The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume (reading diary TXT) đ
- Author: Fergus Hume
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About two weeks after Whyteâs disappearance Mr. Frettlby gave a dinner party in honour of his daughterâs birthday. It was a delightful evening, and the wide French windows which led on to the verandah were open, letting in a gentle breeze from the ocean. Outside there was a kind of screen of tropical plants, and through the tangle of the boughs the guests, seated at the table, could just see the waters of the bay glittering in the pale moonlight. Brian was seated opposite to Madge, and every now and then he caught a glimpse of her bright face from behind the fruit and flowers, which stood in the centre of the table. Mark Frettlby was at the head of the table, and appeared in very good spirits. His stern features were somewhat relaxed, and he drank more wine than usual.
The soup had just been removed when some one, who was late, entered with apologies and took his seat. Some one in this case was Mr. Felix Rolleston, one of the best known young men in Melbourne. He had an income of his own, scribbled a little for the papers, was to be seen at every house of any pretensions in Melbourne, and was always bright, happy, and full of news. For details of any scandal you were safe in applying to Felix Rolleston. He knew all that was going on, both at home and abroad. And his knowledge, if not very accurate, was at least extensive, while his conversation was piquant, and at times witty. Calton, one of the leading lawyers of the city, remarked that âRolleston put him in mind of what Beaconsfield said of one of the personages in Lothair, âHe wasnât an intellectual Croesus, but his pockets were always full of sixpences.ââ Be it said in his favour that Felix was free with his sixpences.
The conversation, which had shown signs of languishing before his arrival, now brightened up.
âSo awfully sorry, donât you know,â said Felix, as he slipped into a seat by Madge; âbut a fellow like me has got to be careful of his timeâso many calls on it.â
âSo many calls in it, you mean,â retorted Madge, with a disbelieving smile. âConfess, now, you have been paying a round of visits.â
âWell, yes,â assented Mr. Rolleston; âthatâs the disadvantage of having a large circle of acquaintances. They give you weak tea and thin bread and butter, whereasââ
âYou would rather have something else,â finished Brian.
There was a laugh at this, but Mr. Rolleston disdained to notice the interruption.
âThe only advantage of five oâclock tea,â he went on, âis, that it brings people together, and one hears whatâs going on.â
âAh, yes, Rolleston,â said Mr. Frettlby, who was looking at him with an amused smile. âWhat news have you?â
âGood news, bad news, and such news as you have never heard of,â quoted Rolleston gravely. âYes, I have a bit of newsâhavenât you heard it?â
Rolleston felt he held sensation in his hands. There was nothing he liked better.
âWell, do you know,â he said, gravely fixing in his eyeglass, âthey have found out the name of the fellow who was murdered in the hansom cab.â
âNever!â cried every one eagerly.
âYes,â went on Rolleston, âand whatâs more, you all know him.â
âItâs never Whyte?â said Brian, in a horrified tone.
âHang it, how did you know?â said Rolleston, rather annoyed at being forestalled. âWhy, I just heard it at the St. Kilda station.â
âOh, easily enough,â said Brian, rather confused. âI used to meet Whyte constantly, and as I have not seen him for the last two weeks, I thought he might be the victim.â
âHow did they find out?â asked Mr. Frettlby, idly toying with his wine-glass.
âOh, one of those detective fellows, you know,â answered Felix. âThey know everything.â
âIâm sorry to hear it,â said Frettlby, referring to the fact that Whyte was murdered. âHe had a letter of introduction to me, and seemed a clever, pushing young fellow.â
âA confounded cad,â muttered Felix, under his breath; and Brian, who overheard him, seemed inclined to assent. For the rest of the meal nothing was talked about but the murder, and the mystery in which it was shrouded. When the ladies retired they chatted about it in the drawingroom, but finally dropped it for more agreeable subjects. The men, however, when the cloth Was removed, filled their glasses, and continued the discussion with unabated vigour. Brian alone did not take part in the conversation. He sat moodily staring at his untasted wine, wrapped in a brown study.
âWhat I canât make out,â observed Rolleston, who was amusing himself with cracking nuts, âis why they did not find out who he was before.â
âThat is not hard to answer,â said Frettlby, filling hisâglass. âHe was comparatively little known here, as he had been out from England such a short time, and I fancy that this was the only house at which he visited.â
âAnd look here, Rolleston,â said Calton, who was sitting near him, âif you were to find a man dead in a hansom cab, dressed in evening clothesâwhich nine men out of ten are in the habit of wearing in the eveningâno cards in his pockets, and no name on his linen, I rather think you would find it hard to discover who he was. I consider it reflects great credit on the police for finding out so quickly.â
âPuts one in mind of âThe Leavenworth Case,â and all that sort of thing,â said Felix, whose reading was of the lightest description. âAwfully exciting, like putting a Chinese puzzle together. Gad, I wouldnât mind being a detective myself.â
âIâm afraid if that were the case,â said Mr. Frettlby, with an amused smile, âcriminals would be pretty safe.â
âOh, I donât know so much about that,â answered Felix, shrewdly; âsome fellows are like trifle at a party, froth on top, but something better underneath.â
âWhat a greedy simile,â said Calton, sipping his wine; âbut Iâm afraid the police will have a more difficult task in discovering the man who committed the crime. In my opinion heâs a deuced clever fellow.â
âThen you donât think he will be discovered?â asked Brian, rousing himself out of his brown study.
âWell, I donât go as far as that,â rejoined Calton; âbut he has certainly left no trace behind him, and even the Red Indian, in whom instinct for tracking is so highly developed, needs some sort of a trail to enable him to find out his enemies. Depend upon it,â went on Calton, warming to his subject, âthe man who murdered Whyte is no ordinary criminal; the place he chose for the committal of the crime was such a safe one.â
âDo you think so?â said Rolleston. âWhy, I should think that a hansom cab in a public street would be very unsafe.â
âIt is that very fact that makes it safer,â replied Mr. Calton, epigrammatically. âYou read De Quinceyâs account of the Marr murders in London, and you will see that the more public the place the less risk there is of detection. There was nothing about the gentleman in the light coat who murdered Whyte to excite Roystonâs suspicions. He entered the cab with Whyte; no noise or anything likely to attract attention was heard, and then he alighted. Naturally enough, Royston drove to St. Kilda, and never suspected Whyte was dead till he looked inside and touched him. As to the man in the light coat, he doesnât live in Powlett Streetânoânor in East Melbourne either.â
âWhy not?â asked Frettlby.
âBecause he wouldnât have been such a fool as to leave a trail to his own door; he did what the fox often doesâhe doubled. My opinion is that he went either right through East Melbourne to Fitzroy, or he walked back through the Fitzroy Gardens into town. There was no one about at that time of the morning, and he could return to his lodgings, hotel, or wherever he is staying, with impunity. Of course, this is a theory that may be wrong; but from what insight into human nature my profession has given me, I think that my idea is a correct one.â
All present agreed with Mr. Caltonâs idea, as it really did seem the most natural thing that would be done by a man desirous of escaping detection.
âTell you what,â said Felix to Brian, as they were on their way to the drawingroom, âif the fellow that committed the crime, is found out, by gad, he ought to get Calton to defend him.â
CHAPTER VIII.
BRIAN TAKES A WALK AND A DRIVE.
When the gentlemen entered the drawingroom a young lady was engaged in playing one of those detestable pieces of the MORCEAU DE SALON order, in which an unoffending air is taken, and variations embroidered on it, till it becomes a perfect agony to distinguish the tune, amid the perpetual rattle of quavers and demi-semi-quavers. The melody in this case was âOver the Garden Wall,â with variations by Signor Thumpanini, and the young lady who played it was a pupil of that celebrated Italian musician. When the male portion of the guests entered, the air was being played in the bass with a great deal of power (that is, the loud pedal was down), and with a perpetual rattle of treble notes, trying with all their shrill might to drown the tune.
âGad! itâs getting over the garden wall in a hailstorm,â said Felix, as he strolled over to the piano, for he saw that the musician was Dora Featherweight, an heiress to whom he was then paying attention, in the hope that she might be induced to take the name of Rolleston. So, when the fair Dora had paralysed her audience with one final bang and rattle, as if the gentleman going over the garden wall had tumbled into the cucumber-frame, Felix was loud in his expressions of delight.
âSuch power, you know, Miss Featherweight,â he said, sinking into a chair, and mentally wondering if any of the piano strings had given way at that last crash. âYou put your heart into itâand all your muscle, too, by gad,â he added mentally.
âItâs nothing but practice,â answered Miss Featherweight, with a modest blush. âI am at the piano four hours every day.â
âGood heavens!â thought Felix, âwhat a time the family must have of it.â But he kept this remark to himself, and, screwing his eyeglass into his left organ of vision, merely ejaculated, âLucky piano.â
Miss Featherweight, not being able to think of any answer to this, looked down and blushed, while the ingenuous Felix looked up and sighed.
Madge and Brian were in a corner of the room talking over Whyteâs death.
âI never liked him,â she said, âbut it is horrible to think of him dying like that.â
âI donât know,â answered Brian, gloomily; âfrom all I can hear dying by chloroform is a very easy death.â
âDeath can never be easy,â replied Madge, âespecially to a young man so full of health and spirits as Mr. Whyte was.â
âI believe you are sorry heâs dead,â said Brian, jealously.
âArenât you?â she asked in some surprise.
âDe mortuis nil nisi bonum,â quoted Fitzgerald. âBut as I detested him when alive, you canât expect me to regret his end.â
Madge did not answer him, but glanced quickly at his face, and for the first time it struck her that he looked ill.
âWhat is the matter with you, dear?â she asked, placing her hand on his arm. âYou are not looking well.â
âNothingânothing,â he answered hurriedly. âIâve been a little worried about business latelyâbut come,â he said, rising, âlet us go outside, for I see your father has got that girl with the steam-whistle voice to sing.â
The girl with the steam-whistle voice was Julia Featherweight, the sister of
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