Red Money by Fergus Hume (the little red hen ebook .txt) 📖

In The Passage In Answer To Lord Garvington's Outcries,

To Find That He Had Closed The Door Pending Their Coming. Some Had Even

Heard The Second Shot While Descending The Stairs. It Was Proved,

Therefore,  In A Very Positive Manner,  That The Master Of The House Had

Not Murdered The Supposed Robber.

 

"I Never Intended To Kill Him," Declared Garvington When His Evidence

Was Taken. "All I Intended To Do,  And All I Did Do,  Was To Wing Him,  So

That He Might Be Captured On The Spot,  Or Traced Later. I Closed The

Door After Firing The Shot,  As I Fancied That He Might Have Had Some

Accomplices With Him,  And I Wished To Make Myself Safe Until Assistance

Arrived."

 

"You Had No Idea That The Man Was Sir Hubert Pine?" Asked A Juryman.

 

"Certainly Not. I Should Not Have Fired Had I Recognized Him. The Moment

I Opened The Door He Flung Himself Upon Me. I Fired And He Ran Away. It

Was Not Until We All Went Out And Found Him Dead By The Shrubbery That

I Recognized My Brother-In-Law. I Thought He Was In Paris."

Chapter 9 (Afterwards) Pg 84

 

Inspector Darby Deposed That He Had Examined The Shrubbery,  And Had

Noted Broken Twigs Here And There,  Which Showed That Some One Must Have

Been Concealed Behind The Screen Of Laurels. The Grass--Somewhat Long In

The Thicket--Had Been Trampled. But Nothing Had Been Discovered Likely

To Lead To The Discovery Of The Assassin Who Had Been Ambushed In This

Manner.

 

"Are There No Footmarks?" Questioned The Coroner.

 

"There Has Been No Rain For Weeks To Soften The Ground," Explained The

Witness,  "Therefore It Is Impossible To Discover Any Footmarks. The

Broken Twigs And Trampled Grass Show That Some One Was Hidden In The

Shrubbery,  But When This Person Left The Screen Of Laurels,  There Is

Nothing To Show In Which Direction The Escape Was Made."

 

And Indeed All The Evidence Was Useless To Trace The Criminal. The Manor

Had Been Bolted And Barred By Lord Garvington Himself,  Along With Some

Footmen And His Butler,  So No One Within Could Have Fired The Second

Shot. The Evidence Of Mother Cockleshell,  Of Chaldea,  And Of Various

Other Gypsies,  Went To Show That No One Had Left The Camp On That Night

With The Exception Of Hearne,  And Even His Absence Had Not Been Made

Known Until The Fact Of The Death Was Made Public Next Morning. Hearne,

As Several Of The Gypsies Stated,  Had Retired About Eleven To His Tent

And Had Said Nothing About Going To The Manor,  Much Less About Leaving

The Camp. Silver's Statements Revealed Nothing,  Since,  Far From Seeking

His Brother-In-Law's House,  Pine,  Had Pointedly Declared That In Order

To Keep His Secret He Would Be Careful Not To Go Near The Place.

 

"And Pine Had No Enemies To My Knowledge Who Desired His Death,"

Declared The Secretary. "We Were So Intimate That Had His Life Been In

Danger He Certainly Would Have Spoken About It To Me."

 

"You Can Throw No Light On The Darkness?" Asked The Coroner Hopelessly.

 

"None," Said The Witness. "Nor,  So Far As I Can See,  Is Any One Else

Able To Throw Any Light On The Subject. Pine's Secret Was Not A

Dishonorable One,  As He Was Such An Upright Man That No One Could Have

Desired To Kill Him."

 

Apparently There Was No Solution To The Mystery,  As Every One Concluded,

When The Evidence Was Fully Threshed Out. An Open Verdict Was Brought

In,  And The Proceedings Ended In This Unsatisfactory Manner.

 

"Wilful Murder Against Some Person Or Persons Unknown," Said Lambert,

When He Read The Report Of The Inquest In His St. James's Street Rooms.

"Strange. I Wonder Who Cut The Gordian Knot Of The Rope Which Bound

Agnes To Pine?"

 

He Could Find No Reply To This Question,  Nor Could Any One Else.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10 (A Difficult Position) Pg 85

Lord Garvington Was Not A Creditable Member Of The Aristocracy,  Since

His Vices Greatly Exceeded His Virtues. With A Weak Nature,  And The

Tastes Of A Sybarite,  He Required A Great Deal Of Money To Render Him

Happy. Like The Immortal Becky Sharp,  He Could Have Been Fairly Honest

If Possessed Of A Large Income; But Not Having It He Stopped Short Of

Nothing Save Actual Criminality In Order To Indulge His Luxurious

Tastes To The Full. Candidly Speaking,  He Had Already Overstepped The

Mark When He Altered The Figures Of A Check His Brother-In-Law Had Given

Him,  And,  Had Not Pine Been So Generous,  He Would Have Undoubtedly

Occupied An Extremely Unpleasant Position. However,  Thanks To Agnes,  The

Affair Had Been Hushed Up,  And With Characteristic Promptitude,

Garvington Had Conveniently Forgotten How Nearly He Had Escaped The Iron

Grip Of Justice. In Fact,  So Entirely Did It Slip His Memory That--On

The Plea Of Pine's Newly Discovered Origin--He Did Not Desire The Body

To Be Placed In The Family Vault. But The Widow Wished To Pay This Honor

To Her Husband's Remains,  And Finally Got Her Own Way In The Matter,  For

The Simple Reason That Now She Was The Owner Of Pine's Millions

Garvington Did Not Wish To Offend Her. But,  As Such A Mean Creature

Would,  He Made Capital Out Of The Concession.

 

"Since I Do This For You,  Agnes," He Said Bluntly,  When The Question Was

Being Decided,  "You Must Do Something For Me."

 

"What Do You Wish Me To Do?"

 

"Ah--Hum--Hey--Ho!" Gurgled Garvington,  Thinking Cunningly That It Was

Too Early Yet To Exploit Her. "We Can Talk About It When The Will Has

Been Read,  And We Know Exactly How We Stand. Besides Your Grief Is

Sacred To Me,  My Dear. Shut Yourself Up And Cry."

 

Agnes Had A Sense Of Humor,  And The Blatant Hypocrisy Of The Speech Made

Her Laugh Outright In Spite Of The Genuine Regret She Felt For Her

Husband's Tragic Death. Garvington Was Quite Shocked. "Do You Forget

That The Body Is Yet In The House?" He Asked With Heavy Solemnity.

 

"I Don't Forget Anything," Retorted Agnes,  Becoming Scornfully Serious.

"Not Even That You Count On Me To Settle Your Wretched Financial

Difficulties Out Of Poor Hubert's Money."

 

"Of Course You Will,  My Dear. You Are A Lambert."

 

"Undoubtedly; But I Am Not Necessarily A Fool."

Chapter 10 (A Difficult Position) Pg 86

 

"Oh,  I Can't Stop And Hear You Call Yourself Such A Name," Said

Garvington,  Ostentatiously Dense To Her True Meaning. "It Is Hysteria

That Speaks,  And Not My Dear Sister. Very Natural When You Are So

Grieved. We Are All Mortal."

 

"You Are Certainly Silly In Addition," Replied The Widow,  Who Knew How

Useless It Was To Argue With The Man. "Go Away And Don't Worry Me. When

Poor Hubert Is Buried,  And The Will Is Read,  I Shall Announce My

Intentions."

 

"Intentions! Intentions!" Muttered The Corpulent Little Lord,  Taking A

Hasty Departure Out Of Diplomacy. "Surely,  Agnes Won't Be Such A Fool As

To Let The Family Estates Go."

 

It Never Struck Him That Pine Might Have So Worded The Will That The

Inheritance He Counted Upon Might Not Come To The Widow,  Unless She

Chose To Fulfil A Certain Condition. But Then He Never Guessed The

Jealousy With Which The Hot-Blooded Gypsy Had Regarded The Early

Engagement Of Agnes And Lambert. If He Had Done So,  He Assuredly Would

Not Have Invited The Young Man Down To The Funeral. But He Did So,  And

Talked About Doing So,  With A Frequent Mention That The Body Was To Rest

In The Sacred Vault Of The Lamberts So That Every One Should Applaud His

Generous Humility.

 

"Poor Pine Was Only A Gypsy," Said Garvington,  On All And Every

Occasion. "But I Esteemed Him As A Good And Honest Man. He Shall Have

Every Honor Shown To His Memory. Noel And I,  As Representatives Of His

Wife,  My Dear Sister,  Shall Follow Him To The Lambert Vault,  And There,

With My Ancestors,  The Body Of This Honorable,  Though Humble,  Man Shall

Rest Until The Day Of Judgment."

 

A Cynic In London Laughed When The Speech Was Reported To Him. "If

Garvington Is Buried In The Same Vault," He Said Contemptuously,  "He

Will Ask Pine For Money,  As Soon As They Rise To Attend The Great

Assizes!" Which Bitter Remark Showed That The Little Man Could Not

Induce People To Believe Him So Disinterested As He Should Have Liked

Them To Consider Him.

 

However,  In Pursuance Of This Artful Policy,  He Certainly Gave The Dead

Man,  What The Landlady Of The Village Inn Called,  "A Dressy Funeral."

All That Could Be Done In The Way Of Pomp And Ceremony Was Done,  And The

Procession Which Followed Ishmael Hearne To The Grave Was An

Extraordinarily Long One. The Villagers Came Because,  Like All The Lower

Orders,  They Loved The Excitement Of An Interment; The Gypsies From The

Camp Followed,  Since The Deceased Was Of Their Blood; And Many People In

Financial And Social Circles Came Down From London For The Obvious

Reason That Pine Was A Well-Known Figure In The City And The West End,

And Also A Member Of Parliament. As For Lambert,  He Put In An

Appearance,  In Response To His Cousin's Invitation,  Unwillingly Enough,

But In Order To Convince Agnes That He Had Every Desire To Obey Her

Commands. People Could Scarcely Think That Pine Had Been Jealous Of The

Chapter 10 (A Difficult Position) Pg 87

Early Engagement To Agnes,  When Her Former Lover Attended The Funeral Of

A Successful Rival.

 

Of Course,  The House Party At The Manor Had Broken Up Immediately After

The Inquest. It Would Have Disintegrated Before Only That Inspector

Darby Insisted That Every One Should Remain For Examination In

Connection With The Late Tragical Occurrence. But In Spite Of

Questioning And Cross-Questioning,  Nothing Had Been Learned Likely To

Show Who Had Murdered The