"i am, as you may all know, a writer of stories which depend fortheir success upon the creation and unravelment of criminologicalmysteries. the chief commissioner has been good enough to tellyou that my stories were something more than a mere seeking aftersensation, and that i endeavoured in the course of thosenarratives to propound obscure but possible situations, and, withthe ingenuity that i could command, to offer to those problems asolution acceptable, not only to the general reader, but to thepolice expert.
"although i did not regard my earlier work with any greatseriousness and indeed only sought after exciting situations andincidents, i can see now, looking back, that underneath the workwhich seemed at the time purposeless, there was something verymuch like a scheme of studies.
"you must forgive this egotism in me because it is necessary thati should make this explanation and you, who are in the main policeofficers of considerable experience and discernment, shouldappreciate the fact that as i was able to get inside the minds ofthe fictitious criminals i portrayed, so am i now able to followthe mind of the man who committed this murder, or if not to followhis mind, to recreate the psychology of the slayer of remingtonkara.
"in the possession of most of you are the vital facts concerningthis man. you know the type of man he was, you have instances ofhis terrible ruthlessness, you know that he was a blot upon god'searth, a vicious wicked ego, seeking the gratification of thatstrange blood-lust and pain-lust, which is to be found in so fewcriminals."john lexman went on to describe the killing of vassalaro.
"i know now how that occurred," he said. "i had received on theprevious christmas eve amongst other presents, a pistol from anunknown admirer. that unknown admirer was kara, who had plannedthis murder some three months ahead. he it was, who sent me thebrowning, knowing as he did that i had never used such a weaponand that therefore i would be chary about using it. i might haveput the pistol away in a cupboard out of reach and the whole ofhis carefully thought out plan would have miscarried.
"but kara was systematic in all things. three weeks after ireceived the weapon, a clumsy attempt was made to break into myhouse in the middle of the night. it struck me at the time it wasclumsy, because the burglar made a tremendous amount of noise anddisappeared soon after he began his attempt, doing no more damagethan to break a window in my dining-room. naturally my mind wentto the possibility of a further attempt of this kind, as my housestood on the outskirts of the village, and it was only naturalthat i should take the pistol from one of my boxes and put itsomewhere handy. to make doubly sure, kara came down the next dayand heard the full story of the outrage.
"he did not speak of pistols, but i remember now, though i did notremember at the time, that i mentioned the fact that i had a handyweapon. a fortnight later a second attempt was made to enter thehouse. i say an attempt, but again i do not believe that theintention was at all serious. the outrage was designed to keepthat pistol of mine in a get-at-able place.
"and again kara came down to see us on the day following theburglary, and again i must have told him, though i have nodistinct recollection of the fact, of what had happened theprevious night. it would have been unnatural if i had notmentioned the fact, as it was a matter which had formed a subjectof discussion between myself, my wife and the servants.
"then came the threatening letter, with kara providentially athand. on the night of the murder, whilst kara was still in myhouse, i went out to find his chauffeur. kara remained a fewminutes with my wife and then on some excuse went into thelibrary. there he loaded the pistol, placing one cartridge in thechamber, and trusting to luck that i did not pull the triggeruntil i had it pointed at my victim. here he took his biggestchance, because, before sending the weapon to me, he had had thespring of the browning so eased that the slightest touch set itoff and, as you know, the pistol being automatic, the explosion ofone cartridge, reloading and firing the next and so on, it wasprobably that a chance touch would have brought his scheme tonought - probably me also.
"of what happened on that night you are aware."he went on to tell of his trial and conviction and skimmed overthe life he led until that morning on dartmoor.
"kara knew my innocence had been proved and his hatred for mebeing his great obsession, since i had the thing he had wanted butno longer wanted, let that be understood - he saw the misery hehad planned for me and my dear wife being brought to a sudden end.
he had, by the way; already planned and carried his plan intoexecution, a system of tormenting her.
"you did not know," he turned to t. x., "that scarcely a monthpassed, but some disreputable villain called at her flat, with astory that he had been released from portland or wormwood scrubbsthat morning and that he had seen me. the story each messengerbrought was one sufficient to break the heart of any but thebravest woman. it was a story of ill-treatment by brutalofficials, of my illness, of my madness, of everything calculatedto harrow the feelings of a tender-hearted and faithful wife.
"that was kara's scheme. not to hurt with the whip or with theknife, but to cut deep at the heart with his evil tongue, to cutto the raw places of the mind. when he found that i was to bereleased, - he may have guessed, or he may have discovered by someunderhand method; that a pardon was about to be signed, - heconceived his great plan. he had less than two days to executeit.
"through one of his agents he discovered a warder who had been insome trouble with the authorities, a man who was avaricious andwas even then on the brink of being discharged from the servicefor trafficking with prisoners. the bribe he offered this man wasa heavy one and the warder accepted.
"kara had purchased a new monoplane and as you know he was anexcellent aviator. with this new machine he flew to devon andarrived at dawn in one of the unfrequented parts of the moor.
"the story of my own escape needs no telling. my narrative reallybegins from the moment i put my foot upon the deck of the mpret.
the first person i asked to see was, naturally, my wife. kara,however, insisted on my going to the cabin he had prepared andchanging my clothes, and until then i did not realise i was stillin my convict's garb. a clean change was waiting for me, and theluxury of soft shirts and well-fitting garments after the prisonuniform i cannot describe.
"after i was dressed i was taken by the greek steward to thelarger stateroom and there i found my darling waiting for me."his voice sank almost to a whisper, and it was a minute or twobefore he had mastered his emotions.
"she had been suspicious of kara, but he had been very insistent.
he had detailed the plans and shown her the monoplane, but eventhen she would not trust herself on board, and she had beenwaiting in a motor-boat, moving parallel with the yacht, until shesaw the landing and realized, as she thought, that kara was notplaying her false. the motor-boat had been hired by kara and thetwo men inside were probably as well-bribed as the warder.
"the joy of freedom can only be known to those who have sufferedthe horrors of restraint. that is a trite enough statement, butwhen one is describing elemental things there is no room forsubtlety. the voyage was a fairly eventless one. we saw verylittle of kara, who did not intrude himself upon us, and our mainexcitement lay in the apprehension that we should be held up by abritish destroyer or, that when we reached gibraltar, we should besearched by the brit's authorities. kara had foreseen thatpossibility and had taken in enough coal to last him for the run.
"we had a fairly stormy passage in the mediterranean, but afterthat nothing happened until we arrived at durazzo. we had to goashore in disguise, because kara told us that the english consulmight see us and make some trouble. we wore turkish dresses,grace heavily veiled and i wearing a greasy old kaftan which, withmy somewhat emaciated face and my unshaven appearance, passed mewithout comment.
"kara's home was and is about eighteen miles from durazzo. it isnot on the main road, but it is reached by following one of therocky mountain paths which wind and twist among the hills to thesouth-east of the town. the country is wild and mainlyuncultivated. we had to pass through swamps and skirt hugelagoons as we mounted higher and higher from terrace to terraceand came to the roads which crossed the mountains.
"kara's, palace, you could call it no less, is really built withinsight of the sea. it is on the acroceraunian peninsula near capelinguetta. hereabouts the country is more populated and bettercultivated. we passed great slopes entirely covered with mulberryand olive trees, whilst in the valleys there were fields of maizeand corn. the palazzo stands on a lofty plateau. it isapproached by two paths, which can be and have been well defendedin the past against the sultan's troops or against the bands whichhave been raised by rival villages with the object of storming andplundering this stronghold.
"the skipetars, a blood-thirsty crowd without pity or remorse,were faithful enough to their chief, as kara was. he paid them sowell that it was not profitable to rob him; moreover he kept theirown turbulent elements fully occupied with the little raids whichhe or his agents organized from time to time. the palazzo wasbuilt rather in the moorish than in the turkish style.
"it was a sort of eastern type to which was grafted an italianarchitecture - a house of white-columned courts, of big pavedyards, fountains and cool, dark rooms.
"when i passed through the gates i realized for the first timesomething of kara's importance.
there were a score of servants, all eastern, perfectly trained,silent and obsequious. he led us to his own room.
"it was a big apartment with divans running round the wall, themost ornate french drawing room suite and an enormous persiancarpet, one of the finest of the kind that has ever been turnedout of shiraz. here, let me say, that throughout the trip hisattitude to me had been perfectly friendly and towards grace allthat i could ask of my best friend, considerate and tactful.
"'we had hardly reached his room before he said to me with thatbonhomie which he had observed throughout the trip, 'you wouldlike to see your room?'
"i expressed a wish to that effect. he clapped his hands and abig albanian servant came through the curtained doorway, made theusual salaam, and kara spoke to him a few words in a languagewhich i presume was turkish.
"'he will show you the way,' said kara with his most genial smile.
"i followed the servant through the curtains which had hardlyfallen behind me before i was seized by four men, flung violentlyon the ground, a filthy tarbosch was thrust into my mouth andbefore i knew what was happening i was bound hand and foot.
"as i realised the gross treachery of the man, my first franticthoughts were of grace and her safety. i struggled with thestrength of three men, but they were too many for me and i wasdragged along the passage, a door was opened and i was flung intoa bare room. i must have been lying on the floor for half an hourwhen they came for me, this time accompanied by a middle-aged mannamed savolio, who was either an italian or a greek.
"he spoke english fairly well and he made it clear to me that ihad to behave myself. i was led back to the room from whence ihad come and found kara sitting in one of those big armchairswhich he affected, smoking a cigarette. confronting him, still inher turkish dress, was poor grace. she was not bound i waspleased to see, but when on my entrance she rose and made as if tocome towards me, she was unceremoniously thrown back by theguardian who stood at her side.
"'mr. john lexman,' drawled kara, 'you are at the beginning of agreat disillusionment. i have a few things to tell you which willmake you feel rather uncomfortable.' it was then that i heard forthe first time that my pardon had been signed and my innocencediscovered.
"'having taken a great deal of trouble to get you in prison,' saidkara, 'it isn't likely that i'm going to allow all my plans to beundone, and my plan is to make you both extremely uncomfortable.'
"he did not raise his voice, speaking still in the sameconversational tone, suave and half amused.
"'i hate you for two things,' he said, and ticked them off on hisfingers: 'the first is that you took the woman that i wanted. toa man of my temperament that is an unpardonable crime. i havenever wanted women either as friends or as amusement. i am one ofthe few people in the world who are self-sufficient. it happenedthat i wanted your wife and she rejected me because apparently shepreferred you.'
"he looked at me quizzically.
"'you are thinking at this moment,' he went on slowly, "that iwant her now, and that it is part of my revenge that i shall puther straight in my harem. nothing is farther from my desires ormy thoughts. the black roman is not satisfied with the leavingsof such poor trash as you. i hate you both equally and for bothof you there is waiting an experience more terrible than even yourelastic imagination can conjure. you understand what that means!'
he asked me still retaining his calm.
"i did not reply. i dared not look at grace, to whom he turned.
"'i believe you love your husband, my friend,' he said; 'your lovewill be put to a very severe test. you shall see him the merewreckage of the man he is. you shall see him brutalized below thelevel of the cattle in the field. i will give you both no joys,no ease of mind. from this moment you are slaves, and worse thanslaves.'
"he clapped his hands. the interview was ended and from thatmoment i only saw grace once."john lexman stopped and buried his face in his hands.
"they took me to an underground dungeon cut in the solid rock. inmany ways it resembled the dungeon of the chateau of chillon, inthat its only window looked out upon a wild, storm-swept lake andits floor was jagged rock. i have called it underground, asindeed it was on that side, for the palazzo was built upon a steepslope running down from the spur of the hills.
"they chained me by the legs and left me to my own devices. oncea day they gave me a little goat flesh and a pannikin of water andonce a week kara would come in and outside the radius of my chainhe would open a little camp stool and sitting down smoke hiscigarette and talk. my god! the things that man said! the thingshe described! the horrors he related! and always it was gracewho was the centre of his description. and he would relate thestories he was telling to her about myself. i cannot describethem. they are beyond repetition."john lexman shuddered and closed his eyes.
"that was his weapon. he did not confront me with the torture ofmy darling, he did not bring tangible evidence of her suffering -he just sat and talked, describing with a remarkable clarity oflanguage which seemed incredible in a foreigner, the 'amusements'
which he himself had witnessed.
"i thought i should go mad. twice i sprang at him and twice thechain about my legs threw me headlong on that cruel floor. oncehe brought the jailer in to whip me, but i took the whipping withsuch phlegm that it gave him no satisfaction. i told you i hadseen grace only once and this is how it happened.
"it was after the flogging, and kara, who was a veritable demon inhis rage, planned to have his revenge for my indifference. theybrought grace out upon a boat and rowed the boat to where i couldsee it from my window. there the whip which had been applied tome was applied to her. i can't tell you any more about that," hesaid brokenly, "but i wish, you don't know how fervently, that ihad broken down and given the dog the satisfaction he wanted. mygod! it was horrible!
"when the winter came they used to take me out with chains on mylegs to gather in wood from the forest. there was no reason why ishould be given this work, but the truth was, as i discovered fromsalvolio, that kara thought my dungeon was too warm. it wassheltered from the winds by the hill behind and even on thecoldest days and nights it was not unbearable. then kara wentaway for some time. i think he must have gone to england, and hecame back in a white fury. one of his big plans had gone wrongand the mental torture he inflicted upon me was more acute thanever.
"in the old days he used to come once a weeks now he came almostevery day. he usually arrived in the afternoon and i wassurprised one night to be awakened from my sleep to see himstanding at the door, a lantern in his hand, his inevitablecigarette in his mouth. he always wore the albanian costume whenhe was in the country, those white kilted skirts and zouavejackets which the hillsmen affect and, if anything, it added tohis demoniacal appearance. he put down the lantern and leantagainst the wall.
"'i'm afraid that wife of yours is breaking up, lexman,' hedrawled; 'she isn't the good, stout, english stuff that i thoughtshe was.'
"i made no reply. i had found by bitter experience that if iintruded into the conversation, i should only suffer the more.
"'i have sent down to durazzo to get a doctor,' he went on;'naturally having taken all this trouble i don't want to lose youby death. she is breaking up,' he repeated with relish and yetwith an undertone of annoyance in his voice; "she asked for youthree times this morning.'
"i kept myself under control as i had never expected that a man sodesperately circumstanced could do.
"'kara,' i said as quietly as i could, 'what has she done that sheshould deserve this hell in which she has lived?'
"he sent out a long ring of smoke and watched its progress acrossthe dungeon.
"'what has she done?' he said, keeping his eye on the ring - ishall always remember every look, every gesture, and everyintonation of his voice. 'why, she has done all that a woman cando for a man like me. she has made me feel little. until i had arebuff from her, i had all the world at my feet, lexman. i did asi liked. if i crooked my little finger, people ran after me andthat one experience with her has broken me. oh, don't think,' hewent on quickly, 'that i am broken in love. i never loved hervery much, it was just a passing passion, but she killed myself-confidence. after then, whenever i came to a crucial momentin my affairs, when the big manner, the big certainty wasabsolutely necessary for me to carry my way, whenever i was mostconfident of myself and my ability and my scheme, a vision of thisdamned girl rose and i felt that momentary weakening, that memoryof defeat, which made all the difference between success andfailure.
"'i hated her and i hate her still,' he said with vehemence; 'ifshe dies i shall hate her more because she will remaineverlastingly unbroken to menace my thoughts and spoil my schemesthrough all eternity.'
"he leant forward, his elbows on his knees, his clenched fistunder his chin - how well i can see him! - and stared at me.
"'i could have been king here in this land,' he said, waving hishand toward the interior, 'i could have bribed and shot my way tothe throne of albania. don't you realize what that means to a manlike me? there is still a chance and if i could keep your wifealive, if i could see her broken in reason and in health, a poor,skeleton, gibbering thing that knelt at my feet when i came nearher i should recover the mastery of myself. believe me,' he said,nodding his head, 'your wife will have the best medical advicethat it is possible to obtain.'
"kara went out and i did not see him again for a very long time.
he sent word, just a scrawled note in the morning, to say my wifehad died."john lexman rose up from his seat, and paced the apartment, hishead upon his breast.
"from that moment," he said, "i lived only for one thing, topunish remington kara. and gentlemen, i punished him."he stood in the centre of the room and thumped his broad chestwith his clenched hand.
"i killed remington kara," he said, and there was a little gasp ofastonishment from every man present save one. that one was t. x.
meredith, who had known all the time.
