The Charing Cross Mystery - J. S. Fletcher (ereader with android .txt) š
- Author: J. S. Fletcher
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āNext morning?ā suggested Hetherwick.
āNext morning she was just as usual, and things went on in the usual way.ā
āDid she ever mention this man and his visit to you?ā asked Hetherwick.
āNoā ānot a word of him. But I found out something about him myself on Friday afternoon.ā
āWhat? Something relevant?ā
āMay be relevant toā āsomething. I was wondering about himā āand his printed card. I thought it odd that a medical man, so smartly dressed and all that, should present a card like thatā ānot one well printed, a cheap thing! Besides, it had no address. I wonderedā āmere inquisitiveness, perhapsā āwhere the creature came from. Now, weāve a jolly good lot of the usual reference-books there at the Homeā āand thereās a first-class right up-to-date medical directory amongst them. So I looked up the name of Dr. Cyprian Baseverie. I say, looked it upā ābut I didnāt do thatā āfor it wasnāt there! Heās neither an English, nor a Scottish, nor an Irish medical man.ā
āForeigner, then,ā said Hetherwick. āFrench, perhaps, orā āAmerican.ā
āMay be an Egyptian, or a Persian, or a Eurasian, for anything I know,ā remarked Rhona. āWhat I know is that heās not on the list in that directory, though from his speech and manner youād think heād been practising in the West End all his life! Anyway, thatās the story. Is there anything in it?ā
Hetherwick picked up his glass of claret by its stem and looked thoughtfully through the contents of the bowl.
āThe particular thing isā āthe extent and quality of Lady Riversreadeās annoyance, or dismay, or perturbation, occasioned by the manās visit,ā he said at last. āIf she was really very much upsetā āā
āIf you want my honest opinion as eyewitness and as woman,ā remarked Rhona, āLady Riversreade was very much upset. She gave me the impression that sheād just received very bad, disconcerting, unpleasant news. After seeing and watching her as she signed the letters I had no doubt whatever that the man had deliberately lied to me when he said he wanted to see the Home and its workingā āwhat he really wanted was access to Lady Riversreade.ā
āLook here!ā exclaimed Hetherwick suddenly āWere you present when this man went into Lady Riversreadeās room?ā
āPresent? Of course I was! I took him inā āmyself.ā
āYou saw them meet?ā
āTo be sure!ā
āWell, then, you know! Were they strangers? Did she recognise him? Did she show any sign of recognition whatever when she set eyes on him?ā
āNo, none! Iām perfectly certain sheād never seen the man before in her life! I could see quite well that he was an absolute stranger to her.ā
āAnd she to him?ā
āOh, that I donāt know! He may have seen her a thousand times. But Iām sure sheād never seen him.ā
Hetherwick laid down his knife and fork with a gesture of finality.
āIām going to find out who that chap is,ā he answered. āGot to!ā
āYou think his visit may have something to do with this?ā asked Rhona.
āMay, yes. Anyway, Iām not going to let any chance go. Thereās enough mystery in what you tell me about the man to make it worth while following him up. It must be done.ā
āHow will you do it?ā
āYou say he said that he was going there again next Friday at the same time? Well, the thing to do, then, is to watch and follow him when he goes away.ā
āIām afraid Iām no use for that! Heād know me.ā
āNor am I!ā āIām too conspicuous,ā laughed Hetherwick. āIf I were a head and shoulders shorter, I might be some use. But Iāve got the very manā āmy clerk, one Mapperley. Heās just the sort to follow and dog anybody and yet never be seen himself. As youāll say, when youāve the pleasure of seeing him, Mapperleyās the most ordinary, commonplace chap you ever set eyes onā āpass absolutely unnoticed in any Cockney crowd. But heās as sharp as they make āem, veiling a peculiar astuteness under his eminently undistinguished features. And what I shall do is thisā āIāll give Mapperley a full and detailed description of Dr. Cyprian Baseverie: Iāve memorised yours already; Mapperley will memorise mine. Now Baseverie, whoever he may be, will probably go down to Dorking by the 10:10 from here; so will Mapperley. And after Mapperley has once spotted his man, heāll not lose sight of him.ā
āAnd heāll doā āwhat?ā asked Rhona.
āFollow him to Dorkingā āwatch himā āfollow him back to Londonā āfind out where he goes when he returnsā ārun him to earth, in fact. Then heāll report to meā āand we shall know more than we do now, and also what to do next.ā
āI wonder what itās all going to lead to?ā said Rhona. āPretty much of a maze, isnāt it?ā
āIt is,ā agreed Hetherwick. āBut if we can only get a firm hold on a threadā āā
āAnd that might break!ā she laughed.
āWell, then, one that wonāt break,ā he said. āThere are several loose ends lying about already. Matherfieldās got a hold on one or two.ā
He went to see Matherfield next morning and told him the story that he had heard from Rhona. Matherfield grew thoughtful.
āWell, Mr. Hetherwick,ā he said, after a pause, āitās as Iāve said beforeā āif this Lady Riversreade is mixed up in it, the thing to do is to go back and get as full a history as can possibly be got of her antecedents. Weāll have to get on to thatā ābut weāll wait to see what
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