CHAPTER XXVI
THE TELEPHONE MESSAGE
If Pratt had only known what was going on in the old quarries atWhitcliffe, about the very time that he was riding slowly out to Barfordon his bicycle, he would not only have accelerated his pace, but wouldhave taken good care to have chosen another route: he would also havemade haste to exchange bicycle for railway train as quickly as possible,and to have got himself far away before anybody could begin looking forhim in his usual haunts, or at places wherein there was a possibility ofhis being found. But Pratt knew nothing of what Byner had done. He wasconscious of Byner's visit to the _Green Man_. He did not know whatPickard had been told by Bill Thomson. He was unaware of anything whichPickard had told to Byner. If he had known that Byner, guided byPickard, had been to the old quarries, had fixed his inquiring eye onthe shaft which was filled to its brim with water, and had got certainideas from the mere sight of it, Pratt would have hastened to puthundreds of miles between himself and Barford as quickly as possible.But all that Pratt knew was that there was a possibility ofsuspicion--which might materialize eventually, but not immediately.
On the previous evening, Pratt--had he but known it--made a greatmistake. Instead of going into Murgatroyd's shop after he had watchedByner and Prydale away from it--he should have followed those two astuteand crafty persons, and have ascertained something of their movements.Had he done so, he would certainly not have troubled to return to PeelRow, nor to remain in Barford an hour longer than was absolutelynecessary. For Pratt was sharp-witted enough when it came to a questionof putting one and two together, and if he had tracked Prydale and theunknown man who was with him to a certain house whereto they repaired assoon as they quitted Murgatroyd's shop, he would have drawn an inferencefrom the mere fact of their visit which would have thrown him into acold sweat of fear. But Pratt, after all, was only one man, one brain,one body, and could not be in two places, nor go in two ways, at thesame time. He took his own way--ignorant of his destruction.
Byner also took a way of his own. As soon as he and Prydale leftMurgatroyd's shop, they chartered the first cab they met with, andordered its driver to go to Whitcliffe Moor.
"It's the quickest thing to do--if my theory's correct," observed Byner,as they drove along, "Of course, it is all theory--mere theory! But I'vegrounds for it. The place--the time--mere lonely situation--that scrapiron lying about, which would be so useful in weighting a dead body!--Itell you, I shall be surprised if we don't find Parrawhite at the bottomof that water!"
"I shouldn't wonder," agreed Prydale. "One thing's very certain, as weshall prove before we're through with it--Pratt's put that poor devilMurgatroyd up to this passage-to-America business. And a bit clumsily,too--fancy Murgatroyd being no better posted up than to tell me thatParrawhite called on him at a certain hour that night!"
"But you've got to remember that Pratt didn't know of Parrawhite'saffairs with Pickard, nor that he was at the _Green Man_ at that hour,"rejoined Byner. "My belief is that Pratt thinks himself safe--that hefancies he's provided for all contingencies. If things turn out as Ithink they will, I believe we shall find Pratt calmly seated at his desktomorrow morning."
"Well--if things do turn out as you expect, we'll lose no time inseeking him there!" observed Prydale dryly. "We'd better arrange to getthe job done first thing."
"This Mr. Shepherd'll make no objection, I suppose?" asked Byner.
"Objection! Lor' bless you--he'll love it!" exclaimed Prydale. "It'll bea bit of welcome diversion to a man like him that's naught to do. He'llobject none, not he!"
Shepherd, a retired quarry-owner, who lived in a picturesque old stonehouse in the middle of Whitcliffe Moor, with nothing to occupy hisattention but the growing of roses and vegetables, and an occasionalglance at the local newspapers, listened to Prydale's request withgradually rising curiosity. Byner had at once seen that this call waswelcome to this bluff and hearty Yorkshireman, who, without any questionas to their business, had immediately welcomed them to his hearth andpressed liquor and cigars on them: he sized up Shepherd as a man to whomany sort of break in the placid course of retired life was a delightfulevent.
"A dead man i' that old shaft i' one o' my worked out quarries!" heexclaimed. "Ye don't mean to say so! An' how long d'yer think he mightha' been there, now, Prydale?"
"Some months, Mr. Shepherd," replied the detective.
"Why, then it's high time he were taken out," said Shepherd. "When mightyou be thinkin' o' doin' t' job, like?"
"As soon as possible," said Prydale. "Tomorrow morning, early, if that'sconvenient to you."
"I'll tell you what I'll do," observed the retired quarry-owner. "Youleave t' job to me. I'll get two or three men first thing tomorrowmorning, and we'll do it reight. You be up there by half-past eighto'clock, and we'll soon satisfy you as to whether there's owt i' t'shape of a dead man or not i' t' pit. You hev' grounds for believin' 'attheer is----what?"
"Strong grounds!" replied the detective, "and equally strong ones forbelieving the man came there by foul play, too."
"Say no more!" said Shepherd. "T' mystery shall be cleared up. Deary me!An' to think 'at I've walked past yon theer pit many a dozen timeswithin this last few o' months, and nivver dreamed 'at theer wor owt init but watter! Howivver, gentlemen, ye can put yer minds at ease--we'llinvestigate the circumstances, as the sayin' goes, before noontomorrow."
"One other matter," remarked Prydale. "We want things kept quiet. Wedon't want all the folk of the neighbourhood round about, you know."
"Leave it to me," answered Shepherd. "There'll be me, and these men, andyourselves--and a pair of grapplin' irons. We'll do it quiet andcomfortable--and we'll do it reight."
"Odd character!" remarked Byner, when he and Prydale went away.
"Useful man--for a job of that sort," said the detective laconically."Now then--are we going to let anybody else know what we're after--Mr.Eldrick or Mr. Collingwood, for instance? Do you want them, or either ofthem, to be present?"
"No!" answered Byner, after a moment's reflection. "Let us see whatresults. We can let them know, soon enough, if we've anything to tell.But--what about Pratt?"
"Keeping an eye on him--you mean?" said Prydale. "You said just now thatin your opinion we should find him at his desk."
"Just so--but that's no reason why he shouldn't be looked after tomorrowmorning," answered Byner.
"All right--I'll put a man on to shadow him, from the time he leaves hislodgings until--until we want him," said the detective. "That is--if wedo want him."
"It will be one of the biggest surprises I ever had in my life if wedon't!" asserted Byner. "I never felt more certain of anything than I doof finding Parrawhite's body in that pit!"
It was this certainty which made Byner appear extraordinarily cool andcollected, when next day, about noon, he walked into Eldrick's privateroom, where Collingwood was at that moment asking the solicitor what wasbeing done. The certainty was now established, and it seemed to Bynerthat it would have been a queer thing if he had not always had it. Heclosed the door and gave the two men an informing glance.
"Parrawhite's body has been found," he said quietly.
Eldrick started in his chair, and Collingwood looked a sharp inquiry.
"Little doubt about his having been murdered, just as I conjectured,"continued Byner. "And his murderer had pretty cleverly weighted his bodywith scrap iron, before dropping it into a pit full of water, where itmight have remained for a long time undiscovered. However--that'ssettled!"
Eldrick got out the first question.
"Pratt?"
"Prydale's after him," answered Byner. "I expect we shall hear somethingin a few minutes--if he's in town. But I confess I'm a bit doubtful andanxious now, on that score. Because, when Prydale and I got down fromWhitcliffe half an hour ago--where the body's now lying, at the _GreenMan_, awaiting the inquest--we found Murgatroyd hanging about the policestation. He'd come to make a clean breast of it--about Pratt. And itunfortunately turns out that Pratt saw
Prydale and me go to Murgatroyd'sshop last night, and afterwards went in there himself, and of coursepumped Murgatroyd dry as to why we'd been."
"Why unfortunately?" asked Collingwood.
"Because that would warn Pratt that something was afoot," said Byner."And--he may have disappeared during the night. He----"
But just then Prydale came in, shaking his head.
"I'm afraid he's off!" he announced. "I'd a man watching for him outsidehis lodgings from an early hour this morning, but he never came out, andfinally my man made an excuse and asked for him there, and then he heardthat he'd never been home last night. And his office is closed."
"What steps are you taking?" asked Byner.
"I've got men all over the place already," replied Prydale. "But--if hegot off in the night, as I'm afraid he did, we shan't find him inBarford. It's a most unlucky thing that he saw us go to Murgatroyd'slast evening! That, of course, would set him off: he'd know things werereaching a crisis."
Eldrick and Collingwood had arranged to lunch together that day, andthey presently went off, asking the detective to keep them informed ofevents. But up to half-past three o 'clock they heard no more--then, asthey were returning along the street Byner came running up to them.
"Prydale's just had a telephone message from the butler at Normandale!"he exclaimed. "Pratt is there!--and something extraordinary is going on:the butler wants the police. We're off at once--there's Prydale in amotor, waiting for me. Will you follow?"
He darted away again, and Eldrick looking round for a car, suddenlyrecognized the Mallathorpe livery.
"Great Scott!" he said. "There's Miss Mallathorpe--just driving in.Better tell her!"
A moment later, he and Collingwood had joined Nesta in her carriage, andthe horses' heads were turned in the direction towards which Byner andPrydale were already hastening.