CHAPTER XVII
UNDENIABLE FACTS
There was a moment's silence, for Polly did not reply immediately, andhe went on making impossible knots in his bit of string. Then she saidquietly--
"I think that I agree with those English people who say that an Englishjury would have condemned her.... I have no doubt that she was guilty.She may not have committed that awful deed herself. Some one in theCharlotte Square house may have been her accomplice and killed androbbed Lady Donaldson while Edith Crawford waited outside for thejewels. David Graham left his godmother at 8.30 p.m. If the accomplicewas one of the servants in the house, he or she would have had plenty oftime for any amount of villainy, and Edith Crawford could have yetcaught the 9.10 p.m. train from the Caledonian Station."
"Then who, in your opinion," he asked sarcastically, and cocking hisfunny birdlike head on one side, "tried to sell diamond earrings to Mr.Campbell, the jeweller?"
"Edith Crawford, of course," she retorted triumphantly; "he and hisclerk both recognized her."
"When did she try to sell them the earrings?"
"Ah, that is what I cannot quite make out, and there to my mind lies theonly mystery in this case. On the 25th she was certainly in London, andit is not very likely that she would go back to Edinburgh in order todispose of the jewels there, where they could most easily be traced."
"Not very likely, certainly," he assented drily.
"And," added the young girl, "on the day before she left for London,Lady Donaldson was alive."
"And pray," he said suddenly, as with comic complacency he surveyed abeautiful knot he had just twisted up between his long fingers, "whathas that fact got to do with it?"
"But it has everything to do with it!" she retorted.
"Ah, there you go," he sighed with comic emphasis. "My teachings don'tseem to have improved your powers of reasoning. You are as bad as thepolice. Lady Donaldson has been robbed and murdered, and you immediatelyargue that she was robbed and murdered by the same person."
"But--" argued Polly.
"There is no but," he said, getting more and more excited. "See howsimple it is. Edith Crawford wears the diamonds one night, then shebrings them back to Lady Donaldson's room. Remember the maid'sstatement: 'My lady said: "Have you put them back, my dear?"--a simplestatement, utterly ignored by the prosecution. But what did it mean?That Lady Donaldson could not see for herself whether Edith Crawford hadput back the jewels or not, _since she asked the question_."
"Then you argue--"
"I never argue," he interrupted excitedly; "I state undeniable facts.Edith Crawford, who wanted to steal the jewels, took them then andthere, when she had the opportunity. Why in the world should she havewaited? Lady Donaldson was in bed, and Tremlett, the maid, had gone.
"The next day--namely, the 25th--she tries to dispose of a pair ofearrings to Mr. Campbell; she fails, and decides to go to London, whereshe has a better chance. Sir James Fenwick did not think it desirable tobring forward witnesses to prove what I have since ascertained is afact, namely, that on the 27th of October, three days before her arrest,Miss Crawford crossed over to Belgium, and came back to London the nextday. In Belgium, no doubt, Lady Donaldson's diamonds, taken out of theirsettings, calmly repose at this moment, while the money derived fromtheir sale is safely deposited in a Belgian bank."
"But then, who murdered Lady Donaldson, and why?" gasped Polly.
"Cannot you guess?" he queried blandly. "Have I not placed the caseclearly enough before you? To me it seems so simple. It was a daring,brutal murder, remember. Think of one who, not being the thief himself,would, nevertheless, have the strongest of all motives to shield thethief from the consequences of her own misdeed: aye! and the powertoo--since it would be absolutely illogical, nay, impossible, that heshould be an accomplice."
"Surely----"
"Think of a curious nature, warped morally, as well as physically--doyou know how those natures feel? A thousand times more strongly than theeven, straight natures in everyday life. Then think of such a naturebrought face to face with this awful problem.
"Do you think that such a nature would hesitate a moment beforecommitting a crime to save the loved one from the consequences of thatdeed? Mind you, I don't assert for a moment that David Graham had any_intention_ of murdering Lady Donaldson. Tremlett tells him that sheseems strangely upset; he goes to her room and finds that she hasdiscovered that she has been robbed. She naturally suspects EdithCrawford, recollects the incidents of the other night, and probablyexpresses her feelings to David Graham, and threatens immediateprosecution, scandal, what you will.
"I repeat it again, I dare say he had no wish to kill her. Probably hemerely threatened to. A medical gentleman who spoke of sudden heartfailure was no doubt right. Then imagine David Graham's remorse, hishorror and his fears. The empty safe probably is the first object thatsuggested to him the grim tableau of robbery and murder, which hearranges in order to ensure his own safety.
"But remember one thing: no miscreant was seen to enter or leave thehouse surreptitiously; the murderer left no signs of entrance, and noneof exit. An armed burglar would have left some trace--_some one_ wouldhave heard _something_. Then who locked and unlocked Lady Donaldson'sdoor that night while she herself lay dead?
"Some one in the house, I tell you--some one who left no trace--some oneagainst whom there could be no suspicion--some one who killed withoutapparently the slightest premeditation, and without the slightestmotive. Think of it--I know I am right--and then tell me if I have atall enlisted your sympathies in the author of the Edinburgh Mystery."
He was gone. Polly looked again at the photo of David Graham. Did acrooked mind really dwell in that crooked body, and were there in theworld such crimes that were great enough to be deemed sublime?