The Seven Dials mystery
"Well, it didn't seem likely. In fact, I could hardly credit it myself.
But then we came to the affair at the Abbey. You will remember how
awkward it was--specially awkward for Mr. Eversleigh here. You and
Mr. Thesiger were hand in glove. Mr. Eversleigh had already been
embarrassed by your insisting on being brought to this place, and when
he found that you had actually overheard what went on at a meeting, he
was dumfounded."
The Superintendent paused and a twinkle came into his eye.
"So was I, Lady Eileen. I never dreamt of such a thing being possible.
You put one over on me there all right.
"Well, Mr. Eversleigh was in a dilemma. He couldn't let you into the
secret of the Seven Dials without letting Mr. Thesiger in also--and
that would never do. It all suited Mr. Thesiger very well, of course,
for it gave him a bona fide reason for getting himself asked to the
Abbey, which made things much easier for him.
"I may say that the Seven Dials had already sent a warning letter to
Mr. Lomax. That was to ensure his applying to me for assistance, so
that I should be able to be on the spot in a perfectly natural manner.
I made no secret of my presence, as you know."
And again the Superintendent's eyes twinkled.
"Well, ostensibly, Mr. Eversleigh and Mr. Thesiger were to divide the
night into two watches. Really, Mr. Eversleigh and Miss St. Maur did
so. She was on guard at the library window when she heard Mr. Thesiger
coming and had to dart behind the screen.
"And now comes the cleverness of Mr. Thesiger. Up to a point he told
a perfectly true story, and I must admit that with the fight and
everything, I was distinctly shaken--and began to wonder whether he had
had anything to do with the theft at all, or whether we were completely
on the wrong track. There were one or two suspicious circumstances that
pointed in an entirely different direction, and I can tell you I didn't
know what to make of things, when something turned up to clinch matters.
"I found the burnt glove in the fireplace with the teeth marks on
it--and then--well--I knew that I'd been right after all. But, upon my
word, he was a clever one."
"What actually happened?" said Bundle. "Who was the other man?"
"There wasn't any other man. Listen, and I'll show you how in the end
I reconstructed the whole story. To begin with, Mr. Thesiger and Miss
Wade are in this together. And they have a rendezvous for an exact
time. Miss Wade comes over in her car, climbs through the fence and
comes up to the house. She's got a perfectly good story if any one
stops her--the one she told eventually. But she arrived unmolested on
the terrace just after the clock had struck two.
"Now, I may say to begin with that she was seen coming in. My men saw
her, but they had orders to stop nobody coming in--only going out. I
wanted, you see, to find out as much as possible. Miss Wade arrives
on the terrace, and at that minute a parcel falls at her feet and she
picks it up. A man comes down the ivy and she starts to run. What
happens next? The struggle--and presently the revolver shots. What will
everyone do? Rush to the scene of the fight. And Miss Loraine Wade
could have left the grounds and driven off with the formula safely in
her possession.
"But things don't happen quite like that. Miss Wade runs straight into
my arms. And at that moment the game changes. It's no longer attack but
defence. Miss Wade tells her story. It is perfectly true and perfectly
sensible.
"And now we come to Mr. Thesiger. One thing struck me at once. The
bullet wound alone couldn't have caused him to faint. Either he
had fallen and hit his head--or--well, he hadn't fainted at all.
Later we had Miss St. Maur's story. It agreed perfectly with Mr.
Thesiger's--there was only one suggestive point. Miss St. Maur said
that after the lights were turned out and Mr. Thesiger went over to
the window, he was so still that she thought he must have left the
room and gone outside. Now, if any one is in the room, you can hardly
help hearing their breathing if you are listening for it. Supposing,
then, that Mr. Thesiger _had_ gone outside. Where next? Up the ivy to
Mr. O'Rourke's room--Mr. O'Rourke's whisky and soda having been doped
the night before. He gets the papers, throws them down to the girl,
climbs down the ivy again, and--starts the fight. That's easy enough
when you come to think of it. Knock the tables down, stagger about,
speak in your own voice and then in a hoarse half-whisper. And then,
the final touch, the two revolver shots. His own Colt automatic, bought
openly the day before, is fired at an imaginary assailant. Then, with
his left gloved hand, he takes from his pocket the small Mauser pistol
and shoots himself through the fleshy part of the right arm. He flings
the pistol through the window, tears off the glove with his teeth, and
throws it into the fire. When I arrive he is lying on the floor in a
faint."
Bundle drew a deep breath.
"You didn't realize all this at the time, Superintendent Battle?"
"No, that I didn't. I was taken in as much as anyone could be. It
wasn't till long afterwards that I pieced it all together. Finding
the glove was the beginning of it. Then I made Sir Oswald throw the
pistol through the window. It fell a good way farther on than it should
have done. But a man who is right-handed doesn't throw nearly as far
with the left hand. Even then it was only suspicion--and a very faint
suspicion at that.
"But there was one point struck me. The papers were obviously thrown
down for someone to pick up. If Miss Wade was there by accident, who
was the real person? Of course, for those who weren't in the know, that
question was answered easily enough--the Countess. But there I had the
pull over you. _I knew the Countess was all right._ So what follows?
Why, the idea that the papers had actually been picked up by the person
they were meant for. And the more I thought of it, the more it seemed
to me a very remarkable coincidence that Miss Wade should have arrived
at the exact moment she did."
"It must have been very difficult for you when I came to you full of
suspicion about the Countess."
"It was, Lady Eileen. I had to say something to put you off the scent.
And it was very difficult for Mr. Eversleigh here, with the lady coming
out of a dead faint and no knowing what she might say."
"I understand Bill's anxiety now," said Bundle. "And the way he kept
urging her to take time and not talk till she felt quite all right."
"Poor old Bill," said Miss St. Maur. "That poor baby had to be vamped
against his will--getting madder'n a hornet every minute."
"Well," said Superintendent Battle, "there it was. I suspected Mr.
Thesiger--but I couldn't get definite proof. On the other hand, Mr.
Thesiger himself was rattled. He realized more or less what he was up
against in the Seven Dials--but he wanted badly to know who No. 7 was.
He got himself asked to the Cootes under the impression that Sir Oswald
Coote was No. 7."
"I suspected Sir Oswald," said Bundle, "especially when he came in from
the garden that night."
"I never suspected him," said Battle. "But I don't mind telling you
that I _did_ have my suspicions of that young chap, his secretary."
"Pongo?" said Bill. "Not old Pongo?"
"Yes, Mr. Eversleigh, old Pongo as you call him. A very efficient
gentleman and one that could have put anything through if he'd a mind
to. I suspected him partly because he'd been the one to take the
clocks into Mr. Wade's room that night. It would have been easy for him
to put the bottle and glass by the bedside then. And then, for another
thing, he was left-handed. That glove pointed straight to him--if it
hadn't been for one thing--"
"What?"
"The teeth marks--only a man whose right hand was incapacitated would
have needed to tear off that glove with his teeth."
"So Pongo was cleared."
"So Pongo was cleared, as you say. I'm sure it would be a great
surprise to Mr. Bateman to know he was ever suspected."
"It would," agreed Bill. "A solemn card--a silly ass like Pongo. How
you could ever think--"
"Well, as far as that goes, Mr. Thesiger was what you might describe as
an empty-headed young ass of the most brainless description. One of the
two was playing a part. When I decided that it was Mr. Thesiger, I was
interested to get Mr. Bateman's opinion of him. All along, Mr. Bateman
had the gravest suspicions of Mr. Thesiger and frequently said as much
to Sir Oswald."
"It's curious," said Bill, "but Pongo always is right. It's maddening."
"Well, as I say," went on Superintendent Battle, "we got Mr. Thesiger
fairly on the run, badly rattled over this Seven Dials business and
uncertain just where the danger lay. That we got him in the end was
solely through Mr. Eversleigh. He knew what he was up against, and
he risked his life cheerfully. But he never dreamt that you would be
dragged into it, Lady Eileen."
"My God, no," said Bill with feeling.
"He went round to Mr. Thesiger's rooms with a cooked-up tale,"
continued Battle. "He was to pretend that certain papers of Mr.
Devereux's had come into his hands. Those papers were to suggest
a suspicion of Mr. Thesiger. Naturally, as the honest friend, Mr.
Eversleigh rushed round, sure that Mr. Thesiger would have an
explanation. We calculated that if we were right, Mr. Thesiger would
try and put Mr. Eversleigh out of the way, and we were fairly certain
as to the way he'd do it. Sure enough, Mr. Thesiger gave his guest a
whisky and soda. During the minute or two that his host was out of the
room, Mr. Eversleigh poured that into a jar on the mantelpiece, but he
had to pretend, of course, that the drug was taking effect. It would
be slow, he knew, not sudden. He began his story, and Mr. Thesiger at
first denied it all indignantly, but as soon as he saw (or thought he
saw) that the drug was taking effect, he admitted everything and told
Mr. Eversleigh that he was the third victim.
"When Mr. Eversleigh was nearly unconscious, Mr. Thesiger took him
down to the car and helped him in. The hood was up. He must already
have telephoned to you unknown to Mr. Eversleigh. He made a clever
suggestion to you. You were to say that you were taking Miss Wade home.
"You made no mention of a message from him. Later, when your body was
found here, Miss Wade would swear that you had driven her home and gone
up to London with the idea of penetrating into this house by yourself.
"Mr. Eversleigh continued to play his part, that of the unconscious
man. I may say that as soon as the two young men had left Jermyn
Street, one of my men gained admission and found the doctored whisky,
which contained enough hydrochloride of morphia to kill two men. Also
the car they were in was followed. Mr. Thesiger drove out of town to
a well-known golf course, where he showed himself for a few minutes,
speaking of playing a round. That, of course, was for an alibi, should
one be needed. He left the car with Mr. Eversleigh in it a little way
down the road. Then he drove back to town and to the Seven Dials Club.
As soon as he saw Alfred leave, he drove up to the door, spoke to Mr.
Eversleigh as he got out in case you might be listening and came into
the house and played his little comedy.
"When he pretended to go for a doctor, he really only slammed the
door and then crept quietly upstairs and hid behind the door of this
room, where Miss Wade would presently send you up on some excuse.
Mr. Eversleigh, of course, was horror struck when he saw you, but he
thought it best to keep up the part he was playing. He knew our people
were watching the house, and he imagined that there was no immediate
danger intended to you. He could always 'come to life' at any moment.
When Mr. Thesiger threw his revolver on the table and apparently left