The Puzzle of Dickenss Last Plot | Page 7

will do. Now, DID he tell the story to Jasper that
night, in the presence of Landless, at dinner? If so, Helena Landless
might later learn the fact from Neville. If she knew it, she would later
tell Mr. Grewgious.
The three men meet and dine. There is a fearful storm. "Stones are
displaced upon the summit of the great tower." Next morning, early,
Jasper yells to Crisparkle, who is looking out of his window in Minor
Canon Row, that Edwin has disappeared. Neville has already set out on
his walking tour.
AFTER THE DISAPPEARANCE
Men go forth and apprehend Neville, who shows fight with his heavy
stick. We learn that he and Drood left Jasper's house at midnight, went
for ten minutes to look at the river under the wind, and parted at
Crisparkle's door. Neville now remains under suspicion: Jasper directs
the search in the river, on December 25, 26, and 27. On the evening of
December 27, Grewgious visits Jasper. Now, Grewgious, as we know,

was to be at Cloisterham at Christmas. True, he was engaged to dine on
Christmas Day with Bazzard, his clerk; but, thoughtful as he was of the
moody Bazzard, as Edwin was leaving Cloisterham he would excuse
himself. He would naturally take a great part in the search for Edwin,
above all as Edwin had in his possession the ring so dear to the lawyer.
Edwin had not shown it to Rosa when they determined to part. He "kept
it in his breast," and the ring, we learn, was "gifted with invincible
force to hold and drag," so Dickens warns us.
The ring is obviously to be a piece de conviction. But our point, at
present, is that we do not know how Grewgious, to whom this ring was
so dear, employed himself at Cloisterham--after Edwin's
disappearance--between December 25 and December 27. On the
evening of the 27th, he came to Jasper, saying, "I have JUST LEFT
MISS LANDLESS." He then slowly and watchfully told Jasper that
Edwin's engagement was broken off, while the precentor gasped,
perspired, tore his hair, shrieked, and finally subsided into a heap of
muddy clothes on the floor. Meanwhile, Mr. Grewgious, calmly
observing these phenomena, warmed his hands at the fire for some time
before he called in Jasper's landlady.
Grewgious now knows by Jasper's behaviour that he believes himself to
have committed a superfluous crime, by murdering Edwin, who no
longer stood between him and Rosa, as their engagement was already at
an end. Whether a Jasper, in real life, would excite himself so much, is
another question. We do not know, as Mr. Proctor insists, what Mr.
Grewgious had been doing at Cloisterham between Christmas Day and
December 27, the date of his experiment on Jasper's nerves. Mr.
Proctor supposes him to have met the living Edwin, and obtained
information from him, after his escape from a murderous attack by
Jasper. Mr. Proctor insists that this is the only explanation of
Grewgious's conduct, any other "is absolutely impossible." In that case
the experiment of Grewgious was not made to gain information from
Jasper's demeanour, but was the beginning of his punishment, and was
intended by Grewgious to be so.
But Dickens has been careful to suggest, with suspicious breadth of

candour, another explanation of the source of Grewgious's knowledge.
If Edwin has really escaped, and met Grewgious, Dickens does not
want us to be sure of that, as Mr. Proctor was sure. Dickens deliberately
puts his readers on another trail, though neither Mr. Walters nor Mr.
Proctor struck the scent. As we have noted, Grewgious at once says to
Jasper, "I HAVE JUST COME FROM MISS LANDLESS." This tells
Jasper nothing, but it tells a great deal to the watchful reader, who
remembers that Miss Landless, and she only, is aware that Jasper loves,
bullies, and insults Rosa, and that Rosa's life is embittered by Jasper's
silent wooing, and his unspoken threats. Helena may also know that
"Ned is a threatened name," as we have seen, and that the menace
comes from Jasper. As Jasper is now known to be Edwin's rival in love,
and as Edwin has vanished, the murderer, Mr. Grewgious reckons, is
Jasper; and his experiment, with Jasper's consequent shriek and fit,
confirms the hypothesis. Thus Grewgious had information enough,
from Miss Landless, to suggest his experiment--Dickens intentionally
made that clear (though not clear enough for Mr. Proctor and Mr.
Cuming Walters)--while his experiment gives him a moral certainty of
Jasper's crime, but yields no legal evidence.
But does Grewgious know no more than what Helena, and the fit and
shriek of Jasper, have told him? Is his knowledge limited to the
evidence that Jasper has murdered Edwin? Or does Grewgious know
more, know that Edwin, in some way, has escaped from death?
That