The Vanishing Man Part 43

"Then look at me. I am Mr. Arthur Jellicoe."

"I hold a warrant for your arrest, Mr. Jellicoe. You are charged with the murder of Mr. John Bellingham, whose body has just been discovered in the British Museum."

"By whom?"

"By Doctor Thornd.y.k.e."

"Indeed," said Mr. Jellicoe. "Is he here?"

"Yes."

"Ha! And you wish to arrest me, I presume?"

"Yes. That is what I am here for."

"Well, I will agree to surrender myself subject to certain conditions."

"I can't make any conditions, Mr. Jellicoe."

"No. I will make them, and you will accept them. Otherwise you will not arrest me."

"It's no use for you to talk like that," said Badger. "If you don't let me in I shall have to break in. And I may as well tell you," he added mendaciously, "that the house is surrounded."

"You may accept my a.s.surance," Mr. Jellicoe replied calmly, "that you will not arrest me if you do not accept my conditions."

"Well, what are your conditions?" demanded Badger impatiently.

"I desire to make a statement," said Mr. Jellicoe.

"You can do that, but I must caution you that anything you say may be used in evidence against you."

"Naturally. But I wish to make the statement in the presence of Doctor Thornd.y.k.e, and I desire to hear a statement from him of the method of investigation by which he discovered the whereabouts of the body. That is to say, if he is willing."

"If you mean that we should mutually enlighten one another, I am very willing indeed," said Thornd.y.k.e.

"Very well. Then my conditions, Inspector, are that I shall hear Doctor Thornd.y.k.e's statement and that I shall be permitted to make a statement myself, and that until those statements are completed, with any necessary interrogation and discussion, I shall remain at liberty and shall suffer no molestation or interference of any kind. And I agree that, on the conclusion of the said proceedings, I will submit without resistance to any course that you may adopt."

"I can't agree to that," said Badger.

"Can't you?" said Mr. Jellicoe coldly; and, after a pause, he added: "Don't be hasty. I have given you full warning."

There was something in Mr. Jellicoe's pa.s.sionless tone that disturbed the inspector exceedingly, for he turned to Thornd.y.k.e and said in a low tone:

"I wonder what his game is? He can't get away, you know."

"There are several possibilities," said Thornd.y.k.e.

"M'yes," said Badger, stroking his chin perplexedly.

"After all, is there any objection? His statement might save trouble, and you'd be on the safe side. It would take you some time to break in."

"Well," said Mr. Jellicoe, with his hand on the window, "do you agree--yes or no?"

"All right," said Badger sulkily. "I agree."

"You promise not to molest me in any way until I have quite finished?"

"I promise."

Mr. Jellicoe's head disappeared and the window closed. After a short interval we heard the jar of ma.s.sive bolts and the clank of a chain, and, as the heavy door swung open, Mr. Jellicoe stood revealed, calm and impa.s.sive, with an old-fas.h.i.+oned office candlestick in his hand.

"Who are the others?" he inquired, peering out sharply through his spectacles.

"O, they are nothing to do with me," replied Badger.

"They are Doctor Berkeley and Doctor Jervis," said Thornd.y.k.e.

"Ha!" said Mr. Jellicoe; "very kind and attentive of them to call. Pray come in, gentlemen. I am sure you will be interested to hear our little discussion."

He held the door open with a certain stiff courtesy, and we all entered the hall led by Inspector Badger. He closed the door softly and preceded us up the stairs and into the apartment from the window of which he had dictated the terms of surrender. It was a fine old room, s.p.a.cious, lofty, and dignified, with panelled walls and a carved mantelpiece, the central escutcheon of which bore the initials "J.W.P." with the date "1671." A large writing-table stood at the farther end, and behind it an iron safe.

"I have been expecting this visit," Mr. Jellicoe remarked tranquilly as he placed four chairs opposite the table.

"Since when?" asked Thornd.y.k.e.

"Since last Monday evening, when I had the pleasure of seeing you conversing with my friend Doctor Berkeley at the Inner Temple gate, and then inferred that you were retained in the case. That was a circ.u.mstance that had not been fully provided for. May I offer you gentlemen a gla.s.s of sherry?" As he spoke he placed on the table a decanter and a tray of gla.s.ses, and looked at us interrogatively with his hand on the stopper.

"Well, I don't mind if I do, Mr. Jellicoe," said Badger, on whom the lawyer's glance had finally settled. Mr. Jellicoe filled a gla.s.s and handed it to him with a stiff bow; then, with the decanter still in his hand, he said persuasively: "Doctor Thornd.y.k.e, pray allow me to fill you a gla.s.s?"

"No, thank you," said Thornd.y.k.e, in a tone so decided that the inspector looked round at him quickly. And as Badger caught his eye, the gla.s.s which he was about to raise to his lips became suddenly arrested and was slowly returned to the table untasted.

"I don't want to hurry you, Mr. Jellicoe," said the inspector, "but it's rather late, and I should like to get this business settled. What is it that you wish to do?"

"I desire," replied Mr. Jellicoe, "to make a detailed statement of the events that have happened, and I wish to hear from Doctor Thornd.y.k.e precisely how he arrived at his very remarkable conclusion. When this has been done I shall be entirely at your service; and I suggest that it would be more interesting if Doctor Thornd.y.k.e would give us his statement before I furnish you with the actual facts."

"I am entirely of your opinion," said Thornd.y.k.e.

"Then in that case," said Mr. Jellicoe, "I suggest that you disregard me, and address your remarks to your friends as if I were not present."

Thornd.y.k.e acquiesced with a bow, and Mr. Jellicoe, having seated himself in his elbow-chair behind the table, poured himself out a gla.s.s of water, selected a cigarette from a neat silver case, lighted it deliberately, and leaned back to listen at his ease.

"My first acquaintance with this case," Thornd.y.k.e began without preamble, "was made through the medium of the daily papers about two years ago; and I may say that, although I had no interest in it beyond the purely academic interest of a specialist in a case that lies in his particular specialty, I considered it with deep attention. The newspaper reports contained no particulars of the relations of the parties that could furnish any hints as to motives on the part of any of them, but merely a bare statement of the events. And this was a distinct advantage, inasmuch as it left one to consider the facts of the case without regard to motive--to balance the _prima facie_ probabilities with an open mind. And it may surprise you to learn that those _prima facie_ probabilities pointed from the very first to that solution which has been put to the test of experiment this evening. Hence it will be well for me to begin by giving the conclusions that I reached by reasoning from the facts set forth in the newspapers before any of the further facts came to my knowledge.

"From the facts as stated in the newspaper reports it is obvious that there were four possible explanations of the disappearance.

"1. The man might be alive and in hiding. This was highly improbable, for the reasons that were stated by Mr. Loram at the late hearing of the application, and for a further reason that I shall mention presently.

"2. He might have died by accident or disease, and his body failed to be identified. This was even more improbable, seeing that he carried on his person abundant means of identification, including visiting cards.