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Page 80
"The letter is gone--I have lost it!" he concluded, with a sinking
heart. "But where and how? And if it is found--"
There was a sharp rap at the door, and as quickly it opened, without
invitation. Two stern-looking men, dressed in plain clothes, stepped
into the room. Jack knew at once what the visit meant, and with a
supreme effort he braced himself to meet the ordeal. It was hard work
to stand erect and to keep his face from twitching.
"You are John Vernon?" demanded one of the men.
"Yes."
"I will be very brief, sir. I am a Scotland Yard officer, and I am here
to arrest you on suspicion of having murdered your wife, known as Diane
Merode, at Number 324 Beak street, last night."
"I expected this," Jack replied. "I have just seen the paper--I knew
nothing of the crime before. I am entirely innocent, though I admit that
the circumstances--"
"I warn you not to say anything that may incriminate yourself. You must
come with me, sir!"
"I understand that, and I will go quietly. I am quite ready. And at the
proper time I will speak."
There was no delay. One of the officers remained to search the
apartments, and Jack accompanied the other downstairs. They got into
a cab and drove off, while Mrs. Jones shook her fist at them from the
doorway, loudly protesting that she was a disgraced and ruined woman
forever.
The magistrate was sitting in the court at Great Marlborough street, and
Jack was taken there to undergo a brief preliminary formality. Contrary
to advice, he persisted in making a statement, after which he was
removed to the Holloway prison of detention to await the result of the
coroner's inquest.
About the time that the cell-door closed on the unfortunate artist,
shutting him in to bitter reflections, Victor Nevill was in his rooms on
Jermyn street. Several of the latest papers were spread out before him,
and he brushed them savagely aside as he reached for a cigar-box. He
looked paler than usual--even haggard.
"They have taken him by this time," he thought. "I was lucky to pick up
the letter, and it was a stroke of inspiration to send it to the police.
He is guilty, without doubt. I vowed to have a further revenge, my fine
fellow, if I ever got the chance, and I have kept my word. But there are
other troubles to meet. The clouds are gathering--I wonder if I shall
weather the storm!"
* * * * *
Enterprising reporters, aided by official leaking somewhere, obtained
possession of considerable facts, including the prisoner's arrest and
statement, before two o'clock, and the afternoon journals promptly
published them, not scrupling to add various imaginary embellishments.
The simple truth was enough to cause a wide-spread and profound
sensation, and it did so; for John Vernon's reputation as an artist, and
his Academy successes, were known alike to society and to the masses. It
was a rare morsel of scandal!
Madge Foster's first knowledge of the murder was gleaned from a morning
paper, which, delayed for some reason, was not delivered until her
father had gone up to town. Toward evening she bought a late edition
from a newsboy who had penetrated to the isolated regions of Grove Park
and Strand-on-the-Green, and she saw Jack's name in big letters. When
she had read the whole account, the room seemed to swim around her, and
she dropped, half fainting, into a chair.
"He is innocent--his story is true!" she cried, feebly. "I will never
believe him guilty! Oh, if I could only go to him and comfort him in his
great trouble!"
Stephen Foster came home at seven o'clock, but he dined alone. Madge was
in her room, and would not come out or touch food. Her eyes were red and
swollen, and she had wept until the fountain of her tears was dried up.
At four o'clock that same afternoon Mr. Tenby, the famous criminal
solicitor, was sitting in his private office in Bedford street, Strand,
when two prospective clients were announced simultaneously, and, by a
mistake on the part of the office-boy, shown in together. The visitors
were Jimmie Drexell and Sir Lucius Chesney, and, greatly to their mutual
amazement and the surprise of the solicitor, it appeared that they had
come on the same errand--to engage Mr. Tenby to look after the interests
of Jack Vernon. They were soon on the best of terms.
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