Station, and we shall soon set our doubts at rest."
A drive of a couple of miles through narrow country lanes brought us
to a park gate, which was opened for us by an old lodge-keeper, whose
haggard face bore the reflection of some great disaster. The avenue
ran through a noble park, between lines of ancient elms, and ended in
a low, widespread house, pillared in front after the fashion of
Palladio. The central part was evidently of a great age and shrouded
in ivy, but the large windows showed that modern changes had been
carried out, and one wing of the house appeared to be entirely new.
The youthful figure and alert, eager face of Inspector Stanley
Hopkins confronted us in the open doorway.
"I'm very glad you have come, Mr. Holmes. And you too, Dr. Watson!
But, indeed, if I had my time over again I should not have troubled
you, for since the lady has come to herself she has given so clear an
account of the affair that there is not much left for us to do. You
remember that Lewisham gang of burglars?"
"What, the three Randalls?"
"Exactly; the father and two sons. It's their work. I have not a
doubt of it. They did a job at Sydenham a fortnight ago, and were
seen and described. Rather cool to do another so soon and so near,
but it is they, beyond all doubt. It's a hanging matter this time."
"Sir Eustace is dead, then?"
"Yes; his head was knocked in with his own poker."
"Sir Eustace Brackenstall, the driver tells me."
"Exactly--one of the richest men in Kent. Lady Brackenstall is in the
morning-room. Poor lady, she has had a most dreadful experience. She
seemed half dead when I saw her first. I think you had best see her
and hear her account of the facts. Then we will examine the
dining-room together."
Lady Brackenstall was no ordinary person. Seldom have I seen so
graceful a figure, so womanly a presence, and so beautiful a face.
She was a blonde, golden-haired, blue-eyed, and would, no doubt, have
had the perfect complexion which goes with such colouring had not her
recent experience left her drawn and haggard. Her sufferings were
physical as well as mental, for over one eye rose a hideous,
plum-coloured swelling, which her maid, a tall, austere woman, was
bathing assiduously with vinegar and water. The lady lay back
exhausted upon a couch, but her quick, observant gaze as we entered
the room, and the alert expression of her beautiful features, showed
that neither her wits nor her courage had been shaken by her terrible
experience. She was enveloped in a loose dressing-gown of blue and
silver, but a black sequin-covered dinner-dress was hung upon the
couch beside her.
"I have told you all that happened, Mr. Hopkins," she said, wearily;
"could you not repeat it for me? Well, if you think it necessary, I
will tell these gentlemen what occurred. Have they been in the
dining-room yet?"
"I thought they had better hear your ladyship's story first."
"I shall be glad when you can arrange matters. It is horrible to me
to think of him still lying there." She shuddered and buried her face
in her hands. As she did so the loose gown fell back from her
forearms. Holmes uttered an exclamation.
"You have other injuries, madam! What is this?" Two vivid red spots
stood out on one of the white, round limbs. She hastily covered it.
"It is nothing. It has no connection with the hideous business of
last night. If you and your friend will sit down I will tell you all
I can.
"I am the wife of Sir Eustace Brackenstall. I have been married about
a year. I suppose that it is no use my attempting to conceal that our
marriage has not been a happy one. I fear that all our neighbours
would tell you that, even if I were to attempt to deny it. Perhaps
the fault may be partly mine. I was brought up in the freer, less
conventional atmosphere of South Australia, and this English life,
with its proprieties and its primness, is not congenial to me. But
the main reason lies in the one fact which is notorious to everyone,
and that is that Sir Eustace was a confirmed drunkard. To be with
such a man for an hour is unpleasant. Can you imagine what it means
for a sensitive and high-spirited woman to be tied to him for day and
night? It is a sacrilege, a crime, a villainy to hold that such a
marriage is binding. I say that these monstrous laws of yours will
bring a curse upon the land--Heaven will not let such wickedness
endure." For an instant she sat up, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes
blazing from under the terrible mark upon her brow. Then the strong,
soothing hand of the austere maid drew her head down on to the
cushion, and the wild anger died away into passionate sobbing. At
last she continued:--
"I will tell you about last night. You are aware, perhaps, that in
this house all servants sleep in the modern wing. This central block
is made up of the dwelling-rooms, with the kitchen behind and our
bedroom above. My maid Theresa sleeps above my room. There is no one
else, and no sound could alarm those who are in the farther wing.
This must have been well known to the robbers, or they would not have
acted as they did.
"Sir Eustace retired about half-past ten. The servants had already
gone to their quarters. Only my maid was up, and she had remained in
her room at the top of the house until I needed her services. I sat
until after eleven in this room, absorbed in a book. Then I walked
round to see that all was right before I went upstairs. It was my
custom to do this myself, for, as I have explained, Sir Eustace was
not always to be trusted. I went into the kitchen, the butler's
pantry, the gun-room, the billiard-room, the drawing-room, and
finally the dining-room. As I approached the window, which is covered
with thick curtains, I suddenly felt the wind blow upon my face and
realized that it was open. I flung the curtain aside and found myself
face to face with a broad-shouldered, elderly man who had just
stepped into the room. The window is a long French one, which really
forms a door leading to the lawn. I held my bedroom candle lit in my
hand, and, by its light, behind the first man I saw two others, who
were in the act of entering. I stepped back, but the fellow was on me
in an instant. He caught me first by the wrist and then by the
throat. I opened my mouth to scream, but he struck me a savage blow
with his fist over the eye, and felled me to the ground. I must have
been unconscious for a few minutes, for when I came to myself I found
that they had torn down the bell-rope and had secured me tightly to
the oaken chair which stands at the head of the dining-room table. I
was so firmly bound that I could not move, and a handkerchief round
my mouth prevented me from uttering any sound. It was at this instant
that my unfortunate husband entered the room. He had evidently heard
some suspicious sounds, and he came prepared for such a scene as he
found. He was dressed in his shirt and trousers, with his favourite
blackthorn cudgel in his hand. He rushed at one of the burglars, but
another--it was the elderly man--stooped, picked the poker out of the
grate, and struck him a horrible blow as he passed. He fell without a
groan, and never moved again. I fainted once more, but again it could
only have been a very few minutes during which I was insensible. When
I opened my eyes I found that they had collected the silver from the
sideboard, and they had drawn a bottle of wine which stood there.
Each of them had a glass in his hand. I have already told you, have I
not, that one was elderly, with a beard, and the others young,
hairless lads. They might have been a father with his two sons. They
talked together in whispers. Then they came over and made sure that I
was still securely bound. Finally they withdrew, closing the window
after them. It was quite a quarter of an hour before I got my mouth
free. When I did so my screams brought the maid to my assistance. The
other servants were soon alarmed, and we sent for the local police,
who instantly communicated with London. That is really all that I can
tell you, gentlemen, and I trust that it will not be necessary for me
to go over so painful a story again."
"Any questions, Mr. Holmes?" asked Hopkins.
"I will not impose any further tax upon Lady Brackenstall's patience
and time," said Holmes. "Before I go into the dining-room I should
like to hear your experience." He looked at the maid.
"I saw the men before ever they came into the house," said she. "As I
sat by my bedroom window I saw three men in the moonlight down by the
lodge gate yonder, but I thought nothing of it at the time. It was
more than an hour after that I heard my mistress scream, and down I
ran, to find her, poor lamb, just as she says, and him on the floor
with his blood and brains over the room. It was enough to drive a
woman out of her wits, tied there, and her very dress spotted with
him; but she never wanted courage, did Miss Mary Fraser of Adelaide,
and Lady Brackenstall of Abbey Grange hasn't learned new ways. You've
questioned her long enough, you gentlemen, and now she is coming to
her own room, just with her old Theresa, to get the rest that she
badly needs."
With a motherly tenderness the gaunt woman put her arm round her
mistress and led her from the room.
"She has been with her all her life," said Hopkins. "Nursed her as a
baby, and came with her to England when they first left Australia
eighteen months ago. Theresa Wright is her name, and the kind of maid
you don't pick up nowadays. This way, Mr. Holmes, if you please!"
The keen interest had passed out of Holmes's expressive face, and I
knew that with the mystery all the charm of the case had departed.
There still remained an arrest to be effected, but what were these
commonplace rogues that he should soil his hands with them? An
abstruse and learned specialist who finds that he has been called in
for a case of measles would experience something of the annoyance
which I read in my friend's eyes. Yet the scene in the dining-room of
the Abbey Grange was sufficiently strange to arrest his attention and
to recall his waning interest.
It was a very large and high chamber, with carved oak ceiling, oaken
panelling, and a fine array of deer's heads and ancient weapons
around the walls. At the farther end from the door was the high
French window of which we had heard. Three smaller windows on the
right-hand side filled the apartment with cold winter sunshine. On
the left was a large, deep fireplace, with a massive, over-hanging
oak mantelpiece. Beside the fireplace was a heavy oaken chair with
arms and cross-bars at the bottom. In and out through the open
woodwork was woven a crimson cord, which was secured at each side to
the crosspiece below. In releasing the lady the cord had been slipped
off her, but the knots with which it had been secured still remained.
These details only struck our attention afterwards, for our thoughts
were entirely absorbed by the terrible object which lay upon the
tiger-skin hearthrug in front of the fire.
It was the body of a tall, well-made man, about forty years of age.
He lay upon his back, his face upturned, with his white teeth
grinning through his short black beard. His two clenched hands were
raised above his head, and a heavy blackthorn stick lay across them.
His dark, handsome, aquiline features were convulsed into a spasm of
vindictive hatred, which had set his dead face in a terribly fiendish
expression. He had evidently been in his bed when the alarm had
broken out, for he wore a foppish embroidered night-shirt, and his
bare feet projected from his trousers. His head was horribly injured,
and the whole room bore witness to the savage ferocity of the blow
which had struck him down. Beside him lay the heavy poker, bent into
a curve by the concussion. Holmes examined both it and the
indescribable wreck which it had wrought.
"He must be a powerful man, this elder Randall," he remarked.
"Yes," said Hopkins. "I have some record of the fellow, and he is a
rough customer."
"You should have no difficulty in getting him."
"Not the slightest. We have been on the look-out for him, and there
was some idea that he had got away to America. Now that we know the
gang are here I don't see how they can escape. We have the news at
every seaport already, and a reward will be offered before evening.
What beats me is how they could have done so mad a thing, knowing
that the lady could describe them, and that we could not fail to
recognise the description."
"Exactly. One would have expected that they would have silenced Lady
Brackenstall as well."
"They may not have realized," I suggested, "that she had recovered
from her faint."
"That is likely enough. If she seemed to be senseless they would not
take her life. What about this poor fellow, Hopkins? I seem to have
heard some queer stories about him."
