CHAPTER XIV

A SURPRISING DISCOVERY

The next day Ferris was brought up before the magistrate on the charge of murdering Miss Gilmar. He looked pale and ill, and heard the evidence of his pawning of the necklace in absolute silence. When he was asked to defend himself he refused to utter a word; he declined even to engage a solicitor; so in the face of this conduct there was nothing for it but to commit him for trial. Ferris asked for bail, but his request being refused, he was taken back to prison, still silent. He might have been a stone image for all the information the law got out of him; and every one marvelled at his obstinacy, so dangerous to himself, so inexplicable to others.

Gebb could not understand why he acted in this way, and risked his neck in so obstinate a manner. Certainly Ferris declared himself to be innocent; but he refused to prove the truth of his words, and preserved an impenetrable silence which at once perplexed and provoked the detective. The only reason he could conjecture for the mulish behaviour of the artist was that the evidence against him was too strong for disproval, and that he knew this to be the case.

"Still he might make an effort to save himself," thought Gebb, as he sat meditating in his office, "if only to tell a lie; although I don't quite see what he could say. Mrs. Presk declared that Miss Gilmar wore her jewels on that evening, and when we found the body those jewels were gone. The principal jewel--which is a necklace--was pawned the day after the murder by Arthur Ferris, who knows Miss Wedderburn, who knew Miss Gilmar; and he refuses to state how the necklace came into his possession. If he murdered the woman his possession of the diamonds is easily accounted for: if he is innocent he must have obtained the necklace from the assassin. Therefore, if not guilty himself, he must know who is: that is plain logic."

Logic or not, the result of the argument was very unsatisfactory, and Gebb, in his own mind, was unable to decide either for or against Ferris. He had that morning informed Prain by letter about the artist's committal for trial, and asked him to call at the prison to discover if possible the reason for the strange conduct of Ferris. Also, he requested Prain to call at his office, and tell him the result of the interview. So when his meditations were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door, he quite expected to see the little solicitor enter. In place of Prain, however, he beheld the burly form of John Alder, who appeared to be different from his usual genial self.

"You are no doubt surprised to see me here, Mr. Gebb," he said, when the first greetings had passed, "but I am greatly disturbed about Ferris. He is a friend of mine, you know."

Gebb did not know about the friendship, but he was well aware that Ferris was Alder's favoured rival with Edith Wedderburn, so wondered at the tender-heartedness of the man who was distressed over the removal of an obstacle to his wooing.

"Why are you disturbed?" asked Gebb, rather sceptically. "What makes you worry over Ferris?"

"Because I am sure he is innocent of this murder," replied Alder. "Oh, I heard all about his arrest and committal for trial from Prain, who has gone round to see him. So I thought I would come and tell you that I am convinced of his innocence."

"But he pawned the necklace, Mr. Alder; he admits that he did."

"Then he must have obtained the necklace from some one else."

"That may be, sir," said Gebb, quietly; "but if he did he refuses to say as much. And whosoever gave him the necklace killed Miss Gilmar."

"What defence does he make?" asked Alder, looking puzzled.

"None. He asserts his innocence, but refuses to explain how he became possessed of the necklace. If he can't explain, or won't explain, those diamonds will hang him."

"In what way? I don't quite see how you arrive at that point."

"Miss Gilmar wore the necklace on the night she was killed," explained the detective; "it was gone when we found the body; so by the strongest of circumstantial evidence the assassin must have taken it."

"All this may be true, Mr. Gebb, but it does not prove that poor Ferris is guilty."

"I think it does," replied Gebb, coolly, "seeing that he pawned the necklace in question. If he isn't the principal, he is an accessory before the fact."

"Won't he confess how he became possessed of the diamonds?"

"No, not to me. He refuses to say a word in his own defence."

"Then I tell you what," said Alder, gravely, "this quixotic young man is defending another person; he is shielding the assassin."

"If he is, that shows him to be an accessory either before or after the fact," repeated Gebb. "But who is the person you think he is shielding?"

"Dean! I believe the man killed my cousin."

"Does Mr. Ferris know Dean?" asked Gebb, looking up sharply.

"No. Nor did he know Miss Gilmar, so far as my knowledge goes," said Alder, with a nod. "Ferris has been a friend of mine for many years, and although for certain reasons we are not very intimate, I am sure he is not guilty of this crime."

"If Ferris did not know Dean, or does not know him, I don't very well see how he can be shielding him!" cried Gebb, irritably. "If you will excuse me saying so, Mr. Alder, I think you are talking sheer nonsense."

"I am sorry you think so," said Alder, stiffly. "Of course I only state that Ferris is not acquainted with Dean, so far as I am aware; but he may know him for all that."

"Why?" asked Gebb, pertinently.

"Because I am certain that Dean is guilty."

"Admitting that he is--which I don't on the strength of the romantic vow--how did Ferris become possessed of the necklace?"

"I don't know. Only Ferris can explain that."

"Well, then, Mr. Alder, he won't explain. So on the face of it he is guilty, and Dean isn't."

"I tell you he is innocent!" said Alder, angrily, "and my friend Mr. Basson can prove it."

"Basson--Clement Basson, the barrister?" said Gebb, with a stare. "Why, what on earth has he got to do with it?"

"He saw Ferris on the night of the murder!"

"Saw him! Where?"

"At Grangebury! In the evening."

"And Miss Gilmar was murdered at Grangebury," said the detective. "Why, that looks as though Ferris was guilty. Your evidence rather condemns than exonerates him."

"Not at all," rejoined Alder, tartly. "I read the evidence of the murder in the daily papers, although I did not know at the time that Miss Ligram was my cousin, Ellen Gilmar."

"Well. What of that?" inquired Gebb, rather puzzled by the irrelevancy of this remark.

"This much. Mrs. Presk and her servant were at a lecture on Dickens in the Grangebury Town Hall."

"I know that."

"Well, Mr. Gebb, that lecture was given by Basson!"

"By Clement Basson, the barrister, who defended Dean twenty years ago?"

"The same! You must know that Basson is a friend of mine," continued Alder, conversationally, "and a barrister, like myself. He is by no means well off, as he is fonder of play than of work. I suggested to him that he should write and deliver a few lectures in order to make money, for he has a fine voice and is an excellent orator. He adopted my suggestion and wrote a lecture on Dickens; but being nervous, he wished to make an experiment in the suburbs, before attempting to interest a London audience. I suggested that he should deliver it in the Grangebury Town Hall, as I know many people in that suburb. He consented, and delivered the lecture on the twenty-fourth of July, that is, on the very night my cousin was murdered."

"And Mrs. Presk attended the lecture with her servant," reflected Gebb. "Did you know that Miss Gilmar was in Grangebury?"

"I! No! She took lodgings in Paradise Row under the name of Ligram, you know," said Alder. "I had not set eyes on her for years--in fact, not since she left Kirkstone Hall. Out of terror lest she should be killed by Dean, she kept her address secret from all, although I believe she occasionally wrote to Miss Wedderburn on business."

"I know," replied Gebb, with a nod. "But Miss Wedderburn had not heard from your cousin since six months before the murder; so she was not aware of Miss Ligram's--or rather Miss Gilmar's--presence in Grangebury. But what has the lecture to do with Ferris and his innocence?"

"I'm coming to that," said Alder, quietly. "As I had suggested the lecture to Basson, I wished him to have a large audience, so I asked my friends in Grangebury to attend; also I invited some London acquaintances, amongst them Ferris."

"Did Ferris go to the lecture?"

"Yes. I saw him myself at the door, when I spoke a few words to him. He sat in a front row, and Basson--who knows him--told me that he stayed almost to the end of the lecture."

"Oh," said Gebb, meaningly. "Almost to the end!"

"Well, at all events, he stayed until ten o'clock," replied Alder, rather nettled "And as my cousin was killed about that time, Ferris could not have murdered her."

"No! Certainly not So far as I can see, Ferris can prove an alibi. If so, why does he not defend himself in that way?"

Alder shrugged his shoulders. "I can't say; unless he is shielding some one. I suggest Dean, as I really believe that Dean is guilty; but then--so far as I know--Ferris is not acquainted with Dean. Nor is anybody, for the man has not been heard of since he escaped from prison. But you see, Mr. Gebb, that if my cousin was murdered at ten o'clock--and the medical evidence says she was--Ferris, who was in the Grangebury Town Hall at that hour, cannot be guilty."

"I admit that! I shall look into the matter," said Gebb, "and let me tell you, Mr. Alder, that I think very well of you for coming forward with this evidence, as I know that Mr. Ferris is your rival."

"With Miss Wedderburn," said Alder, colouring. "True enough; but for all that I don't want him to be hanged when I know that he is innocent. If Miss Wedderburn marries Ferris I'll just have to put up with it, that's all."

Gebb was about to express further admiration of Alder's conduct when the door opened unexpectedly, and Prain came hurriedly into the room. The little man looked worried, and with a nod to his brother lawyer, he threw himself into a chair near the detective's desk.

"Well, Gebb," he said, in a vexed tone, "I have been to see that young ass, and I can't induce him to speak."

"There will be no need for it," said Gebb, quietly; "I know now that he is innocent, Mr. Prain."

"How is that?" asked the solicitor, in amazement. Whereat Gebb, with the assistance of Alder, told him of the presence of Ferris in the Town Hall at the hour the murder was committed. Prain was more amazed than ever. "Great Heavens!" he said; "if the man is innocent, and can prove it, as you say, why doesn't he speak out?"

"Because he is screening some one, I think," said Gebb.

"I know he is," said Alder; "and I believe that the some one is Dean."

"Why?" asked Prain, with a sharp look.

"I believe that Dean committed the crime, Mr. Prain."

"Yes, but you also believe that Ferris does not know Dean," cried Gebb, crossly; "so why should he shield him?"

"That is a paradox," said Alder, smiling.

Prain looked up with a grave expression on his face. "It is a paradox which I can explain," he said shortly. "Ferris does know Dean."

"He does know Dean!" cried both his hearers in amazement.

"Yes! I may as well tell you both, that Arthur Ferris is the son of Marmaduke Dean."