it is a good few years ago now that a suicide was investigated by a coroner’s jury before whom martin hewitt gave certain simple and direct evidence touching the manner of the death, and testifying to the fact of its being a matter of self-destruction. the public got certain suggestive information from the bare newspaper report, but they never learnt the full story of the tragedy that led up to the suicide that was so summarily disposed of.
the time i speak of was in hewitt’s early professional days, not long after he had left messrs. crellan’s office, and a long time before i myself met him. at that time fewer of the police knew him and were aware of his abilities, and fewer still appreciated them at their true value. inquiries in connection with a case had taken him early one morning to the district which is now called “london over the border,” and which comprises west ham and the parts there adjoining. at this time, however, the district was much unlike its present self, for none of the grimy streets that now characterize it had been built, and even in its nearest parts open land claimed more space than buildings.
hewitt’s business lay with the divisional surgeon of police, who had, he found, been called away from his breakfast to a patient. hewitt followed him in the direction of the patient’s house, and met him returning. they walked together, and presently, as they came in sight of a row of houses, a girl, having the appearance of a maid-of-all-work, came running from the side door of the end house—a house rather larger and more pretentious than the others in the row. almost immediately a policeman appeared from the front door, and, seeing the girl running, shouted to hewitt and his companion to stop her. this hewitt did by a firm though gentle grasp of the arms; and, turning her about, marched her back again. “come, come,” he said, “you’ll gain nothing by running away, whatever it is.” but the girl shuddered and sobbed, and cried incoherently, “no, no—don’t; i’m afraid. i don’t like it, sir. it’s awful. i can’t stop there.”
she was a strongly-built, sullen-looking girl, with prominent eyebrows and a rather brutal expression of face; consequently her extreme nervous agitation, her distorted face and her tears were the more noticeable.
“what is all this?” the surgeon asked as they reached the front door of the house. “girl in trouble?”
the policeman touched his helmet. “it’s murder, sir, this time,” he said, “that’s what it is. i’ve sent for the inspector, and i’ve sent for you too, sir; and of course i couldn’t allow anyone to leave the house till i’d handed it over to the inspector. come,” he added to the girl, as he saw her indoors, “don’t let’s have any more o’ that. it looks bad, i can tell you.”
“where’s the body?” asked the surgeon.
“first-floor front, sir—bed-sittin’-room. ship’s captain, i’m told. throat cut awful.”
“come,” said the surgeon, as he prepared to mount the stairs. “you’d better come up too, mr. hewitt. you may spot something that will help if it’s a difficult case.”
together they entered the room, and, indeed, the sight was of a sort that any maid-servant might be excused for running away from. between the central table and the fireplace the body lay, fully clothed, and the whole room was in a great state of confusion, drawers lying about with the contents spilt, boxes open, and papers scattered about. on a table was a bottle and a glass.
“robbery, evidently,” the surgeon said as he bent to his task. “see, the pockets are all emptied, and partly protruding at the top. the watch and chain has been torn off, leaving the swivel in the button-hole.”
“yes,” hewitt answered, “that is so.” he had taken a rapid glance about the room, and was now examining the stove, a register, with close attention. he shut the trap above it and pushed to the room door. then very carefully, by the aid of the feather end of a quill pen which lay on the table, he shifted the charred remains of a piece or two of paper from the top of the cold cinders into the fire shovel. he carried them to the sideboard, nearer the light from the window, and examined them minutely, making a few notes in his pocket-book, and then, removing the glass shade from an ornament on the mantel-piece, placed it over them.
“there’s something that may be of some use to the police,” he remarked, “or may not, as the case may be. at any rate, there it is, safe from draughts, if they want it. there’s nothing distinguishable on one piece, but i think the other has been a cheque.”
the surgeon had concluded his first rapid examination, and rose to his feet. “a very deep cut,” he said, “and done from behind, i think, as he was sitting in his chair. death at once, without a doubt, and has been dead seven or eight hours i should say. bed not slept in, you see. couldn’t have done it himself, that’s certain.”
“the knife,” hewitt added, “is either gone or hidden. but here is the inspector.”
the inspector was a stranger to hewitt, and looked at him inquiringly till the surgeon introduced him and mentioned his profession. then he said, with the air of one unwillingly relaxing a rule of conduct, “all right, doctor, if he’s a friend of yours. a little practice for you, eh, mr. hewitt?”
“yes,” hewitt answered modestly. “i haven’t had the advantage of any experience in the police force, and perhaps i may learn. perhaps also i may help you.”
this did not seem to strike the inspector as a very luminous probability, and he stepped to the landing and ordered up the constable to make his full report. he had brought another man with him, who took charge of the door. by this time, thinly populated as was the neighbourhood, boys had begun to collect outside.
the policeman’s story was simple. as he passed on his beat he had been called by three women, who had a light ladder planted against the window-sill of the room. they feared something was wrong with the occupant of the room, they said, as they could not make him hear, and his door was locked; therefore they had brought the ladder to look in at the window, but now each feared to go and look. would he, the policeman, do so? he mounted the ladder, looked in at the window, and saw—what was still visible. he had then, at the women’s urgent request, entered the house, broken in the door, and found the body to be dead and cold. he had told the women at once, and warned them, in the customary manner, that any statement they might be disposed to volunteer would be noted and used as evidence. the landlady, who was a widow, and gave her name as mrs. beckle, said that the dead man’s name was abel pullin, and that he was a captain in the merchant service, who had occupied the room as a lodger since the end of last week only, when he had returned from a voyage. so far as she knew, no stranger had been in the house since she last saw pullin alive on the previous evening, and the only person living in the house, who had since gone out, was mr. foster, also a seafaring man, who had been a mate, but for some time had had no ship. he had gone out an hour or so before the discovery was made—earlier than usual, and without breakfast. that was all that mrs. beckle knew, and the only other persons in the house were the servant and a miss walker, a school teacher. they knew nothing; but miss walker was very anxious to be allowed to go to her school, which, of course, he had not allowed till the inspector should arrive.
2-1
“he mounted the ladder and looked in at the window.”
“that’s all right,” the inspector said. “and you’re sure the door was locked?”
“yes, sir, fast.”
“key in the lock?”
“no, sir. i haven’t seen any key.”
“window shut, just as it is now?”
“yes, sir; nothing’s been touched.”
the inspector walked to the window and opened it. it was a wooden-framed casement window, fastened by the usual turning catch at the side, with a heavy bow handle. he just glanced out and then swung the window carelessly to on its hinges. the catch, however, worked so freely that the handle dropped and the catch banged against the window frame as he turned away. hewitt saw this, and closed the casement properly, after a glance at the sill.
the inspector made a rapid examination of the clothing on the body, and then said, “it’s a singular thing about the key. the door was locked fast, but there’s no key to be seen inside the room. seems it must have been locked from the outside.”
“perhaps,” hewitt suggested, “other keys on this landing fit the lock. it’s commonly the case in this sort of house.”
“that’s so,” the inspector admitted, with the air of encouraging a pupil. “we’ll see.”
they walked across the landing to the nearest door. it had a small round brass scutcheon, apparently recently placed there. “yale lock,” said the inspector. “that’s no good.” they went to the third door, which stood ajar.
“seems to be mr. foster’s room,” the inspector remarked; “here’s the key inside.”
they took it across the landing and tried it. it fitted captain pullin’s lock exactly and easily. “hullo!” said the inspector, “look at that!”
hewitt nodded thoughtfully. just then he became aware of somebody behind him, who had arrived noiselessly. he turned and saw a mincing little woman, with a pursed mouth and lofty expression, who took no notice of him, but addressed the inspector. “i shall be glad to know, if you please,” she said, “when i may leave the house and attend to my duties. my school has already been open for three-quarters of an hour, and i cannot conceive why i am detained in this manner.”
“very sorry, ma’am,” the inspector replied. “matter of duty, of course. perhaps we shall be able to let you go presently. meanwhile perhaps you can help us. you’re not obliged to say anything, of course, but if you do we shall make a note of it. you didn’t hear any uncommon noise in the night, did you?”
“nothing at all. i retired at ten, and i was asleep soon after. i know nothing whatever of the whole horrible affair, and i shall leave the house entirely as soon as i can arrange.”
“did you have any opportunity of observing mr. pullin’s manners or habits?” hewitt asked.
“indeed, no. i saw nothing of him. but i could hear him very often, and his language was not of the sort i could tolerate. he seemed to dominate the whole house with his boorish behaviour, and he was frequently intoxicated. i had already told mrs. beckle that if his stay were to continue mine should cease. i avoided him, indeed, altogether, and i know nothing of him.”
“do you know how he came here? did he know mrs. beckle or anybody else in the house before?”
“that also i can’t say. but mrs. beckle, i believe, knew all about him. in fact i have sometimes thought there was some mysterious connection between them, though what i cannot say. certainly i cannot understand a landlady keeping so troublesome a lodger.”
“you have seen a little more of mr. foster, of course?”
“well, yes. he has been here so much longer. he was more endurable than was captain pullin, certainly, though he was not always sober. the two did not love one another, i believe.”
there the inspector pricked his ears. “they didn’t love one another, you say, ma’am. why was that?”
“oh, i don’t really know. i fancy mr. foster wanted to borrow money or something. he used to say captain pullin had plenty of money, and had once sunk a ship purposely. i don’t know whether or not this was serious, of course.”
hewitt looked at her keenly. “have you ever heard him called captain pullin of the egret?” he asked.
“no, i never heard the name of any vessel.”
“there’s just one thing, miss walker,” the inspector said, “that i’m afraid i must insist on before you go. it’s only a matter of form, of course. but i must ask you to let me look round your room—i shan’t disturb it.”
miss walker tossed her head. “very well then,” she said, turning toward the door with the yale lock, and producing the key; “there it is.” and she flung the door open.
the inspector stepped within and took a perfunctory glance round. “that will do; thank you,” he said; “i am sorry to have kept you. i think you may go now, miss walker. you won’t be leaving here to-day altogether, i suppose?”
“no, i’m afraid i can’t. good-morning.”
as she disappeared by the foot of the stairs the inspector remarked in a jocular undertone, “needn’t bother about her. she isn’t strong enough to cut a hen’s throat.”
just then miss walker appeared again and attempted to take her umbrella from the stand—a heavy, tall oaken one. the ribs, however, had become jammed between the stand and the wall; so miss walker, with one hand, calmly lifted the stand and disengaged the umbrella with the other. “my eyes!” observed the inspector, “she’s a bit stronger than she looks.”
the surgeon came upon the landing. “i shall send to the mortuary now,” he said.“i’ve seen all i want to see here. have you seen the landlady?”
“no. i think she’s downstairs.”
they went downstairs and found mrs. beckle in the back room, much agitated, though she was not the sort of woman one would expect to find greatly upset by anything. she was thin, hard, and rigid, with the rigidity and sharpness that women acquire who have a long and lonely struggle with poverty. she had at first very little to say. captain pullin had lodged with her before. last night he had been in all the evening, and had gone to bed about half-past eleven, and a quarter of an hour later everybody else had done so, and the house was fastened up for the night. the front door was fully bolted and barred, and it was found so in the morning. no stranger had been in the house for some days. the only person who had left before the discovery was mr. foster, and he went away when only the servant was up. this was unusual, as he usually took breakfast in the house. what had frightened the girl so much, she thought, was the fact that after the door had been burst open she peeped into the room, out of curiosity, and was so horrified at the sight that she ran out of the house. she had always been a hard-working girl, though of sullen habits.
the inspector made more particular inquiries as to mr. foster, and after some little reluctance mrs. beckle gave her opinion that he was very short of money indeed. he had lost his ship sometime back through a neglect of duty, and he was not of altogether sober habits; he had consequently been unable to get another berth as yet. it was a fact, she admitted, that he owed her a considerable sum for rent, but he had enough clothes and nautical implements in his boxes to cover that and more.
hewitt had been watching mrs. beckle’s face very closely, and now suddenly asked, with pointed emphasis, “how long have you known mr. pullin?”
mrs. beckle faltered, and returned hewitt’s steadfast gaze with a quick glance of suspicion. “oh,” she said, “i have known him, on and off, for a long time.”
“a connection by marriage, of course?” hewitt’s hard gaze was still upon her.
mrs. beckle looked from him to the inspector and back again, and the corners of her mouth twitched. then she sat down and rested her head on her hand. “well, i suppose i must say it, though i’ve kept it to myself till now,” she said resignedly. “he’s my brother-in-law.”
“of course, as you have been told, you are not obliged to say anything now; but the more information you can give the better chance there may be of detecting your brother-in-law’s murderer.”
“well, i don’t mind, i’m sure. it was a bad day when he married my sister. he killed her—not at once, so that he might have been hung for it, but by a course of regular brutality and starvation. i hated the man!” she said, with a quick access of passion, which however she suppressed at once.
“and yet you let him stay in your house?”
“oh, i don’t know. i was afraid of him; and he used to come just when he pleased, and practically take possession of the house. i couldn’t keep him away; and he drove away my other lodgers.” she suddenly fired up again. “wasn’t that enough to make anybody desperate? can you wonder at anything?”
she quieted again by a quick effort, and hewitt and the inspector exchanged glances.
“let me see, he was captain of the sailing ship egret, wasn’t he?” hewitt asked. “lost in the pacific a year or more ago?”
“yes.”
“if i remember the story of the loss aright, he and one native hand—a kanaka boy—were the only survivors?”
“yes, they were the only two. he was the only one that came back to england.”
“just so. and there were rumours, i believe, that after all he wasn’t altogether a loser by that wreck? mind, i only say there were rumours; there may have been nothing in them.”
“yes,” mrs. beckle replied, “i know all about that. they said the ship had been cast away purposely, for the sake of the insurance. but there was no truth in that, else why did the underwriters pay? and besides, from what i know privately, it couldn’t have been. abel pullin was a reckless scoundrel enough, i know, but he would have taken good care to be paid well for any villainy of that sort.”
“yes, of course. but it was suggested that he was.”
“no, nothing of the sort. he came here, as usual, as soon as he got home, and until he got another ship he hadn’t a penny. i had to keep him, so i know. and he was sober almost all the time from want of money. do you mean to say, if the common talk were true, that he would have remained like that without getting money of the owners, his accomplices, and at least making them give him another ship? not he. i know him too well.”
“yes, no doubt. he was just now back from his next voyage after that, i take it?”
“yes, in the iolanthe brig. a smaller ship than he has been used to, and belonging to different owners.”
“had he much money this time?”
“no. he had bought himself a gold watch and chain abroad, and he had a ring and a few pounds in money, and some instruments; that was all, i think, in addition to his clothes.”
“well, they’ve all been stolen now,” the inspector said. “have you missed anything yourself?”
“no.”
“nor the other lodgers, so far as you know?”
“no, neither of them.”
“very well, mrs. beckle. we’ll have a word or two with the servant now, and then i’ll get you to come over the house with us.”
sarah taffs was the servant’s name. she seemed to have got over her agitation, and was now sullen and uncommunicative. she would say nothing. “you said i needn’t say nothin’ if i didn’t want to, and i won’t.” that was all she would say, and she repeated it again and again. once, however, in reply to a question as to foster, she flashed out angrily, “if it’s mr. foster you’re after you won’t find ’im. ’e’s a gentleman, ’e is, and i ain’t goin’ to tell you nothin’.” but that was all.
then mrs. beckle showed the inspector, the surgeon, and hewitt over the house. everything was in perfect order on the ground floor and on the stairs. the stairs, it appeared, had been swept before the discovery was made. nevertheless, hewitt and the inspector scrutinised them narrowly. the top floor consisted of two small rooms only, used as bedrooms by mrs. beckle and sarah taffs respectively. nothing was missing, and everything was in order there.
the one floor between contained the dead man’s room, miss walker’s, and foster’s. miss walker’s room they had already seen, and now they turned into foster’s.
the place seemed to betray careless habits on the part of its tenant, and was everywhere in slovenly confusion. the bedclothes were flung anyhow on the floor, and a chair was overturned. hewitt looked round the room, and remarked that there seemed to be no clothes hanging about, as might have been expected.
“no,” mrs. beckle replied; “he has taken to keeping them all in his boxes lately.”
“how many boxes has he?” asked the inspector. “only these two?”
“that is all.”
the inspector stooped and tried the lids.
“both locked,” he said. “i think we’ll take the liberty of a peep into these boxes.”
he produced a bunch of keys and tried them all, but none fitted. then hewitt felt about inside the locks very carefully with a match, and then taking a button-hook from his pocket, after a little careful “humouring” work, turned both the locks, one after another, and lifted the lids.
mrs. beckle uttered an exclamation of dismay, and the inspector looked at her rather quizzically. the boxes contained nothing but bricks.
2-2
“the boxes contained nothing but bricks.”
“ah,” said the inspector, “i’ve seen that sort of suits o’ clothes before. people have ’em who don’t pay hotel bills and such like. you’re a very good pick-lock, by the way, mr. hewitt. i never saw anything quicker and neater.”
“but i know he had a lot of clothes,” mrs. beckle protested. “i’ve seen them.”
“very likely—very likely indeed,” the inspector answered. “but they’re gone now, and mr. foster’s gone with ’em.”
“but—but the girl didn’t say he had any bundles with him when he went out?”
“no, she didn’t; and she didn’t say he hadn’t, did she? she won’t say anything about him, and she says she won’t, plump. even supposing he hadn’t got them with him this morning, that signifies nothing. the clothes are gone, and anybody intending a job of that sort”—the inspector jerked his thumb significantly towards the skipper’s room—“would get his things away quietly first, so as to have no difficulty about getting away himself afterwards. no; the thing’s pretty plain now, i think; and i’m afraid mr. foster’s a pretty bad lot. anyway, i shouldn’t like to be in his shoes.”
“nor i,” hewitt assented. “evidence of that sort isn’t easy to get over.”
“come, mrs. beckle,” the inspector said, “do you mind coming into the front room with us? the body’s covered over with a rug.”
the landlady disliked going, it was plain to see, but presently she pulled herself together and followed the men. she peeped once distrustfully round the door to where the body lay, and then resolutely turned her back on it.
“his watch and chain are gone, and whatever else he had in his pockets,” the inspector said. “i think you said he had a ring?”
“yes, one—a thick gold one.”
“then that’s gone too. everything’s turned upside down, and probably other things are stolen too. do you miss any?”
“yes,” mrs. beckle replied, looking round, but avoiding with her eyes the rug-covered heap near the fireplace. “there was a sextant on the mantel-piece: it was his; and he kept one or two other instruments in that drawer”—pointing to one which had been turned out—“but they seem to be gone now. and there was a small ship, carved in ivory, and worth money, i believe—that’s gone. i don’t know about his clothes; some of them may be stolen or they may not.” she stepped to the bed and turned back the coverlet. “oh,” she added, “the sheets are gone from the bed too!”
“usual thing,” the inspector remarked; “wrap up the swag in a sheet, you know—makes a convenient bundle. nothing else missing?”
the landlady took one more look round and said doubtfully, “no, no, i don’t think so. oh, but yes,” she suddenly added, “uncle’s hook.”
“oh,” remarked the inspector with dismal jocularity, “he’s took uncle’s hook as well as his own, has he? what was uncle’s hook like?”
“it wasn’t of much value,” mrs. beckle explained; “but i kept it as a memorial. my great-uncle, who died many years ago, was a sea-captain too, and had lost his left hand by accident. he wore a hook in its place—a hook made for him on board his vessel. it was an iron hook screwed into a wooden stock. he had it taken off in his last illness, and gave it to me to mind against his recovery. but he never got well, so i’ve kept it over since. it used to hang on a nail at the side of the chimney-breast.”
“no wounds about the body that might have been made with a hook like that, doctor, were there?” the inspector asked.
“no, no wounds at all but the one.”
“well, well,” the inspector said, moving toward the door, “we’ve got to find foster now, that’s plain. i’ll see about it. you’ve sent to the mortuary, you say, doctor? all right. you’ve no particular reason for sending the girl out of doors to-day, i suppose, mrs. beckle?”
“i can keep her in, of course,” the landlady answered. “it will be inconvenient, though.”
“ah, then keep her in, will you? we mustn’t lose sight of her. i’ll leave a couple of men here, of course, and i’ll tell them she mustn’t be allowed out.”
hewitt and the surgeon went downstairs and parted at the door. “i shall be over again to-morrow morning,” hewitt said, “about that other matter i was speaking of. shall i find you in?”
“well,” the doctor answered, “at any rate they will tell you where i am. good-morning.”
“good-morning,” hewitt answered, and then stopped. “i’m obliged for being allowed to look about upstairs here,” he said. “i’m not sure what the inspector has in his mind, by the way; but i should think whatever i noticed would be pretty plain to him, though naturally he would be cautious about talking of it before others, as i was myself. that being the case, it might seem rather presumptuous in me to make suggestions, especially as he seems fairly confident. but if you have a chance presently of giving him a quiet hint, you might draw his special attention to two things—the charred paper that i took from the fireplace and the missing hook. there is a good deal in that, i fancy. i shall have an hour or two to myself, i expect, this afternoon, and i’ll make a small inquiry or two on my own account in town. if anything comes of them i’ll let you know to-morrow when i see you.”
“very well, i shall expect you. goodbye.”
hewitt did not go straight away from the house to the railway station. he took a turn or two about the row of houses, and looked up each of the paths leading from them across the surrounding marshy fields. then he took the path for the station. about a hundred yards along, the path reached a deep, muddy ditch with a high hedge behind it, and then lay by the side of the ditch for some little distance before crossing it. hewitt stopped and looked thoughtfully at the ditch for a few moments before proceeding, and then went briskly on his way.
that evening’s papers were all agog with the mysterious murder of a ship’s captain at west ham, and in next morning’s papers it was announced that henry foster, a seafaring man, and lately mate of a trading ship, had been arrested in connection with the crime.
