Dr. Jim could not conceal from himself, that he was rather jumping at conclusions with regard to the guilt of Joyce. The man had deliberately lied about his visit to Frith, and had not slept at the Hull Hotel, as he had stated. Herrick could not account for Robin's movements on the night of the twenty-fourth of July, and on that same night Colonel Carr had met with his death. Then again, Robin was connected indirectly with Carr through his mother, although there was nothing to show the relations which had existed between the Colonel and Mrs. Joyce. Finally Joyce was in possession of an old-fashioned weapon, firing a round bullet of the antiquated sort. And Carr had been killed with just such a bullet. This was all the evidence Jim could find which was likely to inculpate Robin.
On the other hand there was no reason why Joyce should not be able to defend himself. He certainly could not explain away the lies he had told Herrick about the visit to the solicitors, and the pretended income, but he might be able to account for his doings on the night of the twenty-fourth, and for the possession of the pistol. After all he had shown no hesitation in accepting Herrick's invitation to Saxham. If he were guilty he would be afraid to venture there lest he should be met by some one who had seen him on the night of the murder in the vicinity of "The Pines." His determination to come to Saxham looked like innocence, and Jim granted as much.
The most important link to be discovered in the chain of evidence, was the way in which Robin (if guilty) had come to Saxham. Owing to the presence of Herrick at Southberry, he would not have risked going by that line, seeing that he had to change at the junction. The other line branched off from the main trunk, before it reached Southberry and touched at Heathcroft, six miles from Saxham. Herrick made up his mind that when he got to Saxham, he would go to Heathcroft to make inquiries. If he could prove that Robin had alighted at that station, there would no longer be any doubt of his guilt. No doubt Joyce, if he had come to Heathcroft, had disguised himself, but he might not think of increasing his stature by artificial means, and he was so exceptionally small that even the most casual observer would remark upon it.
"I shall give him every opportunity of defending himself," thought Herrick. "If I find that he came to Heathcroft, he will have to account to me for his doings. I must know the truth, or else part with him as a friend for ever." Then the doctor thought with a qualm, that if he did learn the truth, the parting might be more complete than he imagined. If Joyce were indeed guilty he would find himself in a dilemma, as to whether he should hold his tongue or denounce the man he had been so friendly with. It would not be a pleasant position.
It was when he was in the train that Herrick thought of this. With Stephen he was returning to Saxham, and the two had provided themselves with newspapers and magazines to beguile the tedium of the journey. For some time Herrick had been concealed behind the Daily Telegraph, pretending to read. But in reality he had been thinking over the case of Robin Joyce. Marsh was in good spirits, and inclined to talk. So Dr. Jim yielded, for after all his thoughts were anything but pleasant.
"You are glad to go back to Saxham Stephen?" he said.
Marsh-Carr (as he must now be called) nodded and smiled. "Very glad," he said. "I find a little of London goes a long way. I want to be in my own country amongst my own friends."
"You will have a large circle soon Stephen. When you are settled at 'The Pines,' all the county will call. They will be delighted that in that beautiful house, there will be some one they can know. You must make the Carr family once more important in the county."
"I am afraid I am not ambitious," said Stephen, "my nature is a somewhat retiring one, I fancy. I shall attend to my estates and write poetry."
"You have no desire to go into parliament?"
"Not the least. Books and friends; those are what I want. Of course I shall try and do good in my own way, but I do not wish to take part in public life. There will be plenty for me to do in a small way Herrick."
"I think you are right," responded Herrick soberly, "and you have had such a wretched life hitherto, that it is but fair you should have a few years of enjoyment. But you must travel for a time before you settle down."
"I shall be pleased to. But of course as you know I shall not be able to leave Saxham until the end of a year. I want to be certain of holding the property. I wonder why my uncle left instructions that a new vault should be built, and should be visited; and why for a year?"
"I cannot understand myself," replied Herrick, "your uncle was a man of mystery. But I have learned something of his past Stephen," and Herrick related his meeting with Don Manuel and what he had been told about the doings of Carr in South America.
Stephen looked uneasy and grave. "I hope this money was obtained in quite a proper way," he said, "otherwise I should be afraid to use it. If it is what the gipsies call red money--that is obtained by bloodshed, I would rather give it up. For it can bring only a curse."
"I do not think you need trouble on that score," replied Jim with a shrug. "Heaven knows that Carr was not scrupulous, but with regard to the fortune he brought home, if it was taken from some treasure chamber of those Inca monarchs, the spoil was legitimate enough. If I came across such a treasure I should have no hesitation in taking it. The worst feature of the expedition was the leaving of Santiago with the Indians, but as he is still alive, no harm has been done."
"Do you think I ought to give him some money?" asked Stephen.
"Certainly not," was Herrick's emphatic reply. "In the first place we do not know that the story is true; in the second place I am convinced that the Mexican is a scoundrel, and in the third, it is not your place to impoverish yourself for the sake of other people."
"I wish I could find out the story of my uncle's life!"
"Well! Don Manuel is probably coming down to Saxham on a sentimental pilgrimage to see the grave of a man he detested. He may tell you all he knows if you question him."
"Probably he will tell me a very pretty story," said Stephen dryly, "but will it be true. I do not want the Arabian Nights."
Herrick shrugged his shoulders. "I should not care to take Santiago's word myself," he said, "still amongst his lies there may be some grain of truth. But where the real truth will be found is in that secret writing which Bess gave to me."
"Bess!" cried Marsh-Carr with a smile.
Dr. Jim coloured and apologised. "A slip of the tongue," he said, "I hear you talk of Bess so frequently that I am apt to fall into the same habit. But this writing," he added hurriedly to avoid further explanation, "as you know, we can make nothing of it. Yet if we could read it, something tangible might be discovered."
"I really do not see why I should trouble at all about my uncle's villainies," said Marsh-Carr rather impatiently, "the estate is mine now, and I want to enjoy it without worrying my conscience. Of course I do worry. As to the writing, there is a cryptogram in the 'Telegraph' which resembles the paper you showed me. Here it is, in the Agony Column."
Herrick took the newspaper, and looked at the paragraph indicated by Stephen. The jumble of letters did indeed resemble that on the piece of Chinese paper. In print the cryptogram was as follows:--Eqhrbn: Gxcd: Ozqj: Bnqmdq; 15, Nbsnadq: Rodzj: Sn: Aktd: Bknsgdr: Vghsd: Gzs: Fknur: Rgndr: Dzqqr: Lnmdx.
Dr. Jim read this over twice, then took out the Chinese paper and compared the two cryptograms. "I believe the secret writing is the same," he said with some excitement. "See Stephen, in each there are figures, and in each the figures are the same. Fifteen. I believe that this was inserted by some one who knew Carr. It may be from Frisco communicating with a third person about the murder."
"True enough;" replied Stephen, "yet it might merely be a coincidence."
"If the figures were not the same I might think so. But that in both there should be fifteen is strange, to say the least of it."
"Perhaps thirty is the key to the cipher."
"It might be so," said Herrick studying the 'Telegraph,' "but I am hanged if I can see how to apply it. Oh, that Edgar Allen Poe were at hand! He could unravel any cipher in ten minutes. The man had a marvellous gift in that way."
"I once read a book on cipher-writing," said Marsh-Carr after a pause, "it said that to unravel a line of secret writing, it was best to search for the character that represented 'E,' since that letter is used more frequently than any other in the English language."
"There you lay a finger on the weak spot," said Jim quickly, "This cipher may be written in Spanish for all I know."
"Why in Spanish particularly?"
"Because if it applied to Colonel Carr and his doings, that is the most likely language he would use, other than English. He was mostly in Mexico and Peru, if Manuel is to be believed, and there Spanish is spoken as you know, Stephen. This may be a writing in that tongue."
"Well Herrick, you know Spanish, so you might,--"
"Yes, I might," interrupted Dr. Jim sarcastically, "if I were acquainted with secret writing. But this is Dutch to me and worse, for I have some knowledge of Dutch and absolutely none of this. Let us try your "E" idea Stephen, and see what we make of it. The Chinese paper cipher is the shortest. We will count the letter that is most frequent, and call it 'E.' Something may come of the attempt." Herrick counted and Stephen checked his reckoning. "Four 'D's,'" said Jim. "Five 'K's.' Three 'Z's:' and Three 'R's.'. Humph! Seems to me that 'K' is the predominating letter, and once it comes 'K.K' which might stand for double 'E.' Well we'll call it 'E.'"
"But here are two 'R's' together," said Stephen. "That might stand also for double 'E.'"
"Yes! But you forget that there are five 'K's' to three 'R's.' We agreed to call the letter which predominated 'E.'"
"All right. Fire away, and see what you make of it."
For the next hour the two men with pencil and paper, did their best to extort sense from the jumble of letters on this basis. At the end of the time they were both out of temper, and had not succeeded in obtaining even one reasonable word.
"Hang it!" said Stephen throwing his paper to the other end of the carriage. "I don't believe it makes sense at all!"
"Nonsense," replied Herrick wiping his face, "it is sure to make sense. All ciphers do. And I daresay this is an easy one. The easiest are usually the most difficult to unravel. That is an epigram Stephen."
Stephen had taken up the paper again and was studying the cipher. "Fifteen I.T.K.X." he said musingly, "the figures and the letters run together here."
"So they do in the Telegraph cipher," said Herrick, and read out, "Fifteen N.b.s.n.a.d.q. What of that?"
"I thought it might be a date," said Marsh-Carr apologetically.<............