The Borough Treasurer Page 25

  CHAPTER XXV

  NO FURTHER EVIDENCE

  While Mallalieu lay captive in the stronghold of Miss Pett, Cotherstonewas experiencing a quite different sort of incarceration in thedetention cells of Norcaster Gaol. Had he known where his partner was,and under what circumstances Mallalieu had obtained deliverance fromofficial bolts and bars, Cotherstone would probably have laughed in hissleeve and sneered at him for a fool. He had been calling Mallalieu afool, indeed, ever since the previous evening, when the police,conducting him to Norcaster, had told him of the Mayor's escape from theTown Hall. Nobody but an absolute fool, a consummate idiot, thoughtCotherstone, would have done a thing like that. The man who flies is theman who has reason to fly--that was Cotherstone's opinion, and in hisbelief ninety-nine out of every hundred persons in Highmarket wouldshare it. Mallalieu would now be set down as guilty--they would say hedared not face things, that he knew he was doomed, that his escape wasthe desperate act of a conscious criminal. Ass!--said Cotherstone, notwithout a certain amount of malicious delight: they should none of themhave reason to say such things of him. He would make no attempt tofly--no, not if they left the gate of Norcaster Gaol wide open to him!It should be his particular care to have himself legally cleared--hisacquittal should be as public as the proceedings which had just takenplace. He went out of the dock with that resolve strong on him; hecarried it away to his cell at Norcaster; he woke in the morning withit, stronger than ever. Cotherstone, instead of turning tail, was goingto fight--for his own hand.

  As a prisoner merely under detention, Cotherstone had privileges ofwhich he took good care to avail himself. Four people he desired to see,and must see at once, on that first day in gaol--and he lost no time inmaking known his desires. One--and the most important--person was acertain solicitor in Norcaster who enjoyed a great reputation as a sharpman of affairs. Another--scarcely less important--was a barrister whoresided in Norcaster, and had had it said of him for a whole generationthat he had restored more criminals to society than any man of hisprofession then living. And the other two were his own daughter andWindle Bent. Them he must see--but the men of law first.

  When the solicitor and the barrister came, Cotherstone talked to them ashe had never talked to anybody in his life. He very soon let them seethat he had two definite objects in sending for them: the first was totell them in plain language that money was of no consideration in thematter of his defence; the second, that they had come there to hear himlay down the law as to what they were to do. Talk he did, and theylistened--and Cotherstone had the satisfaction of seeing that they wentaway duly impressed with all that he had said to them. He went back tohis cell from the room in which this interview had taken placecongratulating himself on his ability.

  "I shall be out of this, and all'll be clear, a week today!" he assuredhimself. "We'll see where that fool of a Mallalieu is by then! For he'llnot get far, nor go hidden for thirty years, this time."

  He waited with some anxiety to see his daughter, not because he must seeher within the walls of a prison, but because he knew that by that timeshe would have learned the secrets of that past which he had kept socarefully hidden from her. Only child of his though she was, he feltthat Lettie was not altogether of his sort; he had often realized thatshe was on a different mental plane from his own, and was also, in somerespects, a little of a mystery to him. How would she take allthis?--what would she say?--what effect would it have on her?--hepondered these questions uneasily while he waited for her visit.

  But if Cotherstone had only known it, he need have suffered no anxietyabout Lettie. It had fallen to Bent to tell her the sad news theafternoon before, and Bent had begged Brereton to go up to the housewith him. Bent was upset; Brereton disliked the task, though hewillingly shared in it. They need have had no anxiety, either. ForLettie listened calmly and patiently until the whole story had beentold, showing neither alarm, nor indignation, nor excitement; herself-composure astonished even Bent, who thought, having been engagedto her for twelve months, that he knew her pretty well.

  "I understand exactly," said Lettie, when, between them, they had toldher everything, laying particular stress on her father's version ofthings. "It is all very annoying, of course, but then it is quitesimple, isn't it? Of course, Mr. Mallalieu has been the guilty personall through, and poor father has been dragged into it. But then--allthat you have told me has only to be put before the--who isit?--magistrates?--judges?--and then, of course, father will be entirelycleared, and Mr. Mallalieu will be hanged. Windle--of course we shallhave to put off the wedding?"

  "Oh, of course!" agreed Bent. "We can't have any weddings until all thisbusiness is cleared up."

  "That'll be so much better," said Lettie. "It really was becoming anawful rush."

  Brereton glanced at Bent when they left the house.

  "I congratulate you on having a fiancee of a well-balanced mind, oldchap!" he said. "That was--a relief!"

  "Oh, Lettie's a girl of singularly calm and equable temperament,"answered Bent. "She's not easily upset, and she's quick at sizing thingsup. And I say, Brereton, I've got to do all I can for Cotherstone, youknow. What about his defence?"

  "I should imagine that Cotherstone is already arranging his defencehimself," said Brereton. "He struck me during that talk this morning atTallington's as being very well able to take care of himself, Bent, andI think you'll find when you visit him that he's already fixed things.You won't perhaps see why, and I won't explain just now, but thisfoolish running away of Mallalieu, who, of course, is sure to be caught,is very much in Cotherstone's favour. I shall be much surprised if youdon't find Cotherstone in very good spirits, and if there aren'tdevelopments in this affair within a day or two which will impress thewhole neighbourhood."

  Bent, visiting the prisoner in company with Lettie next day, foundBrereton's prediction correct. Cotherstone, hearing from his daughter'sown lips what she herself thought of the matter, and being reassuredthat all was well between Bent and her, became not merely confident butcheerily boastful. He would be free, and he would be cleared by that daynext week--he was not sorry, he said, that at last all this had comeout, for now he would be able to get rid of an incubus that had weightedhim all his life.

  "You're very confident, you know," remarked Bent.

  "Not beyond reason," asserted Cotherstone doggedly. "You wait tilltomorrow!"

  "What is there tomorrow?" asked Bent.

  "The inquest on Stoner is tomorrow," replied Cotherstone. "You bethere--and see and hear what happens."

  All of Highmarket population that could cram itself into the Coroner'scourt was there next day when the adjourned inquest on the clerk's deathwas held. Neither Bent nor Brereton nor Tallington had any notion ofwhat line was going to be taken by Cotherstone and his advisers, butTallington and Brereton exchanged glances when Cotherstone, in chargeof two warders from Norcaster, was brought in, and when the Norcastersolicitor and the Norcaster barrister whom he had retained, shortlyafterwards presented themselves.

  "I begin to foresee," whispered Tallington. "Clever!--devilish clever!"

  "Just so," agreed Brereton, with a sidelong nod at the crowded seatsclose by. "And there's somebody who's interested because it's going tobe devilish clever--that fellow Pett!"

  Christopher Pett was there, silk hat, black kid gloves and all, notafraid of being professionally curious. Curiosity was the order of theday: everybody present--of any intelligent perception--wanted to knowwhat the presence of Cotherstone, one of the two men accused of themurder of Stoner, signified. But it was some little time before anycuriosity was satisfied. The inquest being an adjourned one, most of theavailable evidence had to be taken, and as a coroner has a wide field inthe calling of witnesses, there was more evidence produced before himand his jury than before the magistrates. There was Myler, of course,and old Pursey, and the sweethearting couple: there were otherwitnesses, railway folks, medical experts, and townspeople who couldcontribute some small quota of testimony. But all these were forgottenwhen at last Cot
herstone, having been duly warned by the coroner that heneed not give any evidence at all, determinedly entered thewitness-box--to swear on oath that he was witness to his partner'scrime.

  Nothing could shake Cotherstone's evidence. He told a plain,straightforward story from first to last. He had no knowledge whateverof Stoner's having found out the secret of the Wilchester affair. Heknew nothing of Stoner's having gone over to Darlington. On the Sundayhe himself had gone up the moors for a quiet stroll. At the spinneyoverhanging Hobwick Quarry he had seen Mallalieu and Stoner, and had atonce noticed that something in the shape of a quarrel was afoot. He sawMallalieu strike heavily at Stoner with his oak stick--saw Mallalieu, ina sudden passion, kick the stick over the edge of the quarry, watchedhim go down into the quarry and eventually leave it. He told how hehimself had gone after the stick, recovered it, taken it home, and hadeventually told the police where it was. He had never spoken toMallalieu on that Sunday--never seen him except under the circumstancesjust detailed.

  The astute barrister who represented Cotherstone had not troubled theCoroner and his jury much by asking questions of the various witnesses.But he had quietly elicited from all the medical men the definiteopinion that death had been caused by the blow. And when Cotherstone'sevidence was over, the barrister insisted on recalling the twosweethearts, and he got out of them, separately (each being excludedfrom the court while the other gave evidence), that they had not seenMallalieu and Cotherstone together, that Mallalieu had left the quarrysome time before they saw Cotherstone, and that when Mallalieu passedthem he seemed to be agitated and was muttering to himself, whereas inCotherstone's manner they noticed nothing remarkable.

  Brereton, watching the faces of the jurymen, all tradesmen of the town,serious and anxious, saw the effect which Cotherstone's evidence and thefurther admissions of the two sweethearts was having. And neither he norTallington--and certainly not Mr. Christopher Pett--was surprised when,in the gathering dusk of the afternoon, the inquest came to an end witha verdict of _Wilful Murder against Anthony Mallalieu_.

  "Your client is doing very well," observed Tallington to the Norcastersolicitor as they foregathered in an ante-room.

  "My client will be still better when he comes before your bench again,"drily answered the other. "As you'll see!"

  "So that's the line you're taking?" said Tallington quietly. "A goodone--for him."

  "Every man for himself," remarked the Norcaster practitioner. "We're notconcerned with Mallalieu--we're concerned about ourselves. See you whenCotherstone's brought before your worthies next Tuesday. And--a word inyour ear!--it won't be a long job, then."

  Long job or short job, the Highmarket Town Hall was packed to the doorswhen Cotherstone, after his week's detention, was again placed in thedock. This time, he stood there alone--and he looked around him withconfidence and with not a few signs that he felt a sense of comingtriumph. He listened with a quiet smile while the prosecutingcounsel--sent down specially from London to take charge--discussed withthe magistrates the matter of Mallalieu's escape, and he showed moreinterest when he heard some police information as to how that escape hadbeen effected, and that up to then not a word had been heard and notrace found of the fugitive. And after that, as the prosecuting counselbent over to exchange a whispered word with the magistrates' clerk,Cotherstone deliberately turned, and seeking out the place where Bentand Brereton sat together, favoured them with a peculiar glance. It wasthe glance of a man who wished to say "I told you!--now you'll seewhether I was right!"

  "We're going to hear something--now!" whispered Brereton.

  The prosecuting counsel straightened himself and looked at themagistrates. There was a momentary hesitation on his part; a look ofexpectancy on the faces of the men on the bench; a deep silence in thecrowded court. The few words that came from the counsel were sharp anddecisive.

  "There will be no further evidence against the prisoner now in the dock,your worships," he said. "The prosecution decides to withdraw thecharge."

  In the buzz of excitement which followed the voice of the old chairmanwas scarcely audible as he glanced at Cotherstone.

  "You are discharged," he said abruptly.

  Cotherstone turned and left the dock. And for the second time he lookedat Bent and Brereton in the same peculiar, searching way. Then, amidst adead silence, he walked out of the court.