The tears came into Mrs Masters' eyes. He had been a bad egg, but he
had a good heart at bottom.
"That is very sweet of you, Reggie; it will come in very useful. And
now to go back for a moment to Cathcart Square. Who was the poor devil
who killed himself there? He was as like you as two peas are like each
other."
"I think we have got to find that out," said Reginald Davis gravely.
"Nor, reading the account in the papers, am I quite sure that it was a
suicide."
"But that was the verdict," interrupted the sister.
"I know, but there are peculiar things about the case. Letters
addressed to Reginald Davis were found on him; there was a letter signed
Reginald Davis, addressed to the Coroner, announcing his intention to
commit suicide. Those letters had been placed there by the person who
murdered him, and that person who murdered him was somebody who knew me,
unless it was the accidental taking of a common name."
"But the razor was clutched in his hand, Reggie!"
"Quite easy," replied Davis, who, if not a murderer himself, could
easily project himself, apparently, into the mind of one. "We will
assume, for the moment, it was a man. He cut the poor devil's throat,
and then thrust the razor into his stiffening hand, to convey the idea
of suicide."
"It might be," agreed Mrs Masters.
"Well, Carrie, one thing I have fixed on, and it is one of the things
for which I have come up. I go to Scotland Yard to-morrow, tell them
straight I am Reginald Davis, without a stain upon my character, explain
to them that you were misled by a close resemblance. We will have that
body exhumed. I am firmly convinced it was a murder."
"Let sleeping dogs lie, Reggie," advised Mrs Masters, who had a horror
of the law and its subtle ways. "Never mind who was the poor devil who
was found there, whether he was murdered or committed suicide. It is no
affair of yours."
"It is an affair of mine in this way," replied Davis in a dogged tone.
"The person who murdered the poor devil, as you call him, knew something
about me, and took a liberty with my name."
"It served you a good turn, Reggie, anyway."
"I know; I admit that. But the murderer did not know he was doing me,
thanks to you, a good turn when he killed the other fellow." Mrs
Masters thought deeply for a few moments. "Reggie, you have been a very
bad egg, I am sure. I shall never guess a quarter of what you have been
guilty of."
He laid his hand affectionately on her arm. "Well for you, old girl,
you can't. That is all past and done with. By the way, that letter
found on the poor chap, announcing his intention to commit suicide, did
they ask you to identify my handwriting? Of course, the others
addressed to him didn't matter much. Anybody could have written them.
But my letter was a forgery. Did they ask you to identify that
particular letter?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account