The Illustrious PrinceOppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
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The Illustrious Prince
Oppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
Detective and mystery stories; Princes -- Fiction
The detective was dumb. He stood there patiently waiting. He had the air
of a man who declines to commit himself.
“Just a little interested in me, I think,” the Prince murmured, smiling
at his companion. “Ah, well, many of the things I do over here, perhaps,
must seem very strange. And that reminds me. Only a short time ago you
were asking questions about the man who travelled from Liverpool to
London and reached his destination with a dagger through his heart. Tell
me, Mr. Inspector Jacks, have you discovered the murderer yet?”
“Not yet,” the detective answered.
“I have heard you speak of this affair,” the Prince continued, “and
before now I expected to read in the papers that you had put your hand
upon the guilty one. If you have not done so, I am very sure that there
is some explanation.”
“It is better sometimes to wait,” the detective said quietly.
The Prince bowed as one who understands.
“I think so,” he assented, “I think I follow you. On the very next day
there was another tragedy which seemed to me even more terrible. I mean
the murder of that young fellow Vanderpole, of the American Embassy. Mr.
Inspector Jacks, has it ever occurred to you, I wonder, that it might be
as well to let the solution of one await the solution of the other?”
Inspector Jacks shrugged his shoulders.
“Occasionally,” he admitted reluctantly, “when one is following up a
clue, one discovers things.”
“You are wonderful!” the Prince declared. “You are, indeed! I know what
is in your mind. You have said to yourself, ‘Between these two murders
there is some connection. They were both done by the hand of a master
criminal. The victims in both cases were Americans.’ You said to
yourself, ‘First of all, I will discover the motive; then, perhaps,
a clue which seems to belong to the one will lead me to the other, or
both?’ You are not sure which way to turn. There is nothing there upon
which you can lay your hand. You say to yourself, ‘I will make a bluff.’
That is the word, is it not? You come to me. You tell me gravely that
you have reason to suspect some one in my household. That is because you
believe that the crimes were perpetrated by some one of my country. You
do not ask for information. You think, perhaps, that I would not give
it. You confront me with a statement. It was very clever of you, Mr.
Inspector Jacks.”
“I had reason for what I did, sir,” the detective said.
“No doubt,” the Prince agreed. “And now, tell me, when are you going to
electrify us all? When is the great arrest to take place?”
The detective coughed discreetly.
“I am not yet in a position, sir,” he said, “to make any definite
announcement.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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