The Secret of High Eldersham

by Miles Burton

  The Inspector’s object had been to pinion Hollesley’s arms, but the man was too quick for him. With an incredibly rapid movement he drew the sacrificial knife from somewhere within his shirt, and aimed a savage blow at Young’s face. Fortunately the impetus of the latter’s rush carried him within Hollesley’s guard before the blow fell. And before the blow could be repeated, he had sprung back out of harm’s way.

  The two men stood watching one another, breathing heavily, Hollesley’s arm ready for a blow. But the end was at hand. Merrion, up to his waist in the soft oozing mud, had nevertheless managed to grasp the painter of the dinghy. He coiled it rapidly in his hand, and flung the end of the rope against Hollesley’s legs. It twined round them, and as it did so Merrion threw all his weight into one sharp pull. Hollesley staggered and slashed at the rope with his knife, cutting it as easily as a thread. But it was too late. The inspector seized his opportunity and flung himself upon him. Gripping his right arm with both hands, he gave a vicious twist, and the knife fell harmlessly at Hollesley’s feet. Another instant and the two came crashing down together.

  The fall seemed to stun Hollesley momentarily, and he lay still. Before he had pulled himself together Merrion had contrived to clamber out of the mud. He picked up the knife and cut the painter off short. It was the work of an instant to bind Hollesley’s hands and feet securely.

  Young picked himself up and stood regarding the outstretched form of his captive. “Well, that’s one of them, anyhow!” he exclaimed, in a tone of satisfaction.

  But Merrion did not hear him. He had already dis-appeared among the bushes, and Young could hear him as he ran rapidly towards the clearing.

  “Good heavens, I forgot the girl!” exclaimed the Inspector. “What the devil are we going to do with her, I wonder?”

  Chapter XXVIII

  But Inspector Young had other matters to think of, more important at the moment than the disposal of Mavis Owerton. It was evident that a pretty close understanding existed between her and Merrion, and he could be counted upon to look after her for the present. There remained Hollesley, and the necessity for getting him to some place of security. After that, there was Thorburn, or Gregson, to be thought of.

  Hollesley appeared to have recovered from the shock of his fall. But he made no attempt to move. He lay very still, regarding the Inspector with a curious mocking smile, as though defying him.

  Young bent over him. “Are you going to behave yourself?” he asked sternly. “You’ll have to come with me to Gippingford, where I shall charge you with trafficking in dangerous drugs. And, if you take my advice, you’ll come quietly.”

  Hollesley’s only reply was to burst into peal after peal of hysterical laughter, which echoed and re-echoed from bank to bank of the river, startling the silence of the dawn. It was obvious that in his present state he was not responsible for his actions. And it occurred to Young that he was probably a victim of those very drugs in which he dealt.

  The Inspector shouted to Newport, who left his post by the causeway and joined him. “Keep your eye on Mr. Hollesley until I come back,” he said. “I am going up to the Rose and Crown to fetch the men from Gippingford. They ought to be there by this time.”

  “Very good, sir,” replied Newport impassively. Now that he was satisfied of his master’s safety, he was prepared to obey orders without question. The Inspector left him and made his way to the clearing, where he found Merrion and Mavis engaged in earnest conversation, his arm around her shoulders.

  They sprang apart, rather self-consciously, at his appearance. But Young seemed oblivious of the movement. “I hope you are none the worse for your experiences, Miss Owerton,” he said politely. “Perhaps you can tell me how it was that we found you here?”

  “Oh, I’m all right now,” replied Mavis bravely. “A little bit muzzy in the head, that’s all. But I can’t tell you how I came here, I’m afraid. I didn’t even know where I was till Des—Mr. Merrion—told me.”

  Her face flushed scarlet as she corrected herself. Her loveliness seemed to Young as a ray of light in the dark cloud of evil that brooded over the island. Even his own heavy greatcoat, in which she stood tightly buttoned up, seemed unable to hide her natural grace and dignity.

  “I’ll tell you all I know,” she continued in a low voice. “Mr. Merrion came to the Hall yesterday afternoon and borrowed my dinghy. He didn’t tell me what he wanted it for, but I was rather anxious about him. You see, I had found him under rather unusual circumstances a few hours before.” She broke off and glanced inquiringly at Merrion.

  “Miss Owerton saved my life yesterday afternoon,” said the latter gravely. “However, I’ll tell you all about that later.”

  “Mr. Merrion told me that he wanted the dinghy till midnight,” continued Mavis. “I felt I couldn’t rest until I knew he had come back safely. So at about a quarter to twelve, after everybody had gone to bed, I slipped out of the side door, taking the key with me, and went down to the river. The dinghy wasn’t there, and I was wondering whether I should wait, when something was flung over my head, and I felt my arms seized from behind. Of course, I kicked and struggled, but it was no good. Whoever held me was much stronger than I was. Then I felt a sharp prick on my arm, and everything gradually faded away. I don’t remember anything more until I woke up here and heard the sound of people shouting and running about. And then Mr. Merrion came and picked me up, and told me he had come to find me.”

  The Inspector gave an audible sigh of relief. At least this girl had been spared the horrors of the night. But there was still a blow awaiting her, and he hesitated to break it to her so soon after her recent experiences. But, as it happened, Merrion interposed before he could say anything.

  “It was Thorburn who carried her off and brought her here. I know that, for I heard him say so himself. It seems to me, Young, that your next job is to lay hands on him. Apart from his attack on Miss Owerton, I’ve got a little bone to pick with him. He tried to drown me yesterday afternoon, and he was on the point of making a proper job of it when you and Newport descended out of the blue just now. What about it?”

  “I don’t think you need worry your head about Thorburn,” replied the Inspector complacently. “Within half an hour I shall have a cordon round High Eldersham that nobody can possibly break through.”

  “He won’t be such a fool as to try to get away by land!” exclaimed Merrion. “He’ll be on board that yacht of Hollesley’s by this time, heading out to sea somewhere. The swine will give us the slip yet! He’s got over an hour’s start, as it is.”

  “Only an hour?” remarked Mavis eagerly. “Then there oughtn’t to be any difficulty about catching him.”

  The Inspector looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face. “I’m afraid I don’t quite follow, Miss Owerton,” he began.

  “Why, the speed-boat, of course! He couldn’t possibly get away from her. But we ought to start at once.”

  “Well done, Mavis!” exclaimed Merrion. “I’ll row you back to the Hall, and then take the boat out. I dare say that you can spare me a man from this cordon of yours to go with me, can’t you, Young?”

  So it was arranged. But before the Inspector took his departure from the island, he drew Merrion aside, and told him of his interview with Sir William. “I’m afraid the old chap got a terrible shock when he heard of his daughter’s disappearance,” he said. “He fell down in some sort of fit, and I don’t know how she’ll find him. I sent Doctor Padfield to him at once, but you’d better prepare her for the worst.”

  Merrion nodded, rather gloomily. How far Sir William Owerton was involved in the horrible practices which he had witnessed it was impossible to tell. Mavis, at all events, must be kept in ignorance, if it were humanly possible. Perhaps it would be best if her father never recovered consciousness. Great though her grief might be, the revelation of the truth might prove even more agonising.

  He went
to bring the dinghy round to the landing-place, while Young set out across the causeway to walk overland to the Rose and Crown, leaving Newport to keep guard over his prisoner. The Inspector felt distinctly elated. He had captured the principal in what would probably prove to be one of the most extensive drug-smuggling enterprises of recent years. His lieutenant could hardly escape being overtaken by the speed-boat. And once these two were in his hands, it should prove a comparatively easy task to discover the remaining links in the chain and round them up before they had any inkling of their danger.

  He reached the Rose and Crown, to find a car containing half a dozen constables, in charge of a sergeant, awaiting him. To the sergeant he gave a rough outline of the case, and with his help he detailed the tasks which the party were to perform.

  One man, who professed familiarity with boats, was despatched to the Hall, with orders to join Merrion. A second was sent to bring Hollesley up to the car. The remainder were posted in various exits from the village, with orders to allow no one to pass. Then, accompanied by the sergeant, Young proceeded to Elder House.

  They had some difficulty in arousing the servants, but at last were admitted by an elderly housemaid, who exhibited the utmost indignation at their intrusion. Young contrived to pacify her, but his questions did not succeed in eliciting any useful information. Mr. Hollesley had gone up to London on the previous morning. He had given Mr. Thorburn two days’ holiday, and the butler had left the house shortly after his master’s departure. He had not returned, of that the housemaid was convinced.

  Satisfied that she was speaking the truth, Young took his departure, leaving the sergeant to watch Elder House. After all he had not expected that Thorburn would venture to return; his visit had been merely a precautionary step. He went on to the Hall, and, as he hurried through the park, caught sight of Merrion in conversation with the constable whom he had sent to join him.

  “Hallo!” he exclaimed as he drew up to them. “Haven’t you started yet?”

  “No, we haven’t,” replied Merrion with a wry smile. “Nor, I’m afraid, are we likely to. The speed-boat has disappeared.”

  “Damn! I never thought of that,” exclaimed Young. “Thorburn’s made off in it, of course. Well, it can’t be helped. He’s bound to land somewhere, sooner or later, and I’ll have his description sent out to every police station in England by that time. Where’s Miss Owerton?”

  “Gone in to look after her father. I asked her to send Christy out with news. Ah, here he is.”

  The old servant appeared, and came hurriedly, stumbling in his haste, towards the group. “Sir William has recovered consciousness, sir,” he said breathlessly. “He is asking to see Inspector Young.”

  “Ah, I’m glad of that!” exclaimed the Inspector. “I’ll come at once. Is Doctor Padfield with him?”

  “No, sir. He came very shortly after you left, and went away again almost at once. I am expecting his return at any moment.”

  Young followed Christy to the house, and was shown up to Sir William’s room. He was lying in bed, looking very weak and frail, with Mavis seated on a chair beside him. But at the Inspector’s entry she rose and glided silently from the room, leaving the two men alone.

  Sir William fixed his eyes upon his visitor. “What has become of Laurence Hollesley?” he asked eagerly.

  “He is in custody, sir,” replied Young. “I shall take him to Gippingford and charge him with the crime of which I spoke to you.”

  “And with nothing else?”

  Young could hardly fail to perceive the note of anxiety in the feeble voice. “I think that charge will be sufficient, unless it transpires that he has committed some more serious crime,” he replied guardedly.

  The old man closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them suddenly. “I did not know that Laurence was smuggling drugs,” he said. “Of that at least I am innocent. I would not have lent him my assistance for that. And yet, I do not know what I could have done. I had placed myself in his power.”

  “How did that happen, Sir William?” asked Young.

  “I will tell you. You probably imagine that I am a rich man, because I live in a house like this. As a matter of fact, I am practically a pauper. The effort to keep up appearances, to live in the style in which my grandfathers did, has ruined me. My income has been diminishing for years, and the war threatened me with ruin. I had made up my mind to the inevitable, when Laurence came back after the armistice. He made me an offer, to lend me a sum of money the interest on which would enable me to live here for the rest of my life. In return I gave him a mortgage on the place, and promised to put no obstacle in the way of his marrying Mavis.

  “A year or so later he came to me again. He told me that he had devised a scheme which would prove extraordinarily profitable to him, and also to me, if I consented to help him. But this scheme would necessitate his obtaining such an influence locally that no one would dare to run counter to his wishes. The scheme was of a secret nature, and the betrayal of it would be disastrous. He had decided that such an influence could only be obtained by arousing a superstitious fear among the villagers, and to this end he proposed to revive the practice of the witch-cult, of which the tradition still lingers in these parts.

  “Of course I was horrified, and refused to have anything to do with such a thing. But he gave me to understand clearly enough that unless I helped him he would foreclose the mortgage. I had not the money with which to pay him off; much of it had already been spent in necessary repairs. Foreclosure on his part would have meant ruin for me and for my daughter, and that I was determined to avoid at any cost.

  “I need not occupy your time with an account of my struggle with my conscience. It is enough to say that eventually I agreed to instruct him in the ancient ceremonies. Secret formula played a great part in these, and I was able to supply him with the essential facts concerning them. Doctor Padfield was admitted to the secret, and he was able to make up the modern equivalents of the traditional potions, in which drugs played the principal part. The procedure was simple. In order to manifest his power, Hollesley proclaimed himself able to injure miraculously any person who fell under the displeasure of the members of the coven. The ceremony of making a mommet and piercing it with a needle was gone through. Hollesley then consulted Doctor Padfield, and means were found of administering some deleterious substance to the individual in question, members of his family, or cattle. To do so was easy to Doctor Padfield, who was necessarily in attendance upon the inhabitants of the village, and who was in the habit of dispensing his own medicines.”

  “You cannot fail to be aware, Sir William, that Whitehead was murdered after one of these dolls was made to represent him,” remarked Young sternly.

  “I am aware of it,” replied Sir William. “As soon as I heard of his death, I taxed Hollesley with the responsibility for it. I told him that things had gone too far, and that I should be compelled to tell you everything. Hollesley assured me that his death had nothing whatever to do with his having offended a member of the coven, but that it was due to purely fortuitous circumstances, connected with his life before he came to the Rose and Crown. He assured me that he had no part, direct or indirect in the murder, and that any precipitate action on my part would ruin us all. I am, even now, convinced that he was speaking the truth.”

  “That may be so,” said Young shortly. “Now, Sir William, unless you have anything else to tell me, I must proceed with my duties.”

  He left the house and rejoined Merrion, who looked at him anxiously. “Well?” he inquired. “What next?”

  “We must get to Gippingford as quickly as we can. There’s nothing more to be done here at present. And, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to come with me. I shall want your evidence as to the dropping of that box.”

  “Oh, Newport’s told you about that, has he?” Merrion strove to speak lightly, but it was evident that he was consumed with anxiety. He wal
ked beside the Inspector for a few paces in silence, then, without warning, blurted out what was in his thoughts.

  “I say, old chap, are you going to tell off any of your fellows to keep an eye on Sir William?”

  “No, I am not,” replied the Inspector. “So far as I know at present, there are no grounds for any charge against him.”

  “Thank heaven for that!” exclaimed Merrion fervently.

  Chapter XXIX

  On the way to Gippingford in the police car Merrion and the Inspector told one another of their experiences during the last few days, and discussed the steps to be taken next.

  “Of course, the first thing is to circulate a description of this man Thorburn or Gregson,” remarked Young. “Apart from his attempts upon your life and his abduction of Miss Owerton, he seems to be as deeply implicated in this drug business as Hollesley himself. I fancy that we shall learn more about the whole business from him than from his master.”

  “Very likely,” agreed Merrion. “But, when you do get hold of him, I would rather that you confined your charge to trafficking in illicit drugs. Both Mavis and I are anxious to keep out of the picture as much as possible, as I expect you can understand.”

  “Well, if neither of you lodge an official complaint, I dare say that it can be managed,” replied Young. “But I shouldn’t be surprised if Thorburn makes a clean breast of everything as soon as he’s arrested.”

  “You seem pretty confident that he will be arrested,” remarked Merrion doubtfully.

  “Naturally. As I said before, he’s bound to land somewhere. I doubt that there’s enough petrol on board the speed-boat to carry him across the North Sea and, even if there is, we shall notify the police on the other side.”