The Mystery of a Hansom Cab

by Fergus Hume

  The clerk bowed and went out, closing the door after him. Moreland took his seat directly in front of Calton, and with his back to the door. Kilsip, seeing this, strolled across the room in a nonchalant manner, while Calton engaged Moreland in conversation, and quietly turned the key.

  ‘You want to see me, sir?’ said Calton, resuming his seat.

  ‘Yes, that is, alone,’ replied Moreland, uneasily.

  ‘Oh, these gentlemen are all my friends,’ said Calton, quietly, ‘anything you may say is quite safe.’

  ‘That they are your friends, and are quite safe, is nothing to me,’ said Moreland, insolently. ‘I wish to speak to you in private.’

  ‘Don’t you think you would like to know my friends?’ said Calton, coolly taking no notice of his remark.

  ‘Damn your friends, sir!’ cried Moreland, furiously, rising from his seat.

  Calton laughed, and introduced Mr Moreland to the others.

  ‘Dr Chinston, Mr Kilsip, and—Mr Fitzgerald.’

  ‘Fitzgerald,’ gasped Moreland, growing pale. ‘I—I—what’s that?’ he shrieked, as he saw Whyte’s coat, all weather-stained, lying on a chair near him, and which he immediately recognised.

  ‘That is the rope that’s going to hang you,’ said Kilsip, quietly, coming behind him, ‘for the murder of Oliver Whyte.’

  ‘Trapped, by God!’ shouted the wretched man, wheeling round, so as to face Kilsip. He sprang at the detective’s throat, and they both rolled together on the floor, but the latter was too strong for him, and, after a sharp struggle, he succeeded in getting the handcuffs on Moreland’s wrists. The others stood around perfectly quiet, knowing that Kilsip required no assistance. Now that there was no possibility of escape, Moreland seemed to become resigned, and rose sullenly off the floor.

  ‘By God! I’ll make you pay for this,’ he hissed between his teeth, with a white, despairing face. ‘You can’t prove anything.’

  ‘Can’t we?’ said Calton, touching the confession. ‘You are wrong. This is the confession of Mark Frettlby, made before he died.’

  ‘It’s a damned lie.’

  ‘A jury will decide that,’ said the barrister, dryly. ‘Meanwhile you will pass the night in the Melbourne Gaol.’

  ‘Ah! perhaps they’ll give me the same cell as you occupied,’ said Moreland, with a hard laugh, turning to Fitzgerald. ‘I should like it for its old associations.’

  Brian did not answer him, but picking up his hat and gloves, prepared to go.

  ‘Stop!’ cried Moreland, fiercely. ‘I see that it’s all up with me, so I’m not going to lie like a coward. I’ve played for a big stake and lost, but if I hadn’t been such a fool, I’d have cashed that cheque next morning, and been far away by this time.’

  ‘It would certainly have been wiser,’ said Calton, quietly.

  ‘After all,’ said Moreland nonchalantly, taking no notice of his remark, ‘I don’t know that I’m sorry about it. I’ve had a hell upon earth since I killed Whyte.’

  ‘Then you acknowledge your guilt,’ said Brian, quietly.

  Moreland shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘I told you I wasn’t a coward,’ he answered, coolly. ‘Yes; I did; it was Whyte’s own fault. When I met him that night he told how Frettlby wouldn’t let him marry his daughter, but said to me that he’d make him, and showed me the marriage certificate. I thought if I could only get it I’d make a nice little pile out of Frettlby over it; so when Whyte went on drinking I did not. After he had gone out of the hotel I put on his coat, which he left behind. I saw him standing near the lamp-post, and Fitzgerald come up and then leave again. When you came down the street,’ he went on, turning to Fitzgerald, ‘I shrank back into the shadow, and when you passed I ran up to Whyte as the cabman was putting him, into the hansom. He took me for you, so I didn’t undeceive him, but I swear I had no idea of murdering Whyte when I got into the cab. I tried to get the papers, but he wouldn’t let me, and commenced to sing out. Then I thought of the chloroform in the pocket of his coat, which I was wearing. I pulled it out, and found that the cork was loose. Then I took out Whyte’s handkerchief, which was also in the coat, and emptied the bottle on it, and put it back in my pocket. I again tried to get the papers, without using the chloroform, but couldn’t, so I clapped the handkerchief over his mouth, and he went off after a few minutes, and I got the papers. I thought he was only insensible, and it was only when I saw the newspapers that I knew he was dead. I stopped the cab in St Kilda Road, got out and caught another cab, which was going to town. Then I got out at Powlett Street, took off the coat, and carried it over my arm. I went down George Street, towards the Fitzroy Gardens, and having hidden the coat up a tree, where I suppose you found it,’ to Kilsip, ‘I walked home—so I’ve done you all nicely, but—’

  ‘You’re caught at last,’ finished Kilsip, quietly.

  Moreland fell down in a chair, with an air of utter weariness and lassitude.

  ‘No man can be stronger than Destiny,’ he said, dreamily. ‘I have lost and you have won, so life is a chessboard, after all, and we are the puppets of Fate.’

  He refused to utter another word, so leaving Calton and Kilsip with him, Brian and the doctor went out and hailed a cab. It drove up to the entrance of the court, where Calton’s office was, and then Moreland, walking as if in a dream, left the room, and got into the cab, followed by Kilsip.

  ‘Do you know?’ said Chinston, thoughtfully, as they stood and watched the cab drive off. ‘Do you know what the end of that man will be?’

  ‘It requires no prophet to foretell that,’ said Calton, dryly. ‘He will be hanged.’

  Brian said nothing, but turned his eyes inquiringly on the doctor.

  ‘He will be hanged,’ repeated Calton.

  ‘No he won’t,’ retorted the doctor. ‘He will commit suicide.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  ‘THE LOVE THAT LIVES’

  There are certain periods in the life of men when Fate seems to have done her worst, and any further misfortunes which may befall are accepted with a philosophical resignation, begotten by the very severity of previous trials. Fitzgerald was in this state of mind—he was calm, but it was the calmness of despair—the misfortunes of the past year seemed to have come to a climax, and he looked forward to the publication of the whole bitter story with an indifference that surprised himself. His own name and that of Madge and her dead father would be on every tongue, yet he felt perfectly callous to whatever might be said on the subject. As long as Madge recovered, and they could go away to another part of the world, leaving Australia, with its bitter memories behind—he did not care. Moreland would suffer the bitter penalty of his crime, and then nothing more would ever be heard of the matter. It would be better for the whole story to be told, and momentary pain endured, than to go on striving to hide the infamy and shame which might be discovered at any moment.

  Already the news was all over Melbourne that the murderer of Oliver Whyte had been captured, and that his confession would bring to light certain startling facts concerning the late Mark Frettlby. Brian well knew that the world winked at secret vices as long as there was an attempt at concealment, though it was cruelly severe on those which were brought to light, and that many whose lives might be secretly far more culpable than poor Mark Frettlby’s, would be the first to slander the dead man. The public curiosity, however, was destined never to be gratified, for the next day it became known that Roger Moreland had hanged himself in his cell during the night, and had left no confession behind him.

  When Brian heard this he breathed a heartfelt prayer of thanks for his deliverance, and went to see Calton, whom he found at his chambers, in deep conversation with Chinston and Kilsip. They all came to the conclusion that as Moreland was now dead, nothing could be gained by publishing the confession of Mark Frettlby, so agreed to burn it, and when Fitzgerald saw in the heap of blackened paper in the fireplace all that remained of the bitter story, he felt a weight lifted off his heart. The barrister, C
hinston, and Kilsip, all promised to keep silent on the subject, and they kept the promise nobly, for nothing was ever known of the circumstances which led to the death of Oliver Whyte, and it was generally supposed that it must have been caused by some quarrel between the dead man and his friend Roger Moreland.

  Fitzgerald, however, did not forget the good service that Kilsip had done him, and gave him a sum of money, which made him independent for life, though he still followed his old profession of a detective, from sheer love of excitement, and was always looked upon with admiration as the man who had solved the mystery of the famous hansom cab murder. Brian, after several consultations with Calton, at last came to the conclusion that it would be no use to reveal to Sal Rawlins the fact that she was Mark Frettlby’s daughter, as by the will the money was clearly left to Madge, and such a revelation could bring her no pecuniary benefit, while her bringing up unfitted her for the position; so a yearly income, more than sufficient for her wants, was settled upon her, and she was allowed to remain in ignorance of her parentage. The influence of Sal Rawlins’ old life, however, was very strong on her, and she devoted herself to the task of saving her fallen sisters, for she knew as she did, all the intricacies of the slums. Knowing enabled her to do an immense amount of good, and many an unhappy woman was saved from the squalor and hardship of a gutter life by the kind hand of Sal Rawlins.

  Felix Rolleston became a member of Parliament, where his speeches, if not very deep, were at least amusing; and while in the House always behaved like a gentleman, which could not be said about all his parliamentary colleagues.

  Madge slowly recovered from her illness, and as she had been explicitly named in the will as heiress to Mark Frettlby’s great wealth, she placed the management of her estates in the hands of Mr Calton, who, with Thinton and Tarbit, acted as her agents in Australia. On her recovery she learned the story of her father’s early marriage, but both Calton and Fitzgerald were silent about the fact of Sal Rawlins being her half-sister, as such a revelation could do no good, and would only create a scandal, as no explanation could be given except the true one. Shortly afterwards Madge married Fitzgerald, and both of them only too gladly left Australia, with all its sorrows and bitter memories.

  Standing with her husband on the deck of one of the P & O steamers, as it ploughed the blue waters of Hobson’s Bay into foam, they both watched Melbourne as it gradually faded from their view, under the glow of the sunset. They could see the two great domes of the Exhibition, and the Law Courts, and also Government House, with its tall tower rising from the midst of the green trees. In the background was a bright crimson sky, barred with masses of black clouds, and over all the great city hung a cloud of smoke like a pall.

  The flaring red light of the sinking sun glared angrily on the heaving waters, and the steamer seemed to be making its way through a sea of blood. Madge, clinging to her husband’s arm, felt her eyes fill with tears, as she saw the land of her birth receding slowly.

  ‘Goodbye,’ she murmured, softly. ‘Goodbye forever.’

  ‘You do not regret?’ he said, bending his head.

  ‘Regret, no,’ she answered, looking at him with loving eyes. ‘With you by my side, I fear nothing. Surely our hearts have been tried in the furnace of affliction, and our love has been chastened and purified.’

  ‘We are sure of nothing in this world,’ replied Brian, with a sigh. ‘But after all the sorrow and grief of the past, let us hope that the future will be peace.’

  ‘Peace!’

  A white winged seagull arose suddenly from the crimson waters, and circled rapidly in the air above them.

  ‘A happy omen,’ she said, looking up fondly to the grave face of her husband, ‘for your life and for mine.’

  He bent down and kissed her.

  The great steamer moved slowly out to sea, and as they stood on the deck, hand clasped in hand, with the fresh salt breeze blowing keenly in their faces, it bore them away into the placid beauty of the coming night, towards the old world and the new life.

  FINIS.