Bat Wing

by Sax Rohmer

  Detective-Inspector Wessex arrived at about five o'clock; a quiet,resourceful man, highly competent, and having the appearance of anex-soldier. His respect for the attainments of Paul Harley alone markedhim a student of character. I knew Wessex well, and was delighted whenPedro showed him into the library.

  "Thank God you are here, Wessex," said Harley, when we had exchangedgreetings. "At last I can move. Have you seen the local officer incharge?"

  "No," replied the Inspector, "but I gather that I have beenrequisitioned over his head."

  "You have," said Harley, grimly, "and over the head of the ChiefConstable, too. But I suppose it is unfair to condemn a man for theshortcoming with which nature endowed him, therefore we must endeavourto let Inspector Aylesbury down as lightly as possible. I have an ideathat I heard him return a while ago."

  He walked out into the hall to make enquiries, and a few moments later Iheard Inspector Aylesbury's voice.

  "Ah, there you are, Inspector Aylesbury," said Harley, cheerily. "Willyou please step into the library for a moment?"

  The Inspector entered, frowning heavily, followed by my friend.

  "There is no earthly reason why we should get at loggerheads over thisbusiness," Harley continued; "but the fact of the matter is, InspectorAylesbury, that there are depths in this case to which neither you norI have yet succeeded in penetrating. You have a reputation to consider,and so have I. Therefore I am sure you will welcome the cooperation ofDetective-Inspector Wessex of Scotland Yard, as I do."

  "What's this, what's this?" said Aylesbury. "I have made no applicationto London."

  "Nevertheless, Inspector, it is quite in order," declared Wessex. "Ihave my instructions here, and I have reported to Market Hilton already.You see, the man you have detained is an American citizen."

  "What of that?"

  "Well, he seems to have communicated with his Embassy." Wessex glancedsignificantly at Paul Harley. "And the Embassy communicated with theHome Office. You mustn't regard my arrival as any reflection on yourability, Inspector Aylesbury. I am sure we can work together quiteagreeably."

  "Oh," muttered the other, in evident bewilderment, "I see. Well, ifthat's the way of it, I suppose we must make the best of things."

  "Good," cried Wessex, heartily. "Now perhaps you would like to stateyour case against the detained man?"

  "A sound idea, Wessex," said Paul Harley. "But perhaps, InspectorAylesbury, before you begin, you would be good enough to speak to theconstable on duty at the entrance to the Tudor garden. I am anxious totake another look at the spot where the body was found."

  Inspector Aylesbury took out his handkerchief and blew his nose loudly,continuing throughout the operation to glare at Paul Harley, andfinally:

  "You are wasting your time, Mr. Harley," he declared, "asDetective-Inspector Wessex will be the first to admit when I have givenhim the facts of my case. Nevertheless, if you want to examine thegarden, do so by all means."

  He turned without another word and stamped out of the library across thehall and into the courtyard.

  "I will join you again in a few minutes, Wessex," said Paul Harley,following.

  "Very good, Mr. Harley," Wessex answered. "I know you wouldn't have hadme down if the case had been as simple as he seems to think it is."

  I joined Harley, and we walked together up the gravelled path, meetingInspector Aylesbury and the constable returning.

  "Go ahead, Mr. Harley!" cried the Inspector. "If you can find anystronger evidence than the rifle, I shall be glad to take a look at it."

  Harley nodded good-humouredly, and together we descended the steps tothe sunken garden. I was intensely curious respecting the investigationwhich Harley had been so anxious to make here, for I recognized thatit was associated with something which he had seen from the window ofCamber's hut.

  He walked along the moss-grown path to the sun-dial, and stood for amoment looking down at the spot where Menendez had lain. Then he staredup the hill toward the Guest House; and finally, directing his attentionto the yews which lined the sloping bank:

  "One, two, three, four," he counted, checking them with hisfingers--"five, six, seven."

  He mounted the bank and began to examine the trunk of one of the trees,whilst I watched him in growing astonishment.

  Presently he turned and looked down at me.

  "Not a trace, Knox," he murmured; "not a trace. Let us try again."

  He moved along to the yew adjoining that which he had already inspected,but presently shook his head and passed to the next. Then:

  "Ah!" he cried. "Come here, Knox!"

  I joined him where he was kneeling, staring at what I took to be a largenail, or bolt, protruding from the bark of the tree.

  "You see!" he exclaimed, "you see!"

  I stooped, in order to examine the thing more closely, and as I didso, I realized what it was. It was the bullet which had killed ColonelMenendez!

  Harley stood upright, his face slightly flushed and his eyes verybright.

  "We shall not attempt to remove it, Knox," he said. "The depth ofpenetration may have a tale to tell. The wood of the yew tree is one ofthe toughest British varieties."

  "But, Harley," I said, blankly, as we descended to the path, "this ismerely another point for the prosecution of Camber. Unless"--I turned tohim in sudden excitement, "the bullet was of different--"

  "No, no," he murmured, "nothing so easy as that, Knox. The bullet wasfired from a Lee-Enfield beyond doubt."

  I stared at him uncomprehendingly.

  "Then I am utterly out of my depth, Harley. It, appears to me that thecase against Camber is finally and fatally complete. Only the motiveremains to be discovered, and I flatter myself that I have alreadydetected this."

  "I am certainly inclined to think," admitted Harley, "that there is agood deal in your theory."

  "Then, Harley," I said in bewilderment, "you do believe that Cambercommitted the murder?"

  "On the contrary," he replied, "I am certain that he did not."

  I stood quite still.

  "You are certain?" I began.

  "I told you that the test of my theory, Knox, was to be looked for inthe seventh yew from the northeast corner of the Tudor garden, did Inot?"

  "You did. And it is there. A bullet fired from a Lee-Enfield rifle;beyond any possible shadow of doubt the bullet which killed ColonelMenendez."

  "Beyond any possible shadow of doubt, as you say, Knox, the bullet whichkilled Colonel Menendez."

  "Therefore Camber is guilty?"

  "On the contrary, therefore Camber is innocent!"

  "What!"

  "You are persistently overlooking one little point, Knox," said Harley,mounting the steps on to the gravel path. "I spoke of the seventh yewtree from the northeast corner of the garden."

  "Well?"

  "Well, my dear fellow, surely you observed that the bullet was embeddedin the ninth?"

  I was still groping for the significance of this point when, re-crossingthe hall, we entered the library again, to find Inspector Aylesburyposed squarely before the mantelpiece stating his case to Wessex.

  "You see," he was saying, in his most oratorical manner, as we entered,"every little detail fits perfectly into place. For instance, I findthat a woman, called Mrs. Powis, who for the past two years had acted ashousekeeper at the Guest House and never taken a holiday, was sent awayrecently to her married daughter in London. See what that means? Herroom is at the back of the house, and her evidence would have beenfatal. Ah Tsong, of course, is a liar. I made up my mind about that themoment I clapped eyes on him. Mrs. Camber is the only innocent party.She was asleep in the front of the house when the shot was fired, andI believe her when she says that she cannot swear to the matter ofdistance."

  "A very interesting case, Inspector," said Wessex, glancing at Harley."I have not examined the body yet, but I understand that it was a cleanwound through the head."

  "The bullet entered at the juncture of the nasal and frontal bones,"explained Harley,
rapidly, "and it came out between the base of theoccipital and first cervical. Without going into unpleasant surgicaldetails, the wound was a perfectly _straight_ one. There was noricochet."

  "I understand that a regulation rifle was used?"

  "Yes," said Inspector Aylesbury; "we have it."

  "And at what range did you say, Inspector?"

  "Roughly, a hundred yards."

  "Possibly less," murmured Harley.

  "Hundred yards or less," said Wessex, musingly; "and the obstruction metwith in the case of a man shot in that way would be--" He looked towardsPaul Harley.

  "Less than if the bullet had struck the skull higher up," was the reply."It passed clean through."

  "Therefore," continued Wessex, "I am waiting to hear, Inspector, whereyou found the bullet lodged?"

  "Eh?" said the Inspector, and he slowly turned his prominent eyes inHarley's direction. "Oh, I see. That's why you wanted to examine theTudor garden, is it?"

  "Exactly," replied Harley.

  The face of Inspector Aylesbury grew very red.

  "I had deferred looking for the bullet," he explained, "as the case wasalready as clear as daylight. Probably Mr. Harley has discovered it."

  "I have," said Harley, shortly.

  "Is it the regulation bullet?" asked Wessex.

  "It is. I found it embedded in one of the yew trees."

  "There you are!" exclaimed Aylesbury. "There isn't the ghost of adoubt."

  Wessex looked at Harley in undisguised perplexity.

  "I must say, Mr. Harley," he admitted, "that I have never met with aclearer case."

  "Neither have I," agreed Harley, cheerfully. "I am going to askInspector Aylesbury to return here after nightfall. There is a littleexperiment which I should like to make, and which would definitelyestablish my case."

  "_Your_ case?" said Aylesbury.

  "My case, yes."

  "You are not going to tell me that you still persist in believing Camberto be innocent?"

  "Not at all. I am merely going to ask you to return at nightfall toassist me in this minor investigation."

  "If you ask my opinion," said the Inspector, "no further evidence isneeded."

  "I don't agree with you," replied Harley, quietly. "Whatever your ownideas upon the subject may be, I, personally, have not yet discoveredone single piece of convincing evidence for the prosecution of Camber."

  "What!" exclaimed Aylesbury, and even Detective-Inspector Wessex staredat the speaker incredulously.

  "My dear Inspector Aylesbury," concluded Harley, "when you havewitnessed the experiment which I propose to make this evening you willrealize, as I have already realized that we are faced by a tremendoustask."

  "What tremendous task?"

  "The task of discovering who shot Colonel Menendez."

  CHAPTER XXXI

  YSOLA CAMBER'S CONFESSION