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

Lord Garvington,  Who Was Ready,

And--"

 

"And I Went Down,  Pretending That Pine Was A Burglar," Said Lord

Garvington,  Continuing The Story In A Most Shameless Manner. "I Opened

The Door Quite Expecting To Find Him There. He Rushed Me,  Believing In

His Blind Haste That I Was Agnes Coming To Elope With You. I Shot Him In

The Arm,  And He Staggered Away,  While I Shut The Door Again. Whether,  On

Finding His Mistake,  And Knowing That He Had Met Me Instead Of Agnes,  He

Intended To Go Away,  I Can't Say,  As I Was On The Wrong Side Of The

Door. But Agnes,  Attracted To The Window By The Shot,  Declared--And You

Heard Her Declare It At The Inquest,  Noel--That Pine Walked Rapidly Away

And Was Shot Just As He Came Abreast Of The Shrubbery. That's All."

 

"And Quite Enough,  Too," Said Lambert Savagely. "You Tricky Pair Of

Beasts; I Suppose You Hoped To Implicate Me In The Crime?"

 

"It Wasn't A Crime," Protested Silver; "But Only A Way To Get Money. By

Going Up To London You Certainly Delayed What We Intended To Do,  Since

We Could Not Carry Out Our Plan Until You Returned. You Did For One

Night,  As Chaldea,  Who Was On The Watch For You,  Told Us,  And Then We

Acted."

 

"Did Chaldea Know Of The Trap?"

 

"No! She Knew Nothing Save That I"--It Was Silver Who Spoke--"Wanted To

Know About Your Return. She Found The Letter In Pine's Tent,  And Really

Believed That Lady Agnes Had Written It,  And That You Had Shot Pine. It

Was To Force You By Threats To Marry Her That She Gave The Letter To

Me."

Chapter 18 (An Amazing Accusation) Pg 177

 

"And She Instructed You To Show It To The Police," Said Lambert Between

His Teeth,  "Whereas You Tried To Blackmail Lady Agnes."

 

"I Had To Make My Money Somehow," Said Silver Insolently. "Pine Was Dead

And Lady Agnes Had The Coin."

 

"You Were To Share In The Twenty-Five Thousand Pounds,  I Suppose?"

Lambert Asked His Cousin Indignantly.

 

"No; Silver Blackmailed On His Own. I Hoped To Get Money From Agnes In

Another Way--As Her Hard-Up Brother That Is. And If--"

 

"Oh,  Shut Up! You Make Me Sick," Interrupted Lambert,  Suppressing A

Strong Desire To Choke His Cousin. "You Are As Bad As Silver."

 

"And Silver Is As Innocent As Lord Garvington," Struck In That

Gentleman,  Whose Face Was Recovering Its Natural Color.

 

Lambert Turned On Him Sharply. "I Don't Agree With That. You Shot Pine!"

 

Silver Sprang Up With A Hysterical Cry. He Had Judged Like Agag That The

Bitterness Of Death Was Past,  But Found That He Was Not Yet Safe. "I Did

Not Shoot Pine," He Declared,  Wringing His Hands. "Oh,  Why Can't You

Believe Me."

 

"Because Garvington Gave You The Second Revolver And With That--On The

Evidence Of The Bullet--Pine Was Murdered."

 

"That Might Be So,  But--But--" Silver Hesitated,  And Shivered And Looked

Round With A Hunted Expression In His Eyes.

 

"But What? You May As Well Explain To Me."

 

"I Shan't--I Refuse To. I Am Innocent! You Can't Hurt Me!"

 

Lambert Brushed Aside This Puny Rage. "Inspector Darby Can. I Shall Go

To Wanbury This Evening And Tell Him All."

 

"No; Don't Do That!" Cried Garvington,  Greatly Agitated. "Think Of

Me--Think Of The Family!"

 

"I Think Of Justice! You Two Beasts Aren't Fit To Be At Large. I'm Off,"

And He Made For The Door.

 

In A Moment Silver Was Clutching His Coat. "No,  Don't!" He Screamed. "I

Am Innocent! Lord Garvington,  Say That I Am Innocent!"

 

"Oh,  ---- You,  Get Out Of The Hole As Best You Can! I'm In As Big A Mess

As You Are,  Unless Lambert Acts Decently."

 

"Decently,  You Wicked Little Devil," Said Lambert Scornfully. "I Only

Chapter 18 (An Amazing Accusation) Pg 178

Propose To Do What Any Decent Man Would Do. You Trapped Pine By Means

Of The Letter,  And Silver Shot Him."

 

"I Didn't! I Didn't!"

 

"You Had The Revolver!"

 

"I Hadn't. I Gave It Away! I Lent It!" Panted Silver,  Crying With

Terror.

 

"You Lent It--You Gave It--You Liar! Who To?"

 

Silver Looked Round Again For Some Way Of Escape,  But Could See None.

"To Miss Greeby. She--She--She--She Shot Pine. I Swear She Did."

 

Chapter 19 (Mother Cockleshell) Pg 179

It Was Late In The Afternoon When Lambert Got Back To The Village Inn,

And He Felt Both Tired And Bewildered. The Examination Of Silver Had

Been So Long,  And What He Revealed So Amazing,  That The Young Man Wished

To Be Alone,  Both To Rest And To Think Over The Situation. It Was A Very

Perplexing One,  As He Plainly Saw,  Since,  In The Light Of The New

Revelations,  It Seemed Almost Impossible To Preserve The Name Of The

Family From Disgrace. Seated In His Sitting Room,  With His Legs

Stretched Out And His Hands In His Pockets,  Lambert Moodily Glared At

The Carpet,  Recalling All That Had Been Confessed By The Foxy Secretary

Of Miss Greeby. That He Should Accuse Her Of Committing The Crime Seemed

Unreasonable.

 

According To Silver,  The Woman Had Overheard By Chance The Scheme To

Lure Pine To The Manor. Knowing That The Millionaire Was Coming To

Abbot's Wood,  The Secretary Had Propounded The Plan To Garvington Long

Before The Man's Arrival. Hence The Constant Talk Of The Host About

Burglars And His Somewhat Unnecessary Threat To Shoot Any One Who Tried

To Break Into The House. The Persistence Of This Remark Had Roused Miss

Greeby's Curiosity,  And Noting That Silver And His Host Were Frequently

In One Another's Company,  She Had Seized Her Opportunity To Listen. For

Some Time,  So Cautious Were The Plotters,  She Had Heard Nothing

Particular,  But After Her Recognition Of Hearne As Pine When She Visited

The Gypsy Camp She Became Aware That These Secret Talks Were Connected

With His Presence. Then A Chance Remark Of Garvington's--He Was Always

Loose-Tongued--Gave Her The Clue,  And By Threats Of Exposure She Managed

To Make Silver Confess The Whole Plot. Far From Thwarting It She Agreed

Chapter 19 (Mother Cockleshell) Pg 180

To Let Them Carry It Out,  And Promised Secrecy,  Only Extracting A

Promise That She Should Be Advised Of The Time And Place For The

Trapping Of The Millionaire. And It Was This Acquiescence Of Miss

Greeby's Which Puzzled Lambert.

 

On The Face Of It,  Since She Was In Love With Him,  It Was Better For Her

Own Private Plans That Pine Should Remain Alive,  Because The Marriage

Placed Agnes Beyond His Reach. Why,  Then,  Should Miss Greeby Have

Removed The Barrier--And At The Cost Of Being Hanged For Murder? Lambert

Had Asked Silver This Question,  But Had Obtained No Definite Answer,

Since The Secretary Protested That She Had Not Explained Her Reasons.

Jokingly Referring To Possible Burglars,  She Had Borrowed The Revolver

From Silver Which He Had Obtained From Garvington,  And It Was This

Action Which First Led The Little Secretary To Suspect Her. Afterward,

Knowing That She Had Met Pine In Abbot's Wood,  He Kept A Close Watch On

Her Every Action To See If She Intended To Take A Hand In The Game. But

Silver Protested That He Could See No Reason For Her Doing So,  And Even

Up To The Moment When He Confessed To Lambert Could Not Conjecture Why

She Had Acted In Such A Manner.

 

However,  It Appeared That She Was Duly Informed Of The Hour When Pine

Would Probably Arrive To Prevent The Pretended Elopement,  And Also

Learned That He Would Be Hanging About The Blue Door. When Silver

Retired For The Night He Watched The Door Of Her Bedroom--Which Was In

The Same Wing Of The Mansion Of His Own. Also He Occasionally Looked Out

To See If Pine Had Arrived,  As The Window Of His Room Afforded A Fair

View Of The Blue Door And The Shrubbery. For Over An Hour--As He Told

Lambert--He Divided His Attention Between The Passage And The Window. It

Was While Looking Out Of The Last,  And After Midnight,  That He Saw Miss

Greeby Climb Out Of Her Room And Descend To The Ground By Means Of The

Ivy Which Formed A Natural Ladder. Her Window Was No Great Height From

The Ground,  And She Was An Athletic Woman Much Given To Exercise.

Wondering What She Intended To Do,  Yet Afraid--Because Of Pine's

Expected Arrival--To Leave The House,  Silver Watched Her Cautiously. She

Was Arrayed In A Long Black Cloak With A Hood,  He Said,  But In The

Brilliant Moonlight He Could Easily Distinguish Her Gigantic Form As She

Slipped Into The Shrubbery. When Pine Arrived,  Silver Saw Him Dash At

The Blue Door When It Was Opened By Garvington,  And Saw Him Fall Back

After The First Shot. Then He Heard The Shutting Of The Door;

Immediately Afterward The Opening Of Lady Agnes's Window,  And Noted That

Pine Ran Quickly And Unsteadily Down The Path. As He Passed The

Shrubbery,  The Second Shot Came--At This Point Silver Simply Gave The

Same Description As Lady Agnes Did At The Inquest--And Then Pine Fell.

Afterward Garvington And His Guests Came Out And Gathered Round The

Body,  But Miss Greeby,  Slipping Along The Rear Of The Shrubbery,  Doubled

Back To The Shadow At The Corner Of The House. Silver,  Having To Play

His Part,  Did Not Wait To See Her Re-Enter The Mansion,  But Presumed She

Did So By Clambering Up The Ivy. He Ran Down And Mingled With The Guests

And Servants,  Who Were Clustered Round The Dead Man,  And Finally Found

Miss Greeby At His Elbow,  Artlessly Inquiring What Had Happened. For The

Time Being He Accepted Her Innocent Attitude.