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Page 28
Colonel Hughes laid his hand on the boy's shoulder, and the latter
went on: "They reached me--those frightful insinuations about
Stephen--in a round about way; and when he came home from India I
resolved to watch him. I saw him go often to the house of this
woman. I satisfied myself that she was the same one involved in
the stories coming from Rangoon; then, under another name, I managed
to meet her. I hinted to her that I myself was none too loyal; not
completely, but to a limited extent, I won her confidence. Gradually
I became convinced that my brother was indeed disloyal to his country,
to his name, to us all. It was at that tea time you have mentioned
when I finally made up my mind. I had already bought a revolver; and,
with it in my pocket, I went to the Savoy for dinner."
He rose and paced the floor.
"I left the Savoy early and went to Stephen's rooms. I was resolved
to have it out with him, to put the matter to him bluntly; and if he
had no explanation to give me I intended to kill him then and there.
So, you see, I was guilty in intention if not in reality. I entered
his study. It was filled with strangers. On his sofa I saw my
brother Stephen lying--stabbed above the heart--dead!" There was
a moment's silence. "That is all," said Lieutenant Fraser-Freer.
"I take it," said Hughes kindly, "that we have finished with the
lieutenant. Eh, Inspector?"
"Yes," said Bray shortly. "You may go."
"Thank you," the boy answered. As he went out he said brokenly to
Hughes: "I must find him--my father."
Bray sat in his chair, staring hard ahead, his jaw thrust out
angrily. Suddenly he turned on Hughes.
"You don't play fair," he said. "I wasn't told anything of the
status of the captain at the War Office. This is all news to me."
"Very well," smiled Hughes. "The bet is off if you like."
"No, by heaven!" Bray cried. "It's still on, and I'll win it yet.
A fine morning's work I suppose you think you've done. But are we
any nearer to finding the murderer? Tell me that."
"Only a bit nearer, at any rate," replied Hughes suavely. "This
lady, of course, remains in custody."
"Yes, yes," answered the inspector. "Take her away!" he ordered.
A constable came forward for the countess and Colonel Hughes
gallantly held open the door.
"You will have an opportunity, Sophie," he said, "to think up
another story. You are clever--it will not be hard."
She gave him a black look and went out. Bray got up from his desk.
He and Colonel Hughes stood facing each other across a table, and
to me there was something in the manner of each that suggested
eternal conflict.
"Well?" sneered Bray.
"There is one possibility we have overlooked," Hughes answered.
He turned toward me and I was startled by the coldness in his eyes.
"Do you know, Inspector," he went on, "that this American came to
London with a letter of introduction to the captain--a letter from
the captain's cousin, one Archibald Enwright? And do you know that
Fraser-Freer had no cousin of that name?"
"No!" said Bray.
"It happens to be the truth," said Hughes. "The American has
confessed as much to me."
"Then," said Bray to me, and his little blinking eyes were on me
with a narrow calculating glance that sent the shivers up and down
my spine, "you are under arrest. I have exempted you so far because
of your friend at the United States Consulate. That exemption ends
now."
I was thunderstruck. I turned to the colonel, the man who had
suggested that I seek him out if I needed a friend--the man I had
looked to to save me from just such a contingency as this. But his
eyes were quite fishy and unsympathetic.
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