Detective and mystery stories; London (England) -- Fiction; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction
On sending in his card at Mere Hall, the detective was admitted into
the study of Sir Louis Fellenger. Here he found not the baronet but
his old acquaintance Dr. Renshaw, who advanced boldly and introduced
himself as Dr. Binjoy. In place of wearing a thick brown beard he was
clean-shaven, and his face looked young, fresh-coloured, and smooth.
For the rest he was as tall and burly as ever, as unctuous in his
speech; and to complete the resemblance between himself and the doctor
of Tooley's Alley, there lurked an unmistakable look of anxiety in his
grey eyes. It was impossible to think how he hoped to deceive so
clever a man as Fanks by so slight a change in his personal
appearance; but he evidently thought Fanks knew nothing of the truth,
for he came forward with a bland smile, prepared to carry on the
comedy.
"My dear sir," said Binjoy, with magnificent pompousness, "your card
was brought to Sir Louis, but he has been busy in his laboratory, and
is rather untidy in consequence, he deputed me to receive you. Pray be
seated."
Fanks smiled slightly and sat down, while Dr. Binjoy, rendered uneasy
by the silence, carried on a difficult conversation.
"I presume, Mr. Fanks, that you have come to report your doings to Sir
Louis touching this unfortunate death of my friend's predecessor in
the title. May I ask if you have any clue to the assassin?"
"Oh, yes," said Fanks, quietly; "you will be pleased to hear, Dr.
Binjoy, that I have every hope of arresting the right man."
Binjoy turned grey and looked anything but delighted. Indeed an
unprejudiced observer would have said that he looked thoroughly
frightened. But he controlled himself so far as to falter out a
question as to the name of the guilty man. Fanks mentioned the name of
Renshaw, and thereby reduced his listener to a state of abject terror.
"Renshaw is innocent, sir," said the doctor, tremulously, "I would he
were here to defend himself; but he is in India at present, at Bombay.
I received a letter from him, dated from Aden."
"How strange," said Fanks, innocently; "Dr. Turnor got a letter from
him also."
Binjoy saw that he had over-reached himself, and bit his lip. "We need
discuss Renshaw no longer," he said, coolly. "Let us talk of other
matters till Sir Louis enters."
"By all means," said Fanks. "Let me ask you, Dr. Binjoy, what you
were doing at Dr. Turnor's in Great Auk Street on the night of the
twenty-first?"
Binjoy went pale again, and stammered out a denial. "I was not in town
on that night," he protested. "I was attending on Sir Louis, who was
ill. I never left the house at Taxton-on-Thames."
"Oh, yes, you did. You went up with Sir Louis."
"Prove it, prove it," gasped Binjoy, with white lips.
"I can prove it by the mouth of Mrs. Jerusalem. She saw you leave; she
saw Sir Louis return alone."
"A lie! A lie!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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