a few moments later and ravenspur's brougham was being rapidly driven in the direction of the grand hotel. no words were spoken on the journey, but ravenspur did not fail to notice how his companion shook and quivered as the shouts of the newsboys reached her ears. it seemed as if all london had given itself over to this last sensational tragedy. it was as if thousands of strange rough hands were pressing upon the still bleeding wound. to an intensely sympathetic nature like ravenspur's, the relief of the destination was great. at his suggestion of food his companion shuddered. the mere idea of it turned her physically sick. utterly worn out and exhausted she dropped into a chair. there was a light now of something like madness in her eyes. the doctor bustled in presently with something in his hand. mrs. delahay drank the medicine in a mechanical way, scarcely knowing what she was doing. then, gradually, her rigid limbs relaxed, and the staring dark eyes were closed.
"she'll do now for some time," the doctor whispered. "i have telephoned for a nurse who may be here now at any moment. don't let me detain you. i have got my motor outside, and in any case i must remain till the nurse arrives."
"that is very good of you," ravenspur murmured. "as far as i am concerned i should like to make some inquiries. i have known delahay now for the last five years; indeed, it was i who persuaded him to take up his quarters in london. it seems a terrible thing that so promising a career should be cut short like this. that man would have come to the top of his profession, and, so far as i know, he hadn't a single enemy in the world. perhaps, by this time, the scotland yard people may have found a clue."
ravenspur drove straight away to fitzjohn square, and made his way through the crowd of morbid folks who had gathered outside. as he expected, he found the house in the hands of the police. inspector dallas came forward and greeted him respectfully.
"this is a terrible affair, my lord," he said.
"ghastly," ravenspur exclaimed. "it was a great shock when mrs. delahay came round to me this morning. and the strange part of the whole business is that i was in this very house myself, quite alone, till half-past one. perhaps i had better explain the circumstances to you, as the knowledge might prove useful. . . . and now you know all about it. mind you, i saw nothing; i did not hear a sound. indeed, i am quite convinced that there was no one on the premises when i left."
"but you had no means of making sure," the inspector protested. "the miscreants might have been here all the time. they might have been hiding in a room upstairs waiting for you to go."
"they might have attacked me as far as that goes," ravenspur replied. "my word, the mere suggestion of it turns one cold."
"at any rate, they were not after your lordship," the inspector said, thoughtfully. "of course, i am assuming for the sake of argument that the murderer, or murderers, were actually here when you arrived last night. if so, the whole thing was carefully premeditated. these people had no quarrel with you, and, therefore, they did not molest you. all the same, they wanted to get rid of you, or they would not have cut off the light."
"but did they cut off the light?" ravenspur asked.
"that we can prove in a moment. i am going on the theory that these people wanted to get you out of the way, so they short-circuited the current and left you in darkness. that was a very useful expedient, and had the desired effect. i am very glad you told me this because it may be the means of putting us on the track of important evidence. but let us go down to the basement, and examine the electric meter."
ravenspur followed his companion down the dark steps leading to the basement, and inspector dallas struck a light. then, with a grim smile, he pointed to a cable which led from the meter to the different rooms on the upper floors. the cable had been clean cut with some sharp instrument, a fracture which must have been recently made, for the main wire to the cable gleamed like gold.
"so far, so good," dallas said. "we have proved by yonder demonstration that these people were here last night whilst you were actually at work in the studio."
"that puzzles me more than ever," ravenspur replied. "why did they not get rid of me an hour before, which they could have done equally as well, by the same simple expedient?"
"simply because they could afford to wait till half-past one. you may depend upon it that mr. delahay's movements were absolutely known to them. they were perfectly well aware of the fact that he was not expected here till some time past half-past one. it is not a nice insinuation to make, but when mr. delahay left his hotel at midnight, he had not the slightest intention of coming straight here. doubtless he had important business which was likely to last him an hour and a half, and for some reason or other he did not want his wife to know what it was. speaking as one man of the world to another, mr. delahay's excuse for getting out strikes me as being rather a shallow one. surely a married man, more or less on his honeymoon, does not want to visit an empty house after midnight. surely he could have waited till daylight."
"then you think he went out to keep an appointment?"
"i feel quite convinced of it, your lordship. and, moreover, the appointment was a secret one of which mrs. delahay was to know nothing. i will go still further, and say that mr. delahay came here after you had gone this morning to keep an appointment. it is just possible that he might have been in the house during your presence here. it is just possible that he cut the cable himself."
"ah, but that won't quite do," ravenspur protested. "when i came out of the house this morning i saw that the front door was carefully fastened, and i am prepared to swear that the latchkey which mrs. delahay found this morning was not in the lock then. no, no; i am quite sure that poor delahay must have come here after i left. i am not prepared to contest your theory that my unfortunate friend came here to keep an appointment. indeed, the presence of the latchkey in the door proves that he was in a hurry, and perhaps a little upset, or he would not have committed the mistake of leaving the key behind him. but after all, said and done, this is merely conjecture on our part. have you found anything yourself that is likely to give you a clue?"
inspector dallas hesitated just for a moment.
"perhaps i ought not to mention it," he said, "but i am sure i can rely upon your lordship's discretion. when i was called this morning i found mr. delahay lying on the floor of the studio quite dead. so far as we could see there were no marks of violence on the body except a small puncture over the heart, which appears to have been made with some very fine instrument. but, of course, we can't speak definitely on that point till we have had the inquest. as far as we can judge, something like a struggle must have taken place, because the loose carpets on the floor were in great disorder, and one or two articles of furniture had been overturned. you may say that this proves nothing, except that violence was used. but in the hand of the dead man we found something that might be useful to us. perhaps you would like to see it."
lord ravenspur intimated that he should. from a pocket-book dallas produced a photograph, carte de visite size, which had been torn into half a dozen pieces. the photograph was considerably faded, and in the tearing the actual face itself had been ripped out of all recognition. still, judging from the small fragments, it was possible to make out that the picture had been that of a woman. one scrap of card bore the words "and co., melbourne." the rest of the lettering had apparently vanished.
"this must have been taken a long time ago," ravenspur said. "it is so terribly faded."
"not necessarily, my lord," dallas said. "we know very little about that photograph as yet except that it was taken in australia. of course, it is fair to assume that the picture is an old one judging from the colouring, but your lordship must not forget that foreign photographs are always much fainter than those taken in this country, because the light is so much stronger and more brilliant. at any rate, the fact remains that we found those fragments tightly clenched in mr. delahay's left hand, all of which points to some intrigue, with a woman at the bottom of it. of course, i know nothing whatever about mr. delahay's moral character----"
"then i'll tell you," ravenspur said sharply. "my late friend was the soul of honour. he was a very quick, passionate man, and he inherited his temper from his italian mother. but the man was incapable of anything mean or dishonourable. he was genuinely in love with his wife, and cared nothing for any other woman. how that photograph came into his possession i don't know. probably we never shall know. but you can at once dismiss from your mind the suspicion that delahay was mixed up in that vulgar kind of business. now, is there anything more you can tell me?"
"well, no," dallas said, after a short pause. "there is nothing that strikes me, no suggestions that seem to need a doctor's opinion. we shall find that the cause of death is the small puncture over the heart that i spoke of. to hazard an opinion, it might be caused by one of those glass stilettos--the corsican type of weapon where the blade is snapped off in the wound. it leaves the smallest mark, and no blood follows--a difficult thing to trace without great care. of course, the post mortem----"
