The Strange Case of Mortimer Fenley

Side

than otherwise, did not blanc

d up a few tricks of speech from Transatlantic breth

tly," was

a cook in this village that shall comp

I ate with a butler, but I drank wine with a con

ith a scowl why I shot Mr. Fenley you might tell me why th

at one time, built in a spirit of mistaken hospitality for the reception of prominent Scots visiting L

eive, in a bottle of Cha

ow, sir, if you have finished luncheon, kindly take me to

ised an inqui

ssion in the abstract, but it is new to fi

n the neighborhood of The Towers before half past nine o'clock

gave the requisite sting to the concluding words. Trenholme, at any other

k," he said. "It will not be a

ght to the easel, took off the drawing of Sylvia Manning and the Aphrodite, placed it on the floor face to the wall, and staged the sketch of the

y as adjectives to explain one's meaning. You are a true impressionist. You paint Nature as you see her, not as she is, yet your technique is superb and your observation just. For instance, ev

olor note for future guidance

able portrait of Miss Sylvia Mann

se I r

by other methods th

shall have to

present stubbornness on your part. I know you were hidden among those cedars between, say, eight o'clock and half past nine. I know that Miss Manning bathed in a lake well within your view. I know, too, that you sketched her, because I saw the can

ccurately. Without another word of protest Tre

inquired the det

ce has my smoking

of life when in the presence of the supreme in art. I find that a really fine picture induces a feeling of reverence, an emotion

e Grand Boulevard. Almost unconsciously he yielded to the spell of a familiar jargon, well knowing he had been inspired in every touch wh

zed long an

compare the cold sunlight on the statue with the same light falling on wet skin. Of course, Mr. Trenho

olme. "What a cursed spite tha

Furneaux, unfei

nd you wouldn't have me blazon that girl'

ve snapped

ture is hung. London provides one front-rank tragedy a week, but not another suc

ptly it would have been in ashes an hour ago,"

manner the detective promptly a

our picture is your excuse, Mr. Trenholme. What plea could you have urged

rather carelessly. Just now you described me as 'hidden' behind that clump of trees, and again you accuse me of

to his French vein. His sh

e could palliate his conduct by that picture. But, given no picture, what is the answer? Reflect calmly, Mr. Trenholme, and you'll see that mine are words of wisdom. Burn tha

ity, I shall nev

nly, for goodness' sake, keep this one covered with a water-proof wrap if the weather breaks, which it doesn't look like doing at this moment. Now, Mr. Trenholme, take the advice of a

me from, but so far as I could ascertain, the only creat

id the pheas

se to the spot where

w m

many

asan

th front of the house to a covert on the

nd it so," commented Furneaux. "Why do

n can recognize the difference in sound. The explosive for

oo, an expe

haven't used a gun during the past five years. If you know Fr

t a cock robin or a jenny wren left in the country....

ied away, halting for an instant in t

tree. You were either painting a pretty girl or gloating over her. Prove the one and people won't

e new and entrancing upland in the domain of art, he had bought or borrowed a volume of light fiction in order to read himself to sleep, and a detective figured occasionally in such pages. Us

ock if practiced in real life. Furneaux came as a positive revelation. A small, wiry individual who looked like a comedian and spouted the truisms of the studio, a wizened little whippersnapper who put hardly one direct question to a prospective witness, but whose caustic comments had

that seemed to forbid their meeting. Now he was to be brought to her, though somewhat after the fashion of a felon with gyves on

ified. He had hit on the one certain means of restraint on an act of vandalism. The picture now stood between Trenholme and the scoffing multitude. It was his buckler agai

nd attributes in one lightning-swift glance of intuition. Before ever Trenholme was aware o

me Secretary regards the militant suffragists. Knows as much about the murder as I do about the rings of Saturn. But he ought to provide a touch of humor in an affair that p

niffing in the back passage. Eliza red-eyed now from distres

but quailed under a sudden and pen

is it?" inqu

m curl papers stirr

" she stammered. "Mr. Trenholme wouldn't hurt a fuf-fuf-fly. I sus-sus-sa

your head by declaring that you are the

nic in itself. Eliza dropped th

," she cried, "but I can hold me own no matter wher

blue eyes-a man who looks as though he can use a carving-knife with discretion-you prepare a dinner worthy

a recovered her breath. Then

your peepin' an' pryin' I'd never ha' set eyes on that blessed picter. You go an' put on a black dress, an' d

Eliza bustled i

n with eyes like a ferret, either? If he does, he's very much mistaken. I don't believe he's a real 'tec. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he wasn't a repor

halting outside Brondesbury police station. An Inspector assured the Superintendent that a constable was on the track of Robert

y but well, on bread and cheese and beer

y Avenue. A lady, name unknown, but the youth in charge knows her well by sight, and thinks she lives in a set of

to fib about such a trivial matter. His brother, too, is behaving in a way that invites criticism. I don't imagine that either o

lips that mild exclamation betokened the maximum of surprise. "Is there any r

he local police would be seriously considering the arrest of Robe

t Commission

. Winter," he said. "I've just lunched in the St.

window, and seemed to seek inspiration from busy Westminster Bridge and a river dancing in suns

rnfully, "but I make it a rule not to smoke while passing

door had closed on his

aid he was puzzled, or bothered, or have given me some silly advice such as that I must be discreet, look into affairs closely, and no

et him in a Yorkshire town during a protracted and difficult inquiry into the death of a wealthy recluse; although the man was merely an ordinary constable he had shown such resourc

carried himself easily; a peculiarity of his thoughtful, somewhat lawyer-like face was that the left eye was noticeably smaller than the right

t once into the

ssage comes through from Mr. Furneaux tell him I have located the doubtful call made to Th

. Is it a

se could

ordinary

nt, which had not occu

t few years. That is my present opinion, at any rate. Now, a man from the Brondesbury police station is following one of t

re rather small. He talks aggressively, and looks what he is, a pampered youth, very much spoiled by his parents. His clothes-all that I have seen-are a motorist's overalls. If the Brondesbury man reports here

sir?" was the l

hone go. Should Fenley seem to leave London by the Edgware Road, which leads to Roxton, have him checked

aux if I am called ou

message to

taxi, walked up Whitehall and crossed Trafalgar Square en route to t

one, which was lodged in an estate agent's office. The

nce of the born Cockney, "but we aren't al

," said Winter. "You answered a similar inqu

d I thought there was something funny go

card, and the boy

ats where I thought the lady lived, and had the luck to see her getting out of a cab at the door. I followed her upstairs, pretending I had busine

our eyes open. Now, to encourage you, I'll tell you the second. Keep your mouth shut. If this lady is Miss Garth she is not the p

lse for you, sir?" c

but you have saved me from wasting time. Th

good-looking, bu

er s

d. "I'm looking for a Polish Jewess, whose chief fe

d slim-a regular dasher, big black hat, swell togs, black and white, and smart b

sighe

lost," he murmur

ere he smoked a thin, raffish Italian cigar with an Anarchist of his acquaintance who kept a restaurant famous for its r

o an elderly, hatchet-face

reply, given in the tone of one who meant the strang

villy. "Kindly tell her that Superintendent Winter, of the Crim

unless he was addressing some desperate criminal, he did not expect to be assaulted. For once, therefore, he was thoroughly surprised when a bony hand shot out an

al to the task of disturbing his burly frame, and a foot thrust between door and jamb would have done the rest. As ma

eanor of people in whom he was interested, and of whom circumstances permitted only the merest glimpse. This woman's face had revealed annoyance rather than fear. "Scotland Yard" was not an ogre but

oice, heard under admittedly adverse conditions, was correct in accent and fairly cultured. Before the world had hardened it its tones might have been soft and dulc

" thought Winter, smiling as he turned to descend the stairs. F

on the same landing, opened, and a man appea

re you Signor Maselli? Well met, any

emed to have received the shock of his life. His sallow-complexioned face assumed a

ok over his shoulder to ascertain whether any one in

nni Maselli, since that was the name modestly displayed on No. Twelve's card in the hall beneath, closed the

ive minutes-at the Regency Café

ve followed slowly. Crossing the street at an angle, he loo

uned, "and a nice lot of priz

passing sentence of five years' penal servitude and three years' police supervision on a felon;