The Hampstead Mystery | Page 7

costly pearl necklace in the
world--was placed in charge of the case. It was to his success in this
famous case that he owed his promotion to Inspector. He had the
assistance of his subordinate, Detective Rolfe. So generous were the
newspaper references to the acumen of these two terrors of the criminal
classes that it was to be assumed that anything which inadvertently
escaped one of them would be pounced upon by the other.
On the morning after the discovery of the murdered man's body, the
two officers made their way to Tanton Gardens from the Hampstead
tube station. Inspector Chippenfield was a stout man of middle age,
with a red face the colour of which seemed to be accentuated by the
daily operation of removing every vestige of hair from it. He had
prominent grey eyes with which he was accustomed to stare fiercely
when he desired to impress a suspected person with what some of the
newspapers had referred to as "his penetrating glance." His companion,
Rolfe, was a tall well-built man in the early thirties. Like most men in a
subordinate position, Rolfe had not a high opinion of the abilities of his
immediate superiors. He was sure that he could fill the place of any one

of them better than it was filled by its occupant. He believed that it was
the policy of superiors to keep junior men back, to stand in their light,
and to take all the credit for their work. He was confident that he was
destined to make a name for himself in the detective world if only he
were given the chance.
When Inspector Chippenfield had visited Riversbrook the previous
afternoon, Rolfe had not been selected as his assistant. A careful
inspection of the house and especially of the room in which the tragedy
had been committed had been made by the inspector. He had then
turned his attention to the garden and the grounds surrounding the
house.
Whatever he had discovered and what theories he had formed were not
disclosed to anyone, not even his assistant. He believed that the proper
way to train a subordinate was to let him collect his own information
and then test it for him. This method enabled him to profit by his
subordinate's efforts and to display a superior knowledge when the
other propounded a theory by which Inspector Chippenfield had also
been misled.
When they arrived at the house in which the crime had been committed,
they found a small crowd of people ranging from feeble old women to
babies in arms, and including a large proportion of boys and girls of
school age, collected outside the gates, staring intently through the bars
towards the house, which was almost hidden by trees. The morbid
crowd made way for the two officers and speculated on their mission.
The general impression was that they were the representatives of a
fashionable firm of undertakers and had come to measure the victim for
his coffin. Inside the grounds the Scotland Yard officers encountered a
police-constable who was on guard for the purpose of preventing
inquisitive strangers penetrating to the house.
"Well, Flack," said Inspector Chippenfield in a tone in which geniality
was slightly blended with official superiority. "How are you to-day?"
"I'm very well indeed, sir," replied the police-constable. He knew that
the state of his health was not a matter of deep concern to the inspector,

but such is the vanity of human nature that he was pleased at the
inquiry. The fact that there was a murdered man in the house gave
mournful emphasis to the transience of human life, and made
Police-Constable Flack feel a glow of satisfaction in being very well
indeed.
Inspector Chippenfield hesitated a moment as if in deep thought. The
object of his hesitation was to give Flack an opportunity of imparting
any information that had come to him while on guard. The inspector
believed in encouraging people to impart information but regarded it as
subversive of the respect due to him to appear to be in need of any. As
Flack made no attempt to carry the conversation beyond the state of his
health, Inspector Chippenfield came to the conclusion that he was an
extremely dull policeman. He introduced Flack to Detective Rolfe and
explained to the latter:
"Flack was on duty on the night of the murder but heard no shots.
Probably he was a mile or so away. But in a way he discovered the
crime. Didn't you, Flack? When we rang up Seldon he came up here
and brought Flack with him. He'll be only too glad to tell you anything
you want to know."
Rolfe took an official notebook from a breast pocket and proceeded to
question the police-constable. The inspector made his way upstairs