā replied Esther. āWellāI shall have
to go. Youāll be all right until I come back.ā
āWhat time do you think itāll be?ā asked Pratt. āMake it as soon as the
coastās clearāI want to be off.ā
āAs soon as ever sheās gone,ā agreed Esther. āI heard her order the
carriage for half-past two.ā
āAnd no fear of anybody else being about?ā asked Pratt. āThat butler
man, for instance? Or servants?ā
āIāll see to it,ā replied Esther reassuringly. āIāll lock this door and
take the key until I come backāmake yourself comfortable.ā
She locked Pratt in the old room and went off, and the willing prisoner
ate his sandwiches and drank his sherry, and looked out of a mullioned
window on the wide stretches of park and coppice and the breezy
moorlands beyond. He indulged in some reflectionsānot wholly devoid of
sentiment. He had cherished dreams of becoming the virtual owner of
Normandale. Always confident in his own powers, he had believed that
with time and patience he could have persuaded Nesta Mallathorpe to
marry himāwhy not? Nowāall owing to that cursed and unfortunate
contretemps with Parrawhite, that seemed utterly impossibleāall he
could do now was to save himselfāand to take as much as he could get.
More than once that morning, as he made his way across country, he had
remembered Parrawhiteās advice to take cash and be done with
itāperhaps, he reflected, it might have been better. Stillāwhen he
presently began his final retreat, he would carry away with him a lot of
the Mallathorpe money.
But before long Pratt indulged in no more reflectionsāsentiment or
practical. He had eaten all his sandwiches; he had drunk three-quarters
of the bottle of sherry. And suddenly he felt unusually drowsy, and he
laid his head back in his big chair, and fell soundly asleep.
THE TELEPHONE MESSAGE
If Pratt had only known what was going on in the old quarries at
Whitcliffe, about the very time that he was riding slowly out to Barford
on his bicycle, he would not only have accelerated his pace, but would
have taken good care to have chosen another route: he would also have
made haste to exchange bicycle for railway train as quickly as possible,
and to have got himself far away before anybody could begin looking for
him in his usual haunts, or at places wherein there was a possibility of
his being found. But Pratt knew nothing of what Byner had done. He was
conscious of Bynerās visit to the Green Man. He did not know what
Pickard had been told by Bill Thomson. He was unaware of anything which
Pickard had told to Byner. If he had known that Byner, guided by
Pickard, had been to the old quarries, had fixed his inquiring eye on
the shaft which was filled to its brim with water, and had got certain
ideas from the mere sight of it, Pratt would have hastened to put
hundreds of miles between himself and Barford as quickly as possible.
But all that Pratt knew was that there was a possibility of
suspicionāwhich might materialize eventually, but not immediately.
On the previous evening, Prattāhad he but known itāmade a great
mistake. Instead of going into Murgatroydās shop after he had watched
Byner and Prydale away from itāhe should have followed those two astute
and crafty persons, and have ascertained something of their movements.
Had he done so, he would certainly not have troubled to return to Peel
Row, nor to remain in Barford an hour longer than was absolutely
necessary. For Pratt was sharp-witted enough when it came to a question
of putting one and two together, and if he had tracked Prydale and the
unknown man who was with him to a certain house whereto they repaired as
soon as they quitted Murgatroydās shop, he would have drawn an inference
from the mere fact of their visit which would have thrown him into a
cold sweat of fear. But Pratt, after all, was only one man, one brain,
one body, and could not be in two places, nor go in two ways, at the
same time. He took his own wayāignorant of his destruction.
Byner also took a way of his own. As soon as he and Prydale left
Murgatroydās shop, they chartered the first cab they met with, and
ordered its driver to go to Whitcliffe Moor.
āItās the quickest thing to doāif my theoryās correct,ā observed Byner,
as they drove along, āOf course, it is all theoryāmere theory! But Iāve
grounds for it. The placeāthe timeāmere lonely situationāthat scrap
iron lying about, which would be so useful in weighting a dead body!āI
tell you, I shall be surprised if we donāt find Parrawhite at the bottom
of that water!ā
āI shouldnāt wonder,ā agreed Prydale. āOne thingās very certain, as we
shall prove before weāre through with itāPrattās put that poor devil
Murgatroyd up to this passage-to-America business. And a bit clumsily,
tooāfancy Murgatroyd being no better posted up than to tell me that
Parrawhite called on him at a certain hour that night!ā
āBut youāve got to remember that Pratt didnāt know of Parrawhiteās
affairs with Pickard, nor that he was at the Green Man at that hour,ā
rejoined Byner. āMy belief is that Pratt thinks himself safeāthat he
fancies heās provided for all contingencies. If things turn out as I
think they will, I believe we shall find Pratt calmly seated at his desk
tomorrow morning.ā
āWellāif things do turn out as you expect, weāll lose no time in
seeking him there!ā observed Prydale dryly. āWeād better arrange to get
the job done first thing.ā
āThis Mr. Shepherdāll make no objection, I suppose?ā asked Byner.
āObjection! Lorā bless youāheāll love it!ā exclaimed Prydale. āItāll be
a bit of welcome diversion to a man like him thatās naught to do. Heāll
object none, not he!ā
Shepherd, a retired quarry-owner, who lived in a picturesque old stone
house in the middle of Whitcliffe Moor, with nothing to occupy his
attention but the growing of roses and vegetables, and an occasional
glance at the local newspapers, listened to Prydaleās request with
gradually rising curiosity. Byner had at once seen that this call was
welcome to this bluff and hearty Yorkshireman, who, without any question
as to their business, had immediately welcomed them to his hearth and
pressed liquor and cigars on them: he sized up Shepherd as a man to whom
any sort of break in the placid course of retired life was a delightful
event.
āA dead man iā that old shaft iā one oā my worked out quarries!ā he
exclaimed. āYe donāt mean to say so! Anā how long dāyer think he might
haā been there, now, Prydale?ā
āSome months, Mr. Shepherd,ā replied the detective.
āWhy, then itās high time he were taken out,ā said Shepherd. āWhen might
you be thinkinā oā doinā tā job, like?ā
āAs soon as possible,ā said Prydale. āTomorrow morning, early, if thatās
convenient to you.ā
āIāll tell you what Iāll do,ā observed the retired quarry-owner. āYou
leave tā job to me. Iāll get two or three men first thing tomorrow
morning, and weāll do it reight. You be up there by half-past eight
oāclock, and weāll soon satisfy you as to whether thereās owt iā tā
shape of a dead man or not iā tā pit. You hevā grounds for believinā āat
theer isā-what?ā
āStrong grounds!ā replied the detective, āand equally strong ones for
believing the man came there by foul play, too.ā
āSay no more!ā said Shepherd. āTā mystery shall be cleared up. Deary me!
Anā to think āat Iāve walked past yon theer pit many a dozen times
within this last few oā months, and nivver dreamed āat theer wor owt in
it but watter! Howivver, gentlemen, ye can put yer minds at easeāweāll
investigate the circumstances, as the sayinā goes, before noon
tomorrow.ā
āOne other matter,ā remarked Prydale. āWe want things kept quiet. We
donāt want all the folk of the neighbourhood round about, you know.ā
āLeave it to me,ā answered Shepherd. āThereāll be me, and these men, and
yourselvesāand a pair of grapplinā irons. Weāll do it quiet and
comfortableāand weāll do it reight.ā
āOdd character!ā remarked Byner, when he and Prydale went away.
āUseful manāfor a job of that sort,ā said the detective laconically.
āNow thenāare we going to let anybody else know what weāre afterāMr.
Eldrick or Mr. Collingwood, for instance? Do you want them, or either of
them, to be present?ā
āNo!ā answered Byner, after a momentās reflection. āLet us see what
results. We can let them know, soon enough, if weāve anything to tell.
Butāwhat about Pratt?ā
āKeeping an eye on himāyou mean?ā said Prydale. āYou said just now that
in your opinion we should find him at his desk.ā
āJust soābut thatās no reason why he shouldnāt be looked after tomorrow
morning,ā answered Byner.
āAll rightāIāll put a man on to shadow him, from the time he leaves his
lodgings untilāuntil we want him,ā said the detective. āThat isāif we
do want him.ā
āIt will be one of the biggest surprises I ever had in my life if we
donāt!ā asserted Byner. āI never felt more certain of anything than I do
of finding Parrawhiteās body in that pit!ā
It was this certainty which made Byner appear extraordinarily cool and
collected, when next day, about noon, he walked into Eldrickās private
room, where Collingwood was at that moment asking the solicitor what was
being done. The certainty was now established, and it seemed to Byner
that it would have been a queer thing if he had not always had it. He
closed the door and gave the two men an informing glance.
āParrawhiteās body has been found,ā he said quietly.
Eldrick started in his chair, and Collingwood looked a sharp inquiry.
āLittle doubt about his having been murdered, just as I conjectured,ā
continued Byner. āAnd his murderer had pretty cleverly weighted his body
with scrap iron, before dropping it into a pit full of water, where it
might have remained for a long time undiscovered. Howeverāthatās
settled!ā
Eldrick got out the first question.
āPratt?ā
āPrydaleās after him,ā answered Byner. āI expect we shall hear something
in a few minutesāif heās in town. But I confess Iām a bit doubtful and
anxious now, on that score. Because, when Prydale and I got down from
Whitcliffe half an hour agoāwhere the bodyās now lying, at the _Green
Man_, awaiting the inquestāwe found Murgatroyd hanging about the police
station. Heād come to make a clean breast of itāabout Pratt. And it
unfortunately turns out that Pratt saw Prydale and me go to Murgatroydās
shop last night, and afterwards went in there himself, and of course
pumped Murgatroyd dry as to why weād been.ā
āWhy unfortunately?ā asked Collingwood.
āBecause that would
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