It was about this time that Professor Bocaros called to see him. A chance of making a great deal of money out of the simple scholar presented itself to Jasher, and he took up the matter himself. It was so difficult that the detective--for so he was in fact--did not think it wise to trust the elucidation8 of the mystery to meaner hands. He resolved to attend to it personally, and charge accordingly. The discovery that the money had passed to Calvert was not pleasing to Jasher, as he had now to deal with a man more shrewd and less inclined to pay largely. However, supported by Bocaros, Jasher called at the Bloomsbury lodgings10 of the actor, and ended, as has been seen, in getting the business of hunting down the assassin of Flora11 Brand. It was not an easy mystery to unravel12.
"But the first thing to be done," said Mr. Jasher to himself in the solitude13 of his office, "is to find out what sort of a cove9 Calvert is. If he's what I call a stinger, I'll have to go straight. If he ain't, I'll buckle14 to and do my best. But in any way I'll get all the money I can out of him."
In pursuance of this amiable15 resolve, Jasher sought out several theatrical folk whom he knew well. The report of Calvert was that he had a strong will, but was very good-natured. It was considered that he would never be an actor, and old-fashioned stagers believed that it was merely through his good looks and his fashionable clothes he obtained engagements. But Jasher knew the jealousy17 of those connected with the green-room, and determined18 to see Calvert act with his own eyes. According to the force and talent displayed by the young man, he might be able to estimate the depth of his character.
Having thus made up his mind, Jasher treated himself to a seat in the pit of the Frivolity19 Theatre. The audience was small as the play was not a great success. "It's a good thing he's got this fortune," was the agent's reflection, "as this piece won't run long; and being out of an engagement, he wouldn't have much chance of marrying that girl he's sweet on, according to old Bocaros."
The play was not a good one; the best scene being in the middle act, wherein a masked ball took place. Calvert was dressed as a Venetian, and looked remarkably20 handsome in black velvet21 and gold. During the scene he had to draw his dagger22, and this drew Jasher's attention to the fact that he wore such a weapon. But he did not give the matter much thought. It was only when Arnold came on in the last act in a tweed suit with a reddish pointed23 beard that he started. It occurred to him that he had heard from a friend in the police of how the young man met by Mulligan had been thus attired24. A description of the young man, save in a vague way, had not been put into the papers. And probably Jasher, but that his mind was full of the murder, would not have noticed the dress and general appearance. As it was, the remembrance of the dagger and the fact of the tweed suit and pointed beard made him reflect. Also the fact that Arnold was engaged to the sister-in-law of the man to whom the villa25 belonged made him lay unusual stress on the matter.
"Blest if I don't think he's got something to do with the matter, professor," he said to Bocaros that same evening.
The Greek, anxious to know how matters were proceeding26, had made an appointment with Jasher at a Soho restaurant after the theatre, and was now at the supper-table looking more haggard and lean than ever with his blazing eyes and funereal27 looks. Disappointed at being deprived of Mrs. Brand's fortune, Bocaros--as Laura surmised28 rightly--was angry with Arnold for having obtained it. The remarks he had made in the young man's presence were mere16 fault-finding words, as he had no reason, on the face of it, to suspect him of being connected with the crime. Moreover, Arnold's ready acceptance of Jasher as an agent to search out the matter must have done away with all idea that he was guilty. No man would be such a fool as to put a bloodhound of the law on his own track, and when he had succeeded in gaining his end without danger. But when Jasher made the above remark Bocaros looked at him eagerly.
"That is my idea," he declared quickly. "I have no grounds to go upon. But Calvert is engaged to Miss Mason. In her brother-in-law's house Flora was killed, so he must know something."
"Oh, I don't see that," mused30 Jasher; "you go too fast, professor. Of course those facts, and the fact that he gets a large income, may seem suspicious, but being engaged at the theatre every night puts his guilt29 out of the question. But to learn all I can about Calvert, I have asked his understudy to come to supper." Jasher glanced at his watch. "He'll be here soon, and then we can talk."
"From your description," said Bocaros, who stuck to his point, "Calvert is the young man who spoke31 to Mulligan."
"I think that. He has the clothes and the beard described by the officer. But if he was the man, he would hardly be such a fool as to retain such a make-up."
"Yes, he would," persisted Bocaros; "safety often lies in danger. If Calvert had changed his make-up and a description had appeared in the papers, suspicion would have been excited."
"True; but no description appeared, or only a vague one."
"Calvert did not know that. He thought it best to keep to his make-up, trusting that people--who are generally stupid--would never connect his stage appearance with that of the man in real life. He is the man, I am sure, and he came out of the house."
"But it doesn't say he killed Mrs. Brand."
"He had ten thousand a year to gain by doing so."
"Quite right. But the woman was killed before nine, and during that hour Calvert was engaged at the theatre."
"That's true enough," said the professor gloomily, "all the same it seems queer. I believe he is guilty."
"Hush32!" said Jasher, looking round uneasily; "don't talk so loud. You never know who may hear. Keep to generalities. Ah, here is Hart."
"The young man who came to the supper-table was a languid and fashionable youth, who, having run through his money, had gone on the stage to delight the public. As yet he had not made a success, and, judging from his looks, never would. Having got into trouble over some gambling33 debt, he had enlisted34 the services of Jasher. That astute35 gentleman had managed to settle the affair, and Hart was consequently willing to be friendly. He sat down with a bored air, and declared that he was almost dead. He acknowledged his introduction to Bocaros with a slight and supercilious36 nod.
"You work too hard," said Jasher, when Mr. Hart was engaged in eating.
"It's hard work hanging round the theatre waiting for a chance," said the other.
"You have got one," said the detective; "ain't you engaged at the Frivolity Theatre?"
"Only as Calvert's understudy," said the discontented youth. "I have to be at the theatre waiting for my chance should he fall ill. He's too clever to let me go on, and he can't act a bit. I could make a magnificent part of the one he spoils." And Hart began to explain the lines upon which he would--as he put it--create the part.
"Have you never had an opportunity of playing?" asked the professor, piling up little bits of bread in a listless manner.
"Ah," said Jasher quickly, "how was that?"
"Well, don't you say anything," said Hart, glancing round, "as it would do me harm with the profession. Nobody will take much notice so long as it ain't talked about. It's only known in the theatre, and Calvert, who is a good-natured sort of chap, promised to hold his tongue."
"Oh," said Bocaros, meaningly, and looking up with eagerness, "he promised to hold his tongue, did he? About what?"
"My messing up my chance. You see Calvert didn't feel well one night, and I went on. I did act A1, and was scoring all round, when I got so excited that I fell ill. My heart ain't very strong," added the youth, "and that's why I can't take Turkish baths."
"Well, well," said Jasher, looking a very benevolent38 stout39 gentleman, and sipping40 his wine with relish41, "what happened when you fell ill?"
"Why, they had to send for Calvert. Luckily he was at his lodgings."
"Also ill?" put in the professor.
"No. He said he was ill, but he wasn't. He came and took my place for the last act, and they said he never acted better in his life."
"About what time does the third act commence?"
"About ten."
"And Calvert came to the theatre at that time?"
"A few minutes before," said Hart, attacking some cheese.
"So he was disengaged on that evening up to that time. Ill at home?"
"He was away from the theatre, if that is what you mean," said the young man, "but he wasn't ill, so far as I know, in spite of what he said. It was a fake of some sort. I guess there was a girl in it."
"What do you mean?" asked Bocaros excitedly.
Hart started. "Why, nothing. Only some of our chaps were ragging him about getting away that evening to meet a girl."
"Did he deny that he was going to do so?"
"No. He laughed and coloured. A shy chap is Calvert."
Bocaros intervened. "Can you tell me what night this was?"
"What do you want to know for?" asked Hart suspiciously.
"It's merely curiosity," said Jasher smoothly42; "you needn't trouble about the matter, if you don't like."
"I don't care two straws," said Hart, with a good-natured laugh, "but I can't understand what you fellows are driving at. Catch me forgetting the night I got my chance. It was the 24th of July."
"Jasher and Bocaros looked significantly at one another, but the interchange was lost on Hart, who was attending to his wine. The conversation then drifted into subjects connected with Mr. Hart's career, and he finally departed quite unaware43 that he had been made use of.
"What do you think now?" asked Bocaros triumphantly44.
"Well, Calvert was absent on that night, and he resembles the young man who lured45 Mulligan away. Also he wears a dagger in the second act of the play which he might have used."
"He did use it," said the professor positively46; "the wound was made by a stiletto, according to the medical evidence. It is a stiletto he wears. And he was absent between six and half-past nine, the very time the doctor said the woman was killed. Besides," went on Bocaros excitedly, "Calvert knows Fane very well. He might have thus obtained possession of the key."
"Fane swore it was never out of his possession.
"He may have done that to shield Calvert, seeing the man is going to marry Miss Mason."
"True enough," said Jasher, rising. "Well, Calvert himself has given me the funds to prosecute47 the search. It will be queer if I run him down. I guess he'll be willing to let sleeping dogs lie if I do run him to earth."
"No," said the professor determinedly48; "if Calvert is guilty he must be punished."
"You leave matters in my hands," retorted Jasher, his good-natured face growing black. "I'm going to make money out of this."
Bocaros changed the subject, for no apparent reason. "How did you get money to prosecute your inquiries49?"
"Calvert told his solicitors50 to give me what I wanted. I saw Merry, and obtained a cheque for fifty. That's enough to go on with."
"What do you intend to do now?"
Bocaros thought. "There's another thing you might do," said he. "I know that Emily Doon is the sister of Calvert's landlady. You might question her. She will be with her sister to-morrow, and, as you know, she is Mrs. Fane's maid."
Jasher looked keenly at the professor. "That's the girl you are sweet on," he said smiling.
"What if I am?" returned Bocaros sharply; "she is a nice, good girl, and handsome. She adores me," cried Bocaros, on whose head the unaccustomed champagne52 had taken effect, "and I will marry her when I am rich."
"Will you ever be rich?"
"If Calvert is the man who killed Flora Brand, yes," said Bocaros, and with a grim smile he departed. Jasher looked after him and shrugged53 his shoulders.
"I must keep you in order," said he to himself, "or you will spoil the whole thing."
But however little the detective may have trusted Bocaros, he made use of the information he had received. At three o'clock the next day he went to ask if Calvert was at home. But he did not make the inquiry until he saw Calvert drive away in a cab. Mrs. Varney appeared with her ingratiating smile, and assured him that the young man was out. "He has gone to Troy," said Mrs. Varney, "but of course we know what that means. A handsome young lady, Mr. Jasher."
"Hullo!" said the detective, starting; "and how do you come to know my name, ma'am?"
"Oh,"--Mrs. Varney tossed her head in a light-comedy way--"my sister knows the professor, and the professor knows you. The fact is----"
"Oh, that's all right. The professor (and a nice gentleman he is, though but a foreigner) told me of his weakness."
"Weakness, indeed!" This time Mrs. Varney frowned as a tragedy-queen. "Professor Bocaros ought to be proud of having a handsome young lady like my sister admiring him."
"Well," said Jasher, who wished to get an interview with Miss Doon, and guessed the right way to go about the matter, "he is a man who will be able to give her a good position."
"Do you know everything about him?" asked the landlady eagerly.
"Everything. I am his man of business," lied Mr. Jasher.
"Oh!" She looked longingly54 at the detective, not suspecting his real profession. "Won't you come inside for a few minutes. My sister is with me, and I am sure she would be pleased to meet Mr. Bocaros's man of business. When she marries him she will naturally be brought much into contact with you."
"I fear I am too busy, ma'am," said the man, playing his fish.
"Oh, but do come in," pleaded Mrs. Varney.
"Well, then, for five minutes," said Jasher, and this was how he came in a short time to be seated in a cosy55 parlour opposite to a tall, bold-looking young woman, with a hard mouth and big eyes almost as large and black as the professor's own. She resembled her sister in looks, and was scarcely less theatrical. After expressing her pleasure at seeing Jasher, and being determined--as he soon saw--not to let him go until she knew everything about Bocaros, she invited him to a cup of tea. Mrs. Varney went out to get the tea, and Jasher found himself being pumped by Miss Doon.
"I met the professor quite casually," she said, "having been insulted by a man one evening in the Nightingales' Walk. I cried for help, and the professor smote56 the ruffian to the earth. Then he asked me into his rustic57 home, and was quite the gentleman. We have been quite the best of friends for over a year," sighed Miss Doon sentimentally58, "and lately he has given me to understand that he desires a nearer and dearer tie."
"Why don't you marry him, then?"
Miss Doon smiled and looked significantly at the detective. "I do not care about living in so damp a house as 'The Refuge,'" she said. "I will marry the professor when he can give me a better home. I suppose he is not well off?"
"At present he isn't," said the professor's man of business, "but some day he may come in for a few thousands a year."
"Oh!" Miss Doon gasped59, "how delicious. I would certainly marry him then and leave my present place. Not that I have anything to complain of," she added graciously, "but I have always felt that it was my high lot to be a lady of rank."
"Quite so. And if the professor gets this money he can resume his rank, which is that of a Greek baron60."
"Certainly. But you had better stop in your place for a time till the professor gets his money. I suppose you get on well with Mrs. Fane?"
"Has she secrets?" asked Jasher quickly.
Miss Doon coloured, tossed her head, and bit her lip. She saw that she had said too much. "I am true to my mistress, sir," said she loftily, "and what she asked me to do, I did, without betraying her."
Jasher was puzzled. He thought the girl was a fool to talk thus, and wondered what Mrs. Fane could have asked her to do. However, it was not a propitious63 moment to get the truth out of the maid as she was now more or less on her guard, so he deftly64 changed the conversation. "I suppose you find Ajax Villa unpleasant after the murder?" he suggested.
Miss Doon closed her eyes. "Don't speak of it. My nerves are shattered. It's awful. And to think no one ever knew who killed the poor soul."
"I suppose you don't?"
"Certainly not," replied Miss Doon violently, "I was at the seaside with the other servants. I know nothing."
"Are the other servants pleasant?" asked Jasher, baffled again.
Emily shrugged her ample shoulders. "Oh yes," she said; "Gander, the cook, is the most amusing." Here she began to laugh. "We had such a joke the other day," she added. "I intended to tell the professor."
"What was that?" asked the detective carelessly. Miss Doon recounted the episode of the dagger. "It was in the dustbin, and Gander thought the jewels were real. She gave notice, only to find that the dagger was a stage jewel that had been worn by Mrs. Fane at a fancy ball."
"You knew that, I suppose?" said Jasher, much interested.
"No. She has not been to a fancy ball since I was with her, and that is three years. But she said the dagger was hers, and Gander was in a great state."
Jasher asked for a description of the dagger, which she gave. Then Mrs. Varney returned with the tea, and the conversation became more general. But the detective left with a firm conviction that Calvert had left the dagger in the dust-hole after killing65 the woman.
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1
judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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elucidation
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| n.说明，阐明 | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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buckle
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| n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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frivolity
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| n.轻松的乐事，兴高采烈；轻浮的举止 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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funereal
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| adj.悲哀的；送葬的 | |
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surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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determinedly
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| adv.决意地；坚决地，坚定地 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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solicitors
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| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
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landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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longingly
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| adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
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55
cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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56
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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sentimentally
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| adv.富情感地 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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60
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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61
baroness
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| n.男爵夫人，女男爵 | |
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62
entrusts
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的第三人称单数 ) | |
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63
propitious
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| adj.吉利的；顺利的 | |
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64
deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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65
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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