The Old Man in the Corner eBook

Baroness Emma Orczy
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 258 pages of information about The Old Man in the Corner.

The Old Man in the Corner eBook

Baroness Emma Orczy
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 258 pages of information about The Old Man in the Corner.

“Surely you don’t mean—­” gasped Polly.

“Point number one,” he interrupted quietly, “utterly missed by the police.  George Higgins in his deposition stated that at the most animated stage of Lavender’s conversation with Lord Arthur, and when the bookmaker’s tone of voice became loud and threatening, a voice from the top of the steps interrupted that conversation, saying:  ’Your tea is getting cold.’”

“Yes—­but—­” she argued.

“Wait a moment, for there is point number two.  That voice was a lady’s voice.  Now, I did exactly what the police should have done, but did not do.  I went to have a look from the racecourse side at those garden steps which to my mind are such important factors in the discovery of this crime.  I found only about a dozen rather low steps; anyone standing on the top must have heard every word Charles Lavender uttered the moment he raised his voice.”

“Even then—­”

“Very well, you grant that,” he said excitedly.  “Then there was the great, the all-important point which, oddly enough, the prosecution never for a moment took into consideration.  When Chipps, the footman, first told Lavender that Lord Arthur could not see him the bookmaker was terribly put out; Chipps then goes to speak to his master; a few minutes elapse, and when the footman once again tells Lavender that his lordship won’t see him, the latter says ‘Very well,’ and seems to treat the matter with complete indifference.

“Obviously, therefore, something must have happened in between to alter the bookmaker’s frame of mind.  Well!  What had happened?  Think over all the evidence, and you will see that one thing only had occurred in the interval, namely, Lady Arthur’s advent into the room.

“In order to go into the smoking-room she must have crossed the hall; she must have seen Lavender.  In that brief interval she must have realized that the man was persistent, and therefore a living danger to her husband.  Remember, women have done strange things; they are a far greater puzzle to the student of human nature than the sterner, less complex sex has ever been.  As I argued before—­as the police should have argued all along—­why did Lord Arthur deliberately accuse an innocent man of murder if not to shield the guilty one?

“Remember, Lady Arthur may have been discovered; the man, George Higgins, may have caught sight of her before she had time to make good her retreat.  His attention, as well us that of the constables, had to be diverted.  Lord Arthur acted on the blind impulse of saving his wife at any cost.”

“She may have been met by Colonel McIntosh,” argued Polly.

“Perhaps she was,” he said.  “Who knows?  The gallant colonel had to swear to his friend’s innocence.  He could do that in all conscience—­after that his duty was accomplished.  No innocent man was suffering for the guilty.  The knife which had belonged to Lord Arthur would always save George Higgins.  For a time it had pointed to the husband; fortunately never to the wife.  Poor thing, she died probably of a broken heart, but women when they love, think only of one object on earth—­the one who is beloved.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Old Man in the Corner from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.