“You have done me the honour,” said I, “to allow me to consider myself your friend. Surely friends should help to bear one another’s burdens.”
“Yes,” she replied, “in reason; and you have given most generous help already. But we must not put too much on you. When my father was alive, he was my great interest and chief concern. Now that he is gone, the great purpose of my life is to find the wretch who murdered him and to see that justice is done. That is all that seems to matter to me. But it is my own affair. I ought not to involve my friends in it.”
“I can’t admit that,” said I. “The foundation of friendship is sympathy and service. If I am your friend, then what matters to you matters to me; and I may say that in the very moment when I first knew that your father had been murdered, I made the resolve to devote myself to the discovery and punishment of his murderer by any means that lay in my power. So you must count me as your ally as well as your friend.”
As I made this declaration—to an accompaniment of approving growls from Miss Boler—Marion D’Arblay gave me one quick glance and then looked down, and once more her eyes filled. For a few moments she made no reply, and when, at length, she spoke, her voice trembled.
“You leave me nothing to say,” she murmured, “but to thank you from my heart. But you little know what it means to us, who felt so helpless, to know that we have a friend so much wiser and stronger than ourselves.”
I was a little abashed, knowing my own weakness and helplessness, to find her putting so much reliance on me. However, there was Thorndyke in the background, and now I was resolved that, if the thing was in any way to be compassed, his help must be secured without delay.
A longish pause followed; and as it seemed to me that there was nothing more to say on this subject until I had seen Thorndyke, I ventured to open a fresh topic.
“What will happen to your father’s practice?” I asked. “Will you be able to get anyone to carry it on for you?”
“I am glad you asked that,” said Miss D’Arblay, “because, now that you are our counsellor, we can take your opinion. I have already talked the matter over with Arabella—with Miss Boler.”
“There’s no need to stand on ceremony,” the latter lady interposed. “Arabella is good enough for me.”
“Arabella is good enough for anyone,” said Miss D’Arblay. “Well, the position is this. The part of my father’s practice that was concerned with original work—pottery figures and reliefs and models for goldsmith’s work—will have to go. No one but a sculptor of his own class could carry that on. But the wax figures for the shop-windows are different. When he first started, he used to model the heads and limbs in clay and make plaster casts from which to make the gelatine moulds for the waxwork. But as time went on, these casts accumulated and he very seldom had need to model fresh beads or limbs. The old casts could be used over and over again. Now there is a large collection of plaster models in the studio-heads, arms, legs and faces, especially faces—and as I have a fair knowledge of the waxwork, from watching my father and sometimes helping him, it seemed that I might be able to carry on that part of the practice.”
“You think you could make the wax figures yourself?” I asked.
“Of course she could,” exclaimed Miss Boler. “She’s her father’s daughter. Julius D’Arblay was a man who could do anything he turned his hand to and do it well. And Miss Marion is just like him. She is quite a good modeller—so her father said; and she wouldn’t have to make the figures. Only the wax parts.”
“Then they are not wax all over?” said I.
“No,” answered Miss D’Arblay. “They are just dummies; wooden frameworks covered with stuffed canvas, with wax heads, busts and arms and shaped legs. That was just what poor Daddy used to hate about them. He would have liked to model complete figures.”
“And as to the business side. Could you dispose of them?”
“Yes, if I could do them satisfactorily. The agent who dealt with my father’s work has already written to me asking if I could carry on. I know he will help me so far as he can. He was quite fond of my father.”
“And you have nothing else in view?”
“Nothing by which I could earn a real living. For the last year or two I have worked at writing and illuminating—addresses, testimonials and church services when I could get them—and filled in the time writing special window-tickets. But that isn’t very remunerative, whereas the wax figures would yield quite a good living. And then,” she added, after a pause, “I have the feeling that Daddy would have liked me to carry on his work, and I should like it myself. He taught me quite a lot and I think he meant me to join him when he got old.”
As she had evidently made up her mind, and as her decision seemed quite a wise one, I concurred with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.
“I am glad you agree,” said she, “and I know Arabella does. So that is settled, subject to my being able to carry out the plan. And now, if we have finished, I should like to show you some of my father’s works. The house is full of them and so, even, is the garden. Perhaps we had better go there first before the light fails.”
As the treasures of this singularly interesting home were presented, one after another, for my inspection, I began to realize the truth of Miss Boler’s statement. Julius D’Arblay had been a remarkably versatile man. He had worked in all sorts of mediums and in all equally well. From the carved stone sundial and the leaden garden figures to the clock-case decorated with gilded gesso and enriched with delicate bronze plaquettes, all his works were eloquent of masterly skill and a fresh, graceful fancy. It seems to me little short of a tragedy that an artist of his ability should have spent the greater part of his time in fabricating those absurd, posturing effigies that simper and smirk so grotesquely in the enormous windows of Vanity Fair.
I had intended, in compliance with the polite conventions, to make this, my first visit, a rather short one; but a tentative movement to depart only elicited protests and I was easily persuaded to stay until the exigencies of Dr. Cornish’s practice seemed to call me. When at last I shut the gate of Ivy Cottage behind me and glanced back at the two figures standing in the lighted doorway, I had the feeling of turning away from a house with which, and its inmates, I had been familiar for years.
On my arrival at Mecklenburgh Square I found a note which had been left by hand earlier in the evening. It was from Dr. Thorndyke, asking me, if possible, to lunch with him at his chambers on the morrow. I looked over my visiting-list, and finding that Monday would be a light day—most of my days here were light days—I wrote a short letter accepting the invitation and posted it forthwith.
CHAPTER VII
THORNDYKE ENLARGES HIS KNOWLEDGE
“I am glad you were able to come,” said Thorndyke, as we took our places at the table. “Your letter was a shade ambiguous. You spoke of discussing the D’Arblay case, but I think you had something more than discussion in your mind.”
“You are quite right,” I replied. “I had it in my mind to ask if it would be possible for me to retain you—I believe that is the correct expression—to investigate the case, as the police seem to think there is nothing to go on; and if the costs would be likely to be within my means.”
“As to the costs,” said he, “we can dismiss them. I see no reason to suppose that there would be any costs.”
“But your time, sir—” I began.
He laughed derisively. “Do you propose to pay me for indulging in my pet hobby? No, my dear fellow, it is I who should pay you for bringing a most interesting and intriguing case to my notice. So your questions are answered. I shall be delighted to look into this case, and there will be no costs unless we have to pay for some special services. If we do, I will let you know.”
I was about to utter a protest, but he continued:
“And now, having disposed of the preliminaries, let us consider the case itself. Your very shrewd and capable inspector believes that the Scotland Yard people will take no active measu
res unless some new facts turn up. I have no doubt he is right, and I think they are right, too. They can’t spend a lot of time—which means public money—on a case in which hardly any data are available and which holds out no promise of any result. But we mustn’t forget that we are in the same boat. Our chances of success are infinitesimal. This investigation is a forlorn hope. That, I may say, is what commends it to me; but I want you to understand clearly that failure is what we have to expect.”
“I understand that,” I answered gloomily, but nevertheless rather disappointed at this pessimistic view. “There seems to be nothing whatever to go upon.”
“Oh, it isn’t so bad as that,” he rejoined. “Let us just run over the data that we have. Our object is to fix the identity of the man who killed Julius D’Arblay. Let us see what we know about him. We will begin with the evidence at the inquest. From that we learned: One. That he is a man of some education, ingenious, subtle, resourceful. This murder was planned with extraordinary ingenuity and foresight. The body was found in the pond with no tell-tale mark on it but an almost invisible pin-prick in the back. The chances were a thousand to one, or more, against that tiny puncture ever being observed; and if it had not been observed, the verdict would have been ‘found drowned’ or ‘found dead’ and the fact of the murder would never have been discovered.
“Two. We also learned that he has some knowledge of poisons. The common, vulgar poisoner is reduced to flypapers, weed-killer or rat-poison—arsenic or strychnine. But this man selects the most suitable of all poisons for his purpose and administers it in the most effective manner—with a hypodermic syringe.
“Three. We learned further that he must have had some extraordinarily strong reason for making away with D’Arblay. He made most elaborate plans, he took endless trouble—for instance, it must have been no easy matter to get possession of that quantity of aconitine (unless he were a doctor, which God forbid!). That strong reason—the motive, in fact—is the key of the problem. It is the murderer’s one vulnerable point, for it can hardly be beyond discovery; and its discovery must be our principal objective.”
I nodded, not without some self-congratulation as I recalled how I had made this very point in my talk with Miss D’Arblay.
“Those,” Thorndyke continued, “are the data that the inquest furnished. Now we come to those added by Inspector Follett.”
“I don’t see that they help us at all,” said I. “The ancient coin was a curious find, but it doesn’t appear to tell us anything new excepting that this man may have been a collector or a dealer. On the other hand, he may not. It doesn’t seem to me that the coin has any significance.”
“Doesn’t it really?” said Thorndyke, as he refilled my glass. “You are surely overlooking the very curious coincidence that it presents?”
“What coincidence is that?” I asked, in some surprise.
“The coincidence,” he replied, “that both the murderer and the victim should be, to a certain extent, connected with a particular form of activity. Here is a man who commits a murder and who at the time of committing it appears to have been in possession of a coin, which is not a current coin but a collector’s piece; and behold! the murdered man is a sculptor—a man who, presumably, was capable of making a coin, or at least the working model.”
“There is no evidence,” I objected, “that D’Arblay was capable of cutting a die. He was not a die-sinker.”
“There was no need for him to be,” Thorndyke rejoined. “Formerly, the medallist who designed the coin cut the die himself. But that is not the modern practice. Nowadays, the designer makes the model, first in wax and then in plaster, on a comparatively large scale. The model of a shilling may be three inches or more in diameter. The actual die-sinking is done by a copying machine which produces a die of the required size by mechanical reduction. I think there can be no doubt that D’Arblay could have modelled the design for a coin on the usual scale, say three or four inches in diameter.”
“Yes,” I agreed, “he certainly could, for I have seen some of his small relief work, some little plaquettes, not more than two inches long and most delicately and beautifully modelled. But still I don’t see the connexion, otherwise than as a rather odd coincidence.”
“There may be nothing more,” said he. “There may be nothing in it at all. But odd coincidences should always be noted with very special attention.”
“Yes, I realize that. But I can’t imagine what significance there could be in the coincidence.”
“Well,” said Thorndyke, “let us take an imaginary case, just as an illustration. Suppose this man to have been a fraudulent dealer in antiquities, and suppose him to have obtained enlarged photographs of a medal or coin of extreme rarity and of great value, which was in some museum or private collection. Suppose him to have taken the photographs to D’Arblay and commissioned him to model from them a pair of exact replicas in hardened plaster. From those plaster models he could, with a copying machine, produce a pair of dies with which he could strike replicas in the proper metal and of the exact size; and these could be sold for large sums to judiciously-chosen collectors.”
“I don’t believe D’Arblay would have accepted such a commission,” I exclaimed indignantly.
“We may assume that he would not, if the fraudulent intent had been known to him. But it would not have been, and there is no reason why he should have refused a commission merely to make a copy. Still, I am not suggesting that anything of the kind really happened. I am simply giving you an illustration of one of the innumerable ways in which a perfectly honest sculptor might be made use of by a fraudulent dealer. In that case, his honesty would be a source of danger to him, for if a really great fraud were perpetrated by means of his work, it would clearly be to the interest of the perpetrator to get rid of him. An honest and unconscious collaborator in a crime is apt to be a dangerous witness if questions arise.”
I was a good deal impressed by this demonstration. Here, it seemed to me, was something very like a tangible clue. But at this point Thorndyke again applied a cold douche.
“Still,” he said, “we are only dealing with generalities, and rather speculative ones. Our assumptions are subject to all sorts of qualifications. It is possible, for instance, though very improbable, that D’Arblay may have been murdered in error by a perfect stranger; that he may have walked into an ambush prepared for someone else. Again, the coin may not have belonged to the murderer at all, though that is also most improbable. But there are numerous possibilities of error; and we can eliminate them only by following up each suggested clue and seeking verification or disproof. Every new fact that we learn is a multiple gain. For as money makes money, so knowledge begets knowledge.”
“That is very true,” I answered dejectedly—for it sounded rather like a platitude; “but I don’t see any means of following up any of these clues.”
“We are going to follow up one of them after lunch, if you have time,” said he. As he spoke, he took from the table-drawer a paper packet and a jeweller’s leather case. “This,” he said, handing me the packet, “contains your sealing-wax moulds. You had better take care of them and keep the box with the marked side up to prevent the wax from warping. Here are a pair of casts in hardened plaster-’fictile ivory’ as it is called—which my assistant, Polton, has made.”
He opened the case and passed it to me, when I saw that it was lined with purple velvet and contained what looked like two old ivory replicas of the mysterious coin.
“Mr. Polton is quite an artist,” I said, regarding them admiringly. “But what are you going to do with these?”
“I had intended to take them round to the British Museum and show them to the Keeper of the Coins and Medals, or one of his colleagues. But I think I will just ask a few questions and hear what he says before I produce the casts. Have you time to come round with me?”
“I shall make time. But what do you want to know about the coin?”
“It is just a matter of verification,” he rep
lied. “My books on the British coinage describe the Charles the Second guinea as having a tiny elephant under the bust on the obverse, to show that the gold from which it was minted came from the Guinea Coast.”
“Yes,” said I. “Well, there is a little elephant under the bust in this coin.”
“True,” he replied. “But this elephant has a castle on his back and would ordinarily be described as an elephant and castle, to distinguish him from the plain elephant which appeared on some coins. What I want to ascertain is whether there were two different types of guinea. The books make no mention of a second variety.”
“Surely they would have referred to it if there had been,” said I.
“So I thought,” he replied; “but it is better to make sure than to think.”
“I suppose it is,” I agreed without much conviction, “though I don’t see that, even if there were two varieties, that fact would have any bearing on what we want to know.”
“Neither do I,” he admitted. “But then you can never tell what a fact will prove until you are in possession of the fact. And now, as we seem to have finished, perhaps we had better make our way to the Museum.”
The Department of Coins and Medals is associated in my mind with an impassive-looking Chinese person in bronze who presides over the upper landing of the main staircase. In fact, we halted for a moment before him to exchange a final word.
“It will probably be best,” said Thorndyke, “to say nothing about this coin, or, indeed, about anything else. We don’t want to enter into any explanations.”
“No,” I agreed. “It is best to keep one’s own counsel,” and with this we entered the hall, where Thorndyke led the way to a small door and pressed the electric bell-push. An attendant admitted us, and when we had signed our names in the visitors’ book, he ushered us into the keeper’s room. As we entered, a keen-faced, middle-aged man who was seated at a table inspected us over his spectacles, and apparently recognizing Thorndyke, rose and held out his hand.
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