“Some years ago—to be definite, in May, 1884—there cameto Lee a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared tohave plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the groundsvery nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he madefriends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughterof a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had nooccupation, but was interested in several companies and went intotown as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from CannonStreet every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of age,is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very affectionatefather, and a man who is popular with all who know him. I mayadd that his whole debts at the present moment, as far as wehave been able to ascertain, amount to ￡88 10s., while he has ?220standing to his credit in the Capital and Counties Bank. Thereis no reason, therefore, to think that money troubles have beenweighing upon his mind.
“Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town ratherearlier than usual, remarking before he started that he had twoimportant commissions to perform, and that he would bring hislittle boy home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, hiswife received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly afterhis departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerablevalue which she had been expecting was waiting for her at theoffices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well upin your London, you will know that the office of the company is inFresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, whereyou found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started forthe City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company’s office,got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking throughSwandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followedme so far?”
“It is very clear.”
“If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, andMrs. St. Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeinga cab, as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she foundherself. While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane,she suddenly heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold tosee her husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her,beckoning to her from a second-floor window. The window wasopen, and she distinctly saw his face, which she describes as beingterribly agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and thenvanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her thathe had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind.
One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was thatalthough he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to townin, he had on neither collar nor necktie.
“Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rusheddown the steps—for the house was none other than the opiumden in which you found me to-night—and running through thefront room she attempted to ascend the stairs which led to thefirst floor. At the foot of the stairs, however, she met this lascarscoundrel of whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and,aided by a Dane, who acts as assistant there, pushed her out intothe street. Filled with the most maddening doubts and fears, sherushed down the lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in FresnoStreet a number of constables with an inspector, all on their wayto their beat. The inspector and two men accompanied her back,and in spite of the continued resistance of the proprietor, theymade their way to the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last beenseen. There was no sign of him there. In fact, in the whole ofthat floor there was no one to be found save a crippled wretch ofhideous aspect, who, it seems, made his home there. Both he andthe lascar stoutly swore that no one else had been in the frontroom during the afternoon. So determined was their denial thatthe inspector was staggered, and had almost come to believe thatMrs. St. Clair had been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at asmall deal box which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it.
Out there fell a cascade of children’s bricks. It was the toy whichhe had promised to bring home.
“This discovery, and the evident confusion which the crippleshowed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious.
The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed toan abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished asa sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked outupon the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and thebedroom window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but iscovered at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. Thebedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. Onexamination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill,and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floorof the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front roomwere all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exceptionof his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch—all werethere. There were no signs of violence upon any of these garments,and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. Clair. Out of thewindow he must apparently have gone for no other exit could bediscovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon the sill gave littlepromise that he could save himself by swimming, for the tide wasat its very highest at the moment of the tragedy.
“And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediatelyimplicated in the matter. The lascar was known to be a man of thevilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair’s story, he was known tohave been at the foot of the stair within a very few seconds of herhusband’s appearance at the window, he could hardly have been morethan an accessory to the crime. His defence was one of absoluteignorance, and he protested that he had no knowledge as to thedoings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he could not accountin any way for the presence of the missing gentleman’s clothes.