I Say No

by Wilkie Collins

  CHAPTER XXV. "J. B."

  Mr. Rook having completed his evidence, the police authorities were thenext witnesses examined.

  They had not found the slightest trace of any attempt to break intothe house in the night. The murdered man's gold watch and chain werediscovered under his pillow. On examining his clothes the money wasfound in his purse, and the gold studs and sleeve buttons were left inhis shirt. But his pocketbook (seen by witnesses who had not yet beenexamined) was missing. The search for visiting cards and letters hadproved to be fruitless. Only the initials, "J. B.," were marked on hislinen. He had brought no luggage with him to the inn. Nothing could befound which led to the discovery of his name or of the purpose which hadtaken him into that part of the country.

  The police examined the outhouse next, in search of circumstantialevidence against the missing man.

  He must have carried away his knapsack, when he took to flight, buthe had been (probably) in too great a hurry to look for his razor--orperhaps too terrified to touch it, if it had attracted his notice. Theleather roll, and the other articles used for his toilet, had beentaken away. Mr. Rook identified the blood-stained razor. He had noticedovernight the name of the Belgian city, "Liege," engraved on it.

  The yard was the next place inspected. Foot-steps were found on themuddy earth up to the wall. But the road on the other side had beenrecently mended with stones, and the trace of the fugitive was lost.Casts had been taken of the footsteps; and no other means of discoveryhad been left untried. The authorities in London had also beencommunicated with by telegraph.

  The doctor being called, described a personal peculiarity, which hehad noticed at the post-mortem examination, and which might lead to theidentification of the murdered man.

  As to the cause of death, the witness said it could be stated intwo words. The internal jugular vein had been cut through, with suchviolence, judging by the appearances, that the wound could not have beeninflicted, in the act of suicide, by the hand of the deceased person. Noother injuries, and no sign of disease, was found on the body. The onecause of death had been Hemorrhage; and the one peculiarity which calledfor notice had been discovered in the mouth. Two of the front teeth, inthe upper jaw, were false. They had been so admirably made to resemblethe natural teeth on either side of them, in form and color, that thewitness had only hit on the discovery by accidentally touching the innerside of the gum with one of his fingers.

  The landlady was examined, when the doctor had retired. Mrs. Rook wasable, in answering questions put to her, to give important information,in reference to the missing pocketbook.

  Before retiring to rest, the two gentlemen had paid the bill--intendingto leave the inn the first thing in the morning. The traveler with theknapsack paid his share in money. The other unfortunate gentleman lookedinto his purse, and found only a shilling and a sixpence in it. He askedMrs. Rook if she could change a bank-note. She told him it could bedone, provided the note was for no considerable sum of money. Upon thathe opened his pocketbook (which the witness described minutely) andturned out the contents on the table. After searching among many Bankof England notes, some in one pocket of the book and some in another, hefound a note of the value of five pounds. He thereupon settled his bill,and received the change from Mrs. Rook--her husband being in anotherpart of the room, attending to the guests. She noticed a letter in anenvelope, and a few cards which looked (to her judgment) like visitingcards, among the bank-notes which he had turned out on the table. Whenshe returned to him with the change, he had just put them back, andwas closing the pocketbook. She saw him place it in one of the breastpockets of his coat.

  The fellow-traveler who had accompanied him to the inn was present allthe time, sitting on the opposite side of the table. He made a remarkwhen he saw the notes produced. He said, "Put all that money back--don'ttempt a poor man like me!" It was said laughing, as if by way of a joke.

  Mrs. Rook had observed nothing more that night; had slept as soundly asusual; and had been awakened when her husband knocked at the outhousedoor, according to instructions received from the gentlemen, overnight.

  Three of the guests in the public room corroborated Mrs. Rook'sevidence. They were respectable persons, well and widely known in thatpart of Hampshire. Besides these, there were two strangers stayingin the house. They referred the coroner to their employers--eminentmanufacturers at Sheffield and Wolverhampton--whose testimony spoke foritself.

  The last witness called was a grocer in the village, who kept thepost-office.

  On the evening of the 30th, a dark gentleman, wearing his beard, knockedat the door, and asked for a letter addressed to "J. B., Post-office,Zeeland." The letter had arrived by that morning's post; but, beingSunday evening, the grocer requested that application might be made forit the next morning. The stranger said the letter contained news, whichit was of importance to him to receive without delay. Upon this, thegrocer made an exception to customary rules and gave him the letter.He read it by the light of the lamp in the passage. It must have beenshort, for the reading was done in a moment. He seemed to think over itfor a while; and then he turned round to go out. There was nothing tonotice in his look or in his manner. The witness offered a remark on theweather; and the gentleman said, "Yes, it looks like a bad night"--andso went away.

  The postmaster's evidence was of importance in one respect: it suggestedthe motive which had brought the deceased to Zeeland. The letteraddressed to "J. B." was, in all probability, the letter seen by Mrs.Rook among the contents of the pocketbook, spread out on the table.

  The inquiry being, so far, at an end, the inquest was adjourned--on thechance of obtaining additional evidence, when the reported proceedingswere read by the public.

  ........

  Consulting a later number of the newspaper Emily discovered that thedeceased person had been identified by a witness from London.

  Henry Forth, gentleman's valet, being examined, made the followingstatement:

  He had read the medical evidence contained in the report of the inquest;and, believing that he could identify the deceased, had been sent byhis present master to assist the object of the inquiry. Ten days since,being then out of place, he had answered an advertisement. The next day,he was instructed to call at Tracey's Hotel, London, at six o'clock inthe evening, and to ask for Mr. James Brown. Arriving at the hotel hesaw the gentleman for a few minutes only. Mr. Brown had a friend withhim. After glancing over the valet's references, he said, "I haven'ttime enough to speak to you this evening. Call here to-morrow morningat nine o'clock." The gentleman who was present laughed, and said, "Youwon't be up!" Mr. Brown answered, "That won't matter; the man can cometo my bedroom, and let me see how he understands his duties, on trial."At nine the next morning, Mr. Brown was reported to be still in bed; andthe witness was informed of the number of the room. He knocked at thedoor. A drowsy voice inside said something, which he interpreted asmeaning "Come in." He went in. The toilet-table was on his left hand,and the bed (with the lower curtain drawn) was on his right. He saw onthe table a tumbler with a little water in it, and with two falseteeth in the water. Mr. Brown started up in bed--looked at himfuriously--abused him for daring to enter the room--and shouted to himto "get out." The witness, not accustomed to be treated in that way,felt naturally indignant, and at once withdrew--but not before he hadplainly seen the vacant place which the false teeth had been made tofill. Perhaps Mr. Brown had forgotten that he had left his teeth on thetable. Or perhaps he (the valet) had misunderstood what had been saidto him when he knocked at the door. Either way, it seemed to be plainenough that the gentleman resented the discovery of his false teeth by astranger.

  Having concluded his statement the witness proceeded to identify theremains of the deceased.

  He at once recognized the gentleman named James Brown, whom he hadtwice seen--once in the evening, and again the next morning--at Tracey'sHotel. In answer to further inquiries, he declared that he knew nothingof the family, or of the place of residence, of th
e deceased. Hecomplained to the proprietor of the hotel of the rude treatment that hehad received, and asked if Mr. Tracey knew anything of Mr. James Brown.Mr. Tracey knew nothing of him. On consulting the hotel book it wasfound that he had given notice to leave, that afternoon.

  Before returning to London, the witness produced references which gavehim an excellent character. He also left the address of the master whohad engaged him three days since.

  The last precaution adopted was to have the face of the corpsephotographed, before the coffin was closed. On the same day the juryagreed on their verdict: "Willful murder against some person unknown."

  ........

  Two days later, Emily found a last allusion to the crime--extracted fromthe columns of the _South Hampshire Gazette_.

  A relative of the deceased, seeing the report of the adjourned inquest,had appeared (accompanied by a medical gentleman); had seen thephotograph; and had declared the identification by Henry Forth to becorrect.

  Among other particulars, now communicated for the first time, it wasstated that the late Mr. James Brown had been unreasonably sensitive onthe subject of his false teeth, and that the one member of his familywho knew of his wearing them was the relative who now claimed hisremains.

  The claim having been established to the satisfaction of theauthorities, the corpse was removed by railroad the same day. No furtherlight had been thrown on the murder. The Handbill offering the reward,and describing the suspected man, had failed to prove of any assistanceto the investigations of the police.

  From that date, no further notice of the crime committed at theHand-in-Hand inn appeared in the public journals.

  ........

  Emily closed the volume which she had been consulting, and thankfullyacknowledged the services of the librarian.

  The new reader had excited this gentleman's interest. Noticing howcarefully she examined the numbers of the old newspaper, he looked ather, from time to time, wondering whether it was good news or bad ofwhich she was in search. She read steadily and continuously; but shenever rewarded his curiosity by any outward sign of the impression thathad been produced on her. When she left the room there was nothing toremark in her manner; she looked quietly thoughtful--and that was all.

  The librarian smiled--amused by his own folly. Because a stranger'sappearance had attracted him, he had taken it for granted thatcircumstances of romantic interest must be connected with her visit tothe library. Far from misleading him, as he supposed, his fancy mighthave been employed to better purpose, if it had taken a higher flightstill--and had associated Emily with the fateful gloom of tragedy, inplace of the brighter interest of romance.

  There, among the ordinary readers of the day, was a dutiful andaffectionate daughter following the dreadful story of the death ofher father by murder, and believing it to be the story of astranger--because she loved and trusted the person whose short-sightedmercy had deceived her. That very discovery, the dread of which hadshaken the good doctor's firm nerves, had forced Alban to exclude fromhis confidence the woman whom he loved, and had driven the faithfulold servant from the bedside of her dying mistress--that very discoveryEmily had now made, with a face which never changed color, and a heartwhich beat at ease. Was the deception that had won this cruel victoryover truth destined still to triumph in the days which were to come?Yes--if the life of earth is a foretaste of the life of hell. No--if alie _is_ a lie, be the merciful motive for the falsehood what it may.No--if all deceit contains in it the seed of retribution, to be ripenedinexorably in the lapse of time.