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Page 83
Mrs. Rickett took comfort, and fervently declared that her visitor
was a real gentleman. She offered him a cup of tea, which he tactfully
accepted, and then fortified her inner self with one, preliminary to
making her statement.
"I'm that flustered I 'ardly know what I'm doing," she began, wiping her
lips with a corner of her apron. "As to why I didn't speak before, it's
just this, sir. I liked that young man's face, 'im I met comin' out of
my 'ouse that night, and I thought afterward the woman might 'ave done
'im a bitter wrong, which, of course, ain't excusin' 'im for the
dreadful crime of murder, and I wouldn't 'ave you think it--"
"Then you know something that might be harmful to Mr. Vernon?" Jimmie
interrupted. He began to suspect the situation.
"That's it, sir!"
"But, my good woman, Mr. Vernon is absolutely innocent. Take my word
for it. The other man, who left the house just before my friend, is the
guilty person."
"I didn't believe in that other man at first," Mrs. Rickett replied;
"but it looks like the story might be true, after all. And if it is--"
"Well?"
"Then I can tell something about _him_; leastwise I think so."
"Go on!" Jimmie said, eagerly.
"I 'eard it from that French woman, Dinah Mer--I never _can_ pernounce
the name," continued Mrs. Rickett. "Pore creature, what a 'orrible end;
though it's a mercy it was so sudden like. But, as I was saying, sir,
she lodged in my 'ouse last spring, and she come back only three days
before the murder. She never 'ad much to say for 'erself, an' I judged
she was stiff and proud. You'll believe I was taken all aback, then,
when she walked into this 'ere very room one evening--it was last
Thursday, the day before the murder--an' takes off her cloak as cool as
you please. 'Mrs. Rickett,' she says, 'I'm feelin' badly. Can you give
me a cup of tea?' Of course I says yes. I was 'aving my own tea at the
time, and I asked 'er to join me, sociable like. By an' by she got to
tellin' me about 'erself. It appears she wasn't really French, but was
born at Dunwold, a village in Sussex, an' lived there till she was grown
up, after which she went abroad. Then she says to me, of a sudden: 'I
met a man to-day--'"
"One moment!" Jimmie interrupted. He took a note-book and pencil from
his pocket, and jotted down a few lines. "Please resume now," he added.
"What did the deceased tell you?"
"She told me that she'd met a man on Regent street from her native
English village, meaning Dunwold," Mrs. Rickett went on, "and that he
give her a bad fright. 'Is he an enemy of yours?' I asked. 'Yes, a
bitter one,' she says, 'an' I'm mortal afraid of him. An' the worst of
it is I'm sure he saw me, though I give 'im the slip by going into Swan
and Edgar's at one door and out at another. If he finds me, Mrs. Rickett,
'e'll kill me.' I told 'er not to worrit 'erself, an' I clean furgot the
matter till the next night, when the pore dear creature was stabbed to
the 'eart. I thought I should 'ave lost my 'ead, what with the crowds
that gathered, an' the police in the 'ouse, an' the doctors a viewin'
the departed corpse, an'--"
Jimmie checked her by a gesture.
"Are you sure you have told me everything?" he asked.
"Every blessed word, sir. It's the first and only time the woman spoke
to me of 'erself."
Jimmie jotted down a few more notes, and his hand shook like a leaf, so
greatly was he thrilled by the value of his discovery. Then he put Mrs.
Rickett through a cross-examination, in what he flattered himself was a
strictly legal style. Certainly Mr. Tenby could not have done it better,
for the landlady had nothing more to tell.
"I 'ope you're satisfied," she said. "And you won't forget what you
promised--that I shouldn't get into trouble?"
"I'll see to that," Jimmie replied. "It can be easily managed. I trust
that what you have told me will lead to the acquittal of my friend. Here
are ten pounds for you, and, if all goes well, I shall probably add to
it at another time."
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