John Thorndykes Cases | Page 7

out of Dr. Cooper's house yesterday. We know everything that is happening in the village, you see." He laughed nervously, and added: "But I don't know your friend."
I introduced Thorndyke, at the mention of whose name our new acquaintance knitted his brows, and glanced inquisitively at my friend.
"Thorndyke," he repeated; "the name seems familiar to me. Are you in the Law, sir?"
Thorndyke admitted the impeachment, and our companion, having again bestowed on him a look full of curiosity, continued: "This horrible affair will interest you, no doubt, from a professional point of view. You were present when my poor friend's body was found, I think?"
"No," replied Thorndyke; "we came up afterwards, when they were removing it."
Our companion then proceeded to question as about the murder, but received from Thorndyke only the most general and ambiguous replies. Nor was there time to go into the matter at length, for the footpath presently emerged on to the road close to Mr. Draper's house.
"You will excuse my not asking you in to-night," said he, "but you will understand that I am not in much form for visitors just now."
We assured him that we fully understood, and, having wished him "Good-evening," pursued our way towards the village.
"The sergeant is off to get a warrant, I suppose," I observed.
"Yes; and mighty anxious lest his man should be off before he can execute it. But he is fishing in deeper waters than he thinks, Jervis. This is a very singular and complicated case; one of the strangest, in fact, that I have ever met. I shall follow its development with deep interest."
"The sergeant seems pretty cocksure, all the same," I said.
"He is not to blame for that," replied Thorndyke. "He is acting on the obvious appearances, which is the proper thing to do in the first place. Perhaps his notebook contains more than I think it does. But we shall see."
When we entered the village I stopped to settle some business with the chemist, who acted as Dr. Cooper's dispenser, suggesting to Thorndyke that he should walk on to the house; but when I emerged from the shop some ten minutes later he was waiting outside, with a smallish brown-paper parcel under each arm. Of one of these parcels I insisted on relieving him, in spite of his protests, but when he at length handed it to me its weight completely took me by surprise.
"I should have let them send this home on a barrow," I remarked.
"So I should have done," he replied, "only I did not wish to draw attention to my purchase, or give my address."
Accepting this hint I refrained from making any inquiries as to the nature of the contents (although I must confess to considerable curiosity on the subject), and on arriving home I assisted him to deposit the two mysterious parcels in his room.
When I came downstairs a disagreeable surprise awaited me. Hitherto the long evenings had been spent by me in solitary and undisturbed enjoyment of Dr. Cooper's excellent library, but to-night a perverse fate decreed that I must wander abroad, because, forsooth, a preposterous farmer, who resided in a hamlet five miles distant, had chosen the evening of my guest's arrival to dislocate his bucolic elbow. I half hoped that Thorndyke would offer to accompany me, but he made no such suggestion, and in fact seemed by no means afflicted at the prospect of my absence.
"I have plenty to occupy me while you are away," he said cheerfully; and with this assurance to comfort me I mounted my bicycle and rode off somewhat sulkily along the dark road.
My visit occupied in all a trifle under two hours, and when I reached home, ravenously hungry and heated by my ride, half-past nine had struck, and the village had begun to settle down for the night.
"Sergeant Payne is a-waiting in the surgery, sir," the housemaid announced as I entered the hall.
"Confound Sergeant Payne!" I exclaimed. "Is Dr. Thorndyke with him?"
"No, sir," replied the grinning damsel. "Dr. Thorndyke is hout."
"Hout!" I repeated (my surprise leading to unintentional mimicry).
"Yes, sir. He went hout soon after you, sir, on his bicycle. He had a basket strapped on to it--leastways a hamper--and he borrowed a basin and a kitchen-spoon from the cook."
I stared at the girl in astonishment. The ways of John Thorndyke were, indeed, beyond all understanding.
"Well, let me have some dinner or supper at once," I said, "and I will see what the sergeant wants."
The officer rose as I entered the surgery, and, laying his helmet on the table, approached me with an air of secrecy and importance.
"Well, sir," said he, "the fat's in the fire. I've arrested Mr. Draper, and I've got him locked up in the court-house. But I wish it had been someone else."
"So does he, I expect," I remarked.
"You