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TRACKING A CRIMINAL,
on
Paul Webber, The Detective.
CHAPTER I.
ON the 27th of October, 1806, the night
mail from the north arrived In Lon
don, at six o'clock in the morning.
Very few passengers stepped from the
carriages to the platform, but amongst
those few were two who alighted from
the same carriage. At a glance it might
have been seen thafthey were ladles In
the truest sense of the word.
She who was first to leave the car
riage, however, was evidently the supe
rior of the other. Better dressed, and
certainly more beautiful ; there was that
air of fe'f-consclousness about her which
always betokens a sense of position and
standing in society.
Her companion was distinguished by
an air of self-suppression and sense of
subordination which equally could not
be mistaken.
They were very far removed cousins j
the older of the couple being Margaret
Mayter, the younger, Ellen Fother
ingay. The former of the two looked rapidly
about for some moments, and then,
with a puzzled air, she questioned her
companion with a glance. She then
went to the edge of the platform, looked
upanddown the roadway, and again
turning to her companion, she said,
" He is positively not here."
" Wait a little, Margaret, he will be
sure to come. Shall we go into the
waiting room ?"
" Wait wait I And I have not seen
him for two whole months 1 Ha!
there's a cab turned in at the gate. It is
he 1 I'm sure it is he!"
She ran forward to meet the vehicle,
then suddenly stopped, for it was as bad
as empty from )jer point of view.
"No," she said, "it is not Graham."
"Are you quite sure he received your
letter, Margaret ?"
" Why not ? I put it myself into the
post, and it must have been delivered
either yesterday morning or last night.
What is to be done ?" she added, ex
citedly. - " Take a cab, and drive home."
" But suppose he should cross us on
the road?"
"We shall see him; and if not, the
porter will tell him that we have gone,
and be will come on after us."
" You are right," said Margaret May
ter. But, nevertheless she cast a last
very slow look around her.
The cab, which had set down its pas
sengers, was being turned round as
Ellen Fotherlngay called to the driver.
But when the two ladies entered, and
were about to be driven off, Ellen heard
her cousin sigh.
" Why Margaret, what is the mat
ter?" " I I think I wait anticipating meet
ing him with too much eagerness. I
suppose I have been fancying it would
be so very kind of him if he came and
met me, and we went back together,
for in three weeks we shall be mar
ried." " But you will see him, dear Margaret,
in a quarter of an hour's time ; it will
not take us longer to reach his home."
' I seem to have a presentiment of
evil, Ellen."
" Of evlf that he is ill ? Nonsense !
It is only two days since you had a let
ter, telling you all was well."
" Still, a something does seem to weigh
upon me," Margaret replied.
It was one of those exquisite and
equally rare October mornings when,
for an hour or two, all the glories of the
summer appear to have returned. In
fact, it was one of those days which tell
us upon how little our happiness de
pendsfor Instance, a bright day, and a
bit of blue sky.
Even the less patient of the two
young ladles could not be ingensible to
the beauty of the weather, and gradu
ally, as she looked from the window of
the cab, her face cleared, and she half
forgot the disappointment she had ex
perienced in not seeing her intended
husband on the platform. Every mo
ment the cab drew nearer its destination
and every moment the thought of sur
prising her lover increasingly overcame
the vexation which she had borne with
so little patience.
" He did not get my letter," she said,
at last. " He does not expect me. How
happy he will be when I break in upon
him!"
The vehicle had now reached Drury
Lane, whence It diverged into some
curious, tortuous streets, and finally,
came out near the Strand, and stopped
before the gate of one of those curious
old squares, or inns, which are being so
rapidly swept out of London.
Margaret had leaped from the cab
almost before it stopped, and at once
ran to the porter's lodge for these
strange old inns are all guarded by a
porter, who is a kind of civilized spy
upon those who live in the place, and
upon all that goes on within its bound
aries. These inus being closed by a
gate, It Is necessary to ring the porter
up in order to enter during the night.
Margaret rang a second time before
the porter could answer ; and, upon his
appearance, she reproached him with
his sloth as she ran past, leaving Ellen
and the porter to see to the cabman and
the luggage.
She ran up the staircase, and reaching
the first floor, loudly used the knocker
on the outside of the door on the land
ing. No answer was given.
Again she knocked, but no reply was
given.
She could hear no sound coming from
the chambers.
"As I thought," she said to herself.
" He has gone to meet me, and we have
crossed each other on the road."
She turned, went down stairs, and at
once questioned the porter.
"Has Mr. Forbes gone out?" she
asked.
" Not, miss, that I know of; 1 haven't
seen him this morning."
" Perhaps you didn't open the gate.
Did he leave any message on quitting
the inn?"
" But, miss, he has not left the inn
at all."
"Then, why did he not answer my
knock?"
"Perhaps you didn't knock loud
enough. Shall I try, miss ?"
"Certainly."
The two ladles and the porter now
together ascended to the floor - occupied
by Mr. Forbes. Margaret herself knock
ed. There could be no doubt about the
loudness of the summons. But no an
swer was given.
" It's very odd," said the porter, "for
I know Mr. Forbes was expecting you,
miss."
" Ha ! then he did get my letter ? "
" Yesterday."
"He must be at the station,", said
Miss Fotheringay. " Shall I drive back
and see?'!
"Do."
A minute afterwards, Elleu had found
a phenomenon a London night-cab,
with a horse in it that was capable of
galloping.
Margaret tried to be patient, but she
refused to take a seat in the porter's
lodge. She began walking round the
enclosure made by the four lines of
houses which were the boundaries of
the inn, every moment turning her
head to look at the blind-looking win
dows of the chambers in which her
lover, soon to be her husband, resided.
Suddenly, she could endure patiently
no longer, she turned upon the porter's
lodge, called the man out, and ordered
him to break open the door of Mr.
Forbes' chambers.
" There'! a locksmith near,mlss ; shall
I go for him ? . If we break open the
door, we shall make so much noise that
the whole Inn will be woke up."
"Yes, go directly."
She waited at the gate of the inn,
intently watching in the direction taken
by the porter. She was only startled
from this fixedness of purpose by hear
ing the rattle of wheels coming towards
her. It wag not Mr. Forbes, but Ellen,
returning from the London and North
western terminus.
" Well ?" Margaret asked.
The cousin shook her head.
At this moment, the porter appeared
with the lock-smith, who evidently had
been found a-bed. He was scarcely
awake,
"I'm afraid, lock-smlth," said the
porter, "that you will flud this a trouble
some Job, for Mr. Forbes had a Chubb's
double-tumbler lock and a bolt put on
not a month since."
To the great astonishment of the por
ter, the door was opened with perfect
ease. The box of the lock gave way at
the lock-smith's second blow, and the
door flew open.
The chambers consisted of five rooms
an ante-chamber, a sitting-room, a
bed-room, a library, both opening by
different doors from the sitting-room,
and a kitchen, opening from the small
and very dark hall.
Margaret sees that the hall and the
sitting-room are in their usual order,
and that the door leading to the bed
room is half-open. Hastily she ran
over the threshold of this door, all
foolish thought of the proprieties aband
oning her.
The next moment, Ellen heard a ter
rible cry.
She ran forward. The first thing she
saw was Margaret flying insensible in
the centre of the room.
Near the bed, half upon the floor, half
against the bedstead itself, lay a man,
bathed in blood.
Before the body, and upon the leaf of
a note-book, such as you may see carried
by stock-brokers and City men for
making entries, was to be read these
words, actually written In blood :
" Margaret avenge it was"
Death had frozen the hand of the vic
tim as It began to trace the name of his
murderer.
It was left to justice to write In the
name of the assassin.
The police appeared upon the scene of
this tragedy, at once certain perlimluary
Investigations were made. Amongst
other proceedings the unhappy lady
whose husband the hapless man was so
soon to have been, put the terrible inves
tigation into the bands of a lawyer
recommended to her by the police-inspector,
and immediate means were
taken to bring the perpetrator to justice.
The criminal lawyer and the police
were not long in piecing together the
following particulars of the murdered
man's life :
Graham Forbes was born at Newark,
and was at the time of his death thirty
two years of age. He had lived in Lon
don since his twentieth year. Between
that time and his death, owing to
ability, intelligence, and exceedingly
hard work, he had not only madq a
good income, but had amassed a very
considerable sum of money.
He was upon the Stock Exchange.
Arriving in London as a clerk upon
trial in the office of a broker, it took
him very little time to obtain an insight
into the mysteries of broking, and before
he came of age be bad completed several
transactions on bis own account. By
the time he was thirty, he had mastered
his future, and was quite easy upon that
score; but this end had been achieved
as the result of unceasing industry and
activity, conjoined to a businesslike
capability not to be met with at every
street-turning in the City of London.
Graham Forbes had even found enough
tact and strength to remain a man of
the world, and, to some extent, a man
about town, even while working as hard
as any man in the City at building up a
fortune. '
His strength and health was enor
mous. He appeared to be a man incapa
ble of fatigue a long-headed man, who
knew the world In which he lived.
Now it so happened at the time of his
death that he was about to marry a very
lovely woman, whose only dowry was
little more than composed of her beauty,
added to a character beyond reproach.
Margaret and her cousin had been
away for a time In the country ; he was
to meet her upon the return of herself
and oousla ; and we know the result.
It appeared that the one old servant
kept by Graham Forbes bad left about
two days previously to Margaret's start ;
and the cousins quitting London togeth
er, it resulted that Graham Forbes was
alone in his chambers.
It was as though destiny had been at
work ; for he had refused to have the
servant replaced until Margaret's re
turn. He said he should prefer a
laundress, who would see to his rooms
dully ; and that he would breakfast and
dine out.
This life he had led for two mouths,
to the morning of the 27th of October,
when Margaret, returning to town,
found him dead.
The police came to the conclusion
almost immediately, that the crime was
the result of vengeance, and not of
theft.
What enemies had he, and why were
these his enemies? These were the
questions which the police were asked.
The conclusion finally arrived at by
the police was this : that although, ap
parently, theft had not been the motive
for the murder, still robbery might have
been the aim ; the real aim being dis
guised, that the officers might be thrown
off the true track.
Had a robbery been committed ? This
was now the first question to be decided.
CHAPTER II.
THE POLICE AT AVOItK.
After the usual formula of " From in
formation received on the 28th October,
1800, we went to the house in Taggart's
Inn," the police report went on to
state :
" Beaching the landing on the first
floor, we proceeded to the room in which
the crime was committed. The public,
and all those not belonging to thehoiiBe,
were excluded, and the outer door closed.
" We now directed our attention to
the rooms belonging to the murdered
man. Crossing the 'ante chamber, the
sitting-room, and a sort of drawing
room in not one of which we could
remark the least confusion, or any evi
dence of anything having been moved
from its ordinary place we reached a
sort of library.
"Here we found two women, both so
overwhelmed with grief, that they did
not perceive our entrance.
" One of them appeared to be the com
panion of the other. This one was
kneeling before the second, had her
arms clasped about her friend, and we
heard her murmur, ' Bear up, dear Mar
garetbear up I You must be brave
and fight against your grief, if only to
avenge him.'
"Thereupon, she who had been called
Margaret, leaped up and cried, ' Ob,
yes; I will surely avenge you, Graham..
I swear it!'
' Meanwhile, we were examining the
apartment in which we were standing,
very carefully.
"The companion, Miss Fotherlngay,
declared that nothing in this room had
been touched by her or Miss Mayter
since their return, and that it was ex
actly as they found it upon entering
about half an hour previously.
" Knowing the necessity of ascertain,
lng whether or not a robbery had been
effected after the murder, we examined
all the drawers of the escritoire.
" They were all but one locked, and
showed no signs of any attempt to force
them. The exceptional drawer was half
open, a key (one of a bunch) in the
lock, and at once we could see that the
drawer in question contained a score and
more of sovereigns.
" There were also papers in this draw,
er, which we closed and locked, retain
ing the keys until the law has decided
to whom they belong.
"Throughout the apartments we could
find no other piece of furniture which
could have served as a strong-box, or as
a receptacle for money or valuable
papers.
"As we were about to enter the bed
chamber, the young lady whom the
companion had prevailed upon so far to
keep quiet, rushed toward us, and in
sisted upon entering the room.
" We begged her not to follow us :
adding that ner presenoe would only
ioterfere with the proper execution of
our duty.
She heard us with more tranquility
and calmness than I could have expect
ed, and, without making any answer
she returned to her seat.
" This woman appears to be possessed
of great energy ; and, as a detective, I
am of opinion that, so far from imped-
lng the eourse of justice, she will help
us well and cleverly.
" On the left as we entered, we dis
covered a small rose-wood cheflbnier
which had neither been moved ortouoh
ed. A eouple of steps from this was an-easy-chair
covered with damask, and
this was spotted with blood. There were
also spots of blood upon the carpet just
before this chair. No doubt at this
point the deceased was struck, but It
could not have been a mortal blow,
though it must have brought him to the
ground, upon which he had d tagged,
himself a few paces forward, probably
with the idea of seeking help. In fact,,
the stains show that he tried to reach
the window ; and did reach it no- doubt
with the intention of calling to any on&
who might be in the enclosure.
"Beaching this said window, he
grasped a curtain with once band, and.
evidently endeavored to pull himself up
without success, however. Theo as
it is evident from the marks upon the
window, he tried with his closed hand
to break a paue of glass. He had not
sufficient strength left to accomplish,
this.
" No donbt he then comprehended
that he was dying, and that help would'
be of no avail. His desire must then
have been to leave a message of ven
geance. He must then have sought for
writing materials, when perceiving his
note-book lying on the table near the
bed, he must have dragged Win self
towards it. The traces of blood over the
floor are between the window and the
table about two and a-half yards apart
" He must have raised himself by the
legs of this table, in order to reach the
note-book in question.
"He no doubt had written by the
light of a chamber-lamp, still burning
when the investigation here leported
was made. But his sight was falling,
him, and, therefore, he thought the
pencil made no marks. It must have
been at this point that, as a last re
source, he dipped the pencil in the blood
flowing from his wonnd, and wrote the
words, ' Margaret avenge it was '
" Here his hand let go the pencil and'
note-book.
" The end bad come ; the half-raised
body fell upon the side of the bed, partly
upon the ground, and so remained when.
we found the body."
"
The evidence given at the inquest by
the medical man was that death had
taken place almost twelve hours before
he saw the body. He first examined it
about eight A. M. The murder would,
therefore, have been committed about
eight in the evening
The following Is a portion of the evi
dence of the gate-porter at Taggart's
Inn i" On the day before the murder,
about five in the evening, a gentleman
that I bad never before seen, called', and.
asked for Mr. Forbes ; and as I knew;
that Mr. Forbes hod not come Ln, I said
so. The gentleman, was a tallieh, fair
man, very well dressed, and very good
looking. He appeared as though tired.
When he heard that Mr. Forbes was nob
at home, he seemed vexed and said he
would call again."
" Did he call again V
"No, he did not."
"Are you quite sure?"
" Quite sure. I told Mr. Forbes a
gentleman had called, who had left no
name, and I described him. Mr. Forbes
said be did not require to see any one
who did not leave his name."
"Are you quite certain that thht same
person did not return later in the eve
ning?" .
" I did not see him either pass into
the inn, or pass out ; and I can hardly
see how I should miss him twice, especi
ally if he came late. We shut the gate
at nine, and then everybody who comes
in or is let out, must pass me."
" Would you remeuiber this Individ
ual if you saw him ?"
" In a moment. Of that I am quite
certain."
" Have you examined the poniard
with which the deed was committed ?"
"Yes sir; it was I who first saw it
under the chair in the room where Mr.
Forbes usually write his letters."
" Of course, this poniard had never
.been seen before by you."
" Oh, yer sir; I had seen it many a
time, for Mr. Forbes always had it on
his writing-table. He used it as a paper,
knife."
" Pray be cautious In what you are;