The Bishop's Secret

by Fergus Hume

  CHAPTER XXXIII

  MR BALTIC EXPLAINS HIMSELF

  It was Miss Whichello, who, on the statement of Mrs Pansey as reportedby Mr Cargrim, had told George of his brother's presence on SouthberryHeath at the time of Jentham's murder. She had casually mentioned thefact during an idle conversation; but never for one moment had shedreamed of connecting Gabriel with so atrocious a crime. Nor indeed didCaptain Pendle, until the fact was rudely and unexpectedly brought hometo him by the production of the pistol. Nevertheless, despite thismaterial evidence, he vehemently refused to credit that so gentle abeing as Gabriel had slain a fellow-creature deliberately and in coldblood, particularly as on the face of it no reason could be assigned forso hazardous an act. The curate, in his loyal brother's opinion, wasneither a vindictive fool nor an aimless murderer.

  With this latter opinion Sir Harry very heartily agreed. He had thehighest respect for Gabriel as a man and a priest, and could not believethat he had wantonly committed a brutal crime, so repulsive to hisbenign nature, so contrary to the purity and teachings of his life. Hewas quite satisfied that the young man both could, and would, explainhow the pistol had passed out of his possession; but he did not seek theexplanation himself. Baltic, previous to his departure for London, hadmade Brace promise to question Captain Pendle about the pistol, andreport to him the result of such conversation. Now that the pistol wasproved to have been in the keeping of Gabriel, the baronet knew verywell that Baltic would prefer to question so important a witnesshimself. Therefore, while waiting for the agent's return, he not onlyhimself refrained from seeing Gabriel, but persuaded George not to doso.

  'Your questions will only do more harm than good!' expostulated Brace,'as you have neither the trained capacity nor the experience to examineinto the matter. Baltic returns to-morrow, and as I have every faith inhis judgment and discretion, it will be much better to let him handleit.'

  'Who is this Baltic you talk of so much?' asked the captain,impatiently.

  'He is a private inquiry agent who is trying to discover the man whokilled Jentham.'

  'On behalf of Tinkler, I suppose?'

  'He is working with Tinkler in the matter,' replied Brace, evasively,for he did not want to inform George, the rash and fiery, of hisfather's peril and Cargrim's treachery.

  'Baltic is a London detective, no doubt?'

  'Yes, his brains are more equal than Tinkler's to the task of solvingthe riddle.'

  'He won't arrest Gabriel, I hope,' said George, anxiously.

  'Not unless he is absolutely certain that Gabriel committed the crime;and I am satisfied that he will never arrive at that certainty.'

  'I--should--think--not,' cried Captain Pendle, with disdain. 'Gabriel,poor boy, would not kill a fly, let alone a man. Still, these legalbloodhounds are coarse and unscrupulous.'

  'Baltic is not, George. He is quite a new type of detective, and worksrather from a religious than a judicial point of view.'

  'I never heard of a religious detective before,' remarked George,scornfully.

  'Nor I; it is a new departure, and I am not sure but that it is a goodone, incongruous as it may seem.'

  'Is the man a hypocrite?'

  'By no means. He is thoroughly in earnest. Here, in public, he callshimself a missionary.'

  'Oh! oh! the wolf in the skin of a sheep!'

  'Not at all. The man is--well, it is no use my explaining, as you willsee him shortly, and then can judge for yourself. But if you will takemy advice, George, you will let Baltic figure the matter out on his ownslate, as the Americans say. Don't mention his name or actual businessto anyone. Believe me, I know what I am talking about.'

  'Very well,' grumbled George, convinced by Harry's earnestness, but byno means pleased to be condemned to an interval of ignorance andinactivity. 'I shall hold my tongue and close my eyes. But you agreewith me that Gabriel did not kill the brute?'

  'Of course! From the first I never had any doubts on that score.'

  Here for the time being the conversation ended, and George went his wayto play the part of a careless onlooker. But for his promise, he wouldhave warned Gabriel of the danger which threatened him, and probablyhave complicated matters by premature anger. Luckily for all things, hisfaith in Brace's good sense was strong enough to deter him from so rashand headlong a course; therefore, at home and abroad, he assumed agaiety he did not feel. So here in the episcopalian palace ofBeorminster were three people, each one masking his real feelings inintercourse with the others. The bishop, his son and his schemingchaplain were actors in a comedy of life which--in the opinion of thelast--might easily end up as a tragedy. No wonder their behaviour wasconstrained, no wonder they avoided one another. They were as men livingover a powder magazine which the least spark would explode withthunderous noise and damaging effect.

  Baltic was the _deus ex machina_ to strike the spark for ignition, buthe seemed in no hurry to do so. Punctual to his promise he returned toBeorminster, and heard Sir Harry's report about the pistol with graveattention. Without venturing an opinion for or against the curate, heasked Sir Harry to preserve a strict silence until such time as he gavehim leave to speak, and afterwards took his way to Gabriel's lodgings inthe lower part of the town. There he was fortunate enough to find youngPendle within doors, and after a lengthy interview with him on mattersconnected with the crime, he again sought the baronet. A detailedexplanation to that gentleman resulted in a visit of both to Sir Harry'sbank, and an interesting conversation with its manager. When Brace andBaltic finally found themselves on the pavement, the face of the firstwore an expression of exultation, while the latter, in his reticent way,looked soberly satisfied. Both had every reason for these signs oftriumph, for they had touched the highest pinnacle of success.

  'I suppose there can be no doubt about it, Baltic?'

  'None whatever, Sir Harry. Every link in the chain of evidence iscomplete.'

  'You are a wonderful man, Baltic; you have scored off that fool of aTinkler in a very neat way.'

  'The inspector is no fool in his own sphere, sir,' reproved the seriousex-sailor, 'but this case happened to be beyond it.'

  'And beyond him also,' chuckled the baronet.

  'There is no denying that, Sir Harry. However, the man is useful in hisown place, and having done my part, I shall now ask him to do his.'

  'What is his task, eh?'

  'To procure a warrant on my evidence. The man must be arrested thisafternoon.'

  'And then, Baltic?'

  'Then, sir,' said the man, solemnly, 'I shall be no longer an agent, buta missionary; and in my own poor way I shall strive to bring him torepentance.'

  'After bringing him to the gallows. A queer way of inducing good,Baltic.'

  'Whoso loseth all gaineth all,' quoted Baltic, in all earnestness; 'mymission is not to destroy souls but to save them.'

  'Humph! you destroy the material part for the salvation of thespiritual. A man called Torquemada conducted his religious crusade inthe same way some hundreds of years ago, and has been cursed for hissystem by humanity ever since. Your morality--or rather I should sayyour religiosity--is beyond me, Baltic.'

  '_Magnas veritas et praevalebit!_' misquoted Baltic, solemnly, and,touching his hat roughly, turned away to finish the work he felt himselfcalled upon by his religious convictions to execute.

  Harry looked after him with a satirical smile. 'You filched that morselof dog Latin out of the end of the English dictionary, my friend,' hethought, 'and your untutored mind does not apply it with particularrelevancy. But I see that, like all fanatics, you distort texts andsayings into fitting your own peculiar views. Well, well, the ends youaim at are right enough, no doubt, but your method of reaching them isas queer a one as ever came under my notice. Go your ways, TorquemadaBaltic, there are the germs of a mighty intolerant sect in your kind ofteaching, I fear,' and in his turn Sir Harry went about his own affairs.

  Inspector Tinkler, more purple-faced and important than ever, sat in hisprivate office, twirling his thumbs and
nodding his head for lack ofbusiness on which to employ his mighty mind. The afternoon, by somefreak of the sun which had to do with his solar majesty's unusual spottycomplexion, was exceptionally hot for a late September day, and the heatmade Mr Inspector drowsy and indolent. He might have fallen into thecondition of an official sleeping beauty, but that a sharp knock at thedoor roused him sufficiently to bid the knocker enter, whereupon awell-fed policeman presented himself with the information--delivered ina sleepy, beefy voice--that Mr Baltic wished to see Mr Tinkler. The nameacted like a douche of iced water on the inspector, and he sharplyordered the visitor to be admitted at once. In another minute Baltic wasin the office, saluting the head of the Beorminster police in his usualgrave style.

  'Ha, Mr Baltic, sir!' rasped out Tinkler, in his parade voice, 'I amglad to see you. There is a seat, and here am I; both at your service.'

  'Thank you, Mr Inspector,' said Baltic, and, taking a seat, carefullycovered his knees with the red bandanna, and adjusted his straw hat ontop of it according to custom.

  'Well, sir, well,' grunted Mr Inspector, pompously, 'and how does yourlittle affair get on?'

  'It has got on so far, sir, that I have come to ask you for a warrant ofarrest.'

  'By George! eh! what! Have you found him?' roared Tinkler, starting backwith an incredulous look.

  'I have discovered the man who murdered Jentham! Yes.'

  'Good!' snapped Tinkler, trying to conceal his amazement by a reversionto his abrupt military manner. 'His name?'

  'I'll tell you that when I have related my evidence incriminating him.It is as well to be orderly, Mr Inspector.'

  'Certainly, Mr Baltic, sir. Order is at the base of all discipline.'

  'I should rather say that discipline is the basis of order,' returnedBaltic, with a dry smile; 'however, we can discuss that question later.At present I shall detail my evidence against'--Mr Inspector leanedeagerly forward--'against the man who killed Jentham.' Mr Inspectorthrew himself back with a disappointed snort.

  ''Tention!' threw out Tinkler, and arranged pen and ink and paper totake notes. 'Now, Mr Baltic, sir!'

  'My knowledge of the man Jentham,' droned Baltic, in his monotonousvoice, 'begins at the moment I was informed by Mr Cargrim that he calledat the palace to see Bishop Pendle a few days before he met with hisviolent end. It would appear--although of this I am not absolutelycertain--that the bishop knew Jentham when he occupied a morerespectable position and answered to another name!'

  'Memorandum,' wrote down Tinkler, 'to inquire if his lordship can supplyinformation regarding the past of the so-called Jentham.'

  'The bishop,' continued the narrator, with a covert smile at Tinkler'sunnecessary scribbling, 'was apparently sorry to see an old friend in ahomeless and penniless condition, for to help him on in the world hegave him the sum of two hundred pounds.'

  'That,' declared Tinkler, throwing down his pen, 'is charity gonemad--if'--he emphasised the word--'if, mark me, it is true.'

  'If it were not true I should not state it,' rejoined Baltic, gravely.'As a Christian I have a great regard for the truth. Bishop Pendle drewthat sum out of his London account in twenty ten-pound notes. I have thenumbers of those notes, and I traced several to the possession of theassassin, who must have taken them from the corpse. On these grounds, MrInspector, I assert that Dr Pendle gave Jentham two hundred pounds.'Tinkler again took up his pen. 'Memo,' he set down, 'to ask his lordshipif he helped the so-called Jentham with money. If so, how much?'

  'As you know,' resumed Baltic, with deliberation, 'Jentham was shotthrough the heart, but the pistol could not be found. It is now in mypossession, and I obtained it from Mother Jael!'

  'What! did she kill the poor devil?'

  'I have already said that the murderer is a man, Mr Inspector. MotherJael knows nothing about the crime, save that she heard the shot andafterwards picked up the pistol near the corpse. I obtained it from herwith considerable ease!'

  'By threatening her with the warrant I gave you, no doubt.'

  Baltic shook his head. 'I made no mention of the warrant, nor did Iproduce it,' he replied, 'but I happen to know something of the Romanytongue, and be what the Spaniards call "_affeciado_" to the gipsies.When Mother Jael was convinced that I was a brother of tent and road,she gave me the pistol without ado. It is best to work by kindness, MrInspector.'

  'We can't all be gipsies, Mr Baltic, sir. Proceed! What about thepistol?'

  'The pistol,' continued Baltic, passing over the envious sneer, 'had asilver plate on the butt, inscribed with the letters "G.P." I did notknow if the weapon belonged to Bishop George Pendle, Captain GeorgePendle, or to Mr Gabriel Pendle.'

  Inspector Tinkler looked up aghast. 'By Jupiter! sir, you don't mean totell me that you suspected the bishop? Damme, Mr Baltic, how dare you?'

  Now the missionary was not going to confide in this official thick-headregarding Cargrim's suspicions of the bishop, which had led him toconnect the pistol with the prelate; so he evaded the difficulty byexplaining that as the lent money was a link between the bishop andJentham, and the initials on the pistol were those of his lordship, henaturally fancied that the weapon belonged to Dr Pendle, 'although Iwill not go so far as to say that I suspected him,' finished Baltic,smoothly.

  'I should think not!' growled Tinkler, wrathfully. 'Bishops don't murdertramps in England, whatever they may do in the South Seas!' and he madea third note, 'Memo.--To ask his lordship if he lost a pistol.'

  'As Captain George Pendle is a soldier, Mr Inspector, I fancied--on thetestimony of the initials--that the pistol might belong to him. Onputting the question to him, it appeared that the weapon was hisproperty--'

  'The devil!'

  'But that he had lent it to Mr Gabriel Pendle to protect himself fromroughs when that young gentleman was a curate in Whitechapel, London.'

  'Well, I'm--d--blessed!' ejaculated Tinkler, with staring eyes; 'so MrGabriel killed Jentham!'

  'Don't jump to conclusions, Mr Inspector. Gabriel Pendle is innocent. Inever thought that he was guilty, but I fancied that he might supplylinks in the chain of evidence to trace the real murderer. Of course,you know that Mr Gabriel lately went to Germany?'

  'Yes, I know that.'

  'Very good! As the initials "G. P." also stood for Gabriel Pendle, I wasnot at all sure but what the pistol might be his. For the moment Iassumed that it was, that he had shot Jentham, and that the stolen moneyhad been used by him.'

  'But you hadn't the shadow of a proof, Mr Baltic.'

  'I had the pistol with the initials,' retorted the missionary, 'but, asI said, I never suspected Mr Gabriel. I only assumed his guilt for themoment to enable me to trace the actual criminal. To make a long storyshort, Mr Inspector, I went up to London and called at Cook's office.There I discovered that Mr Gabriel had paid for his ticket with aten-pound note. That note,' added Baltic, impressively, 'was one ofthose given by the bishop to Jentham and stolen by the assassin from thebody of his victim. I knew it by the number.'

  Tinkler thumped the desk with his hand in a state of uncontrolledexcitement. 'Then Mr Gabriel must be guilty,' he declared in his moststentorian voice.

  'Hush, if you please,' said Baltic, with a glance at the door. 'Thereis no need to let your subordinates know what is not true.'

  'What is not true, sir?'

  'Precisely. I questioned Mr Gabriel on my return, and learned that hehad changed a twenty-pound note at The Derby Winner prior to hisdeparture for Germany. Mosk, the landlord, gave him the ten I traced toCook's and two fives. Hush, please! Mr Gabriel also told me that he hadlent the pistol to Mosk to protect himself from tramps when riding toand from Southberry, so--'

  'I see! I see!' roared Tinkler, purple with excitement. 'Mosk is theguilty man!'

  'Quite so,' rejoined Baltic, unmoved. 'You have hit upon the right manat last.'

  'So Bill Mosk shot Jentham. Oh, Lord! Damme! Why?'

  'Don't swear, Mr Inspector, and I'll tell you. Mosk committed the murderto get the two hundred pounds
. I suspected Mosk almost from thebeginning. The man was almost always drunk and frequently in tears. Ifound out while at The Derby Winner that he could not pay his rentshortly before Jentham's murder. After the crime I learned from SirHarry Brace, the landlord, that Mosk had paid his rent. When Mr Gabrieltold me about the lending of the pistol and the changing of the note, Iwent to Sir Harry's bank, and there, Mr Inspector, I discovered that thebank-notes with which he paid his rent were those given by the bishop toJentham. On that evidence, on the evidence of the pistol, on theevidence that Mosk was absent at Southberry on the night of the murder,I ask you to obtain a warrant and arrest the man this afternoon.'

  'I shall see a magistrate about it at once,' fussed Tinkler, tearing uphis now useless memoranda. 'Bill Mosk! Damme! Bill Mosk! I never shouldhave thought a drunken hound like him would have the pluck to do it.Hang me if I did!'

  'I don't call it pluck to shoot an unarmed man, Mr Inspector. It israther the act of a coward.'

  'Coward or not, he must swing for it,' growled Tinkler. 'Mr Baltic, sir,I am proud of you. You have done what I could not do myself. Take myhand and my thanks, sir. Become a detective, sir, and learn our trade.When you know our business you will do wonders, sir, wonders!'

  In the same patronising way a rush-light might have congratulated thesun on his illuminating powers and have advised him to become--a pennycandle.