May 16, 2025 • 20 mins
Dive into the mysterious world of the Domino Club, where a case of opium poisoning is anything but simple. Following the murder of Dr. Weathered, our protagonist is plunged into a twisted game with stakes running high - a stolen case book that threatens the entirety of London society. Guided by Zenobia Salome, the Leopardess, and a poison unknown even to renowned expert Sir Frank Tarleton, the narrative unfolds through the eyes of an unwilling participant in this deadly charade. Unravel the mystery as we delve into the darkest corners of the human heart, exposing the dreadful lengths one might go to protect their secrets. This gripping detective story, with its unique psychoanalytical perspective, will keep you on the edge of your seat, challenging even the most seasoned mystery enthusiasts.
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Chapter eighteen of the Club of Masques. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
The Club of mass by Allan Upward, Chapter eighteen, Mother
and Daughter. Sir Frank Tarleton had not given me all
(00:23):
his reasons for not taking me with him to Paris.
One of them, as he told me afterwards, was that
I had made an enemy of Sarah Neobard, or, to
put it the other way, they had made her regard
me as an enemy. My chief believed that my presence
would prevent him from obtaining any information from her or
her mother. They would think he had come on a
(00:44):
hostile errand, and they would obstinately hold their tongues for
fear lest anything they said might be used by me
against her. Tarleton's intention was to appear in the character
of a friend of Sarah's who did not share my
suspicions and only wanted to be able to clear her
from them. He was quite frank with me about the
way in which he had spoken of me in my absence,
(01:06):
and about everything else in which I was interested. He
put up at his favorite hotel, the Sans Lazarre, on
his arrival, one that suited him because it was near
the center of everything, without being overrun by English and Americans.
He liked to be among French people when he was
in France. After the little breakfast, that first delicious taste
(01:26):
of French coffee and French bread, which atones for the
stuffiness of the French railway carriage, he made his way
round to the Rue Jerusalem, where he was received with
high distinction by the head of the French police, to
whom his name and official standing were well known. The
Chief presented him to Brigadier Samson, the detective who had
the two fugitives under supervision, and he undertook at the
(01:50):
doctor's request that a formidable looking Jean Darme in the
showy uniform of the French Police should be stationed opposite
the Hotel Saint Catharine, in full sight from the windows
till further notice. Another small piece of business was transacted.
Tarleton laid before the Chief the photograph he had obtained
from Inspector Charles and invited him to find out if
(02:11):
a corresponded with anything in his register her finger prints.
The hour now being reached at which the ladies might
be expected to show themselves. The visitor next went on
to their hotel in the brew Tivoli. In the hall
they found the English detective who had followed them from London,
and it had taken a room on the same floor,
in an unsuspicious character of a tourist who found himself
(02:33):
in Paris for the first time and was unwilling to
venture far from his hotel. The birds are in their cage,
Sir Frank, he reported, as soon as he recognized the specialist.
I've been hanging about here since the early morning, and
I've arranged with the management that they shan'n't be allowed
to go out by any other way. Tarleton, in reply,
(02:53):
explained why he had asked for a gendarme to be
posted across the way. I don't want them to know
that europe Police officer, of course, but he may want
them to know that they are being watched by the police.
He had hardly finished speaking when the representative of French
law appeared on the scene, a truly imposing figure with
a huge mustache who began pacing the pavement opposite like
(03:15):
a man who was not to be trifled with. The
consultant asked if missus Weatherid had taken a private sitting room,
and finding that she had sent up his card, on
which he had scribbled the words official confidential. When he
was handing it into the office. However, the detective followed
him to make a correction. She's not staying here under
(03:36):
her own name. She has taken the name of Neobard.
He had to wait some minutes for a response, when
at length he was taken upstairs and shown into the room.
He found, as he had expected, miss Neobard alone. My
mother asks you to excuse her, Sir Frank, she is
not yet well enough to see any one on business.
(03:57):
May I ask the meaning of those words on your card?
Sarah spoke with the utmost coolness. If she was frightened,
she had evidently resolved to hide her fright under a
mask of defiance. Tarleton's manner was one of entire friendliness.
They mean that, although I have come to see missus
Weatherett as a government official on official business, our interview
(04:18):
will be strictly confidential. I shall not make use of
any information she may give me without her consent. The
daughter looked at him doubtfully. Does that apply to me
as well, Sir Frank purposely hesitated before answering, there is
no reason why I shouldn't have a confidential talk with
you as well, if you desire it. But at present
(04:40):
I have only asked to see missus Weatherett. The name
seemed to irritate the girl. My mother has dropped the
name of Weather. Itd she said sharply. In future she
desires to be known as Missus Neobard. Tarleton was struck
by her tone. It conveyed to him that the change
of name had not been made with a view to conceal,
(05:00):
but was due to some deeper cause. Up to now
Miss Neobard had made no reference to the whereabouts of
the traveler's having been so soon discovered. She now threw
out the questions scornfully. I suppose the police are on
our track as we came here without giving any one
our dress. Is that confidential? Certainly not. The doctor was
(05:23):
getting a little irritated by this time. Your leaving London
while the mystery of doctor Weather's death was still unsolved,
was enough to provoke the suspicion of the police. They
were bound to keep you in sight. Sarah couldn't very
well contradict this. She lifted her head more defiantly than ever.
My mother can't see you, she repeated. Anything you want
(05:45):
to say to her can be said to me. Sir
Frank admired her courage. He tried to soften her. My
dear miss Neobard, I wish you would let me speak
to you as a friend. You can't think I have
come here as an enemy. If I had, I should
have brought doctor Casillis with me, or rather I should
have sent him instead of coming myself. This shot told
(06:07):
us he had expected. It was evident that Sarah cherished
a strong resentment against me. It was a new light
to her that my chief might take a different view
of the case. For the first time, she looked at
him as if she thought it possible that he might
be sincere. Doctor Casillis has practically accused me of murder,
she said. Doctor Cascillis is a young man without much experience.
(06:31):
He has let himself become interested in the young lady
you seem to suspect, He spoke in her defense. I
don't believe that he really thinks you had anything to
do with doctor Retherard's death. He went too far, of course,
and I have told him so. In fact, I have
now taken him off the case. The defiance began to
die out of Miss Neobard's eyes. They were fine eyes,
(06:52):
and she knew how to use them with effect. Does
that mean that I am not under suspicion any longer,
she inquired, in a more gracious voice. You never have
been under suspicion as far as I am concerned, the
doctor answered a little evasively. I feel sure you are
a truthful woman, and whatever you choose to tell me
in confidence, I shall believe. Sarah was fairly conquered. Her
(07:15):
voice broke down as she replied, I am a wicked girl,
Sir Frank. I did have thoughts at one time that
he ought to die, but I never went farther than that.
I swear to you and my oath that I have
no more idea how he was murdered or who murdered him,
than you have. I mean, I have no idea at all.
The consultant thanked her with a grave bow. The evidence
(07:39):
I have obtained so far points to suicide, he said quietly.
But I only tell you that in confidence to relieve
your mind. Doctor Weather had carried poison about with him.
The step daughter looked even more relieved than Tarleton had expected,
but a good deal surprised as well. I knew that
he took opium sometimes, she whispered back, but I never
(08:00):
guessed that he meant to take his own life. I
was afraid. She stopped short and shuddered. The specialist took
no notice of the suppressed hint. You will see now.
I hope that I haven't come here to try and
get your mother to tell me anything about you. As
a matter of fact, my business with her has nothing
to do with the murder or whatever it was, except indirectly.
(08:22):
I have come in the interest of some of doctor
weather It's patients, and I think missus Neobard may be
able to help me to obtain certain information on their behalf.
I am sure you won't wish any evil he has
done to go on after his death. This way of
putting it appealed to what was best in Sarah and Neobard.
She looked puzzled, but not disposed to resist. She made
(08:44):
another half hearted attempt to extract from the visitor what
it was that he had to ask her mother, But
when she found him firm and insisting that he must
see missus Neobard herself. She gave way and went to
fetch her. A quarter of an hour half an hour passed.
There must have been a severe struggle going on in
the next room, although no sounds reached the consultant through
(09:05):
the wall. He had laid his hand on the bell
to summon a waiter and send a peremptory message. When
the door last opened and the widow came in, Tarleton
felt convinced from the first moment that she had guessed
his business with her. Her eyes were red, and her
naturally pale cheeks showed a feverish flush. She was hardly
able to walk, and her daughters supported her tenderly till
(09:27):
she was in a chair. Sarah herself was clearly ignorant
of the cause of her mother's emotion. She glanced wonderingly
from her to Sir Franken back again, and seemed to
be holding herself in readiness to defend her parent or
to back up Tarleton's demand, according to her judgment of
what was the right course. The examiner came to the
(09:47):
point quickly. Miss Neobard has explained to you that this
is a confidential interview. I hope whatever you say to
me will be a secret between ourselves, unless you authorize
me to make use of it. It is for you
to decide whether your daughter is to remain in the room.
Of course. The mother stretched out a hand into cold
of one of her protectors, who answered for her, I
(10:10):
have promised my mother to remain very good. I had
better begin by reading you this advertisement. It appeared in
the paper yesterday. He read out the invitation from Messrs
James Halliday and James to the patience of the late doctor,
weatheret to apply for the return of their correspondence, and continued.
The solicitor who put in this advertisement refused to give
(10:32):
the name of the client who was instructing him. Will
you tell me if it is you, missus? Neobard shook
her head faintly without speaking. Can you tell me if
your late husband left the will and who is his executor?
I can answer that question, Sarah put in, My mother
is sole executor and he has left everything to her.
(10:53):
She wanted to renounce execution, but the lawyer told her
that it was of no use, as a law would
make her administer. She is not going to take a
farthing of his money. If there is any quite so,
then missus Neobart is the only person who is lawfully
entitled to deal with any papers Doctor Weather had left
behind him. Can you explain to me how these letters
(11:14):
came to be in the possession of this solicitor or
the person for whom he is acting. The flush had
faded from the widow's cheeks, leaving her very pale. I
can't explain, she said, in a whisper. Does it matter,
her daughter asked, as long as these people get their
letters back again, what does it matter who they got
(11:35):
them from. They won't get them that is what matters.
The physician said gravely. There is a criminal behind this advertisement.
I must explain to you and to missus Neobart if
she doesn't know already what these letters were about. Very deliberately,
in keeping his eyes fixed on the agitated woman all
the time, Charleton outlined the story of his discoveries. He
(11:58):
was careful not to mention names. He explained why the
doctor's case book had been taken from the safe, and
why that precaution had proved useless. The dead man's real
hold over his victims had been through the letters he
had persuaded them to write to him. Those letters had
been signed with a cipher, and the object of the
advertisement was to make the writers disclose their identity so
(12:19):
that they might be blackmailed by the holder of their
secret confessions. The widow's distress became pitiable as the explanation proceeded.
There could be no doubt that she was no party
to the plot, and hardly a doubt that its revelation
had come to her as a complete shock. As for
Sarah Neobard, her fine eyes fairly blazed with indignation. I
(12:40):
never knew that such things were possible, she exclaimed. I
don't believe. I can't believe that my stepfather ever meant
to use the letters in such a way. At this point,
the consultants saw missus Neobard open her eyes and look
at him wistfully, as if to ask him to take
no notice of her daughter's tenderness for the scoundrel who
would pass to his accous out. Surely you can't think,
(13:03):
the girl pursued that my mother knew anything about this mother.
She turned to the shrinking woman. Do you hear you
must do everything you can to help Sir Frank Tarleton
to stop this iniquity now, Sir Frank knew perfectly well
that it could be stopped pretty easily, but the simple
step of missus Neobard's solicitors taking proceedings in her name
(13:24):
for the recovery of the letters. The legal property in them,
of course, was vested in the writers, but until they
claimed them, the executricks was entitled to their possession. And
if the chance ofy Laine Sharper refused to give them
up or to disclose their whereabouts, he was pretty sure
to be struck off the rolls and stood a good
chance at being indicted for conspiracy. All this the adviser
(13:47):
of the Home Office had known from the first, but
he took care to keep the knowledge up his sleeve.
For him, the question of the letters was a secondary one,
and he was only using it as a means of
opening the widow's lips. Miss Neobart suddenly stopped pleading with
her mother to say to the specialist, I think I
can guess who has those letters, Madame Banell. This was
(14:10):
another thing about which Charleton had entertained no doubt since
seen the advertisement. But he received the suggestion with every
sign of disbelief. Madame Banell is the last person to
whom I should think doctor weatherwid would have trusted them.
He answered, she may have stolen them. The girl persisted,
perhaps he kept them at the club and she has
found them since his death. He kept nothing whatever at
(14:33):
the club except the disguise he wore at the club dances.
I have had the premises search carefully by the police,
and they have questioned the staff. The letters are not
there now, and there is no receptacle in which they
could have been stored. Missus Neiobart had been listening anxiously
to this discussion. Now she spoke, who else do you
(14:54):
think can have them? That is what I want you
to tell me, and I think you can. Widow shivered again.
Her daughter looked at her with a dawning comprehension that
something was wrong. Mother, you must tell if you know
your husband kept these letters in a concealed cupboard of
his dressing room. Tarlton told her, your house has been
(15:15):
searched for a secret hiding place and the cupboard has
been found. It was a bold shot, but the widow's
face showed that it had hit the mark. That cupboard
is empty. Now. The law presumes that you opened it
as you were entitled and bound to do after his death,
and that you took possession of its contents as executrix.
(15:35):
I am here to ask you, in the name of
the law, which you have done with them. He watched
doctor Weatherard's relict very closely while he was speaking. She
seemed to be wrenched by conflicting fears. At one moment,
her lips parted as if to speak, and at the
next they closed again, more tightly than before. Tell him, mother,
pleaded the girl. The mother turned to her despairingly. I can't,
(16:01):
I daren't. Don't ask me to, she cried hopelessly. The
representative of the law looked at his watch. If that
is your last answer, you must be prepared to take
the consequence, as missus weatherad. He pointed dramatically to a
window of the room. Look out of that window, miss Neobard,
and tell your mother what you see. Sarah rushed to
(16:21):
the window and gave a sharp cry, mother, there is
a John Darme watching the hotel. She looked reproachfully at
the physician. And you told me you came here as
a friend. I am trying to act as one. Your
mother is only to tell me the truth, and I
will open the window and send that man away. Do
you hear, mother? You won't let me be arrested, missus weatherhid.
(16:46):
Charlton had meant to remind her that she was passing
under her name, not legally. Hers had merely shivered again
when she heard who was outside? Now she sprang out
of her chair. A different woman. You arrest you? What
do you mean, Sarah? What have you to do with it?
The police have come for me. Sarah was not less
(17:07):
amazed and horrified than her mother. Nonsense, they can't touch you,
she exclaimed. You weren't at the dance that night, and
you were, My girl, My poor girl. What have you
been doing? Sir Frank Tarleton knows I have told him everything.
I think. He means to be friendly, but he can't
save me unless you speak out. She can speak safely,
(17:30):
can't she? The daughter asked, imploringly, My mother isn't in
any danger. It was a question difficult to answer either way.
Tarleton felt the eyes of both women searching his face,
each with the same anxiety, though each on the other's behalf.
It is only right that I should let you know that,
missus Weather, it may be in danger. The letters which
(17:52):
ought to be in her possession may contain the clue
to your stepfather's murder. And now the scene became painful,
indeed to witness, as the mother and daughter stood facing
each other, with the questions in their eyes that they
were too terrified to put. Both of them at some
time had loved the murdered man, both of them perhaps
that come to hate him, And now each had been
(18:13):
shaken by a sudden revelation of the other's hidden side.
The mother had just caught an appalling glimpse into her
daughter's unknown relations with her stepfather. The daughter had been
staggered by the suggestion that her mother might have been
his mortal enemy. And all the time, beneath these mutual
dreads and suspicions, it might be these unconscious jealousies there
(18:34):
prevailed stronger than any other, feeling, that blind, unselfish love
between mother and child, which made both of them eager
to thrust themselves into danger in the other's place. The
parts had been reversed. It was Sarah who was now
anxious to close her mother's mouth, and missus Weatherhid who
showed herself determined to speak. The skillful manipulator of human
(18:56):
nature who had wrought up this dramatic situation, knew that
he had owned to wait for the dunument at which
he had aimed. He had not long to wait. If
you have trusted, Sir Frank Carleton, I can do the same,
the elder woman said, at last, I have more to
tell him than he knows. He thinks that I only
found those letters in the cupboard after my husband's death.
(19:19):
I have been reading every one of them for more
than a year. If the consultant had not quite expected
to hear this, he had been expecting something more than
he thought it was wise to indicate. Just then, he
let no sign of his thoughts appear outwardly. The two women,
exhausted by the tempest of emotion they had passed through,
sat down side by side, but they kept their eyes
(19:41):
averted from one another, and only raised them from time
to time to watch the effect of missus Weatherhid's narrative
on him. You mustn't think that I am an inquisitive woman,
Sir Frank. I didn't discover my husband's secrets by prying.
I never knew the existence of the cupboard or the letters.
To one of the women who had been led into
writing to him. Came to me. This was news to
(20:04):
the doctor. He pricked up his ears for the name.
She was a Miss Seabright, Miss Julius Seabright. Ah, she
is dead. Tarleton thought it sound policy to show that
he was able to check the statements made to him. Yes,
she died soon afterwards of her broken heart. I think
she came to me in despair and appeal to me,
(20:26):
as doctor Weather's wife, to protect her from him. Sir
Frank got up, walked to the window, opened it, and
waved his hand. The gendarme outside saluted respectfully, and marched away.
End of Chapter eighteen.
Chapter eighteen of the Club of Masques. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
The Club of mass by Allan Upward, Chapter eighteen, Mother
and Daughter. Sir Frank Tarleton had not given me all
(00:23):
his reasons for not taking me with him to Paris.
One of them, as he told me afterwards, was that
I had made an enemy of Sarah Neobard, or, to
put it the other way, they had made her regard
me as an enemy. My chief believed that my presence
would prevent him from obtaining any information from her or
her mother. They would think he had come on a
(00:44):
hostile errand, and they would obstinately hold their tongues for
fear lest anything they said might be used by me
against her. Tarleton's intention was to appear in the character
of a friend of Sarah's who did not share my
suspicions and only wanted to be able to clear her
from them. He was quite frank with me about the
way in which he had spoken of me in my absence,
(01:06):
and about everything else in which I was interested. He
put up at his favorite hotel, the Sans Lazarre, on
his arrival, one that suited him because it was near
the center of everything, without being overrun by English and Americans.
He liked to be among French people when he was
in France. After the little breakfast, that first delicious taste
(01:26):
of French coffee and French bread, which atones for the
stuffiness of the French railway carriage, he made his way
round to the Rue Jerusalem, where he was received with
high distinction by the head of the French police, to
whom his name and official standing were well known. The
Chief presented him to Brigadier Samson, the detective who had
the two fugitives under supervision, and he undertook at the
(01:50):
doctor's request that a formidable looking Jean Darme in the
showy uniform of the French Police should be stationed opposite
the Hotel Saint Catharine, in full sight from the windows
till further notice. Another small piece of business was transacted.
Tarleton laid before the Chief the photograph he had obtained
from Inspector Charles and invited him to find out if
(02:11):
a corresponded with anything in his register her finger prints.
The hour now being reached at which the ladies might
be expected to show themselves. The visitor next went on
to their hotel in the brew Tivoli. In the hall
they found the English detective who had followed them from London,
and it had taken a room on the same floor,
in an unsuspicious character of a tourist who found himself
(02:33):
in Paris for the first time and was unwilling to
venture far from his hotel. The birds are in their cage,
Sir Frank, he reported, as soon as he recognized the specialist.
I've been hanging about here since the early morning, and
I've arranged with the management that they shan'n't be allowed
to go out by any other way. Tarleton, in reply,
(02:53):
explained why he had asked for a gendarme to be
posted across the way. I don't want them to know
that europe Police officer, of course, but he may want
them to know that they are being watched by the police.
He had hardly finished speaking when the representative of French
law appeared on the scene, a truly imposing figure with
a huge mustache who began pacing the pavement opposite like
(03:15):
a man who was not to be trifled with. The
consultant asked if missus Weatherid had taken a private sitting room,
and finding that she had sent up his card, on
which he had scribbled the words official confidential. When he
was handing it into the office. However, the detective followed
him to make a correction. She's not staying here under
(03:36):
her own name. She has taken the name of Neobard.
He had to wait some minutes for a response, when
at length he was taken upstairs and shown into the room.
He found, as he had expected, miss Neobard alone. My
mother asks you to excuse her, Sir Frank, she is
not yet well enough to see any one on business.
(03:57):
May I ask the meaning of those words on your card?
Sarah spoke with the utmost coolness. If she was frightened,
she had evidently resolved to hide her fright under a
mask of defiance. Tarleton's manner was one of entire friendliness.
They mean that, although I have come to see missus
Weatherett as a government official on official business, our interview
(04:18):
will be strictly confidential. I shall not make use of
any information she may give me without her consent. The
daughter looked at him doubtfully. Does that apply to me
as well, Sir Frank purposely hesitated before answering, there is
no reason why I shouldn't have a confidential talk with
you as well, if you desire it. But at present
(04:40):
I have only asked to see missus Weatherett. The name
seemed to irritate the girl. My mother has dropped the
name of Weather. Itd she said sharply. In future she
desires to be known as Missus Neobard. Tarleton was struck
by her tone. It conveyed to him that the change
of name had not been made with a view to conceal,
(05:00):
but was due to some deeper cause. Up to now
Miss Neobard had made no reference to the whereabouts of
the traveler's having been so soon discovered. She now threw
out the questions scornfully. I suppose the police are on
our track as we came here without giving any one
our dress. Is that confidential? Certainly not. The doctor was
(05:23):
getting a little irritated by this time. Your leaving London
while the mystery of doctor Weather's death was still unsolved,
was enough to provoke the suspicion of the police. They
were bound to keep you in sight. Sarah couldn't very
well contradict this. She lifted her head more defiantly than ever.
My mother can't see you, she repeated. Anything you want
(05:45):
to say to her can be said to me. Sir
Frank admired her courage. He tried to soften her. My
dear miss Neobard, I wish you would let me speak
to you as a friend. You can't think I have
come here as an enemy. If I had, I should
have brought doctor Casillis with me, or rather I should
have sent him instead of coming myself. This shot told
(06:07):
us he had expected. It was evident that Sarah cherished
a strong resentment against me. It was a new light
to her that my chief might take a different view
of the case. For the first time, she looked at
him as if she thought it possible that he might
be sincere. Doctor Casillis has practically accused me of murder,
she said. Doctor Cascillis is a young man without much experience.
(06:31):
He has let himself become interested in the young lady
you seem to suspect, He spoke in her defense. I
don't believe that he really thinks you had anything to
do with doctor Retherard's death. He went too far, of course,
and I have told him so. In fact, I have
now taken him off the case. The defiance began to
die out of Miss Neobard's eyes. They were fine eyes,
(06:52):
and she knew how to use them with effect. Does
that mean that I am not under suspicion any longer,
she inquired, in a more gracious voice. You never have
been under suspicion as far as I am concerned, the
doctor answered a little evasively. I feel sure you are
a truthful woman, and whatever you choose to tell me
in confidence, I shall believe. Sarah was fairly conquered. Her
(07:15):
voice broke down as she replied, I am a wicked girl,
Sir Frank. I did have thoughts at one time that
he ought to die, but I never went farther than that.
I swear to you and my oath that I have
no more idea how he was murdered or who murdered him,
than you have. I mean, I have no idea at all.
The consultant thanked her with a grave bow. The evidence
(07:39):
I have obtained so far points to suicide, he said quietly.
But I only tell you that in confidence to relieve
your mind. Doctor Weather had carried poison about with him.
The step daughter looked even more relieved than Tarleton had expected,
but a good deal surprised as well. I knew that
he took opium sometimes, she whispered back, but I never
(08:00):
guessed that he meant to take his own life. I
was afraid. She stopped short and shuddered. The specialist took
no notice of the suppressed hint. You will see now.
I hope that I haven't come here to try and
get your mother to tell me anything about you. As
a matter of fact, my business with her has nothing
to do with the murder or whatever it was, except indirectly.
(08:22):
I have come in the interest of some of doctor
weather It's patients, and I think missus Neobard may be
able to help me to obtain certain information on their behalf.
I am sure you won't wish any evil he has
done to go on after his death. This way of
putting it appealed to what was best in Sarah and Neobard.
She looked puzzled, but not disposed to resist. She made
(08:44):
another half hearted attempt to extract from the visitor what
it was that he had to ask her mother, But
when she found him firm and insisting that he must
see missus Neobard herself. She gave way and went to
fetch her. A quarter of an hour half an hour passed.
There must have been a severe struggle going on in
the next room, although no sounds reached the consultant through
(09:05):
the wall. He had laid his hand on the bell
to summon a waiter and send a peremptory message. When
the door last opened and the widow came in, Tarleton
felt convinced from the first moment that she had guessed
his business with her. Her eyes were red, and her
naturally pale cheeks showed a feverish flush. She was hardly
able to walk, and her daughters supported her tenderly till
(09:27):
she was in a chair. Sarah herself was clearly ignorant
of the cause of her mother's emotion. She glanced wonderingly
from her to Sir Franken back again, and seemed to
be holding herself in readiness to defend her parent or
to back up Tarleton's demand, according to her judgment of
what was the right course. The examiner came to the
(09:47):
point quickly. Miss Neobard has explained to you that this
is a confidential interview. I hope whatever you say to
me will be a secret between ourselves, unless you authorize
me to make use of it. It is for you
to decide whether your daughter is to remain in the room.
Of course. The mother stretched out a hand into cold
of one of her protectors, who answered for her, I
(10:10):
have promised my mother to remain very good. I had
better begin by reading you this advertisement. It appeared in
the paper yesterday. He read out the invitation from Messrs
James Halliday and James to the patience of the late doctor,
weatheret to apply for the return of their correspondence, and continued.
The solicitor who put in this advertisement refused to give
(10:32):
the name of the client who was instructing him. Will
you tell me if it is you, missus? Neobard shook
her head faintly without speaking. Can you tell me if
your late husband left the will and who is his executor?
I can answer that question, Sarah put in, My mother
is sole executor and he has left everything to her.
(10:53):
She wanted to renounce execution, but the lawyer told her
that it was of no use, as a law would
make her administer. She is not going to take a
farthing of his money. If there is any quite so,
then missus Neobart is the only person who is lawfully
entitled to deal with any papers Doctor Weather had left
behind him. Can you explain to me how these letters
(11:14):
came to be in the possession of this solicitor or
the person for whom he is acting. The flush had
faded from the widow's cheeks, leaving her very pale. I
can't explain, she said, in a whisper. Does it matter,
her daughter asked, as long as these people get their
letters back again, what does it matter who they got
(11:35):
them from. They won't get them that is what matters.
The physician said gravely. There is a criminal behind this advertisement.
I must explain to you and to missus Neobart if
she doesn't know already what these letters were about. Very deliberately,
in keeping his eyes fixed on the agitated woman all
the time, Charleton outlined the story of his discoveries. He
(11:58):
was careful not to mention names. He explained why the
doctor's case book had been taken from the safe, and
why that precaution had proved useless. The dead man's real
hold over his victims had been through the letters he
had persuaded them to write to him. Those letters had
been signed with a cipher, and the object of the
advertisement was to make the writers disclose their identity so
(12:19):
that they might be blackmailed by the holder of their
secret confessions. The widow's distress became pitiable as the explanation proceeded.
There could be no doubt that she was no party
to the plot, and hardly a doubt that its revelation
had come to her as a complete shock. As for
Sarah Neobard, her fine eyes fairly blazed with indignation. I
(12:40):
never knew that such things were possible, she exclaimed. I
don't believe. I can't believe that my stepfather ever meant
to use the letters in such a way. At this point,
the consultants saw missus Neobard open her eyes and look
at him wistfully, as if to ask him to take
no notice of her daughter's tenderness for the scoundrel who
would pass to his accous out. Surely you can't think,
(13:03):
the girl pursued that my mother knew anything about this mother.
She turned to the shrinking woman. Do you hear you
must do everything you can to help Sir Frank Tarleton
to stop this iniquity now, Sir Frank knew perfectly well
that it could be stopped pretty easily, but the simple
step of missus Neobard's solicitors taking proceedings in her name
(13:24):
for the recovery of the letters. The legal property in them,
of course, was vested in the writers, but until they
claimed them, the executricks was entitled to their possession. And
if the chance ofy Laine Sharper refused to give them
up or to disclose their whereabouts, he was pretty sure
to be struck off the rolls and stood a good
chance at being indicted for conspiracy. All this the adviser
(13:47):
of the Home Office had known from the first, but
he took care to keep the knowledge up his sleeve.
For him, the question of the letters was a secondary one,
and he was only using it as a means of
opening the widow's lips. Miss Neobart suddenly stopped pleading with
her mother to say to the specialist, I think I
can guess who has those letters, Madame Banell. This was
(14:10):
another thing about which Charleton had entertained no doubt since
seen the advertisement. But he received the suggestion with every
sign of disbelief. Madame Banell is the last person to
whom I should think doctor weatherwid would have trusted them.
He answered, she may have stolen them. The girl persisted,
perhaps he kept them at the club and she has
found them since his death. He kept nothing whatever at
(14:33):
the club except the disguise he wore at the club dances.
I have had the premises search carefully by the police,
and they have questioned the staff. The letters are not
there now, and there is no receptacle in which they
could have been stored. Missus Neiobart had been listening anxiously
to this discussion. Now she spoke, who else do you
(14:54):
think can have them? That is what I want you
to tell me, and I think you can. Widow shivered again.
Her daughter looked at her with a dawning comprehension that
something was wrong. Mother, you must tell if you know
your husband kept these letters in a concealed cupboard of
his dressing room. Tarlton told her, your house has been
(15:15):
searched for a secret hiding place and the cupboard has
been found. It was a bold shot, but the widow's
face showed that it had hit the mark. That cupboard
is empty. Now. The law presumes that you opened it
as you were entitled and bound to do after his death,
and that you took possession of its contents as executrix.
(15:35):
I am here to ask you, in the name of
the law, which you have done with them. He watched
doctor Weatherard's relict very closely while he was speaking. She
seemed to be wrenched by conflicting fears. At one moment,
her lips parted as if to speak, and at the
next they closed again, more tightly than before. Tell him, mother,
pleaded the girl. The mother turned to her despairingly. I can't,
(16:01):
I daren't. Don't ask me to, she cried hopelessly. The
representative of the law looked at his watch. If that
is your last answer, you must be prepared to take
the consequence, as missus weatherad. He pointed dramatically to a
window of the room. Look out of that window, miss Neobard,
and tell your mother what you see. Sarah rushed to
(16:21):
the window and gave a sharp cry, mother, there is
a John Darme watching the hotel. She looked reproachfully at
the physician. And you told me you came here as
a friend. I am trying to act as one. Your
mother is only to tell me the truth, and I
will open the window and send that man away. Do
you hear, mother? You won't let me be arrested, missus weatherhid.
(16:46):
Charlton had meant to remind her that she was passing
under her name, not legally. Hers had merely shivered again
when she heard who was outside? Now she sprang out
of her chair. A different woman. You arrest you? What
do you mean, Sarah? What have you to do with it?
The police have come for me. Sarah was not less
(17:07):
amazed and horrified than her mother. Nonsense, they can't touch you,
she exclaimed. You weren't at the dance that night, and
you were, My girl, My poor girl. What have you
been doing? Sir Frank Tarleton knows I have told him everything.
I think. He means to be friendly, but he can't
save me unless you speak out. She can speak safely,
(17:30):
can't she? The daughter asked, imploringly, My mother isn't in
any danger. It was a question difficult to answer either way.
Tarleton felt the eyes of both women searching his face,
each with the same anxiety, though each on the other's behalf.
It is only right that I should let you know that,
missus Weather, it may be in danger. The letters which
(17:52):
ought to be in her possession may contain the clue
to your stepfather's murder. And now the scene became painful,
indeed to witness, as the mother and daughter stood facing
each other, with the questions in their eyes that they
were too terrified to put. Both of them at some
time had loved the murdered man, both of them perhaps
that come to hate him, And now each had been
(18:13):
shaken by a sudden revelation of the other's hidden side.
The mother had just caught an appalling glimpse into her
daughter's unknown relations with her stepfather. The daughter had been
staggered by the suggestion that her mother might have been
his mortal enemy. And all the time, beneath these mutual
dreads and suspicions, it might be these unconscious jealousies there
(18:34):
prevailed stronger than any other, feeling, that blind, unselfish love
between mother and child, which made both of them eager
to thrust themselves into danger in the other's place. The
parts had been reversed. It was Sarah who was now
anxious to close her mother's mouth, and missus Weatherhid who
showed herself determined to speak. The skillful manipulator of human
(18:56):
nature who had wrought up this dramatic situation, knew that
he had owned to wait for the dunument at which
he had aimed. He had not long to wait. If
you have trusted, Sir Frank Carleton, I can do the same,
the elder woman said, at last, I have more to
tell him than he knows. He thinks that I only
found those letters in the cupboard after my husband's death.
(19:19):
I have been reading every one of them for more
than a year. If the consultant had not quite expected
to hear this, he had been expecting something more than
he thought it was wise to indicate. Just then, he
let no sign of his thoughts appear outwardly. The two women,
exhausted by the tempest of emotion they had passed through,
sat down side by side, but they kept their eyes
(19:41):
averted from one another, and only raised them from time
to time to watch the effect of missus Weatherhid's narrative
on him. You mustn't think that I am an inquisitive woman,
Sir Frank. I didn't discover my husband's secrets by prying.
I never knew the existence of the cupboard or the letters.
To one of the women who had been led into
writing to him. Came to me. This was news to
(20:04):
the doctor. He pricked up his ears for the name.
She was a Miss Seabright, Miss Julius Seabright. Ah, she
is dead. Tarleton thought it sound policy to show that
he was able to check the statements made to him. Yes,
she died soon afterwards of her broken heart. I think
she came to me in despair and appeal to me,
(20:26):
as doctor Weather's wife, to protect her from him. Sir
Frank got up, walked to the window, opened it, and
waved his hand. The gendarme outside saluted respectfully, and marched away.
End of Chapter eighteen.
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