While we stood waiting, Mr. Cranbourne had donned coat, hat, and taken up a walking stick. “I shall go to Miss Eliza’s,” he informed us. “She and Frances must know of this, and I shall ask if they wish to remove from the cottage for a few weeks, in case information about their family does become known.”
“Tell them, by all means,” my friend agreed. “But I would let them remain. I believe I am capable of stopping such earths as reporters may nose into. And should any find a scent, I can send word.”
“It shall be as you suggest,” Mr. Cranbourne agreed. “Will you leave at once?”
I consulted my watch. “There is an express to London in two hours. If we move quickly, we can be aboard.” I looked at Holmes.
“That would be excellent. Go ahead and buy tickets, Watson. Take Mr. Bishop with you. I shall pay our shot at the hotel and join you at the station.”
And so it was. We caught the train, using the government warrant to obtain second-class seats, which are not lavish, but comfortable. We talked, and Michael spoke of his sister’s writing, mentioning such sums as made my eyes widen.
“So much?”
“Yes. It accrues, you understand?” I did but allowed him to continue. It would be impolite to say that, as an author, I was aware of such things, and then too, he was visibly calming as he talked.
“By that I mean that as a book sells, she receives payment for each copy. This is retained in the firm’s account to be remitted annually. But that is for each book. If she receives fifteen pounds annually for her first book, then another is published, but by now fewer people are buying the first, so that its sales are perhaps half the previous year, she still may receive a total of twenty-two pounds and ten shillings for that second year.”
I became interested. “So whilst the sales of each book diminish year by year, so long as she sells a new book annually her income will rise.”
“Yes, sir. Nor is it certain that sales of her older books will fall, for as she becomes more widely known and her work more popular, so more people who had not purchased the works earlier will now do so. However,” his expression sobered. “It can go the other way. Sales may fall off for some reason, and once they fall beyond a point which the publisher decrees, he may cease to buy from her and cease publication of her earlier works, so that she will receive nothing.”
“It seems that the life of an author can be difficult,” I mused.
“There are advantages, even so, sir. It is honest work, work that a cripple may do, and it is work in which a legitimate pride may be taken. To write is to create, as an architect may admire the building he passes as one built to his plan, so my sister rejoices to see her books sold in her town, and to overhear favorable comments on what are, in a sense, the children of her mind and heart.”
“Yes, that is true. Well, I hope that she will continue to write. I daresay that she and Miss Eliza find the money of great benefit?”
“They do, sir. It came just in time. I did not know it, but they had all but beggared themselves to set me up with an education and apprenticeship. Once I was in good employment I began to send them such sums as I could manage, but all that did was hold them from utter penury. With the publication of Frances’s books they have been able to return to their previous standard of living, and if her work continues to sell, they may put money by while still prospering. She is a fine girl, my sister.”
I saw his pride, and patted his arm. “I wished to meet her, but there was no time. However, if we come back to Harlow I hope you will introduce us.”
“I will.”
“We are here,” was all Holmes’s contribution. “We shall take a cab straight to police headquarters, for I sent Lestrade a telegram from the hotel. He is waiting with other authorities to take a statement from Mr. Bishop.” And to the boy as we walked down the platform: “Once that is done you are to go to Loughton Hall. A train ticket there is already procured and will be given to you once your statement is signed. Tell your employer nothing save that you are better and ready to resume your work, thank him for his generosity in the matter, and say nothing else, either to him or to anyone in that house. Nothing! Do you understand?”
“No, but I’ll do as you say.”
Holmes produced one of his infrequent smiles. “Good lad. Don’t worry, your secrets will be safe. Miss Mary will be freed, and the culprit shall pay the price.”
“You know who he is?” Michael asked eagerly.
“I know. I have known for some time. It required only that I obtain evidence. Proof is always vital; witness what happened to Miss Mary because the evidence of her innocence was not as it should have been.”
Michael nodded as we climbed into the cab and were borne into the stream of traffic. We reached the building we sought, and there we were ushered upstairs to a large room where Lestrade and two other men sat. Once we were settled, the questions began, and the boy answered them clearly.
“No, sir, Miss Mary never took paper from that cabinet. I always gave it to her, since I always worked in that room. Why did I give it to her, sir? Because the cabinet was situated in the corner and it was easier for me to do so than for her to reach past my chair. Yes, sir. I knew about the parcel of arsenic. It had been there some months, having been bought for mice. Yes, we were greatly troubled by them, since there is much paper about a publishing house.”
Lestrade considered him. “You know the parcel vanished. Have you any idea what may have happened to it?”
“No, sir. After some weeks of its being there I rarely noticed it any more. You know how it is?” Lestrade and the other two men all nodded. “I cannot swear as to when I last recall its presence, save that it was perhaps two or three days before that dinner. I can swear to this, sirs, that I was in the office all of the day that the Addletons were taken ill. We were busy, and I ate lunch at my desk while continuing to work. Mary lit the fire, but she did so using paper that I gave her. She did not approach the cabinet, she did not take paper from it, and Jonathan Turner lies if he says otherwise.”
I saw some amusement glimmer in his listeners’ eyes at the lad’s firmness of speech. Lestrade asked, “If Mary did not approach the cabinet, who did?”
“Everyone. Well, almost all those present that day.”
I blinked. That had not been brought out in the trial.
Michael continued. “Mr. Addleton took waste paper to make notes in his own study, and his wife came for some ink, to write down a receipt, I believe. Mrs. Danforth took a length of string for a parcel, and Jonathan took a new ledger that was needed. I do not recall Janet at the cabinet, but I am so accustomed to seeing her that if I were concentrating particularly hard at that moment I may not have noticed her.”
One of the other men frowned. “And no one asked that you give evidence?”
“No, sir. I was in the house some days after Mary was taken up, but no one said that I was needed. Upon my asking, one of the constables said that if I had been wanted, I would have been told. Events so distressed and upset me that I asked for time to stay with a friend, with my old headmaster, sirs, that I might have a space of time to recover. On my arrival there I was taken ill and have only just recovered.”
I heard the man closest to me mutter something in which the word “incompetence” could be distinguished.
“Where you in the kitchen at any time while Miss Mary worked?” Holmes asked quietly.
“Why, yes. I went in once to obtain a glass of water.”
“To drink?” one of those present asked.
“No, sir. I needed a drop or two to thin the ink. It was a new bottle, and the ink is often thicker than will flow easily onto the paper.”
They then began to ask further questions, which flew thick and fast, Michael having to concentrate to reply as quickly.
“You went straight to the sink, drew a glass of water, and left again?” Michael nodded. “What was the girl doing when you entered?”
“She was kneading the dough.”
“You did not
speak to her?”
“Mrs. Addleton was there, and she would not have approved.”
“Why not?”
“Mary and I were friends, and she thought we should not be. She was also vigilant that we do our work without wasting time in idle chatter.”
“Why did she think you should not be friends?”
“Because Mary had a sweetheart already, so Mrs. Addleton said.”
“You think otherwise?”
“I think she would not have wished to lose us both, and had we become more than friends that would always be possible.”
“Did you wish Mary to be more than a friend?”
“I did once, but I was not in any position to support a wife. Besides, she loves her fiancé, and instead we agreed that we should be there for each other in friendship.”
“And you held to that?”
“I did, sir. I had come to esteem her highly as a friend, but my regard for her in that other way had….” He hesitated. “It had lessened, sir. Had her engagement ceased, I cannot say that I would have wished a warmer relationship.”
“So you would not lie to protect a possible wife?”
“I would not lie, sir, to protect my best friend in this matter. I never believed Mary did as was claimed of her. I was confounded when she was convicted, and I am at a loss to explain why I was not called to give evidence, as Mr. Holmes tells me Mary requested. I swear to you most solemnly, she took no paper from the cabinet that day or any time when I was present. I did enter and depart the kitchen while the dumplings were in progress, for Mrs. Addleton was present at the time and can say this was so. I am willing to sign a statement to all I have said, and stand ready to do so.”
And that was that for the moment. Michael signed and a police vehicle was called to take him to the station. With his departure, Lestrade and his superiors relaxed. One of them regarded Holmes gloomily.
“That puts the cat among the pigeons. You have now disproved almost all of the evidence used to convict the girl. What are we to do?”
Holmes stood. “My suggestions are these. That tomorrow Lestrade and I, and Watson, of course, shall go to Loughton Hall. There Lestrade shall arrest the true criminal and bring him to London, so that the trial may begin as swiftly as may be. While the papers feast on that, you shall release Miss Mary quietly, and when their initial excitement has died and they question you, let it be known that you yourselves were worried as to the correctness of the verdict. That you chose to be silent while you had inquiries made, and once the truth was ascertained, the girl was freed and the true culprit apprehended.”
“And,” one of them said thoughtfully, “since most of that is true, we can say it with a clear conscience. I think, however, that we must make an example of the officer involved. He seems to have taken too much for granted and rested his charges on the bare word of too many with their own axes to grind—a fact to which he gave no consideration.”
Lestrade grunted. “Give him to me. He’ll go back to basics, wearing out boot-leather.”
There were smiles all around at that, and it was agreed. We departed thankfully for 221B and an excellent dinner. I looked forward to tomorrow. As yet I still had no idea as to the villain and I was eager to see them unmasked.
12
Holmes made the arrangements before we took the train once more. We arrived mid-morning to find almost all of those we wished to be present assembled at Loughton Hall. Lestrade traveled with us, along with two sturdy officers, and we entered to the sound of Mrs. Addleton scolding. It was obvious to all that she felt herself much put-upon by this assembly.
“I have work to do, why am I here? Do you think that I have nothing else to do? By whose authority am I kept here?” and on and on, even as we walked into the room. Lestrade nodded to the embarrassed constable who had gathered them there, and everyone but Holmes seated themselves. He took a pace towards Mrs. Addleton, caught her gaze with his own, and she fell silent. He drew one of the brocade curtains back so that more light entered the room, and I saw her wince. Sunshine reveals too much for the liking of any woman her age.
Holmes turned to face us. “Some months ago, five of your number became ill. Mr. Addleton Senior, his son and wife, the maid, Mary Fellowes, and the younger apprentice, Jonathan Turner, who is with you on this occasion although he has since left the business.”
There was a snarl from the boy. “Left? Kicked out without a character you mean, and all for a lying tart.”
“She told only the truth,” Holmes said calmly, “but it is not for that that you are here. It is for your other lies. No.” He held up his hand when the boy would have denied it. “I know. You said that she took paper from the cabinet on the day when five of you became so ill. You lied and that can be proved. Mr. Bishop was in the room that entire day from early morning. He has given a sworn statement that not only did Mary Fellowes not take paper from the cabinet on that day, but that to the best of his knowledge she did not do so on any day, since, because of the positioning of his desk, if he was present it was always easier for him to open the cabinet and give her paper when it was required. She lit the office fire as you said, but you were not present. She took no paper, but had it given to her as she swore. And that would have been the only occasion on that day in which she entered the office, since she was known to be elsewhere the remainder of the time.”
Again he held up his hand as Jonathan Turner burst into impassioned speech. “Denial is futile. The police are aware of your motives for the lie. You attacked Mary and she struck you; the hand you placed over her mouth to prevent an outcry she bit. Your own employer noticed these injuries and you told him another lie to hide your shame. The police have investigated, and I, too, have inquired. That evening you never left the house. There was no would-be robber with a dog, no assault on you as an innocent passer-by. You attacked a young girl and she resisted more strongly than you expected. That was one of your motives, and if you did not leave the house that evening, there were other times when you did.”
He gave the boy a significant look and Jonathan Turner flushed, then paled and fell silent. Holmes turned towards Janet Pierce and addressed her. “You also lied. You falsely reported something you claimed Mary to have said, knowing that this was untrue. You wished to curry favor with your mistress in hopes that Mary’s wages and easier work might become yours. But you did more.” His gaze fixed on her, and she sat, seeming scarcely to draw breath.
“After your employers became ill and before any went to look, you stole away to the cabinet and removed the parcel of arsenic. You overheard what old Mr. Addleton said to the doctor, and you heard some of what was later said about Mary. You were determined to add to the appearance of her guilt, so you took the arsenic. You kept it hidden until you could sneak out the next night and dispose of it. The whole house was still in an uproar and none noticed your absence. You went a short distance into the wood and thrust the parcel under a log, where you believed it would never be discovered, but it will be found and…”
A great triumphant smirk spread across her face. “That’s all you know, smart man. I tore the parcel open and flung it into the pond there! You won’t find nothing of it to use against me.” She halted as the inhabitants of Loughton Hall gawked at her. “I—I never….”
“No, you did not leave the parcel under a log,” Holmes agreed. “As you have said, you flung it into the pond, having torn open the wrapping paper. The paper was found beside the pond, and the presence of dying creatures was discovered. A sample of the water was taken and tested yesterday. We would not have been able to prove who threw the arsenic into the pond, save for your own statement just now, which was freely given before police officers.”
His face drawn and weary, Mr. Addleton moved to face Holmes. “Janet lied, Jonathan lied, and I am told that Michael says Mary never took paper from the cabinet. I believed the girl guilty and I was wrong, yet there is no more proof against another than there was against her. What am I now to believe?”
“
That I know who is guilty. I know their motive, and I will reveal proof of their guilt,” Holmes declared. “Only continue to listen.” And with that he addressed the assembly again. “You all had your own secrets. They were not always discreditable, but because of them there were false trails. I followed each faithfully until I could dismiss them as relevant to this crime.”
Old Mr. Addleton looked self-conscious as Holmes’s gaze rested upon him briefly.
“Further,” Holmes added to the group at large, “the doctor who swore that arsenic was the cause of the illness has now retracted that statement. He agrees that the symptoms were not unlike, but that a goodly number of other poisons could have also caused such symptoms. Upon examination of the facts, we can show that the white powder discovered by both Mr. Addleton Senior and subsequently the doctor, is nothing more dangerous that a scouring power made from pumice and soap. Medical experts have stated that arsenic does not prevent dumplings rising, nor does it blacken cutlery. That blackening, or more correctly tarnishing, was caused by the scrambled eggs Mrs. Danforth had for an early supper.”
Mrs. Danforth gasped. “That is true, but only if the cutlery soaks in a pan that contains cooked eggs as well.”
“They did,” he assured her. Appearing distressed, she said no more.
“The case against Mary Fellowes was,” Holmes resumed, “that she took arsenic from the cabinet and added it to the yeast dumplings. This was in revenge for an earlier scolding, and that she and only she was the sole person who could have done this. Yet see now what we have! Janet Pierce took the arsenic and lied that Mary had spoken ill of her employers. Jonathan Turner swore that Mary had been to the cabinet that morning, but Mr. Bishop says that is untrue. As we can see, Jonathan Turner had a most potent reason to lie: revenge, and also fear that one he did not wish to know of his attempted assault might discover it.” He paused significantly and all saw how the boy shrank in his seat.
Sherlock Holmes Page 14