June 9, 2025 • 58 mins
Dive into seven captivating mystery stories featuring master detective Martin Hewitt, as narrated by his trusty, yet unnamed, sidekick. Authored by Arthur Morrison, these tales showcase his extraordinary imagination through diverse scenarios, motivations, crimes, and characters. Whether hes hot on the trails of a Russian spy or a household pet, or investigating the theft of national security documents versus the destruction of a counterfeit work of art, Hewitts adventures are as varied as they are thrilling.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter six of Martin Hewitt Investigator by Arthur Morrison. This
LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter six, The
Stanway Cameo Mystery. It is now a fair number of
years back since the loss of the famous Stanway cameo
made its sensation, and the only person who had the
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least interest in keeping the real facts of the case
secret has now been dead for some time, leaving neither
relatives nor other representatives. Therefore, no harm will be done
in making the inner history of the case public. On
the contrary, it will afford an opportunity of vindicating the
professional reputation of Hewitt, who is supposed to have completely
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failed to make anything of the mystery surrounding the case.
At the present time, connoisseurs in ancient objects of art
are often heard regretfully to wonder whether the wonderful cameo,
so suddenly discovered and so quickly stolen, will ever again
be visible to the public eye. Now this question need
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be asked no longer. The cameo, as may be remembered
from the many descriptions published at the time, was said
to be absolutely the finest extant. It was a sardonyx
of three strata, one of those rare sardonyx cameos in
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which it has been possible for the artist to avail
himself of three different colors of superimposed stone, the lowest
for the ground, and the two others for the middle
and high relief of the design. In size, it was
for a cameo immense, measuring seven and a half inches
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by nearly six In subject, it was similar to the
renowned Gonzaga cameo, now the property of the Tsar of Russia,
a male and a female head with imperial insignia, but
in this case supposed to represent Tiberius, Claudius and Messalina.
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Experts considered it probably to be the work of Athenion,
a famous gem cutter of the first Christian century, whose
most notable other work, now extant, is a smaller cameo
with a mythological subject, preserved in the Vatican. The Stanway
cameo had been discovered in an obscure Italian village by
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one of those traveling agents who scour all Europe for
valuable antiquities and objects of art. This man had hurried
immediately to London with his prize and sold it to
mister Claridge. Of Saint James Street, eminent as a dealer
in such objects. Mister Claridge recorded, ignizing the importance and
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value of the article, lost no opportunity of making its
existence known, and very soon the Claudius Cameo, as it
was at first usually called, was as famous as any
in the world. Many experts in ancient art examined it,
and several large bids were made for its purchase. In
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the end it was bought by the Marquis of Stanway
for five thousand pounds for the purpose of presentation to
the British Museum. The marquis kept the cameo at his
town house for a few days, showing it to his friends,
and then returned it to mister Claret to be finally
and carefully cleaned before passing into the National Collection. Two
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nights after mister Clarridge's premises were broken into and the
cameo stolen. Such in outline was the generally known history
of the Stanway Cameo. The circumstances of the burglary in
detail were these. Mister Clarridge had himself been the last
to leave the premises at about eight in the evening
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at dusk, and had locked the small side door. As usual,
his assistant, mister Cutler, had left an hour and a
half earlier. When mister Clarridge left, everything was in order,
and the policeman on fixed point duty just opposite, who
bade mister Clarridge good evening as he left, saw nothing
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suspicious during the rest of his term of duty, nor
did his successors at the point throughout the night. In
the morning, however, mister Cutler, the assistant, who arrived first
soon after nine o'clock, at once perceived that something unlooked
for had happened. The door, of which he had a key,
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was still fastened and had not been touched. But in
the room behind the shop, mister Clarridge's private desk had
been broken open and the contents turned out in confusion.
The door leading on to the staircase had also been forced.
Proceeding up the stairs, mister Cutler found another door open,
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leading from the top landing to a small room. This
door had been opened by the simple expedient of unscrewing
and taking off the lock which had been on the inside.
In the ceiling of this room was a trap door,
and this was six or eight inches open, the edge
resting on the half wrenched off bolt which had been
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torn away when the trap was levered open from the outside.
Plainly then this was the path of the thief or thieves.
Entrance had been made through the trap door, two more
doors had been opened, and then the desk had been ransacked.
Mister Cutler afterward explained that at this time he had
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no precise idea what had been stolen, and did not
know where the cameo had been left. On the previous evening,
mister Clarridge had himself undertaken the cleaning and had been
engaged on it. The assistant said when he left there
was no doubt. However, after mister Clarridge's arrival at ten o'clock,
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the cameo was gone. Mister Clarridge, utterly confounded at his loss,
explained incoherently and with curses on his own carelessness, that
he had locked the precious article in his desk on
relinquishing work on it the previous evening, feeling rather tired,
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and not taking the trouble to carry it as far
as the safe in another part of the house. The
police were sent for at once, of course, and every
investigation made mister Clarridge offering a reward of five hundred
pounds for the recovery of the cameo. The affair was
scribbled off at large in the earliest editions of the
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evening papers, and by noon all the world was aware
of the extraordinary theft of the Stanway cameo, and many
people were discussing the probabilities of the case, with very
indistinct ideas of what a Sardonyx cameo precisely was. It
was in the afternoon of this day that Lord Stanway
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called on Martin Hewitt. The Marquis was a tall, upstanding
man of spare figure and active habits, well known as
a member of learned societies and a great patron of art.
He hurried into Hewitt's private room as soon as his
name had been announced, and as soon as Hewitt had
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given him a chair, plunged into business. Probably you already
guess my business with you, mister Hewitt. You have seen
the early evening papers just so. Then I needn't tell
you again what you already know. My cameo is gone,
and I badly want it back. Of course, the police
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are hard at work at Clarage's, but I'm not quite satisfied.
I have been there myself for two or three hours
and can't see that they know any more about it
than I do myself. Then, of course, the police, naturally
and properly enough, from their point of view, look first
to find the criminal, regarding the recovery of the property
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almost as secondary consideration. Now, from my point of view,
the chief consideration is the property. Of course, I want
the thief caught, if possible, and properly punished. But still
more I want the cameo. Certainly it is a considerable
loss five thousand pounds ah, But don't misunderstand me. It
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isn't the monetary value of the thing that I regret.
As a matter of fact, I am indemnified for that. Already.
Clarridge has behaved most honorably, more than honorably. Indeed, the
first intimation I had of the loss was a check
from him for five thousand pounds, with a letter assuring
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me that the restoration to me of the amount I
had paid was the least he could do to repair
the result of what he called his unpardonable carelessness. Legally,
I'm not sure that I could demand anything of him
unless I could prove very flagrant neglect indeed, to guard
against the theft. Then I take it. Lord Stanway Hewett
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observed that you much prefer the cameo to the money.
Certainly else I should never have been willing to pay
the money for the cameo. It was an enormous price,
perhaps much above the market value even for such a
valuable thing. But I was particularly anxious that it should
not go out of the country. Our public collections here
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are not so fortunate as they should be in the
possession of the very finest examples of that class of work.
In short, I had determined on the cameo, and fortunately
happened to be able to carry out determinations of that
sort without regarding an extra thousand pounds or so as
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an obstacle. So that you see what I want is
not the value but the thing itself. Indeed, I don't
think I can possibly keep the money Claridge has sent me.
The affair is more his misfortune than his fault. But
I shall say nothing about returning it for a little while.
It may possibly have the effect of sharpening everybody in
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the search. Just so, do I understand that you would
like me to look into the case independently on your
behalf exactly. I want you, if you can, to approach
the matter entirely from my point of view, your sole
object being to find the cameo. Of course, if you
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happen on the thief as well, so much the better. Perhaps,
After all, looking for the one is the same thing
as looking for the other. Not always, but usually it is.
Of course, even if they are not together, they certainly
have been at one time, and to have one is
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a very long step toward having the other. Now to
begin with, is anybody suspected, Well, the police are reserved,
but I believe the fact is they've nothing to say.
Clarage won't admit that he suspects anyone, though he believes
that whoever it was, must have watched him yesterday evening
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through the back window of his room and must have
seen him put the cameo away in his desk, because
the thief would seem to have gone straight to the place.
But I half fancy that in his inner mind he
is inclined to suspect one of two people. You see,
a robbery of this sort is different from others. The
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cameo would never be stolen, I imagine, with the view
of its being sold. It is much too famous a thing.
A man might as well walk about offering to sell
the Tower of London. There are only a very few
people who buy such things, and every one of them
knows all about it. No dealer would touch it. He
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could never even show it, much less sell it without
being called to account. So that it really seems more
likely that it has been taken by somebody who wishes
to keep it for the mere love of the thing,
a collector, in fact, who would then have to keep
it secretly at home and never let a soul beside
himself see it, living in the consciousness that at his
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death it must be found, and this theft known. Unless
indeed an ordinary vulgar burglar has taken it without knowing
its value, that isn't likely, Hewitt replied. An ordinary burglar
ignorant of its value, wouldn't have gone straight to the
cameo and have taken it in preference to many other
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things of more apparent worth, which must be lying near
in such a place as Clarage's true. I suppose he wouldn't.
Although the police seemed to think that the breaking in
is clearly the work of a regular criminal, from the
Jimmy marks you know, and so on. Well, but what
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of the two people you think mister Clarridge suspects. Of
course I can't say that he does suspect them. I
only fancied from his tone that it might be possible.
He himself insists that he can't, in justice suspect anybody.
One of these men is Hahn, the traveling agent who
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sold him the cameo. This man's character does not appear
to be absolutely irreproachable. No dealer trusts him very far.
Of course, Clarridge doesn't say what he paid him for
the cameo. These dealers are very reticent about their profits,
which I believe are as often something like five hundred
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per cent as not. But it seems Han bargained to
have something extra depending on the amount Clarage could sell
the carving four. According to the appointment, he should have
turned up this morning, but he hasn't been seen, and
nobody seems to know exactly where he is. Yes, and
the other person, well, I scarcely like mentioning him, because
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he is certainly a gentleman, and I believe, in the
ordinary way, quite incapable of anything in the least degree dishonorable.
Although of course, they say a collector has no conscience
in the matter of his own particular hobby, and certainly
mister Wollet is as keen a collector as any man alive.
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He lives in chambers in the next turning past Clarridge's premises,
can in fact look into Clarridge's back windows if he likes.
He examined the cameo several times before I bought it,
and made several high offers, appeared in fact very anxious
indeed to get it. After I had bought it, he
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made I understand some rather strong remarks about people like
myself spoiling the market by paying extravagant prices and altogether
cut up crusty, as they say, at losing the specimen.
Lord Stanway paused a few seconds and then went on,
I'm not sure that I ought to mention mister Willet's
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name for a moment in connection with such a matter.
I am personally perfectly certain that he is as incapable
of anything like theft as myself. But I am telling
you all I know precisely. I can't know too much
in a case like this. It can do no harm
if I know all about fifty innocent people and may
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save me from the risk of knowing nothing about the thief.
Now let me see mister Willet's rooms. You say are
near mister Clarridge's place of business. Is there any means
of communication between the roofs? Yes, I am told that
it is perfectly possible to get from one place to
the other by walking along the LEDs. Very good. Then,
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unless you can think of any other information that might
help me, I think, Lord Stanway, I will go at
once and look at the place. Do by all means.
I think I'll come back with you somehow. I don't
like to feel idle in the matter, though I suppose
I can't do much as to more information. I don't
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think there is any in regard to mister Clarridge's assistant.
Now do you know anything of him? Only that he
has always seemed a very civil and decent sort of man. Honest,
I should say, or Clarridge wouldn't have kept him so
many years. There are a good many valuable things about
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at Clarridge's. Besides, the man has keys of the place himself,
and even if he were a thief, he wouldn't need
to go breaking in through the roof, so that said, Hewitt,
we have directly connected with this cameo. Besides yourself, these
people mister Clarridge, the dealer, mister Cutler, the assistant in
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mister Clarridge's business, Hahn, who sold the article to Clarridge,
and mister Woollett, who made bids for it. These are
all all that I know of. Other gentlemen made bids,
I believe, but I don't know them. Take these people
in their order. Mister Claridge is out of the question,
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as a dealer with a reputation to keep up would be,
even if he hadn't immediately sent you this five thousand
pounds more than the market value I understand of the cameo.
The assistant is a reputable man against whom nothing is known,
who would never need to break in, and who must
understand his business well enough to know that he could
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never attempt to sell the missing stone without instant detection.
Hahn is a man of shady antecedents, probably clever enough
to know as well as anybody how to dispose of
such plunder, if it be possible to dispose of it
at all. Also, Han hasn't been to Claridge's today, although
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he had an appointment to take money. Lastly, mister Woollett
is a gentleman of the most honorable record, but a
perfectly rabid collector, who had made every effort to secure
the cameo before you bought it, who moreover, could have
seen mister Clarridge working in his back room, and who
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has perfectly easy access to mister Clarridge's roof. If we
find it can't be any of these, then we must
look where circumstances indicate there was unwonted excitement at mister
Clarridge's place when Hewitt and his client arrived. It was
a dull old building, and in the windows there was
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never more show than an odd blue china vase or two,
or mayhap a few old silver shoe buckles, and a
curious small sword. Nine men out of ten would have
passed it without a glance, but the tenth at least
would probably know it for a place famous through the
world for the number and value of the old and
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curious objects of art that had passed through it. On
this day. Two or three loiterers, having heard of the robbery,
extracted what gratification they might from staring at nothing between
the rails guarding the windows within, mister Clarridge, a brisk,
stout little old man, was talking earnestly to a burly
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police inspector in uniform, and mister Cutler, who had seized
the opportunity to attempt amateur detective work on his own account,
was groveling perseveringly about the floor among old porcelain and
loose pieces of armour, in the futile hope of finding
any clue that the thieves might have considerately dropped. Mister
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Clarridge came forward eagerly. The leather case has been found.
I am pleased to be able to tell you, Lord Stanway,
since you left empty. Of course. Unfortunately, yes, it had
evidently been thrown away by the thief behind a chimney
stack a roof or two away where the police have
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found it. But it is a clue, of course. Ah,
then this gentleman will give me his opinion of it,
Lord Stanway said, turning to Hewitt. This, mister Claret, is
mister Martin Hewitt, who has been kind enough to come
with me here at a moment's notice. With the police
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on the one hand and mister Hewitt on the other,
we shall certainly recover the cameo, if it is to
be recovered, I think mister Clarrig bowed and beamed on
Hewitt through his spectacles. I am very glad mister Hewitt
has come, he said. Indeed, I had already decided to
give the police till this time tomorrow, and then if
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they had found nothing, to call in mister Hewitt myself.
Hewitt bowed in his turn, and then asked, will you
let me see the various breakages. I hope they have
not been disturbed. Nothing whatever has been disturbed. Do exactly
as seems best. I need scarcely say that everything here
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is perfectly at your disposal. You know all the circumstances,
of course, in general, yes, I suppose I am right
in the belief that you have no resident housekeeper. No
Claradge replied, I haven't. I had one housekeeper who sometimes
pawned my property in the evening, and then another who
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used to break my most valuable china till I could
never sleep or take a moment's ease at home for
fear my stock was being ruined here. So I gave
up resident housekeepers. I felt some confidence in doing it
because of the policeman, who is always on duty opposite?
Can I see the broken desk? Mister Clarridge led the
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way into the room behind the shop. The desk was
really as work table with a lifting top and a lock.
The top had been forced roughly open by some instrument
which had been pushed in below it and used as
a lever, so that the catch of the lock was
torn away. Hewitt examined the damaged parts and the marks
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of the lever, and then looked out at the back window.
There are several windows about here, he remarked, from which
it might be possible to see into this room. Do
you know any of the people who live behind them?
Two or three? I know, mister Clarridge answered, But there
are two windows, the pair almost immediately before us, belonging
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to a room or office, which is to let any
stranger might get in there and watch. Do the roofs
above any of those windows communicate in any way with yours?
None of those directly opposite those at the left. Do
you may walk all the way along the LEDs? And
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whose windows are they? Mister Clarridge hesitated, Well, he said there.
Mister Wollet's an excellent customer of mine, but he's a gentleman,
and well, I really think it's absurd to suspect him
in a case like this, Hewett answered, one must disregard
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nothing but the impossible. Somebody, whether mister Willett himself or
another person, could possibly have seen into this room from
those windows, and equally possibly could have reached this room
from that one. Therefore, we must not forget, mister Woollet
have any of your neighbors been burgled during the night.
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I mean that stranger's anxious to get at your trap
door would probably have to begin by getting into some
other house close by so as to reach your roof. No,
mister Clarridge replied, there has been nothing of that sort.
It was the first thing the police ascertained. Hewitt examined
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the broken door and then made his way up the
stairs with the others. The unscrewed lock of the door
of the top back room required little examination. In the
room below the trap door was a dusty table on
which stood a chair, and at the other side of
the table sat Detective Inspector Plumber, whom Hewett knew very well,
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and who bade him good day and then went on
with his docket. This chair and table were found as
they are now. I take it, Ewet asked, yes, said
mister Clarridge. The thieves, I should think, dropped in through
the trap door after breaking it open, and had to
place this chair where it is to be able to
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climb back. Hewitt scrambled up through the trapway and examined
it from the top. The door was hung on long
exits external barn door hinges and had been forced open
in a similar manner to that practiced on the desk.
A jimmy had been pushed between the frame and the
door near the bolt, and the door had been pried open,
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the bolt being torn away from the screws in the operation. Presently,
Inspector Plummer, having finished his docket, climbed up to the
roof after Hewitt, and the two together went to the
spot close under a chimney stack on the next roof,
but one where the case had been found. Plumber produced
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the case, which he had in his coat tail pocket,
for Hewitt's inspection. I don't see anything particular about it,
do you, he said? It shows us the way they
went though being found just here. Well, yes, Hewitt said,
If we kept on in this direction, we should be
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going toward mister Wollet's house and his trap doors, shouldn't
we The inspector pursed his lips, smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
Of course we haven't waited till now to find that out,
he said, No, of course not. And as you say,
I didn't think there is much to be learned from
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this leather case. It is almost new, and there isn't
a mark on it. And Hewett handed it back to
the inspector. Well, said Plumber, as he returned the case
to his pocket. What's your opinion, it's rather an awkward case. Yes,
it is between ourselves. I don't mind telling you. I'm
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having a sharp look out kept over there. Plumber jerked
his head in the direction of mister Woollet's chambers. Because
the robbery's an unusual one, there's only two possible motives,
the sale of the cameo or the keeping of it.
The sail's out of the question, as you know, the
things only saleable to those who would collar the thief
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at once, and who wouldn't have the thing in their
places now for anything, so that it must be taken
to keep. And that's a thing nobody but the maddest
of collectors would do. Just such persons as, and the
inspector nodded again toward mister Woollet's quarters take that with
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the other circumstances, he added, and I think you'll agree
it's worth while looking a little farther that way. Of course,
some of the work, taking off the lock and so on,
looks rather like a regular burglary. But it's just possible
that any one badly wanting the cameo would like to
hire a man who was up to the work. Yes,
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it's possible. Do you know anything of Han, the agent,
Plumber asked a moment later. No, I don't have you
found him yet? I haven't yet, but I'm after him.
I've found he was at Charing Cross a day or
two ago, booking a ticket for the continent. That and
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his failing to turn up to day seemed to make
it worth while not to miss him if we can
help it. He isn't the sort of man that lets
a chance of drawing a bit of money go for nothing.
They returned to the room, Well, said Lord Stanway, what
the result of the consultation. We've been waiting here very
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patiently while you two clever men have been discussing the
matter on the roof. On the wall just beneath the
trap door, a very dusty, old tall hat hung on
a peg. This Hewett took down and examined very closely,
smearing his fingers with the dust from the inside lining.
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Is this one of your valuable and crusted old antiques,
he asked, with a smile of mister Clarridge. That's only
an old hat that I used to keep here for
use in bad weather, mister Clarridge said, with some surprise
at the question. I haven't touched it for a year
or more. Oh, then it couldn't have been left here
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by your last night's visitor, Hewitt replied, carelessly, replacing it
on the hook. You left here at eight last night,
I think eight exactly, or within a minute or two.
Just so, I think i'll look at the room on
the opposite side of the landing, if you'll let me, certainly,
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if you'd like to, Clarridge replied, But they haven't been there.
It is exactly as it was left. Only a lumber room,
you see, he concluded, flinging the door open. A number
of partly broken up packing cases littered about this room
with much other rubbish. Hewitt took the lid of one
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of the newest looking packing cases and glanced at the
address label. Then he turned to a rusty, old iron
box that stood against a wall. I should like to
see behind this, he said, tugging at it with his hands.
It is heavy and dirty. Is there a small crowbar
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about the house or some similar lover? Mister Clarridge shook
his head. Haven't such a thing in the place, he said,
Never mind, Hewett replied another time will do to shift
that old box, and perhaps, after all there's little reason
for moving it. I will just walk round the police station,
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I think, and speak to the constables who were on
duty opposite during the night. I think, Lord Stanway, I
have seen all that is necessary here, I suppose, asked
mister Clarridge. It is too soon yet to ask if
you have formed any theory in the matter. Well, yes
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it is, Hewett answered, But perhaps I may be able
to surprise you in an hour or two. But that
I don't promise. By the bye, he added suddenly, I
suppose you are sure the trap door was bolted last night? Certainly,
mister Clarridge answered, smiling. Else, how could the bolt have
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been broken? As a matter of fact, I believe the
trap hasn't been opened for months, mister Cutler, do you
remember when the trap door was last opened? Mister Cutler
shook his head. Certainly not for six months, he said. Ah,
very well, it's not very important, Hewett replied. As they
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reached the front shop, a fiery faced old gentleman bounced
in at the street door, stumbling over an umbrella that
stood in a dark corner and kicking it three yards away.
What the deuce do you mean, he roared at mister Clarridge,
by sending these police people smelling about my rooms and
asking question of my servants, what do you mean, sir,
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by treating me as a thief? Can't a gentleman come
into this place to look at an article without being
suspected of stealing it when it disappears through your wretched carelessness?
I'll ask my solicitor, sir, if there isn't a remedy
for this sort of thing. And if I catch another
of your spy fellows on my staircase or crawling about
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my roof, I'll I'll shoot him. Really, mister Woollet began
mister Clarridge somewhat abashed, but the angry old man would
hear nothing. Don't talk to me, sir, you shall talk
to my solicitor. And am I to understand, my lord,
turning to Lord Stanway, that these things are being done
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with your approval. Whatever is being done, Lord Stanway answered,
is being done by the police on their own responsibility,
and entirely without prompting. I believe by mister Clarridge, certainly,
without a suggestion of any sort from myself. I think
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that the personal opinion of mister Clarridge, certainly my own,
is that anything like a suspicion of your position in
this wretched matter is ridiculous. And if you will only
consider the matter, calmly, consider it, calmly, imagine yourself considering
such a thing, calmly, Lord Stanway, I won't consider it, calmly,
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I'll i'll, I won't have it. And if I find
another man on my roof, I'll pitch him off. And
mister Wollet bounced into the street again. Mister Willet is annoyed.
Hewitt observed with a smile, I'm afraid plumber has a
clumsy assistant somewhere. Mister Clarridge said nothing, but looked rather
(34:56):
glum for mister Willet was a most excellent customer. Lord
Stanway and Hewitt walked slowly down the street, Hewitt staring
at the pavement in profound thought. Once or twice Lord
Stanway glanced at his face, but refrained from disturbing him. Presently, however,
(35:16):
he observed, you seem, at least, mister Hewitt, to have
noticed something that has set you thinking. Does it look
like a clue? Hewitt came out of his cogitation at
once a clue? He said, The case bristles with clues.
The extraordinary thing to me is that Plumber, usually a
(35:37):
smart man, doesn't seem to have seen one of them.
He must be out of sorts, I'm afraid. But the
case is decidedly a most remarkable one. Remarkable in what
particular way. In regard to motive, now it would seem
as Plumber was saying to me just now on the roof.
(36:00):
But there were only two possible motives for such a robbery.
Either the man who took all this trouble and risk
to break into Claradge's place must have desired to sell
the cameo at a good price, or he must have
desired to keep it for himself, Being a lover of
such things, but neither of these has been the actual motive.
(36:25):
Perhaps he thinks he can extort a good sum from
me by way of ransom. No, it isn't that, Nor
is it jealousy, nor spite, nor anything of that kind.
I know the motive, I think, But I wish we
could get hold of han. I will shut myself up
alone and turn it over in my mind for half
(36:48):
an hour presently. Meanwhile, what I want to know is,
apart from all your professional subtleties, which I confess I
can't understand, can you get back the case? That said Hewet,
stopping at the corner of the street. I am rather
afraid I can not, nor anybody else. But I am
(37:12):
pretty sure I know the thief. Then surely that will
lead you to the cameo. It may, of course, But
then it is just possible that by this evening you
may not want to have it back after all, Lord
Stanway stared in amazement. Not want to have it back?
(37:32):
He exclaimed, Why, of course I shall want to have
it back. I don't understand you in the least. You
talk in conundrums. Who is the thief you speak of?
I think, Lord Stanway Hewitt said that perhaps I had
better not say until I have quite finished my inquiries
(37:52):
in case of mistakes. The case is quite an extraordinary one,
and of quite a different character from what one would
at first naturally imagine, and I must be very careful
to guard against the possibility of error. I have very
little fear of a mistake, however, and I hope I
(38:13):
may wait on you in a few hours at Piccadilly
with news. I have only to see the policemen. Certainly
come whenever you please. But why see the policemen. They
have already most positively stated that they saw nothing whatever
suspicious in the house or near it. I shall not
(38:33):
ask them anything at all about the house, Hewitt responded,
I shall just have a little chat with them about
the weather, and with a smiling bow, he turned away,
while Lord Stanway stood and gazed after him with an
expression that implied a suspicion that his special detective was
(38:54):
making a fool of him. In rather more than an hour,
Hewett was back in mister Clarridge's shop. Mister Clarridge, he said,
I think I must ask you one or two questions
in private. May I see you in your own room?
They went there at once, and Hewett, pulling a chair
(39:14):
before the window, sat down with his back to the light.
The dealer shut the door and sat opposite him, with
the light full in his face. Mister Clarridge, Hewett proceeded slowly,
When did you first find that Lord Stanway's cameo was
a forgery? Clarridge literally bounced in his chair. His face paled,
(39:40):
but he managed to stammer sharply, what what what do
you mean forgery? Do you mean to say I sell forgeries? Forgery?
It wasn't a forgery, then, continued Hewett, in the same
deliberate tone, watching the other's face the while. If it
wasn't a forgery, why did you destroy it and burst
(40:04):
your trap door and desk to imitate a burglary? The
sweat stood thick on the dealer's face and he gasped,
but he struggled hard to keep his faculties together and
ejaculated hoarsely. Destroy it? What what I didn't? Didn't destroy it?
(40:24):
Threw it into the river. Then don't prevaricate about details. No, no,
it's a lie who says that. Go away? You're insulting me.
Clarridge almost screamed, Come, come, mister Clarridge, Hewett said, more placably,
for he had gained his point. Don't distress yourself, and
(40:45):
don't attempt to deceive me. You can't. I assure you
I know everything you did before you left here last night. Everything.
Clarridge's face worked painfully. Once or twice. He appeared to
be on the point of returning an indignant reply, but
hesitated and finally broke down altogether. Don't expose me, mister Hewitt,
(41:10):
he pleaded. I beg you won't expose me. I haven't
harmed a soul but myself. I've paid Lord Stanway every
penny back, and I never knew the thing was a
forgery till I began to clean it. I'm an old man,
mister Hewitt, and my professional reputation has been spotless until now.
I beg you won't expose me. Hewett's voice softened. Don't
(41:34):
make an unnecessary trouble of it, he said, I see
a decanter on your sideboard. Let me give you a
little brandy and water. Come. There is nothing criminal I
believe in a man's breaking open his own desk or
his own trap door. For that matter, of course, I'm
acting for Lord Stanway in this affair, and I must,
(41:56):
in duty report to him without reserve. But Lord Stanway
is a gentleman, and I'll undertake he'll do nothing inconsiderate
of your feelings. If you are disposed to be Frank,
let us talk the affair over. Tell me about it.
It was that swindler Hahn who deceived me. In the beginning,
(42:17):
Claradge said, I have never made a mistake with a
cameo before, and I never thought so close an imitation
was possible. I examined it most carefully and was perfectly satisfied,
and many experts examined it afterward and were all equally deceived.
I felt as sure as I possibly could feel, that
(42:39):
I had bought one of the finest, if not actually
the finest cameo's known to exist. It was not until
after it had come back from Lord Stanway's and I
was cleaning it the evening before last, that in course
of my work it became apparent that the thing was
nothing but a consummately clever feing forgery. It was made
(43:01):
of three layers of molded glass, nothing more nor less.
But the glass was treated in a way I had
never known before, and the surface had been cunningly worked
on it till it defied any ordinary examination. Some of
the glass imitation cameos made in the latter part of
the last century, I may tell you, are regarded as
(43:24):
marvelous pieces of work, and indeed command very fair prices.
But this was something quite beyond any of those. I
was amazed and horrified. I put the thing away and
went home. All that night I lay awake in a
state of distraction, quite unable to decide what to do.
(43:44):
To let the cameo go out of my possession was impossible.
Sooner or later the forgery would be discovered, and my
reputation the highest in these matters in this country, I
may safely claim, and the growth of nearly fifty years
of honest application and good judgment, this reputation would be
gone forever. But without considering this, there was the fact
(44:09):
that I had taken five thousand pounds of Lord Stanway's
money for a mere piece of glass, and that money
I must, in mere common honesty, as well as for
my own sake, return, But how the name of the
Stanway cameo had become a household word, and to confess
(44:29):
that the whole thing was a sham, would ruin my
reputation and destroy all confidence, past, present and future in
me and in my transactions. Either way spelled ruin. Even
if I confided in Lord Stanway privately returned his money
and destroyed the cameo. What then, the sudden disappearance of
(44:52):
an article so famous would excite remark at once it
had been presented to the British Museum. And if it
never appeared in that collection and no news were to
be got of it, people would guess at the truth
at once. To make it known that I myself had
been deceived would have availed nothing. It is my business
(45:14):
not to be deceived, and to have it known that
my most expensive specimens might be forgeries would equally mean ruin,
whether I sold them cunningly as a rogue or ignorantly
as a fool. Indeed, my pride, my reputation as a connoisseur,
is a thing near to my heart, and it would
(45:35):
be an unspeakable humiliation to me to have it known
that I had been imposed on by such a forgery.
What could I do? Every expedient seemed useless, but one
the one I adopted. It was not straightforward. I admit.
But oh, mister Hewett, consider the temptation, and remember that
(45:58):
it couldn't do a soul harm. No matter who might
be suspected. I knew there could not possibly be evidence
to make them suffer. All the next day, yesterday, I
was anxiously worrying out the thing in my mind and
carefully devising the the trick. I'm afraid you'll call it
(46:19):
that you, by some extraordinary means, have seen through. It
seemed the only thing. What else was there more? I
needn't tell you you know it. I have only now
to beg that you will use your best influence with
Lord Stanway to save me from public derision and exposure.
(46:40):
I will do anything, pay anything, anything but exposure at
my age and with my position. Well, you see, Hewitt
replied thoughtfully, I've no doubt Lord Stanway will show you
every consideration, and certainly I will do what I can
(47:00):
to save you in the circumstances. Though you must remember
that you have done some harm. You have caused suspicions
to rest on at least one honest man. But as
to reputation, I've a professional reputation of my own. If
I helped to conceal your professional failure. I shall appear
(47:22):
to have failed in my part of the business. But
the cases are different, mister Hewitt. Consider you are not
expected it would be impossible to succeed invariably, and there
are only two or three who know you have looked
into the case. Then your other conspicuous successes, well, well
(47:46):
we shall see one thing. I don't know, though, whether
you climbed out of a window to break open the
trap door, or whether you got up through the trap
door itself and pulled the bolt with a string through
the jam so as to bolt it after you there
was no available window. I used the string. As you say,
(48:09):
my poor little cunning must seem very transparent to you,
I fear I spent hours of thought over the question
of the trap door, how to break it open so
as to leave a genuine appearance, and especially how to
bolt it inside. After I had reached the roof, I
thought I had succeeded beyond the possibility of suspicion. How
(48:32):
you penetrated the device surpasses my comprehension. How to begin with?
Could you possibly know that the cameo was a forgery?
Did you ever see it? Never? And if I had
seen it. I fear I should never have been able
to express an opinion on it. I'm not a connoisseur.
(48:53):
As a matter of fact, I didn't know that the
thing was a forgery in the first place. What I
knew in the first place was that it was you
who had broken into the house. It was from that
that I arrived at the conclusion, after a certain amount
of thought, that the cameo must have been forged. Gain
(49:15):
was out of the question. You, beyond all men, could
never sell the Stanway cameo again, and besides, you had
paid back Lord Stanway's money. I knew enough of your
reputation to know that you would never incur the scandal
of a great theft at your place for the sake
of getting the cameo for yourself, when you might have
(49:37):
kept it in the beginning with no trouble and mystery. Consequently,
I had to look for another motive, and at first
another motive seemed an impossibility. Why should you wish to
take all this trouble to lose five thousand pounds? You
had nothing to gain. Perhaps you had something to save
(49:57):
your professional reputation, for instance. Looking at it so it
was plain that you were suppressing the cameo, burking it,
since once taken as you had taken it, it could
never come to light again. That suggested the solution of
the mystery at once you had discovered after the sale
(50:19):
that the cameo was not genuine. Yes, yes, I see,
But you say you began with the knowledge that I
broke into the place myself. How did you know that?
I cannot imagine a trace, My dear sir, you left
traces everywhere in the first place. It struck me as
(50:41):
curious before I came here that you had sent off
that check for five thousand pounds to Lord Stanway an
hour or so after the robbery was discovered. It looked
so much as though you were sure of the cameo
never coming back and were in a hurry to avert suspicion.
Of course I understood that, so far as I then
(51:04):
knew the case, you were the most unlikely person in
the world, and that your eagerness to repay Lord Stanway
might be the most creditable thing possible. But the point
was worth remembering, and I remembered it when I came here.
I saw suspicious indications in many directions, but the conclusive
(51:27):
piece of evidence was that old hat hanging below the
trap door. But I never touched it, I assure you,
mister Hewitt, I never touched that hat, haven't touched it
for months. Of course, if you had touched it, I
might never have got the clue. But we'll deal with
(51:48):
the hat presently. That wasn't what struck me at first.
The trap door first took my attention. Consider now here
was a trap door most insecure ually hung on external hinges.
The burglar had a screwdriver, for he took off the
door lock below with it. Why then didn't he take
(52:10):
this trap off by the hinges instead of making a
noise and taking longer time and trouble to burst the
bolt from its fastenings. And why, if he were a stranger,
was he able to plant his jimmy from the outside
just exactly opposite the interior bolt. There was only one
(52:31):
mark on the frame, and that precisely in the proper place.
After that I saw the leather case. It had not
been thrown away, or some corner would have shown signs
of the fall. It had been put down carefully where
it was found. These things, however, were of small importance
(52:52):
compared with the hat. The hat, as you know, was
exceedingly thick with dust, the accumulation of months. But on
the top side, presented toward the trapdoor, were a score
or so of rain drop marks. That was all. They
were new marks, for there was no dust over them.
(53:15):
They had merely had time to dry and cake the
dust they had fallen on. Now, there had been no
rain since a sharp shower just after seven o'clock last night.
At that time, you, by your own statement, were in
the place you left at eight, and the rain was
(53:35):
all over at ten minutes or a quarter past seven.
The trap door, you also told me, had not been
opened for months. The thing was plain you or somebody
who was here when you were here, had opened the
trap door during or just before that shower. I said
(53:55):
little then, but went as soon as I had left
to the police state. There I made perfectly certain that
there had been no rain during the night. By questioning
the policemen who were on duty outside all the time,
there had been none. I knew everything. The only other
evidence there was pointed with all the rest, there were
(54:19):
no rain marks on the leather case. It had been
put on the roof as an afterthought when there was
no rain a very poor afterthought, let me tell you,
for no thief would throw away a useful case that
concealed his booty and protected it from breakage, and throw
it away just so as to leave a clue as
(54:42):
to what direction he had gone in. I also saw
in the lumber room a number of packing cases, one
with a label dated two days back, which had been
opened with an iron lever. And yet when I made
an excuse to ask for it, you said there was
no such thing in the place. Inference. You didn't want
(55:05):
me to compare it with the marks on the desks
and doors. That is all I think. Mister Clarridge looked
dolorously down at the floor. I'm afraid he said that
I took an unsuitable roll when I undertook to rely
on my wits to deceive men like you. I thought
(55:26):
there wasn't a single vulnerable spot in my defense, but
you walk calmly through it at the first attempt. Why
did I never think of those rain drops? Come, said
Hewett with a smile that sounds unrepentant. I am going
now to Lord Stanway's. If I were you, I think
(55:48):
I should apologize to mister Woollet in some Way. Lord Stanway,
who in the hour or two of reflection left him
after parting with Hewett, had come to the belief that
he had employed a man whose mind was not always
in order, received Hewett's story with natural astonishment. For some
(56:10):
time he was in doubt as to whether he would
be doing right in acquiescing in anything but a straightforward
public statement of the facts connected with the disappearance of
the cameo, but in the end was persuaded to let
the affair drop on receiving an assurance from mister Woollett
that he unreservedly accepted the apology offered him by mister Clarridge.
(56:36):
As for the latter, he was at least sufficiently punished
in loss of money and personal humiliation for his escapade.
But the bitterest and last blow he sustained when the
unblushing Han walked smilingly into his office two days later
to demand the extra payment agreed on in consideration of
(56:58):
the sale. He had been called suddenly away, he exclaimed,
on the day he should have come, and hoped his
missing the appointment had occasioned no inconvenience As to the
robbery of the cameo. Of course, he was very sorry,
but Pishnus was Pishnus, and he would be glad of
(57:19):
a check for the sum agreed on, and the unhappy
Clarage was obliged to pay it, knowing that the man
had swindled him, but unable to open his mouth to
say so. The reward remained on offer for a long time. Indeed,
it was never publicly withdrawn, i believe, even at the
(57:40):
time of Clarridge's death, and several intelligent newspapers enlarged upon
the fact that an ordinary burglar had completely baffled and
defeated the boasted acumen of mister Martin Hewitt, the well
known private detective end of Chapter six
Chapter six of Martin Hewitt Investigator by Arthur Morrison. This
LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter six, The
Stanway Cameo Mystery. It is now a fair number of
years back since the loss of the famous Stanway cameo
made its sensation, and the only person who had the
(00:23):
least interest in keeping the real facts of the case
secret has now been dead for some time, leaving neither
relatives nor other representatives. Therefore, no harm will be done
in making the inner history of the case public. On
the contrary, it will afford an opportunity of vindicating the
professional reputation of Hewitt, who is supposed to have completely
(00:48):
failed to make anything of the mystery surrounding the case.
At the present time, connoisseurs in ancient objects of art
are often heard regretfully to wonder whether the wonderful cameo,
so suddenly discovered and so quickly stolen, will ever again
be visible to the public eye. Now this question need
(01:11):
be asked no longer. The cameo, as may be remembered
from the many descriptions published at the time, was said
to be absolutely the finest extant. It was a sardonyx
of three strata, one of those rare sardonyx cameos in
(01:31):
which it has been possible for the artist to avail
himself of three different colors of superimposed stone, the lowest
for the ground, and the two others for the middle
and high relief of the design. In size, it was
for a cameo immense, measuring seven and a half inches
(01:53):
by nearly six In subject, it was similar to the
renowned Gonzaga cameo, now the property of the Tsar of Russia,
a male and a female head with imperial insignia, but
in this case supposed to represent Tiberius, Claudius and Messalina.
(02:15):
Experts considered it probably to be the work of Athenion,
a famous gem cutter of the first Christian century, whose
most notable other work, now extant, is a smaller cameo
with a mythological subject, preserved in the Vatican. The Stanway
cameo had been discovered in an obscure Italian village by
(02:39):
one of those traveling agents who scour all Europe for
valuable antiquities and objects of art. This man had hurried
immediately to London with his prize and sold it to
mister Claridge. Of Saint James Street, eminent as a dealer
in such objects. Mister Claridge recorded, ignizing the importance and
(03:01):
value of the article, lost no opportunity of making its
existence known, and very soon the Claudius Cameo, as it
was at first usually called, was as famous as any
in the world. Many experts in ancient art examined it,
and several large bids were made for its purchase. In
(03:23):
the end it was bought by the Marquis of Stanway
for five thousand pounds for the purpose of presentation to
the British Museum. The marquis kept the cameo at his
town house for a few days, showing it to his friends,
and then returned it to mister Claret to be finally
and carefully cleaned before passing into the National Collection. Two
(03:47):
nights after mister Clarridge's premises were broken into and the
cameo stolen. Such in outline was the generally known history
of the Stanway Cameo. The circumstances of the burglary in
detail were these. Mister Clarridge had himself been the last
to leave the premises at about eight in the evening
(04:11):
at dusk, and had locked the small side door. As usual,
his assistant, mister Cutler, had left an hour and a
half earlier. When mister Clarridge left, everything was in order,
and the policeman on fixed point duty just opposite, who
bade mister Clarridge good evening as he left, saw nothing
(04:32):
suspicious during the rest of his term of duty, nor
did his successors at the point throughout the night. In
the morning, however, mister Cutler, the assistant, who arrived first
soon after nine o'clock, at once perceived that something unlooked
for had happened. The door, of which he had a key,
(04:52):
was still fastened and had not been touched. But in
the room behind the shop, mister Clarridge's private desk had
been broken open and the contents turned out in confusion.
The door leading on to the staircase had also been forced.
Proceeding up the stairs, mister Cutler found another door open,
(05:14):
leading from the top landing to a small room. This
door had been opened by the simple expedient of unscrewing
and taking off the lock which had been on the inside.
In the ceiling of this room was a trap door,
and this was six or eight inches open, the edge
resting on the half wrenched off bolt which had been
(05:38):
torn away when the trap was levered open from the outside.
Plainly then this was the path of the thief or thieves.
Entrance had been made through the trap door, two more
doors had been opened, and then the desk had been ransacked.
Mister Cutler afterward explained that at this time he had
(06:00):
no precise idea what had been stolen, and did not
know where the cameo had been left. On the previous evening,
mister Clarridge had himself undertaken the cleaning and had been
engaged on it. The assistant said when he left there
was no doubt. However, after mister Clarridge's arrival at ten o'clock,
(06:22):
the cameo was gone. Mister Clarridge, utterly confounded at his loss,
explained incoherently and with curses on his own carelessness, that
he had locked the precious article in his desk on
relinquishing work on it the previous evening, feeling rather tired,
(06:43):
and not taking the trouble to carry it as far
as the safe in another part of the house. The
police were sent for at once, of course, and every
investigation made mister Clarridge offering a reward of five hundred
pounds for the recovery of the cameo. The affair was
scribbled off at large in the earliest editions of the
(07:06):
evening papers, and by noon all the world was aware
of the extraordinary theft of the Stanway cameo, and many
people were discussing the probabilities of the case, with very
indistinct ideas of what a Sardonyx cameo precisely was. It
was in the afternoon of this day that Lord Stanway
(07:28):
called on Martin Hewitt. The Marquis was a tall, upstanding
man of spare figure and active habits, well known as
a member of learned societies and a great patron of art.
He hurried into Hewitt's private room as soon as his
name had been announced, and as soon as Hewitt had
(07:48):
given him a chair, plunged into business. Probably you already
guess my business with you, mister Hewitt. You have seen
the early evening papers just so. Then I needn't tell
you again what you already know. My cameo is gone,
and I badly want it back. Of course, the police
(08:09):
are hard at work at Clarage's, but I'm not quite satisfied.
I have been there myself for two or three hours
and can't see that they know any more about it
than I do myself. Then, of course, the police, naturally
and properly enough, from their point of view, look first
to find the criminal, regarding the recovery of the property
(08:32):
almost as secondary consideration. Now, from my point of view,
the chief consideration is the property. Of course, I want
the thief caught, if possible, and properly punished. But still
more I want the cameo. Certainly it is a considerable
loss five thousand pounds ah, But don't misunderstand me. It
(08:57):
isn't the monetary value of the thing that I regret.
As a matter of fact, I am indemnified for that. Already.
Clarridge has behaved most honorably, more than honorably. Indeed, the
first intimation I had of the loss was a check
from him for five thousand pounds, with a letter assuring
(09:18):
me that the restoration to me of the amount I
had paid was the least he could do to repair
the result of what he called his unpardonable carelessness. Legally,
I'm not sure that I could demand anything of him
unless I could prove very flagrant neglect indeed, to guard
against the theft. Then I take it. Lord Stanway Hewett
(09:42):
observed that you much prefer the cameo to the money.
Certainly else I should never have been willing to pay
the money for the cameo. It was an enormous price,
perhaps much above the market value even for such a
valuable thing. But I was particularly anxious that it should
not go out of the country. Our public collections here
(10:06):
are not so fortunate as they should be in the
possession of the very finest examples of that class of work.
In short, I had determined on the cameo, and fortunately
happened to be able to carry out determinations of that
sort without regarding an extra thousand pounds or so as
(10:27):
an obstacle. So that you see what I want is
not the value but the thing itself. Indeed, I don't
think I can possibly keep the money Claridge has sent me.
The affair is more his misfortune than his fault. But
I shall say nothing about returning it for a little while.
It may possibly have the effect of sharpening everybody in
(10:50):
the search. Just so, do I understand that you would
like me to look into the case independently on your
behalf exactly. I want you, if you can, to approach
the matter entirely from my point of view, your sole
object being to find the cameo. Of course, if you
(11:11):
happen on the thief as well, so much the better. Perhaps,
After all, looking for the one is the same thing
as looking for the other. Not always, but usually it is.
Of course, even if they are not together, they certainly
have been at one time, and to have one is
(11:32):
a very long step toward having the other. Now to
begin with, is anybody suspected, Well, the police are reserved,
but I believe the fact is they've nothing to say.
Clarage won't admit that he suspects anyone, though he believes
that whoever it was, must have watched him yesterday evening
(11:53):
through the back window of his room and must have
seen him put the cameo away in his desk, because
the thief would seem to have gone straight to the place.
But I half fancy that in his inner mind he
is inclined to suspect one of two people. You see,
a robbery of this sort is different from others. The
(12:14):
cameo would never be stolen, I imagine, with the view
of its being sold. It is much too famous a thing.
A man might as well walk about offering to sell
the Tower of London. There are only a very few
people who buy such things, and every one of them
knows all about it. No dealer would touch it. He
(12:35):
could never even show it, much less sell it without
being called to account. So that it really seems more
likely that it has been taken by somebody who wishes
to keep it for the mere love of the thing,
a collector, in fact, who would then have to keep
it secretly at home and never let a soul beside
himself see it, living in the consciousness that at his
(12:58):
death it must be found, and this theft known. Unless
indeed an ordinary vulgar burglar has taken it without knowing
its value, that isn't likely, Hewitt replied. An ordinary burglar
ignorant of its value, wouldn't have gone straight to the
cameo and have taken it in preference to many other
(13:21):
things of more apparent worth, which must be lying near
in such a place as Clarage's true. I suppose he wouldn't.
Although the police seemed to think that the breaking in
is clearly the work of a regular criminal, from the
Jimmy marks you know, and so on. Well, but what
(13:41):
of the two people you think mister Clarridge suspects. Of
course I can't say that he does suspect them. I
only fancied from his tone that it might be possible.
He himself insists that he can't, in justice suspect anybody.
One of these men is Hahn, the traveling agent who
(14:01):
sold him the cameo. This man's character does not appear
to be absolutely irreproachable. No dealer trusts him very far.
Of course, Clarridge doesn't say what he paid him for
the cameo. These dealers are very reticent about their profits,
which I believe are as often something like five hundred
(14:22):
per cent as not. But it seems Han bargained to
have something extra depending on the amount Clarage could sell
the carving four. According to the appointment, he should have
turned up this morning, but he hasn't been seen, and
nobody seems to know exactly where he is. Yes, and
the other person, well, I scarcely like mentioning him, because
(14:46):
he is certainly a gentleman, and I believe, in the
ordinary way, quite incapable of anything in the least degree dishonorable.
Although of course, they say a collector has no conscience
in the matter of his own particular hobby, and certainly
mister Wollet is as keen a collector as any man alive.
(15:08):
He lives in chambers in the next turning past Clarridge's premises,
can in fact look into Clarridge's back windows if he likes.
He examined the cameo several times before I bought it,
and made several high offers, appeared in fact very anxious
indeed to get it. After I had bought it, he
(15:30):
made I understand some rather strong remarks about people like
myself spoiling the market by paying extravagant prices and altogether
cut up crusty, as they say, at losing the specimen.
Lord Stanway paused a few seconds and then went on,
I'm not sure that I ought to mention mister Willet's
(15:52):
name for a moment in connection with such a matter.
I am personally perfectly certain that he is as incapable
of anything like theft as myself. But I am telling
you all I know precisely. I can't know too much
in a case like this. It can do no harm
if I know all about fifty innocent people and may
(16:15):
save me from the risk of knowing nothing about the thief.
Now let me see mister Willet's rooms. You say are
near mister Clarridge's place of business. Is there any means
of communication between the roofs? Yes, I am told that
it is perfectly possible to get from one place to
the other by walking along the LEDs. Very good. Then,
(16:40):
unless you can think of any other information that might
help me, I think, Lord Stanway, I will go at
once and look at the place. Do by all means.
I think I'll come back with you somehow. I don't
like to feel idle in the matter, though I suppose
I can't do much as to more information. I don't
(17:01):
think there is any in regard to mister Clarridge's assistant.
Now do you know anything of him? Only that he
has always seemed a very civil and decent sort of man. Honest,
I should say, or Clarridge wouldn't have kept him so
many years. There are a good many valuable things about
(17:21):
at Clarridge's. Besides, the man has keys of the place himself,
and even if he were a thief, he wouldn't need
to go breaking in through the roof, so that said, Hewitt,
we have directly connected with this cameo. Besides yourself, these
people mister Clarridge, the dealer, mister Cutler, the assistant in
(17:46):
mister Clarridge's business, Hahn, who sold the article to Clarridge,
and mister Woollett, who made bids for it. These are
all all that I know of. Other gentlemen made bids,
I believe, but I don't know them. Take these people
in their order. Mister Claridge is out of the question,
(18:10):
as a dealer with a reputation to keep up would be,
even if he hadn't immediately sent you this five thousand
pounds more than the market value I understand of the cameo.
The assistant is a reputable man against whom nothing is known,
who would never need to break in, and who must
understand his business well enough to know that he could
(18:32):
never attempt to sell the missing stone without instant detection.
Hahn is a man of shady antecedents, probably clever enough
to know as well as anybody how to dispose of
such plunder, if it be possible to dispose of it
at all. Also, Han hasn't been to Claridge's today, although
(18:54):
he had an appointment to take money. Lastly, mister Woollett
is a gentleman of the most honorable record, but a
perfectly rabid collector, who had made every effort to secure
the cameo before you bought it, who moreover, could have
seen mister Clarridge working in his back room, and who
(19:14):
has perfectly easy access to mister Clarridge's roof. If we
find it can't be any of these, then we must
look where circumstances indicate there was unwonted excitement at mister
Clarridge's place when Hewitt and his client arrived. It was
a dull old building, and in the windows there was
(19:38):
never more show than an odd blue china vase or two,
or mayhap a few old silver shoe buckles, and a
curious small sword. Nine men out of ten would have
passed it without a glance, but the tenth at least
would probably know it for a place famous through the
world for the number and value of the old and
(20:00):
curious objects of art that had passed through it. On
this day. Two or three loiterers, having heard of the robbery,
extracted what gratification they might from staring at nothing between
the rails guarding the windows within, mister Clarridge, a brisk,
stout little old man, was talking earnestly to a burly
(20:23):
police inspector in uniform, and mister Cutler, who had seized
the opportunity to attempt amateur detective work on his own account,
was groveling perseveringly about the floor among old porcelain and
loose pieces of armour, in the futile hope of finding
any clue that the thieves might have considerately dropped. Mister
(20:47):
Clarridge came forward eagerly. The leather case has been found.
I am pleased to be able to tell you, Lord Stanway,
since you left empty. Of course. Unfortunately, yes, it had
evidently been thrown away by the thief behind a chimney
stack a roof or two away where the police have
(21:07):
found it. But it is a clue, of course. Ah,
then this gentleman will give me his opinion of it,
Lord Stanway said, turning to Hewitt. This, mister Claret, is
mister Martin Hewitt, who has been kind enough to come
with me here at a moment's notice. With the police
(21:28):
on the one hand and mister Hewitt on the other,
we shall certainly recover the cameo, if it is to
be recovered, I think mister Clarrig bowed and beamed on
Hewitt through his spectacles. I am very glad mister Hewitt
has come, he said. Indeed, I had already decided to
give the police till this time tomorrow, and then if
(21:50):
they had found nothing, to call in mister Hewitt myself.
Hewitt bowed in his turn, and then asked, will you
let me see the various breakages. I hope they have
not been disturbed. Nothing whatever has been disturbed. Do exactly
as seems best. I need scarcely say that everything here
(22:11):
is perfectly at your disposal. You know all the circumstances,
of course, in general, yes, I suppose I am right
in the belief that you have no resident housekeeper. No
Claradge replied, I haven't. I had one housekeeper who sometimes
pawned my property in the evening, and then another who
(22:33):
used to break my most valuable china till I could
never sleep or take a moment's ease at home for
fear my stock was being ruined here. So I gave
up resident housekeepers. I felt some confidence in doing it
because of the policeman, who is always on duty opposite?
Can I see the broken desk? Mister Clarridge led the
(22:56):
way into the room behind the shop. The desk was
really as work table with a lifting top and a lock.
The top had been forced roughly open by some instrument
which had been pushed in below it and used as
a lever, so that the catch of the lock was
torn away. Hewitt examined the damaged parts and the marks
(23:18):
of the lever, and then looked out at the back window.
There are several windows about here, he remarked, from which
it might be possible to see into this room. Do
you know any of the people who live behind them?
Two or three? I know, mister Clarridge answered, But there
are two windows, the pair almost immediately before us, belonging
(23:42):
to a room or office, which is to let any
stranger might get in there and watch. Do the roofs
above any of those windows communicate in any way with yours?
None of those directly opposite those at the left. Do
you may walk all the way along the LEDs? And
(24:03):
whose windows are they? Mister Clarridge hesitated, Well, he said there.
Mister Wollet's an excellent customer of mine, but he's a gentleman,
and well, I really think it's absurd to suspect him
in a case like this, Hewett answered, one must disregard
(24:25):
nothing but the impossible. Somebody, whether mister Willett himself or
another person, could possibly have seen into this room from
those windows, and equally possibly could have reached this room
from that one. Therefore, we must not forget, mister Woollet
have any of your neighbors been burgled during the night.
(24:47):
I mean that stranger's anxious to get at your trap
door would probably have to begin by getting into some
other house close by so as to reach your roof. No,
mister Clarridge replied, there has been nothing of that sort.
It was the first thing the police ascertained. Hewitt examined
(25:07):
the broken door and then made his way up the
stairs with the others. The unscrewed lock of the door
of the top back room required little examination. In the
room below the trap door was a dusty table on
which stood a chair, and at the other side of
the table sat Detective Inspector Plumber, whom Hewett knew very well,
(25:29):
and who bade him good day and then went on
with his docket. This chair and table were found as
they are now. I take it, Ewet asked, yes, said
mister Clarridge. The thieves, I should think, dropped in through
the trap door after breaking it open, and had to
place this chair where it is to be able to
(25:51):
climb back. Hewitt scrambled up through the trapway and examined
it from the top. The door was hung on long
exits external barn door hinges and had been forced open
in a similar manner to that practiced on the desk.
A jimmy had been pushed between the frame and the
door near the bolt, and the door had been pried open,
(26:14):
the bolt being torn away from the screws in the operation. Presently,
Inspector Plummer, having finished his docket, climbed up to the
roof after Hewitt, and the two together went to the
spot close under a chimney stack on the next roof,
but one where the case had been found. Plumber produced
(26:35):
the case, which he had in his coat tail pocket,
for Hewitt's inspection. I don't see anything particular about it,
do you, he said? It shows us the way they
went though being found just here. Well, yes, Hewitt said,
If we kept on in this direction, we should be
(26:56):
going toward mister Wollet's house and his trap doors, shouldn't
we The inspector pursed his lips, smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
Of course we haven't waited till now to find that out,
he said, No, of course not. And as you say,
I didn't think there is much to be learned from
(27:17):
this leather case. It is almost new, and there isn't
a mark on it. And Hewett handed it back to
the inspector. Well, said Plumber, as he returned the case
to his pocket. What's your opinion, it's rather an awkward case. Yes,
it is between ourselves. I don't mind telling you. I'm
(27:40):
having a sharp look out kept over there. Plumber jerked
his head in the direction of mister Woollet's chambers. Because
the robbery's an unusual one, there's only two possible motives,
the sale of the cameo or the keeping of it.
The sail's out of the question, as you know, the
things only saleable to those who would collar the thief
(28:02):
at once, and who wouldn't have the thing in their
places now for anything, so that it must be taken
to keep. And that's a thing nobody but the maddest
of collectors would do. Just such persons as, and the
inspector nodded again toward mister Woollet's quarters take that with
(28:23):
the other circumstances, he added, and I think you'll agree
it's worth while looking a little farther that way. Of course,
some of the work, taking off the lock and so on,
looks rather like a regular burglary. But it's just possible
that any one badly wanting the cameo would like to
hire a man who was up to the work. Yes,
(28:46):
it's possible. Do you know anything of Han, the agent,
Plumber asked a moment later. No, I don't have you
found him yet? I haven't yet, but I'm after him.
I've found he was at Charing Cross a day or
two ago, booking a ticket for the continent. That and
(29:07):
his failing to turn up to day seemed to make
it worth while not to miss him if we can
help it. He isn't the sort of man that lets
a chance of drawing a bit of money go for nothing.
They returned to the room, Well, said Lord Stanway, what
the result of the consultation. We've been waiting here very
(29:29):
patiently while you two clever men have been discussing the
matter on the roof. On the wall just beneath the
trap door, a very dusty, old tall hat hung on
a peg. This Hewett took down and examined very closely,
smearing his fingers with the dust from the inside lining.
(29:49):
Is this one of your valuable and crusted old antiques,
he asked, with a smile of mister Clarridge. That's only
an old hat that I used to keep here for
use in bad weather, mister Clarridge said, with some surprise
at the question. I haven't touched it for a year
or more. Oh, then it couldn't have been left here
(30:13):
by your last night's visitor, Hewitt replied, carelessly, replacing it
on the hook. You left here at eight last night,
I think eight exactly, or within a minute or two.
Just so, I think i'll look at the room on
the opposite side of the landing, if you'll let me, certainly,
(30:34):
if you'd like to, Clarridge replied, But they haven't been there.
It is exactly as it was left. Only a lumber room,
you see, he concluded, flinging the door open. A number
of partly broken up packing cases littered about this room
with much other rubbish. Hewitt took the lid of one
(30:55):
of the newest looking packing cases and glanced at the
address label. Then he turned to a rusty, old iron
box that stood against a wall. I should like to
see behind this, he said, tugging at it with his hands.
It is heavy and dirty. Is there a small crowbar
(31:15):
about the house or some similar lover? Mister Clarridge shook
his head. Haven't such a thing in the place, he said,
Never mind, Hewett replied another time will do to shift
that old box, and perhaps, after all there's little reason
for moving it. I will just walk round the police station,
(31:36):
I think, and speak to the constables who were on
duty opposite during the night. I think, Lord Stanway, I
have seen all that is necessary here, I suppose, asked
mister Clarridge. It is too soon yet to ask if
you have formed any theory in the matter. Well, yes
(31:57):
it is, Hewett answered, But perhaps I may be able
to surprise you in an hour or two. But that
I don't promise. By the bye, he added suddenly, I
suppose you are sure the trap door was bolted last night? Certainly,
mister Clarridge answered, smiling. Else, how could the bolt have
(32:18):
been broken? As a matter of fact, I believe the
trap hasn't been opened for months, mister Cutler, do you
remember when the trap door was last opened? Mister Cutler
shook his head. Certainly not for six months, he said. Ah,
very well, it's not very important, Hewett replied. As they
(32:39):
reached the front shop, a fiery faced old gentleman bounced
in at the street door, stumbling over an umbrella that
stood in a dark corner and kicking it three yards away.
What the deuce do you mean, he roared at mister Clarridge,
by sending these police people smelling about my rooms and
asking question of my servants, what do you mean, sir,
(33:03):
by treating me as a thief? Can't a gentleman come
into this place to look at an article without being
suspected of stealing it when it disappears through your wretched carelessness?
I'll ask my solicitor, sir, if there isn't a remedy
for this sort of thing. And if I catch another
of your spy fellows on my staircase or crawling about
(33:26):
my roof, I'll I'll shoot him. Really, mister Woollet began
mister Clarridge somewhat abashed, but the angry old man would
hear nothing. Don't talk to me, sir, you shall talk
to my solicitor. And am I to understand, my lord,
turning to Lord Stanway, that these things are being done
(33:48):
with your approval. Whatever is being done, Lord Stanway answered,
is being done by the police on their own responsibility,
and entirely without prompting. I believe by mister Clarridge, certainly,
without a suggestion of any sort from myself. I think
(34:09):
that the personal opinion of mister Clarridge, certainly my own,
is that anything like a suspicion of your position in
this wretched matter is ridiculous. And if you will only
consider the matter, calmly, consider it, calmly, imagine yourself considering
such a thing, calmly, Lord Stanway, I won't consider it, calmly,
(34:31):
I'll i'll, I won't have it. And if I find
another man on my roof, I'll pitch him off. And
mister Wollet bounced into the street again. Mister Willet is annoyed.
Hewitt observed with a smile, I'm afraid plumber has a
clumsy assistant somewhere. Mister Clarridge said nothing, but looked rather
(34:56):
glum for mister Willet was a most excellent customer. Lord
Stanway and Hewitt walked slowly down the street, Hewitt staring
at the pavement in profound thought. Once or twice Lord
Stanway glanced at his face, but refrained from disturbing him. Presently, however,
(35:16):
he observed, you seem, at least, mister Hewitt, to have
noticed something that has set you thinking. Does it look
like a clue? Hewitt came out of his cogitation at
once a clue? He said, The case bristles with clues.
The extraordinary thing to me is that Plumber, usually a
(35:37):
smart man, doesn't seem to have seen one of them.
He must be out of sorts, I'm afraid. But the
case is decidedly a most remarkable one. Remarkable in what
particular way. In regard to motive, now it would seem
as Plumber was saying to me just now on the roof.
(36:00):
But there were only two possible motives for such a robbery.
Either the man who took all this trouble and risk
to break into Claradge's place must have desired to sell
the cameo at a good price, or he must have
desired to keep it for himself, Being a lover of
such things, but neither of these has been the actual motive.
(36:25):
Perhaps he thinks he can extort a good sum from
me by way of ransom. No, it isn't that, Nor
is it jealousy, nor spite, nor anything of that kind.
I know the motive, I think, But I wish we
could get hold of han. I will shut myself up
alone and turn it over in my mind for half
(36:48):
an hour presently. Meanwhile, what I want to know is,
apart from all your professional subtleties, which I confess I
can't understand, can you get back the case? That said Hewet,
stopping at the corner of the street. I am rather
afraid I can not, nor anybody else. But I am
(37:12):
pretty sure I know the thief. Then surely that will
lead you to the cameo. It may, of course, But
then it is just possible that by this evening you
may not want to have it back after all, Lord
Stanway stared in amazement. Not want to have it back?
(37:32):
He exclaimed, Why, of course I shall want to have
it back. I don't understand you in the least. You
talk in conundrums. Who is the thief you speak of?
I think, Lord Stanway Hewitt said that perhaps I had
better not say until I have quite finished my inquiries
(37:52):
in case of mistakes. The case is quite an extraordinary one,
and of quite a different character from what one would
at first naturally imagine, and I must be very careful
to guard against the possibility of error. I have very
little fear of a mistake, however, and I hope I
(38:13):
may wait on you in a few hours at Piccadilly
with news. I have only to see the policemen. Certainly
come whenever you please. But why see the policemen. They
have already most positively stated that they saw nothing whatever
suspicious in the house or near it. I shall not
(38:33):
ask them anything at all about the house, Hewitt responded,
I shall just have a little chat with them about
the weather, and with a smiling bow, he turned away,
while Lord Stanway stood and gazed after him with an
expression that implied a suspicion that his special detective was
(38:54):
making a fool of him. In rather more than an hour,
Hewett was back in mister Clarridge's shop. Mister Clarridge, he said,
I think I must ask you one or two questions
in private. May I see you in your own room?
They went there at once, and Hewett, pulling a chair
(39:14):
before the window, sat down with his back to the light.
The dealer shut the door and sat opposite him, with
the light full in his face. Mister Clarridge, Hewett proceeded slowly,
When did you first find that Lord Stanway's cameo was
a forgery? Clarridge literally bounced in his chair. His face paled,
(39:40):
but he managed to stammer sharply, what what what do
you mean forgery? Do you mean to say I sell forgeries? Forgery?
It wasn't a forgery, then, continued Hewett, in the same
deliberate tone, watching the other's face the while. If it
wasn't a forgery, why did you destroy it and burst
(40:04):
your trap door and desk to imitate a burglary? The
sweat stood thick on the dealer's face and he gasped,
but he struggled hard to keep his faculties together and
ejaculated hoarsely. Destroy it? What what I didn't? Didn't destroy it?
(40:24):
Threw it into the river. Then don't prevaricate about details. No, no,
it's a lie who says that. Go away? You're insulting me.
Clarridge almost screamed, Come, come, mister Clarridge, Hewett said, more placably,
for he had gained his point. Don't distress yourself, and
(40:45):
don't attempt to deceive me. You can't. I assure you
I know everything you did before you left here last night. Everything.
Clarridge's face worked painfully. Once or twice. He appeared to
be on the point of returning an indignant reply, but
hesitated and finally broke down altogether. Don't expose me, mister Hewitt,
(41:10):
he pleaded. I beg you won't expose me. I haven't
harmed a soul but myself. I've paid Lord Stanway every
penny back, and I never knew the thing was a
forgery till I began to clean it. I'm an old man,
mister Hewitt, and my professional reputation has been spotless until now.
I beg you won't expose me. Hewett's voice softened. Don't
(41:34):
make an unnecessary trouble of it, he said, I see
a decanter on your sideboard. Let me give you a
little brandy and water. Come. There is nothing criminal I
believe in a man's breaking open his own desk or
his own trap door. For that matter, of course, I'm
acting for Lord Stanway in this affair, and I must,
(41:56):
in duty report to him without reserve. But Lord Stanway
is a gentleman, and I'll undertake he'll do nothing inconsiderate
of your feelings. If you are disposed to be Frank,
let us talk the affair over. Tell me about it.
It was that swindler Hahn who deceived me. In the beginning,
(42:17):
Claradge said, I have never made a mistake with a
cameo before, and I never thought so close an imitation
was possible. I examined it most carefully and was perfectly satisfied,
and many experts examined it afterward and were all equally deceived.
I felt as sure as I possibly could feel, that
(42:39):
I had bought one of the finest, if not actually
the finest cameo's known to exist. It was not until
after it had come back from Lord Stanway's and I
was cleaning it the evening before last, that in course
of my work it became apparent that the thing was
nothing but a consummately clever feing forgery. It was made
(43:01):
of three layers of molded glass, nothing more nor less.
But the glass was treated in a way I had
never known before, and the surface had been cunningly worked
on it till it defied any ordinary examination. Some of
the glass imitation cameos made in the latter part of
the last century, I may tell you, are regarded as
(43:24):
marvelous pieces of work, and indeed command very fair prices.
But this was something quite beyond any of those. I
was amazed and horrified. I put the thing away and
went home. All that night I lay awake in a
state of distraction, quite unable to decide what to do.
(43:44):
To let the cameo go out of my possession was impossible.
Sooner or later the forgery would be discovered, and my
reputation the highest in these matters in this country, I
may safely claim, and the growth of nearly fifty years
of honest application and good judgment, this reputation would be
gone forever. But without considering this, there was the fact
(44:09):
that I had taken five thousand pounds of Lord Stanway's
money for a mere piece of glass, and that money
I must, in mere common honesty, as well as for
my own sake, return, But how the name of the
Stanway cameo had become a household word, and to confess
(44:29):
that the whole thing was a sham, would ruin my
reputation and destroy all confidence, past, present and future in
me and in my transactions. Either way spelled ruin. Even
if I confided in Lord Stanway privately returned his money
and destroyed the cameo. What then, the sudden disappearance of
(44:52):
an article so famous would excite remark at once it
had been presented to the British Museum. And if it
never appeared in that collection and no news were to
be got of it, people would guess at the truth
at once. To make it known that I myself had
been deceived would have availed nothing. It is my business
(45:14):
not to be deceived, and to have it known that
my most expensive specimens might be forgeries would equally mean ruin,
whether I sold them cunningly as a rogue or ignorantly
as a fool. Indeed, my pride, my reputation as a connoisseur,
is a thing near to my heart, and it would
(45:35):
be an unspeakable humiliation to me to have it known
that I had been imposed on by such a forgery.
What could I do? Every expedient seemed useless, but one
the one I adopted. It was not straightforward. I admit.
But oh, mister Hewett, consider the temptation, and remember that
(45:58):
it couldn't do a soul harm. No matter who might
be suspected. I knew there could not possibly be evidence
to make them suffer. All the next day, yesterday, I
was anxiously worrying out the thing in my mind and
carefully devising the the trick. I'm afraid you'll call it
(46:19):
that you, by some extraordinary means, have seen through. It
seemed the only thing. What else was there more? I
needn't tell you you know it. I have only now
to beg that you will use your best influence with
Lord Stanway to save me from public derision and exposure.
(46:40):
I will do anything, pay anything, anything but exposure at
my age and with my position. Well, you see, Hewitt
replied thoughtfully, I've no doubt Lord Stanway will show you
every consideration, and certainly I will do what I can
(47:00):
to save you in the circumstances. Though you must remember
that you have done some harm. You have caused suspicions
to rest on at least one honest man. But as
to reputation, I've a professional reputation of my own. If
I helped to conceal your professional failure. I shall appear
(47:22):
to have failed in my part of the business. But
the cases are different, mister Hewitt. Consider you are not
expected it would be impossible to succeed invariably, and there
are only two or three who know you have looked
into the case. Then your other conspicuous successes, well, well
(47:46):
we shall see one thing. I don't know, though, whether
you climbed out of a window to break open the
trap door, or whether you got up through the trap
door itself and pulled the bolt with a string through
the jam so as to bolt it after you there
was no available window. I used the string. As you say,
(48:09):
my poor little cunning must seem very transparent to you,
I fear I spent hours of thought over the question
of the trap door, how to break it open so
as to leave a genuine appearance, and especially how to
bolt it inside. After I had reached the roof, I
thought I had succeeded beyond the possibility of suspicion. How
(48:32):
you penetrated the device surpasses my comprehension. How to begin with?
Could you possibly know that the cameo was a forgery?
Did you ever see it? Never? And if I had
seen it. I fear I should never have been able
to express an opinion on it. I'm not a connoisseur.
(48:53):
As a matter of fact, I didn't know that the
thing was a forgery in the first place. What I
knew in the first place was that it was you
who had broken into the house. It was from that
that I arrived at the conclusion, after a certain amount
of thought, that the cameo must have been forged. Gain
(49:15):
was out of the question. You, beyond all men, could
never sell the Stanway cameo again, and besides, you had
paid back Lord Stanway's money. I knew enough of your
reputation to know that you would never incur the scandal
of a great theft at your place for the sake
of getting the cameo for yourself, when you might have
(49:37):
kept it in the beginning with no trouble and mystery. Consequently,
I had to look for another motive, and at first
another motive seemed an impossibility. Why should you wish to
take all this trouble to lose five thousand pounds? You
had nothing to gain. Perhaps you had something to save
(49:57):
your professional reputation, for instance. Looking at it so it
was plain that you were suppressing the cameo, burking it,
since once taken as you had taken it, it could
never come to light again. That suggested the solution of
the mystery at once you had discovered after the sale
(50:19):
that the cameo was not genuine. Yes, yes, I see,
But you say you began with the knowledge that I
broke into the place myself. How did you know that?
I cannot imagine a trace, My dear sir, you left
traces everywhere in the first place. It struck me as
(50:41):
curious before I came here that you had sent off
that check for five thousand pounds to Lord Stanway an
hour or so after the robbery was discovered. It looked
so much as though you were sure of the cameo
never coming back and were in a hurry to avert suspicion.
Of course I understood that, so far as I then
(51:04):
knew the case, you were the most unlikely person in
the world, and that your eagerness to repay Lord Stanway
might be the most creditable thing possible. But the point
was worth remembering, and I remembered it when I came here.
I saw suspicious indications in many directions, but the conclusive
(51:27):
piece of evidence was that old hat hanging below the
trap door. But I never touched it, I assure you,
mister Hewitt, I never touched that hat, haven't touched it
for months. Of course, if you had touched it, I
might never have got the clue. But we'll deal with
(51:48):
the hat presently. That wasn't what struck me at first.
The trap door first took my attention. Consider now here
was a trap door most insecure ually hung on external hinges.
The burglar had a screwdriver, for he took off the
door lock below with it. Why then didn't he take
(52:10):
this trap off by the hinges instead of making a
noise and taking longer time and trouble to burst the
bolt from its fastenings. And why, if he were a stranger,
was he able to plant his jimmy from the outside
just exactly opposite the interior bolt. There was only one
(52:31):
mark on the frame, and that precisely in the proper place.
After that I saw the leather case. It had not
been thrown away, or some corner would have shown signs
of the fall. It had been put down carefully where
it was found. These things, however, were of small importance
(52:52):
compared with the hat. The hat, as you know, was
exceedingly thick with dust, the accumulation of months. But on
the top side, presented toward the trapdoor, were a score
or so of rain drop marks. That was all. They
were new marks, for there was no dust over them.
(53:15):
They had merely had time to dry and cake the
dust they had fallen on. Now, there had been no
rain since a sharp shower just after seven o'clock last night.
At that time, you, by your own statement, were in
the place you left at eight, and the rain was
(53:35):
all over at ten minutes or a quarter past seven.
The trap door, you also told me, had not been
opened for months. The thing was plain you or somebody
who was here when you were here, had opened the
trap door during or just before that shower. I said
(53:55):
little then, but went as soon as I had left
to the police state. There I made perfectly certain that
there had been no rain during the night. By questioning
the policemen who were on duty outside all the time,
there had been none. I knew everything. The only other
evidence there was pointed with all the rest, there were
(54:19):
no rain marks on the leather case. It had been
put on the roof as an afterthought when there was
no rain a very poor afterthought, let me tell you,
for no thief would throw away a useful case that
concealed his booty and protected it from breakage, and throw
it away just so as to leave a clue as
(54:42):
to what direction he had gone in. I also saw
in the lumber room a number of packing cases, one
with a label dated two days back, which had been
opened with an iron lever. And yet when I made
an excuse to ask for it, you said there was
no such thing in the place. Inference. You didn't want
(55:05):
me to compare it with the marks on the desks
and doors. That is all I think. Mister Clarridge looked
dolorously down at the floor. I'm afraid he said that
I took an unsuitable roll when I undertook to rely
on my wits to deceive men like you. I thought
(55:26):
there wasn't a single vulnerable spot in my defense, but
you walk calmly through it at the first attempt. Why
did I never think of those rain drops? Come, said
Hewett with a smile that sounds unrepentant. I am going
now to Lord Stanway's. If I were you, I think
(55:48):
I should apologize to mister Woollet in some Way. Lord Stanway,
who in the hour or two of reflection left him
after parting with Hewett, had come to the belief that
he had employed a man whose mind was not always
in order, received Hewett's story with natural astonishment. For some
(56:10):
time he was in doubt as to whether he would
be doing right in acquiescing in anything but a straightforward
public statement of the facts connected with the disappearance of
the cameo, but in the end was persuaded to let
the affair drop on receiving an assurance from mister Woollett
that he unreservedly accepted the apology offered him by mister Clarridge.
(56:36):
As for the latter, he was at least sufficiently punished
in loss of money and personal humiliation for his escapade.
But the bitterest and last blow he sustained when the
unblushing Han walked smilingly into his office two days later
to demand the extra payment agreed on in consideration of
(56:58):
the sale. He had been called suddenly away, he exclaimed,
on the day he should have come, and hoped his
missing the appointment had occasioned no inconvenience As to the
robbery of the cameo. Of course, he was very sorry,
but Pishnus was Pishnus, and he would be glad of
(57:19):
a check for the sum agreed on, and the unhappy
Clarage was obliged to pay it, knowing that the man
had swindled him, but unable to open his mouth to
say so. The reward remained on offer for a long time. Indeed,
it was never publicly withdrawn, i believe, even at the
(57:40):
time of Clarridge's death, and several intelligent newspapers enlarged upon
the fact that an ordinary burglar had completely baffled and
defeated the boasted acumen of mister Martin Hewitt, the well
known private detective end of Chapter six
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