Bat Wing

  We reentered the study to find Mrs. Camber sitting in a chair very closeto her husband. Inspector Aylesbury stood in the open doorway for amoment, and then, stepping back into the hall:

  "Sergeant Butler," he said, addressing the man who waited there.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Go out to the gate and get Edson to relieve you. I shall want you to goback to headquarters in a few minutes."

  "Very good, sir."

  I scented what was coming, and as Inspector Aylesbury reentered theroom:

  "I should like to make a statement," announced Paul Harley, quietly.

  The Inspector frowned, and lowering his chin, regarded him with littlefavour.

  "I have not invited any statement from you, Mr. Harley," said he.

  "Quite," returned Harley. "I am volunteering it. It is this: I gatherthat you are about to take an important step officially. Having in viewcertain steps which I, also, am about to take, I would ask you to deferaction, purely in your own interests, for at least twenty-four hours."

  "I hear you," said the Inspector, sarcastically.

  "Very well, Inspector. You have come newly into this case, and I assureyou that its apparent simplicity is illusive. As new facts come intoyour possession you will realize that what I say is perfectly true, andif you act now you will be acting hastily. All that I have learned I amprepared to place at your disposal. But I predict that the interferenceof Scotland Yard will be necessary before this enquiry is concluded.Therefore I suggest, since you have rejected my cooperation, that youobtain that of Detective Inspector Wessex, of the Criminal InvestigationDepartment. In short, this is no one-man job. You will do yourself harmby jumping to conclusions, and cause unnecessary trouble to perfectlyinnocent people."

  "Is your statement concluded?" asked the Inspector.

  "For the moment I have nothing to add."

  "Oh, I see. Very good. Then we can now get to business. Always with yourpermission, Mr. Harley."

  He took his stand before the fireplace, very erect, and invested withhis most official manner. Mrs. Camber watched him in a way that waspathetic. Camber seemed to be quite composed, although his face wasunusually pale.

  "Now, Mr. Camber," said the Inspector, "I find your answers to thequestions which I have put to you very unsatisfactory."

  "I am sorry," said Colin Camber, quietly.

  "One moment, Inspector," interrupted Paul Harley, "you have not warnedMr. Camber."

  Thereupon the long-repressed wrath of Inspector Aylesbury burst forth.

  "Then I will warn _you_, sir!" he shouted. "One more word and you leavethis house."

  "Yet I am going to venture on one more word," continued Harley,unperturbed. He turned to Colin Camber. "I happen to be a member of theBar, Mr. Camber," he said, "although I rarely accept a brief. Have Iyour authority to act for you?"

  "I am grateful, Mr. Harley, and I leave this unpleasant affair in yourhands with every confidence."

  Camber stood up, bowing formally.

  The expression upon the inflamed face of Inspector Aylesbury was reallyindescribable, and recognizing his mental limitations, I was almosttempted to feel sorry for him. However, he did not lack self-confidence,and:

  "I suppose you have scored, Mr. Harley," he said, a certain hoarsenessperceptible in his voice, "but I know my duty and I am not afraid toperform it. Now, Mr. Camber, did you, or did you not, at about twelveo'clock last night----"

  "Warn the accused," murmured Harley.

  Inspector Aylesbury uttered a choking sound, but:

  "I have to warn you," he said, "that your answers may be used asevidence. I will repeat: Did you, or did you not, at about twelveo'clock last night, shoot, with intent to murder, Colonel JuanMenendez?"

  Ysola Camber leapt up, clutching at her husband's arm as if to hold himback.

  "I did not," he replied, quietly.

  "Nevertheless," continued the Inspector, looking aggressively at PaulHarley whilst he spoke, "I am going to detain you pending furtherenquiries."

  Colin Camber inclined his head.

  "Very well," he said; "you only do your duty."

  The little fingers clutching his sleeve slowly relaxed, and Mrs. Camber,uttering a long sigh, sank in a swoon at his feet.

  "Ysola! Ysola!" he muttered. Stooping he raised the child-like figure."If you will kindly open the door, Mr. Knox," he said, "I will carry mywife to her room."

  I sprang to the door and held it widely open.

  Colin Camber, deadly pale, but holding his head very erect, walked inthe direction of the hallway with his pathetic burden. Mis-reading thepurpose written upon the stern white face, Inspector Aylesbury steppedforward.

  "Let someone else attend to Mrs. Camber," he cried, sharply. "I wish youto remain here."

  His detaining hand was already upon Camber's shoulder when Harley's armshot out like a barrier across the Inspector's chest, and Colin Camberproceeded on his way. Momentarily, he glanced aside, and I saw that hiseyes were unnaturally bright.

  "Thank you, Mr. Harley," he said, and carried his wife from the room.

  Harley dropped his arm, and crossing, stood staring out of the window.Inspector Aylesbury ran heavily to the door.

  "Sergeant!" he called, "Sergeant! keep that man in sight. He must returnhere immediately."

  I heard the sound of heavy footsteps following Camber's up the stairs,then Inspector Aylesbury turned, a bulky figure in the open doorway,and:

  "Now, Mr. Harley," said he, entering and reclosing the door, "you are abarrister, I understand. Very well, then, I suppose you are aware thatyou have resisted and obstructed an officer of the law in the executionof his duty."

  Paul Harley spun round upon his heel.

  "Is that a charge," he inquired, "or merely a warning?"

  The two glared at one another for a moment, then:

  "From now onward," continued the Inspector, "I am going to have no moretrouble with you, Mr. Harley. In the first place, I'll have you lookedup in the Law List; in the second place, I shall ask you to stick toyour proper duties, and leave me to look after mine."

  "I have endeavoured from the outset," replied Harley, his good humourquite restored, "to assist you in every way in my power. You havedeclined all my offers, and finally, upon the most flimsy evidence, youhave detained a perfectly innocent man."

  "Oh, I see. A perfectly innocent man, eh?"

  "Perfectly innocent, Inspector. There are so many points that you haveoverlooked. For instance, do you seriously suppose that Mr. Camber hadbeen waiting up here night after night on the off-chance that ColonelMenendez would appear in the grounds of Cray's Folly?"

  "No, I don't. I have got that worked out."

  "Indeed? You interest me."

  "Mr. Camber has an accomplice at Cray's Folly."

  "What?" exclaimed Harley, and into his keen grey eyes crept a look ofreal interest.

  "He has an accomplice," repeated the Inspector. "A certain witness wasstrangely reluctant to mention Mr. Camber's name. It was only after verykeen examination that I got it at last. Now, Colonel Menendez had notretired last night, neither had a certain other party. That otherparty, sir, knows why Colonel Menendez was wandering about the garden atmidnight."

  At first, I think, this astonishing innuendo did not fully penetrateto my mind, but when it did so, it seemed to galvanize me. Springing upfrom the chair in which I had been seated:

  "You preposterous fool!" I exclaimed, hotly.

  It was the last straw. Inspector Aylesbury strode to the door andthrowing it open once more, turned to me:

  "Be good enough to leave the house, Mr. Knox," he said. "I am about tohave it officially searched, and I will have no strangers present."

  I think I could have strangled him with pleasure, but even in my rageI was not foolhardy enough to lay myself open to that of which theInspector was quite capable at this moment.

  Without another word I walked out of the study, took my hat and stick,and opening the front door, quitted the Guest House, from w
hich I hadthus a second time been dismissed ignominiously.

  Appreciation of this fact, which came to me as I stepped into the porch,awakened my sense of humour--a gift truly divine which has saved manya man from desperation or worse. I felt like a schoolboy who had beenturned out of a class-room, and I was glad that I could laugh at myself.

  A constable was standing in the porch, and he looked at me suspiciously.No doubt he perceived something very sardonic in my merriment.

  I walked out of the gate, before which a car was standing, and as Ipaused to light a cigarette I heard the door of the Guest House open andclose. I glanced back, and there was Paul Harley coming to join me.

  "Now, Knox," he said, briskly, "we have got our hands full."

  "My dear Harley, I am both angry and bewildered. Too angry and toobewildered to think clearly."

  "I can quite understand it. I should become homicidal if I were forcedto submit for long to the company of Inspector Aylesbury. Of course, Ihad anticipated the arrest of Colin Camber, and I fear there is worse tocome."

  "What do you mean, Harley?"

  "I mean that failing the apprehension of the real murderer, I cannotsee, at the moment, upon what the case for the defence is to rest."

  "But surely you demonstrated out there in the garden that he could notpossibly have fired the shot?"

  "Words, Knox, words. I could pick a dozen loopholes in my own argument.I had only hoped to defer the inevitable. I tell you, there is worse tocome. Two things we must do at once."

  "What are they?"

  "We must persuade the man on duty to allow us to examine the Tudorgarden, and we must see the Chief Constable, whoever he may be, andprevail upon him to requisition the assistance of Scotland Yard.With Wessex in charge of the case I might have a chance. Whilst thisdisastrous man Aylesbury holds the keys there is none."

  "You heard what he said about Miss Beverley?"

  We were now walking rapidly along the high road, and Harley nodded.

  "I did," he said. "I had expected it. He was inspired with thisbrilliant idea last night, and his ideas are too few to be lightlyscrapped. If the Chief Constable is anything like the Inspector, what weare going to do heaven only knows."

  "I take it, Harley, that you are convinced of Colin Camber's innocence?"

  Harley did not answer for a moment, whereupon I glanced at himanxiously, then:

  "Colin Camber," he replied, "is of so peculiar a type that I couldnot presume to say of what he is capable or is not capable. Themost significant point in his favour is this: He is a man of unusualintellect. The planning of this cunning crime to such a man would havebeen child's play--child's play, Knox. But is it possible to believethat his genius would have failed him upon the most essential detail ofall, namely, an alibi?"

  "It is not."

  "Of course it is not. Which, continuing to regard Camber as an assassin,reduces us to the theory that the crime was committed in a momentof passion. This I maintain to be also impossible. It was no deed ofimpulse."

  "I agree with you."

  "Now, I believe that the enquiry is going to turn upon a very delicatepoint. If I am wrong in this, then perhaps I am wrong in my wholeconception of the case. But have you considered the mass of evidenceagainst Colin Camber?"

  "I have, Harley," I replied, sadly, "I have."

  "Think of all that we know, and which the Inspector does not know. Everysingle datum points in the same direction. No prosecution could ask fora more perfect case. Upon this fact I pin my hopes. Where an Aylesburyrushes in I fear to tread. The analogy with an angel was accidental,Knox!" he added, smilingly. "In other words, it is all too obvious. YetI have failed once, Knox, failed disastrously, and it may be that in myanxiety to justify myself I am seeking for subtlety where no subtletyexists."

  CHAPTER XXV

  AYLESBURY'S THEORY