Hurd shook the boy to make him talk more, but Tray simply threw himself
on the floor of the carriage and howled. The detective therefore picked
him up and flung him into a corner. "You stop there, you little
ruffian," he said, seriously annoyed at the boy's recalcitrants; "we'll
speak again when we are in Mr. Pash's office." So Tray curled up on the
cushion, looked savagely at the detective and held his tongue.
"What do you think will be the end of all this?" asked Paul, when Master
Clump was thus disposed of.
"Lord knows," replied Hurd, wiping his face. "I never had a harder case
to deal with. I thought Hay had a hand in it, but it seems he hadn't,
bad lot as he is, asking your pardon, Mr. Beecot, since you're his
friend."
"That I am not," disclaimed Beecot, emphatically; "there's a young
lawyer I know, Ford is his name. I went to see him as to what chances
Sylvia had of getting the money. He was at school with me, and
remembered Hay. He said that Hay was dismissed from Torrington School
for stealing."
"Didn't you know that yourself."
"No, I had left the school--I was ill at home with scarlet fever. But
Hay apparently always has been a bad lot. He and that Krill pair are
well matched, for I believe the mother is bad, even if the daughter Maud
isn't. By the way her age--?"
Hurd nodded. "I believe she was fifteen at the time of the death of Lady
Rachel. If so, she can't be legitimate or may not be the daughter of
Aaron Norman. However, I've asked my sister to look up Mrs. Krill's past
life in Stowley, where she comes from."
"But she wasn't married to Krill at Stowley?"
"No. But she lived there as Anne Tyler. From the certificate she was
married to Krill at a small parish church twenty miles from Stowley, so
Aurora will go there. But I want her to stop at Stowley first and learn
all she can about Anne Tyler."
"Beechill's the name of the parish in which she was married to Krill
before she came to Christchurch," said Paul, musingly, "so I expect they
lived there. Miss Qian might search also for the certificate of Maud
Krill's birth."
"I told her to, and, failing that, she's to search in Christchurch. We
must get the certificate of birth somehow."
"Hurd," said Paul, rather diffidently, "I hope you won't be annoyed, but
I have already asked my friend Ford to give notice to Pash to produce
the certificate."
"Well," replied the detective, "you might have told me; but no great
harm is done. What does Pash say?"
"I don't know. Ford has not let me know yet. Here we are."