The Riddle of the Night

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  THE MOUSETRAP

  Cleek covered the distance between the wall angle and the door of theGrange in a fraction over a minute, and he had neither heard any one norseen any one on the way. He went up the steps two at a time, and,swinging into the hallway, made hot foot for the dining-room. An inwardpush on the door and all that lay beyond it was in view.

  The lights were still burning, the decanter and the glasses still _enevidence_, and, what was still more to the point, there lay Mr. HarryRaynor with his arms sprawled out over the tablecloth and his headbetween them, snoring away in a semi-drunken stupor, with his mouth wideopen and his flushed face a little less attractive in slumber than itwas in wakefulness.

  Not he, then!

  Cleek dashed out of the room and flew upstairs to Lord St. Ulmer's room.No time for craft and cunning this. At whatever risk, at whatever cost,he must assure himself of where _that_ man was at this particularmoment; and, even if he had to break down the door to get in---- Thepossibility ceased to exist while it was yet taking shape in his mind.

  For he had reached the second landing, had come within three feet ofLord St. Ulmer's room, when he heard a voice from within it say, "Thenif there is nothing more, your lordship, allow me to thank your lordshipand to say good-night"--and was in time to see the door open andJohnston, the butler, come out. More than that, to look past him and seethe figure of a man lying in bed with his back to the door, his face tothe wall, and one pajama-clad arm lying outside the bedclothing.

  Not St. Ulmer either, eh? Then who the dickens----He turned and made abolt for the staircase again.

  "Anything I can get you, Mr. Barch?" inquired Johnston. "I've justreturned from town, sir, so if there's anything Hamer has neglected todo in my absence----"

  "No, thanks, don't want anything!" flung back Cleek, not waiting for himto finish; and then cut downstairs again in such hot haste that his feetbeat an audible tattoo upon the padded steps and gave such evidence ofexcitement that he was not at all surprised when the key of the libraryclick-clacked sharply, the door opened, and General Raynor appeared.

  "What's this? What's the meaning of all this confounded hubbub when Iexpressly said"--he began--and then, looking up and seeing Cleek,stopped short and changed his tone. "Oh, I beg your pardon, Mr. Barch; Ididn't know it was you! Is there anything wrong?"

  "No, General," replied Cleek. "Sorry if I disturbed you. Just lookingfor----" Then he, too, stopped short and changed his tone. For of asudden his ear had caught the shrilling note of a distant policewhistle, and excitement swayed him.

  "Dollops, by Jupiter!" he cried unthinkingly. "Got him! Got him, thelittle brick!" and without another word he faced about, ran down thehall, and pelted off through the grounds in the direction of the ruin.

  And all the time the police whistle was shrilling, and Dollops's voicewas sounding, and the darkness was full of scuffling sounds. For thenoise of the whistle had disturbed the servants, and Cleek was hard putto it to get to the scene of the uproar before them. He did, however;but they were close upon his heels and as excited as he when, uponnearing the ruin, they came upon two struggling figures linked togetherand careering about like a couple of fighting tomcats.

  "Here yer are, gov'ner; ketched him foul, the rotter," sang out Dollopsas his master came scudding up with all that troop of servants poundingalong in his wake. "Look! See!"

  Then an electric torch clicked, and lo, there he was, with one end of apair of handcuffs snapped on his own wrist and the other locked fastupon that of a distinguished-looking man in a spring overcoat andevening clothes.

  A stranger to Cleek this man, but not to the servants of WutheringGrange; and it came as a shock when he heard them speak his name.

  It was Sir Philip Clavering.

  The man's identity had no sooner been made known than he broke forthwith a storm of indignant protest.

  "What is the meaning of this outrage, and who is this young person?" hedemanded with heat. "As some of you have good enough eyes to recognizeme, perhaps you will have good enough wits to go for your master and letme get to the bottom of this extraordinary proceeding as soon aspossible. I should like to know what on earth this means. Ah, Raynor, isthat you?" he added, as he caught sight of the General forcing his wayto the front. "Glad you've put in an appearance. Perhaps you can throwsome light upon this affair. Who's this fellow?" twitching his headtoward Dollops. "What's he doing here? And what is the meaning of thisastonishing business, if you please?"

  "Good heavens above, how do you expect I am going to know? Never saw himin all my life," exclaimed the General in bewilderment. "Look here,young man, what's the meaning of this? Who are you? What are you doingin this place? Speak up.

  "Name's Dollops," replied that youth serenely. "Business: Scotland Yard.Lay: Doin' wot I'm told by my gov'ner. Boss: Mr. 'Amilton Cleek,_Es_-quire. All other questions I refers to him."

  Cleek! The name produced universal excitement. There was not one personpresent that had not, at one time or another, heard it and did notrecollect of what it was the synonym. It stood for the Law and thecoming of the Law! And last night a man had been done to death within agunshot of this house.

  "It is too absurd, too absurd!" said Sir Philip, after a moment,speaking with a little shaky laugh and looking Dollops up and down withhalf-contemptuous interest. "I hope, Raynor, that you----Good heavensabove! What asinine mistakes the law does sometimes make. And it is allso easily explained. Superintendent Narkom of the Yard will speak for meif it is necessary. There can, by no shadow of possibility, be anythingto connect me with that abominable case."

  It was here that Cleek chose to take part in the affair, and with awarning glance at Ailsa, who had come up and joined the gathering,stepped forward and addressed Sir Philip.

  "My dear Sir Philip Clavering, allow me to introduce myself," he saidsuavely, serene in the confidence that Dollops, hearing, would take thecue and act accordingly. "My name is Barch; I am at present a guest ofthe General's, and I am taking this liberty because I, too, happen to bea friend of Mr. Narkom's. I have heard him speak of you time and again,and always with the warmest interest. Perhaps, then, if we question thisyoung man----" He turned to Dollops, and Dollops looked at him andnever turned a hair! "Boy, what's all this thing about? How came you inthis place, and for what reason?"

  "Come in by the garden door, sir, 'arf an hour or so back. Told off bymy gov'ner to lie low and wait for somebody who might come a-sneakin'about, meanin' to break into the house, I suppose, and with his eye onthe plate."

  "I see! Well, better take my advice, my lad, and unlock those handcuffs,and set this gentleman at liberty before they do come, or you're likelyto have a sharp talking to from Superintendent Narkom. By the way, whatinduced you to snap them on him in the first place? You surely do notexpect us to believe that a gentleman of Sir Philip Clavering's standingwas acting suspiciously? What was he doing, if you please, that youshould have gone to such a length?"

  "Sneakin' along and feelin' about the bushes like he was huntin' forsomethin'," said Dollops as he unlocked the handcuffs and put them inhis pocket.

  "He is quite right in that, Mr. Barch. I _was_ looking for something,"said Sir Philip, wiping his wrists with his handkerchief, as though toremove something of the infection with which he felt he had come intocontact. "As a matter of fact, I was looking for my way. I had come intothe grounds from a point where I had never before entered them, and Iwas endeavouring to find a path which would lead me to the house. As itwas as black as a pocket, nothing was left me but _to_ feel my way. Igot hopelessly muddled up, and was just telling myself that I would havedone better to make my call in orthodox fashion and by the regularentrance, when, the first thing I knew, this enterprising young manjumped out of the dark and pounced on me like a monkey. You see, it wasthis way, Raynor," glancing up at the General, who was looking at himfixedly, and with a curious ridge between his brows, as if, for somereason, he only half believed him, though for years they had been trie
dand trusted friends; "I was in such a dickens of a hurry to see you thatwhen I came off the Common and found that wall door open----"

  "Open? What wall door open?" interposed the General agitatedly.

  "The one at the angle of the wall, where your boundary flanks the wasteland between here and the right-of-way across the fields."

  "And you found that door open? _Open?_ Why, man alive, it has beenlocked and screwed up for years."

  "Has it, indeed? Well, it was open to-night, then. As I was saying, whenI found that open, I thought that, possibly, it might be a short cut tothe house, so I dashed in and got into this abominable fix."

  "But why did you wish to take a short cut to the house, Clavering? Wasthere any reason for such a thing?"

  "None but that I was anxious; that I am anxious still, when it comes tothat. About my boy, Geoff, you know."

  "About Geoff?"

  "Yes, you know how foolish Marise and I are over him. He left to comeover here early this afternoon, and said he would not be long, but hedid not return even for dinner. Of course Marise was disappointed, forshe had said that after so much gloom and depression we must do all thatwe could to brighten him up and to appear merry, and even went to thelength of getting out a pink silk frock which he had always admired,when she dressed for dinner to-night. She was distressed when he didn'tcome, and anxiety brought on a splitting headache, so bad, in fact, thatshe went to her room to lie down and rest. Later, Celine came down totell me she had taken a sleeping draught and there was every likelihoodof her sleeping until morning. I was glad when I heard that, for I knewhow she would worry if she were awake and the boy did not return at areasonable hour; and when it crept along to be nine o'clock and after, Idon't mind confessing that I began, myself, to worry."

  "Why?" said Cleek, dropping in an unexpected query.

  "My dear Mr. Barch, you wouldn't ask that if you knew what a bond ofaffection exists between my son and me," Sir Philip replied. And Cleekheard, or fancied that he heard, the General give a sort of sigh, as ifhe were contrasting this man's heir with his own. "Besides, after thatmysterious and abominable affair last night--after a man had beenmurdered in this identical neighbourhood, to have my boy out andalone---- Oh, well, you can understand. I got a bit nervous--a bitdotty, if you like. I imagined all sorts of things, and when it got tobe half-past nine I set out to walk across the Common to meet him. Ididn't, however, so I suppose he is still here; and in the enjoyment ofLady Katharine's society and the hope that has so unexpectedly returnedto them both, has forgotten all about the time and the probable worryingof his silly old dad. That's why I was so anxious to get to the house asquickly as possible, Raynor, and why I was foolish enough to take what Ifancied might be a short cut. I wanted to be certain that the boy isstill here; I wanted to walk back with him when he goes home. No harmcan possibly come to him then."

  Not once during all this had General Raynor's eyes left the man's face,nor had the faint pallor and the curiously tense look departed from hisown. He stood looking at Sir Philip in intense and unbroken silence, hislips tightly set, a worried look in his fixed eyes, as if he were tryingto believe this thing and found it difficult to do so. Now, however, heturned to the assembled servants, ordered them back to the house, madeone or two uneasy turns up and down for a distance of three or fouryards, then halted suddenly and looked into Sir Philip's face again.

  "Clavering," he said in his abrupt, direct manner, going straight to thepoint, as was his custom. "Clavering, are you sure that you are tellingthe truth about this? Are you sure? Will you swear, will you give meyour word of honour, that it was to seek your boy, that and that alone,which brought you to this place to-night?"

  "Raynor! By the Lord Harry, sir----"

  "No, don't fly into a passion. Anger is no answer, and an answer is whatI want. A man of honour responds promptly to an appeal to that honour;and I am asking you on yours if you are telling the truth?"

  "On my word of honour, then, I am!" said Sir Philip indignantly.

  "And you will swear by it that you came only to meet your son? That youhad no other purpose in coming whatsoever?"

  "Yes, decidedly I will swear it. Are you taking leave of your senses,Raynor? What other reason _could_ I have?"

  An expression of intense relief drove that other and darker look fromthe General's face and eyes.

  "I don't know," he said, fetching a deep sigh; "but I am glad to haveyour word for it, glad to say that I accept it. Still, why should I notask? Why should I not question everything, any statement, in the face ofto-night?"

  "I don't know what you are driving at, I am sure."

  "Don't you? Then let me tell you: your boy is not here. He left thisafternoon; came and stayed but a little time, and left so early thatthere has been time and to spare for him to get back to Clavering Closea dozen times over. On the top of that, you tell me that a door in mygarden wall, a door that has been locked up, and screwed up, and evenrusted up, for years was found standing open. And on top of that again,an emissary of the police, of Scotland Yard, of that man Cleek, is herein these grounds. Who opened that door? What brings the police toWuthering Grange? That is what mystifies me; that is what I want toknow. What brings the police here, of all places in England? Do youknow, Clavering? Do you know, Miss Lorne? Do you know, Mr. Barch?"

  "Not the ghost of an idea, I assure you, General," said Cleek serenely."Never knew the beggars were here until this young person declaredhimself. But, yes, by Jove! We'll have 'em here in full force presently,I'm afraid, if those sounds go for anything. Coming in answer to thatblessed whistle, I'll lay my life. Here, boy!"--this to Dollops--"nipoff as quickly as you can, and head them off. Tell 'em it's a mistake;tell 'em you didn't mean to blow that whistle for assistance. Movesharp; we don't want that lot in here, or---- Hullo! I say, what's thematter, Sir Philip? A bad turn, is it? Upon my soul, you look as whiteas a sheet!"

  It was no exaggeration. The moon, coming suddenly out from behind theclouds at that moment, showed him leaning heavily against a tree andlooking pale as a dead man.