 Chapter 15 of The Clue of the Twisted Candle by Edgar Wallace After a busy and sleepless night, he came down to report to the Chief Commissioner the next morning. The evening newspaper bills were filled with the Chelsea sensation, but the information given was of a meagre character. Since Fisher had disappeared, many of the details which could have been secured by the enterprising pressmen were missing. There was no reference to the visit of Mr. Gather Cole, and in self-defense the press had fallen back upon a statement which had an earlier period of crept into the newspapers in one of those chatty paragraphs, which begin, I saw my friend Cara at gyros, an end with a brief but inaccurate summary of his hobbies. The paragraph had been to the effect that Mr. Cara had been in fear of his life for some time as a result of a blood feud which existed between himself and another Albanian family. Small wonder, therefore, the murder was everywhere referred to as the political crime of the century. So far, reported TX to his superior, I have been unable to trace either Gather Cole or the Vale. The only thing we know about Gather Cole is that he sent his article to the Times with his card. The servants of his club are very vagus to his whereabouts. He is a very eccentric man who only comes in occasionally, and the steward whom I interviewed says that it frequently happened that Gather Cole arrived and departed without anybody being aware of the fact. We have been to his old lodgings in Lincoln's Inn, but apparently he's sold up there before he went away to the Wiles of Patagonia and relinquished his tenancy. The only clue I have is that a man answering to some extent to his description left by the eleven o'clock train for Paris last night. You have seen the secretary, of course, said the chief. It was a question which TX had been dreading. Gone too, he answered shortly, in fact has not been seen since 5.30 yesterday evening. So George leant back in his chair and rumpled his thick grey hair. The only person who seems to have remained, he said with heavy sarcasm, was Cara himself. Would you like me to put somebody else on this case? It isn't exactly your job. Or will you carry it on? I prefer to carry it on, sir, said TX firmly. Have you found out anything more about Cara? TX nodded. All that I have discovered about him is eminently discreditable, he said. He seems to have had an ambition to occupy a very important position in Albania. To this end he had thrived and subsidised the Turkish and Albanian officials and had a fairly large following in that country. Bartholomew tells me that Cara has already sounded him as to the possibility of the British government recognising a fate accompli in Albania and had been inducing him to use his influence with the cabinet to recognise the consequence of any revolution. There is no doubt whatever that Cara has engineered all of political assassinations which have been such a feature in the news from Albania during this past year. We also found in the house very large sums of money and documents which we have handed over to the Foreign Office for decoding. Sir George thought for a long time. Then he said, Have an idea that if you find your secretary you will be half-way to solving the mystery. TX went out from the office in anything but a joyous mood. He was on his way to lunch when he remembered his promise to call upon John Lexman. Could Lexman supply a key which would unravel this tragic tangle? He lent out of his taxi cab and redirected the driver. It happened that the cab drove up to the door of the Great Midland Hotel as John Lexman was coming out. Come and lunch with me said TX. I suppose you heard all the news. I read about Cara being killed if that's what you mean, said the other. It was rather a coincidence that I should have been discussing the matter last night at the very moment when his telephone bell rang. I wish to heaven you hadn't been in this, he said fretfully. Why, asked the astonished Assistant Commissioner, and what do you mean by in it, in the concrete sense I wish you had not been present when I returned, said the other moodily. I wanted to be finished with a whole-sordid business without in any way involving my friends. I think you're too sensitive, laughed the other, clapping him on the shoulder. I want you to unburden yourself to me, my dear chap, and tell me anything you can that will help me to clear up this mystery. John Lexman looked straight ahead with a worried frown. I would do almost anything for you, TX, he said quietly, though more so since I know how good you were to Grace, but I can't help you in this matter. I hated Cairo at living, I hate him dead. He cried, and there was a passion in his voice which was unmistakable. He was the vilest thing that ever drew the breath of life. There was no villainly too despicable, no cruelty so horrid, but that he gloried in it. If ever the devil were incarnate on earth, he took the shape and the form of Remington Cairo. He died too merciful of death by all accounts, but if there is a god, this man will suffer for his crimes in hell through all eternity. TX looked at him in astonishment. The hatred in the man's face took his breath away. Never before had he experienced or witnessed such a vehemence of loathing. What did Cairo do to you, he demanded. The other looked out of the window. I'm sorry, he said in a milder tone. That is my weakness. Someday I will tell you the whole story, but for the moment it were better that it were not told. I will tell you this. He turned round and faced the detective squarely. Cairo tortured and killed my wife. TX said no more. Halfway through lunch he returned indirectly to the subject. Do you know Gadokov, he asked. TX nodded. I think you asked me that question once before, or perhaps it was somebody else. Yes, I know him, rather than eccentric man, with an artificial arm. That's the cove, said TX with a little sigh. He's one of the few men I want to meet just now. Why? Because he was apparently the last man to see Cairo alive. John Lexman looked at the other with an impatient jerk of his shoulder. You don't suspect Gadokov, do you? He asked. Hardly said the other dryly. In the first place the man that committed this murder had two hands, and needed them both. Now I only want to ask that gentleman the subject of his conversation. I also want to know who was in the room with Cairo when Gadokov went in. Hmm! said John Lexman. Even if I found who the third person was, I'd still puzzled as to how they got out and fastened a heavy latch behind them. Now in the old days, Lexman, he said good humorously, you would have made a fine mystery story out of this. How would you have made your man escape? Lexman talked for a while. Have you examined the safe, he asked? Yes, said the other. Was there much in it? TX looked at him in astonishment. Just the ordinary books and things, why do you ask? Suppose there were two doors to that safe, one on the outside of the room and one on the inside. Would it be possible to pass through the safe and go down the wall? I have thought of that, said TX. Of course, said Lexman, leaning back and towing with a salt spoon. In writing a story where one hasn't got to deal with the absolute possibilities, one could always have made Cairo have a safe in that character in order to make his escape in the event of danger. He might keep a rope ladder stored inside, open the back door, throw out his ladder to a friend and by some trick arrangement could detach the ladder and allow the door to swing to again. A very ingenious idea said TX, but unfortunately it doesn't work in this case. I've seen the makers of the safe and there is nothing very eccentric about it except the fact that it is mounted as it is. Can you offer another suggestion? John Lexman thought again. I would not suggest trap doors or secret panels or anything so banal, he said. Nor mysterious springs in the wall which, when touched, reveal secret staircases. He smiled slightly. In my early days I must confess I was rather keen on that sort of thing, but age has brought experience and I have discovered the impossibility of bringing an architect to one's way of thinking, even in so commonplace a matter as the position of a scullery. It would be much more difficult to induce him to construct a house with double walls and secret chambers. TX waited patiently. There is a possibility, of course, said Lexman slowly, that the steel latch may have been raised by somebody outside by some ingenious magnetic arrangement and lowered in a similar manner. I have thought about it, said TX triumphantly, and I have made the most elaborate tests only this morning. It is quite impossible to raise the steel latch because once it is dropped it cannot be raised again, except by means of the knob, the pulling of which releases the catch which holds the bar securely in its place. Try another one, John. John Lexman threw back his head in a noiseless laugh. Why should I be helping you to discover the murderer of Cara is beyond my understanding, he said, but I will give you another theory at the same time warning you that I may be putting you off the track, for God knows I have more reason to murder Cara than any man in the world. He thought a while. The chimney was, of course, impossible. There was a big fire burning in the grate, explained TX, so big indeed that the room was stifling. John Lexman nodded. That was Cara's way, he said. As a matter of fact I know the suggestion about magnetism in the steel bar was impossible because I was friendly with Cara when he had that bar put in and pretty well know the mechanism, although I had forgotten it for the moment. What is your own theory, by the way? TX pursed his lips. My theory isn't very clearly formed, he said cautiously, but so far as it goes it is that Cara was lying on the bed, probably reading one of the books which were found by the bedside when his assailants suddenly came upon him. Cara sees the telephone to call for assistance and was promptly killed. Again there was silence. That is the theory, said John Lexman, with his curious deliberation of speech. But as I say I refuse to be definite. Have you found the weapon? TX shook his head. Were there any peculiar features about the room which astonished you and which you have not told me? TX hesitated. There were two candles, he said, one in the middle of the room and one under the bed. That in the middle of the room was a small Christmas candle. The one under the bed was the ordinary candle of commerce evidently roughly cut and probably cut in the room. We found traces of candle chips on the floor and it is evident to me that the candle was thrown into the fire. For here again we have a trace of grease. Lexman nodded. Anything further, he asked. The smaller candle was twisted into a sort of corkscrew shape. The clue of the twisted candle, news John Lexman, that's a very good title. Cara hated candles. Why? Lexman leapt back in his chair selected a cigarette from a silver case. In my wanderings, he said, I've been to many strange places. I've been to the country which you probably do not know and which the traveler who writes books about countries seldom visits. There are queer little villages perched on the spurs of the bleakest hills you ever saw. I've lived with communities which acknowledge no king and no government. These have their laws handed down to them from father to son. It is a nation without a written language. They administer their laws rigidly and drastically. The punishments they award are cruel, inhuman. I've seen the woman taken in adultery stoned to death as in the best biblical traditions and I've seen the thief blinded. T. X. Shiverd. I've seen the false witness stand up in a barbaric marketplace whilst his tongue was torn from him. Sometimes the Turks or the Pai Paul governments of the state sent down a few gendarmes and tried a sort of sporadic administration of the country. It usually ended in the representatives of the law lapsing into barbarism or else disappearing from the face of the earth with a whole community of murderous eager to testify with singular unanimity to the fact that he had either committed suicide or had gone off with the wife of one of the townsmen. In some of these communities the candle plays a big part. It is not the candle of commerce as you know it but a dip made from mutton fat strap three between the fingers of your hands and keep the hand rigid with two flat pieces of wood then let the candles burn down lower and lower. Can you imagine? Or set a candle in a gunpowder trun and lead the trail to a well-oiled heap of shaving stalkfully heaped about your naked feet. Or a candle fixed to the shaved head of a man. Because of variations and the candle plays a part in all of them I don't know which carer had cause to hate the worst but I know one or two that he has employed. Was he as bad as that? asked TX. John Nexman laughed. You don't know how bad he was he said. Towards the end of the luncheon the waiter brought a note into TX which had been sent on from his office. Dear Mr. Meredith to your inquiry I believe my daughter is in London but I did not know it until this morning my banker informed me that my daughter called at the bank this morning and drew a considerable sum of money from her private account but where she has gone and what she is doing with the money I do not know I need to hardly tell you that I am very worried about this matter and I should be glad if you could explain what it is all about. It was signed William Bartholomew TX Grown If I had only had the sense to go to the bank this morning I should have seen her he said I am going to lose my job over this the other looked troubled you don't seriously mean that not exactly smart TX but I don't think the chief is very pleased with me just now you see I have busted into this business without any authority it isn't exactly in my department but you have not given me your theory about the candles I have no theory to offer said the other I am not reporting up his serve yet the candles suggest a typical Albanian murder I do not say that it was so I merely say that by their presence they suggest a crime of this character with this TX had to be content if it were not his business to interest himself in commonplace murder though this hardly fitted such a description it was part of the peculiar function which his department exercised to restore to Lady Bartholomew a certain very elaborate snuff box which he discovered in the safe letters had been found amongst his papers which made clear the part which Kara had played though he had not been a vulgar blackmailer he had retained his hold not only upon this particular property of Lady Bartholomew but upon certain other articles which were discovered with no other object apparently than to compel influence from court as likely to be of assistance to him in his schemes the inquest of the murdered man which the assistant commissioner attended produced nothing in the shape of evidence and the coroner's verdict of murder against some person or persons unknown was only to be expected TX spent a very busy and a very tiring week tracing elusive clues which led him nowhere he had a letter from John Lexman announcing the fact that he intended for the United States he had received a very good offer from a firm of magazine publishers in New York and was going out to take up the appointment Meredith's plans were now in fair shape he had decided upon the line of action he would take and in the pursuance of this he interviewed his chief and the minister of justice yes I have heard from my daughter said the great man uncomfortably and really she has placed me in a most embarrassing position I cannot tell you Mr. Meredith exactly in what manner she has done this but I can assure you she has can I see her letter or telegram asked TX I'm afraid that is impossible said the other solemnly she begged me to keep a communication very secret I've written to my wife and asked her to come home I feel the constant strain to which I am being subjected is more than human can endure I suppose the TX patiently it is impossible for you to tell me to what address you have replied to no address answered the other and corrected himself hurriedly that is to say I only received the telegram the message this morning and there is no address to reply to I see said TX then afternoon he instructed his secretary I want a copy of all the agony advertisements in tomorrow's papers and in the last editions of the evening papers have them ready for me tomorrow morning when I come they were waiting for him when he reached the office at nine o'clock the next day and he went through them carefully presently he found the message he was seeking B.M. you place me awkward position very thoughtless have received package addressed your mother which have placed in mother's sitting room cannot understand why you want me to go away weekend and give servants holiday but have done so shall require very full explanation matter gone far enough father this said TX exultantly as he read the advertisement is where I get busy End of chapter 15 Recording by Peter Tomlinson Chapter 16 of the clue of the twisted candle by Edgar Wallace this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Peter Tomlinson Chapter 16 February as a rule is not a month of fogs but rather a month of tempestuous gales of frosts and snowfalls but the night of February the 17th was one of calm and mist it was not the typical London fog so dreaded by the foreigner but one of those little patchy mists which smoke through the streets now enshrouding and making the nearest object invisible now clearing away to the finest diaphanous filament of pale grey so William Bartholomew had a house in Portman Place which is a wide thoroughfare filled with solemn edifices of unlovely and forbidding exterior but remarkably comfortable within shortly before 11 on the night of February the 17th a taxi drew up at the junction of Sussex Street and Portman Place and a girl alighted the fog at that moment was denser than usual and she hesitated a moment before she left the shelter which the cab afforded she gave the driver a few instructions and walked on with a firm step turning abruptly and mounting the steps of a number 173 very quickly she inserted her key and the lock pushed the door open and closed it behind her she switched on the hall light the house sounded hollow and deserted a fact which afforded her considerable satisfaction she turned the light out and found a way up the broad stairs to the first floor paused for a moment to switch on another light which she knew would not be observable from the street outside and mounted the second flight Miss Belinda Mary Bartholomew congratulated herself upon the success of her scheme and the only doubt that was in her mind now was whether the boudoir had been locked but her father was rather careless in such matters and Jack's the butler was one of those dear, silly old men who never locked anything and in consequence faced every audit with a long face and a longer tail of the speculations of occasional servants to her immense relief the handle turned and the door open to her touch somebody had had the sense to pull down the blinds and the curtains were drawn she switched on the light with a sigh of relief the mother's writing table was covered with unopened letters but she brushed these aside in her search for the little parcel it was not there and her heart sank perhaps she had put it in one of the drawers she tried them all without result she stood by the desk a picture of perplexity biting a finger thoughtfully thank goodness she said with a jump but she saw the parcel on the mantle shelf crossed the room and took it down by hand she tore off the covering and came to the familiar leather case not until she had opened the padded lid and had seen the snuff box reposing in a bed of cotton wool did she relapse into a long sigh of relief thank heavens for that she said aloud and me said a voice she sprang up and turned round with a look of terror Mr. Meredith she stammered T. X stood by the window curtains from whence he had made his dramatic entry upon the scene I say you have to thank me also Mr. Bartholomew he said presently how do you know my name she asked with some curiosity I know everything in the world he answered and she smiled suddenly her face went serious and she demanded sharply who sent you after me Mr. Cara Mr. Cara he repeated in wonder he threatened to send for the police she went on rapidly and I told him he might do so I don't mind the police it was Cara I was afraid of you know what I went for my mother's property she held the snuff box in her outstretched hand he accused me of stealing it and was hateful and then he put me downstairs in that awful cellar and suggested T. X that's all she replied with tightened lips what are you going to do now I'm going to ask you a few questions if I may he said in the first place you have not heard anything about Mr. Cara since you went away she shook her head I have kept out of his way she said grimly have you seen the newspaper she asked she nodded I have seen the advertisement column I wired asking Papa to reply to my telegram I know I saw it he smiled that is what brought me here I was afraid it would she said father is awfully loquacious in print he makes speeches you know all I wanted him to say was yes or no what do you mean about the newspapers she went on is anything wrong with mother he shook his head so far as I know Lady Bartholomew is in the best of health and is on her way home what do you mean by asking me about the newspapers she demanded why should I see the newspapers what is there for me to see about Cara he suggested she shook her head in bewilderment I know and want to know nothing about Cara why do you say this to me because said TX slowly on the night you disappeared from Cadigan Square Remington Cara was murdered murdered she gasped he nodded he was stabbed to the heart by some person or persons unknown TX took his hand from his pocket and pulled something out which was wrapped in tissue paper this she carefully removed and the girl watched this fascinating gaze and was an awful sense of apprehension presently the object was revealed it was a pair of scissors with the handle wrapped about with a small handkerchief dappled with brown stains she took a step backward raising her hands to her cheeks my scissors she said huskily you won't think I said up at him fear and indignation struggling for mastery I don't think you committed the murder he smiled if that's what you mean to ask me but if anybody else found these scissors and had identified this handkerchief you would have been in rather a fix my young friend she looked at the scissors and shuddered I did kill something she said in a low voice an awful dog I don't know how I did it and I just stabbed him and killed him and I am glad she nodded many times and repeated I am glad so I gather I found the dog and now perhaps you'll explain why I didn't find you again she hesitated and he thought that she was hiding something from him I don't know why you didn't find me she said I was there how did you get out how did you get out she challenged him boldly I got out through the door he confessed it seems a ridiculously commonplace way of leaving but that's the only way I could see and that's how I got out she answered with a little smile but it was locked she laughed I see now she said I was in the cellar I heard your key in the lock and bolted down the trap leaving those awful scissors behind I thought it was Kara with some of his friends she died away and I ventured to come up and found you had left the door open so I these queer little pauses puzzled TX there was something she was not telling him something she had yet to reveal so I got away you see she went on I came out into the kitchen there was nobody there and I passed through the area door and up the steps and just round the corner I found a taxi cab and that is all in a dramatic little gesture and that is all is it said TX that is all she repeated now what are you going to do TX looked up at the ceiling and stroked his chin I suppose that I ought to arrest you I feel that something is due from me may I ask if you were sleeping in the bed downstairs in the lower cellar she demanded a little pause and then yes I was sleeping in the cellar downstairs there was that interval of hesitation almost between each word what are you going to do she asked again she was feeling more sure of herself and had suppressed the panic which his sudden appearance had produced in her he rumpled his hair a gross imitation did she but know it of one of his chief mannerisms and she observed that his hair was very thick and inclined to curl that he was passively good looking had fine grey eyes a straight nose and a most firm chin I think she suggested gently you had better arrest me don't be silly he begged she stared at him in amazement what did you say she asked wrathfully I said don't be silly repeated to calm young man do you know that you're being very rude she asked and interested and surprised at this novel view of his conduct of course she went on carefully smoothing her dress and avoiding his eye I know you think I'm silly and that I've got a most comic name I have never said your name was comic he replied coldly I would not take so great a liberty you said it was weird which was worse I may have said it was weird he admitted but that's rather different he was saying it was comic there is dignity in weird things for example nightmares aren't comic but they're weird thank you she said pointedly not that I mean your name is anything approaching a nightmare he made this concession with the most magnificent sweep of hand as though he were a king conceding her the right to remain covered in his presence I think that Belinda Ann Belinda Mary she corrected Belinda Mary I was going to say or as a matter of fact he floundered I was going to say Belinda Ann Mary you were going to say nothing of the kind she corrected him anyway I think Belinda Mary is a very pretty name you think nothing of the sort she saw the laughter in his eyes and felt an insane desire to laugh you said it was a weird name when you think it is a weird name but I really can't be bothered considering everybody's views I think it's a weird name too I was named after an aunt she added in self defence there you have the advantage of me he inclined his head slightly I was named after my father's favourite dog what does TX stand for she asked curiously Thomas Xavier he said and she lent back on the big chair on the edge of which a few minutes before she had perched herself in sapidation and dissolved into a fit of moderate laughter it is comic isn't it he asked fancy being called Tommy Xavier I mean Thomas Xavier you may call me Tommy if you wish most of my friends do unfortunately I'm not your friend she said still smiling and wiping the tears from her eyes so I should go on calling you Mr Meredith if you don't mind she looked at her watch if you are not going to arrest me I'm going she said I have certainly no intention of arresting you said he but I am going to see you home she jumped up smartly you're not she commanded she was so definite in this that he was startled my dear child he protested please don't dear child me she said seriously you're going to be a good little Tommy and let me go home by myself she held out her hand frankly and the laughing appeal in her eyes was irresistible well I'll see you to a cab he insisted and listen while I give the driver instructions where he used to take me she shook her head reprovingly it must be an awful thing to be a policeman he stood back with folded arms a stern found on his face trust me he asked no she replied quite right he approved anyway I'll see you to the cab and you can tell the driver to go to Charing Cross station and on your way you can change your direction and she promised she won't follow me she asked on my honour on one condition though I will make no conditions she replied haughtily please come down from your great big horse he begged and listened to reason and I make is that I can always bring you to an appointed rendezvous whenever I want you honestly this is necessary Belinda Mary Miss Bartholomew she corrected coldly it is necessary he went on as you will understand promise me that if I put an advertisement in the agonist of either an evening paper which I will name or in the morning post you will keep the appointment I fix if it is humanely possible he hesitated a moment and held out her hand I promise she said good for you Belinda Mary said he and tucking her arm in his leather out of the room switching off the light and racing her down the stairs if there was a lot of the school girl left in Belinda Mary Bartholomew no less of the school boy was there in this commissioner of police he would have danced her through the fog contemptuous of the proprieties but he wasn't so very anxious and lose sight of her good night he said holding her hand that's the third time you shaken hands with me tonight she interjected don't let us have any unpleasantness at the last he pleaded and remember I have promised she replied and one day he went on you will tell me all that happened in that cellar I have told you she said in a low voice you have not told me everything child he handed her into the cab he shut the door behind her and lent through the open window Victoria or marble arch he asked politely Sharon Cross she replied was a little rough he watched the cab drive away and then suddenly it stopped and a figure lent out from the window beckoning him frantically he ran up to her suppose I want you she asked advertised he said promptly tell me I shall put TX she said indignantly then I shall take no notice of your advertisement he replied and stood in the middle of the street his hat in his hand to the intense annoyance of a taxi cab driver who literally all but ran him down and in a figurative sense did so until TX was out of earshot End of Chapter 16 Recording by Peter Tonglinson Chapter 17 of the clue of the twisted candle by Edgar Wallace this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Peter Tonglinson Chapter 17 Thomas Xavier Meredith was a shrewd young man it was said of him by Senior Paolo Coselli the eminent criminologist that he had a gift of intuition which was abnormal probably the mystery of the twisted candle was solved by him long before any other person in the world has a dimmest idea that it was capable of solution the house in Cadigan Square was still in the hands of the police to this house and particularly to Kara's bedroom TX from time to time repaired and reproduced as far as possible the conditions which obtained on the night of the murder he had the same stifling fire the same locked door the latch was dropped in its socket whilst TX with a stopwatch in his hand made elaborate calculations and acted certain parts which he did not reveal to a soul three times accompanied by Mansus he went to the house three times went to the death chamber and was alone on one occasion for an hour and a half whilst a patient Mansus waited outside three times he emerged looking graver on each occasion and after the third visit he called into consultation John Lexman Lexman had been spending some time in the country having deferred his trip to the United States this case puzzles me more and more John said TX troubled out of his usual boisterous self and thanked Heaven it worries other people besides me Domainer came over from France the other day and brought all his best sleuths whilst O'Grady of the New York Central Office paid a flying visit just to get hold of the facts not one of them has given me the real solution though they've all been rather ingenious Gathacole has vanished and is probably on his way to some undiscoverable region and our people have not yet traced the valley he should be the easiest for you said John Lexman reflectively why Gathacole should go off I can't understand TX continued according to the story which was told me by Fisher his last words to Kara were to the effect that he was expecting a cheque or that he had received a cheque no cheque has been presented or drawn and apparently Gathacole has gone off without waiting for any payment an examination of Kara's book shows nothing against the Gathacole account saved the sum of £600 which was originally advanced and now to upset all my calculations look at this he took from his pocketbook a newspaper cutting and pushed it across the table for they were dining together at the Colton John Lexman picked up the slip and read it was evidently from a New York paper Further news has now come to hand by the Antarctic Trading Company's Steamer Cyprus concerning the wreck of the city of the Argentine it is believed that this ill-fated vessel which called at South American ports lost to propeller and drifted south out of the track of shipping this theory is now confirmed apparently the ship struck an iceberg onto the ship apparently the ship struck an iceberg on December the 23rd and founded with all aboard save a few men who were able to launch a boat and who were picked up by the Cyprus the following is the passenger list John Lexman ran down the list until he came upon the name which was evidently underlined in ink by TX that name was George Gathacole and after it in brackets Explorer if that were true then would not have come to London he may have taken another boat said TX and I cabled to the steamship company without any great success apparently Gathacole was an eccentric sort of man and lived in terror of being overcrowded it was the habit of his to make provisional bookings by every available steamer the company can tell me no more than that he had booked like whether he shipped on the city of the Argentine or not they do not know he knew this about Gathacole said John slowly and thoughtfully that he was a man who would not hurt a fly he was incapable of killing any man being constantly averse to taking life in any shape for this reason he never made collections of butterflies or of bees and I believe has never shot an animal in his life he carried his principles to such an extent that he was a vegetarian poor old Gathacole for which TX was seen on his face since he came back if you want to sympathise with anybody said TX gloomily sympathise with me on the following day TX was summoned to the home office and went stilled for a most unholy row the home secretary a large and worthy gentleman given to the making of speeches on every excuse received him however with unusual kindness I have sent for you Mr. Meredith this unfortunate Greek I have had all his private papers looked into and translated and in some cases decoded because as you are probably aware his diaries and a great deal of his correspondence were in a code which called for the attention of experts TX had not troubled himself greatly about Carla's papers but had handed them over in accordance with instructions to the proper authorities of course Mr. Meredith when the home secretary went on beaming across his big table we expect you to continue your search for the murderer but I must confess that your prisoner when you secure him would have a very excellent case to put to a jury that I can well believe sir said TX seldom in my long career at the bar began the home secretary in his best oratorical manner have I examined a record so utterly discreditable as that of the deceased man here he advanced a few instances which surprised even TX the man was a lunatic continued the home secretary a vicious evil man who loved cruelty for cruelty's sake we have in this diary alone sufficient evidence to convict him of three separate murders one of which was committed in this country TX looked his astonishment you will remember Mr. Meredith as I saw in one of your reports that he had a chauffeur named Peropoulos TX nodded he went to Greece on the day following the shooting of Vasillaro he said the home secretary shook his head he was killed on the same night said the minister and he would have no difficulty in finding what remains of his body in the disused house which Cairo rented for his own purpose in the Portsmouth Road that he has killed a number of people in Albania you may well suppose whole villages have been wiped out with a little excitement the man was a Nero without any of Nero's amiable weaknesses he was obsessed with the idea that he himself was in danger of assassination and through an enemy even in his trusty servant undoubtedly the chauffeur Peropoulos was in touch with several continental government circles you understand said the minister in conclusion that I am telling you this not with the idea of expecting you to relax your efforts to find the murderer of the mystery but in order that you may know something of the possible motive for this man's murder TX spent an hour going over the decoded diary and documents and left the home office a little shakily it was inconceivable incredible Cairo was a lunatic but the directing genius was a devil TX had a flat in Whitehall Gardens and thither he repaired to change for dinner he was half dressed when the evening paper arrived at his want first at the news page and then at the advertisement column he looked down the column mark personal without expecting to find anything of particular interest to himself but saw that which made him drop the paper and fly round the room in a frenzy to complete his toilet Tommy X ran the brief announcement most urgent Marble Arch 8 he had 5 minutes to get there but it seemed like 5 hours he was held up at almost every crossing and though he might have used his authority to obtain right away it was a step which his curious sense of honesty prevented him taking he leapt out of the cab before it stopped thrust the failure into the driver's hands and looked round for the girl he saw her at last and walked quickly towards her as he approached her she turned about and with an almost imperceptible beckoning gesture walked away he followed her along the base water road and gradually drew level I am afraid I have been watched she said in a low voice will you call a cab he held a passing taxi helped her in and gave at random the first place that suggested itself to him which was Finsbury Park I am very worried she said and I don't know anybody who can help me except you is it money he asked money she said scornfully of course it isn't money I want to show you a letter she said after a while she took it from her bag and gave it to him and he struck a match and read it with difficulty it was written in a studiously uneducated hand dear miss I know who you are you are wanted by the police but I will not give you away dear miss I am very hard up and 20 pounds will be very useful to me and I shall not trouble you again dear miss put your money on the windowsill of your room I know you sleep on the ground floor you will come in and take it and if not well I don't want to make any trouble yours truly a friend when did you get this he asked this morning she replied I sent the agony to the paper by telegram I knew you would come oh you did did you he said her assurance was very pleasing to him the face that her words imply gave him an odd little feeling of comfort and happiness I can easily get you out of this he added give me your address and when the gentleman comes that is impossible she replied hurriedly please don't think I'm ungrateful and don't think I'm being silly you do think I'm being silly don't you I've never harboured such an unworthy thought he said virtuously yes you have she persisted but really I can't tell you where I'm living I have a very special reason for not doing so it's not myself that I'm thinking about but there's a life involved this was a somewhat dramatic statement to make and she felt she had gone too far perhaps I don't mean that she said but there is someone I care for she dropped a voice oh said TX blankly he came down from his rosy heights into the shadow and darkness of a sunless valley someone you care for he repeated after a while yes there was another long silence then oh indeed said TX again the unbroken interval acquired and after a while she said in a low voice not that way not what way asked TX huskily his spirits doing a little mountaineering the way you mean she said oh said TX he was back again amidst the rosy snows of dawn was in fact climbing a dizzy escalier on the topmost height of Hope's Mount Blanc when she pulled the ladder from under him I shall of course never marry she said with a certain prim decision TX fell with a dull sickening thud discovering that his rosy snows were not unlike cold hard ice in their lack of resilience who said you would he asked somewhat feebly but in self-defense you did she said and her audacity took his breath away well how am I to help you he asked after a while by giving me some advice she said do you think I ought to put the money there indeed I do not said TX recovering some of his natural dominance apart from the fact that you would be compounding a felony you would merely be laying out trouble for yourself in the future if he can get 20 pounds so easily he will come for 40 pounds but why do you stay away why don't you return home there's no charge and no breath of suspicion against you because I have something to do which I have set my mind to she said with determination in her tones surely you can trust me with your address he urged her after all that has passed between us Belinda Mary after all the years we have known one another I should get out and leave you she said steadily but how the dickens am I going to help you he protested don't swear she could be very severe indeed the only way you can help me is by being kind and sympathetic would you like me to burst into tears he asked sarcastically I asked you to do nothing more painful or repugnant to your natural feelings than to be a gentleman she said thank you very kindly said TX and lent back in the cab with an air of supreme resignation I believe you're making faces in the dark she accused him God forbid that I should do anything so low said he hastily what made you think that because I was putting my tongue out at you she admitted and the taxi driver heard the streets of laughter in the cab behind him above the wheezing of his asthmatic engine at twelve that night in a certain suburb of London an overcoded man moved stealthily through a garden he felt his way carefully along the wall of the house and groped with hope but with no great certainty along the window he found an envelope which his fingers somewhat censored from long employment in nefarious uses told him contained nothing more substantial than a letter he went back through the garden and rejoined his companion who was waiting under an adjacent lamppost did she drop off the other eagerly I don't know yet grabbed the man from the garden he opened the envelope and read a few lines she hasn't got the money he said but she's going to get it I must meet her tomorrow afternoon at the corner of Oxford Street and Regent Street what time asked the other six o'clock said the first man the chaff who takes the money must carry a copy of the Westminster Gazette in his hand oh then it's a plant said the other was conviction the other laughed she won't work any plants I bet she's scared out of her life the second man bit his nails intensively it's come to something he said bitterly we went out to make our thousands and we've come down to chanting for twenty pounds it's the luck said the other philosophically and I haven't done with her by any means besides we still got a chance of pulling off the big thing Harry I reckon she's good for a hundred or two anyway at six o'clock on the following afternoon a man dressed in a dark overcoat with a soft felt hat pulled down over his eyes stood nonchalantly by the curb near where the buses stop at Regent Street slapping his hand gently with a folded copy of the Westminster Gazette that nun should mistake his liberal reading he stood as near as possible to a street lamp and so arranged himself and his attitude that the minimum of light should fall upon his face and the maximum upon that respectable organ of public opinion soon after six he saw the girl approaching out of the tail of his eye and strolled off to meet her to his surprise he passed him by and he was turning to follow when an unfriendly hand gripped him by the arm Mr Fisher I believe said a pleasant voice what do you mean said the man struggling backwards are you going quietly after the pleasant superintendent Manchester's or shall I take my stick to you Mr Fisher thought a while it's a cop he confessed and allowed himself to be hustled into the waiting cab he made his appearance in TX's office and that Urbane gentleman greeted him as a friend oh and how's Mr Fisher he asked I suppose you are Mr Fisher still and not Mr Harry Gilcott or Mr George Porton Fisher smiled his old deferential deprecating smile you will always have your jokes sir I suppose the young lady gave me away you gave yourself away my poor Fisher said TX and put a strip of paper before him you may disguise your hand and in your extreme modesty pretend to an ignorance of the British language which is not creditable to your many attainments but what you must be awfully careful in doing in future when you write such a pizzles he said is to wash your hands wash my hands repeated the puzzle Fisher TX nodded you see you left a little thumbprint and we are rather wails on thumbprints at Scotland Yard Fisher I see what is the charge now sir I shall make no charge against you except the conventional one of being a convict under licence and failing to report Fisher heaved a sigh that'll only mean 12 months are you going to charge me with this business he nodded to the paper TX shook his head I bear you no ill will although you try to frighten Miss Bartholomew oh yes I know it is Miss Bartholomew and have known all the time the lady is there for a reason which is no business of yours or mine I shall not charge you with the attempt of blackmail and in reward for my leniency I hope you are going to tell me all you know about the Kara murder you wouldn't like me to charge you with that would you by any chance Fisher drew a long breath no sir but if you did I could prove my innocence he said earnestly I spent the whole of the evening in the kitchen except a quarter of an hour said TX the man nodded that's true sir I went out to see a pal of mine the man who was in this asked TX Fisher hesitated yes sir he was with me in this but there was nothing wrong about the business as far as we went I don't mind admitting that I was planning a big thing I'm not going to blow on it if it's going to get me into trouble but if you'll promise me that it won't I'll tell you the whole story against whom was this coup of yours planned against Mr. Kara sir said Fisher going with your story nodded TX the story was a short and commonplace one Fisher had met a man who knew another man who was either a Turk or an Albanian they had learnt that Kara was in the habit of keeping large sums of money in the house and they had planned to rob him that was the story in a nutshell somewhere the plan miscarried it was when he came to the incidents that occurred on the night of the murder that TX followed him with the greatest interest the old gentleman came in said Fisher and I saw him up to the room I heard him coming out and they went up and spoke to him while he was having a chat with Mr. Kara at the open door did you hear Mr. Kara speak I fancy I did sir said Fisher the gentleman was quite pleased with himself why do you say old gentleman asked TX he was not an old man not exactly sir said Fisher but he had a sort of fussy irritable way that old gentlemen sometimes have and I somehow got it fixed in my mind that he was old as a matter of fact he was about 45 he may have been 50 you have told me all this before was there anything peculiar about him Fisher hesitated those things sir except the fact that one of his arms was a game one meaning that it was meaning that it was an artificial one sir so far as I can make out was it his right or his left arm that was game interrupted TX his left arm sir you're sure I swear to it sir very well go on he came downstairs and went out and I never saw him again when you came and the murder was discovered and knowing as I did I had my own scheme on and that one of your splits might pinch me I got a bit rattled I went downstairs to the hall and the first thing I saw lying on the table was a letter it was addressed to me he paused and TX nodded go on he said again I couldn't understand how it came to be there but as I'd been in the kitchen most of the evening except when I was seeing my pal outside to tell him the job was off for that night I must have been there before you came I opened the letter there were only a few words on it and I can tell you those few words made my heart jump up into my mouth and made me go cold all over what were they asked TX I should never forget them sir they're sort of permanently fixed in my brain said the man honestly the note started with just the figures AC 274 what was that asked TX my convict number when I was in Dartmoor prison sir what did the notes say get out of here quick I don't know who had put it there but I'd evidently been spotted and I was taking no chances that's the whole story from beginning to end I accidentally happened to meet the young lady Miss Holland Miss Bartholomew as she is and followed her to her house in Portman Place that was the night you were there TX found himself to his intense annoyance going very red and you know no more he asked no more sir and if I may be struck dead keep all that sabbath talk for the chaplain commended TX and they took away Mr Fisher not an especially dissatisfied man that night TX interviewed his prisoner at Cannon Road Police Station and made a few more inquirers there is one thing I would like to ask you said the girl when he met her next morning in Green Park if you are going to ask whether I made inquirers as to where your habitation was he warned her I beg of you to refrain she was looking very beautiful that morning he thought the keen air had brought a colour to her face and then to spring to her gate and as she strode along by his side with the free and careless swing of youth she was the epitome of the life which even now was budding on every tree in the park your father is back in town by the way he said and he is most anxious to see you she made a little grimace I hope you haven't been round talking to father about me of course I have he said helplessly I have also had all the reporters up from Fleet Street and given them a full description of your escapades she looked round at him with laughter in her eyes all the manners of an early Christian martyr she said poor soul would you like to be thrown to the lines I should prefer being thrown to the damnation ducks and drakes he said moodily you are such a miserable man she chided him and yet you have everything to make life worth living ha ha said TX you have, of course you have you have a splendid position he looks up to you and talks about you you have got a wife and family who adore you he stopped and looked at her as though she were some strange insect I have a how much he asked credulously aren't you married he asked innocently he made a strange noise in his throat do you know I've always thought of you as marriage you went on I often picture you in your domestic circle reading to the children from the daily megaphone those awfully interesting stories about little Willie Waterbug he held on to the railings for support may we sit down he asked faintly she sat by his side half turned to him demure and wholly adorable of course you are writing one respect he said at last but you are altogether wrong about the children are you married she demanded you would know evidence of amusement didn't you know he asked she swallowed something of course it's no business of mine and I'm sure I hope you are very happy perfectly happy said TX complacently you must come out and see me one Saturday afternoon when I'm digging the potatoes I'm a perfect devil when they let me loose in the vegetable garden shall we go on he said he could have sworn there were tears in her eyes and man like he thought she was vets with him as his fooling I haven't made you cross have I asked oh no she replied I mean you don't believe all this lot about my being married and that sort of thing I'm not interested she said with a shrug of her shoulders not very much you've been very kind to me and I should be an awful bore if I wasn't grateful of course I don't care whether you are married or not it's nothing to do with me is it naturally it isn't he replied I suppose you aren't married by any chance married she repeated bitterly why you will make my fourth she had hardly got the words out of her mouth before she realized her terrible error a second later she was in his arms and he was kissing her to the scandal of one aged park keeper one small and dirty-faced little boy and a malting duck who seemed to sneer at the proceedings which she watched through a yellow and malignant eye Belinda Mary said TX at parting you have got to give up your little country establishment wherever it may be and come back to the disconference of Portman Place oh I know you can't come back yet that somebody is there and I can pretty well guess who it is who she challenged I rather fancy your mother has come back he suggested a look of scorn dawned into her pretty face good lord Tommy she said in disgust you don't think I should keep mother in the suburbs without her telling the world all about it you're an undutiful little beggar he said they had reached the horse guards at Whitehall and he was saying goodbye to her if it comes to a matter of duty she answered perhaps you would do your duty and hold up the traffic for me and let me cross this road my dear girl he protested hold up the traffic of course she said indignantly you're a policeman only when I'm in uniform he said hastily and piloted her across the road it was a new man who returned to the gloomy office in Whitehall a man with a heart that swelled and throbbed with the pride and joy of life's most precious possession End of Chapter 17 Recording by Peter Tomlinson Chapter 18 of the Clue of the Twisted Candle by Edgar Wallace This livery box recording is in the public domain Recording by Peter Tomlinson Chapter 18 T. X sat at his desk his chin in his hands his mind remarkably busy grave as the matter was which he was considering he rose with alacrity to meet the smiling girl who was ushered through the door by Mansus preternaturally solemn and mysterious she was radiant that day her eyes were sparkling with an unusual brightness I've got the most wonderful thing to tell you she said and I can't tell you that's a very good beginning said T. X taking her muff from her hand oh but it's really wonderful she cried eagerly more wonderful than anything you have ever heard about we are interested said T. X blandly to know you mustn't make fun she begged I can't tell you now but it is something that will make you simply she was at a loss for a smile jump out of my skin suggested T. X I shall astonish you she nodded her head solemnly I take a lot of astonishing I warn you he smiled to know you is to exhaust one's capacity for surprise that can be either very very nice or very very nasty she said cautiously but accepted as being very very nice he laughed now come out with this tale of yours she shook her head very vigorously I can't possibly tell you anything she said then why the dickens do begin telling anything for he complained not without reason because I just want you to know that I do know something oh lord he cried of course you know everything but Linda Merrick you're really the most wonderful child he sat on the edge of her armchair and laid his hand on her shoulder and you've come to take me out to lunch what were you worrying about when I came in she asked he made a little gesture just to dismiss the subject nothing very much you've heard me speak of John Lexman she bent her head Lexman's the writer for great many mystery stories but you probably read his books she nodded again and again TX noticed the suppressed eagerness in her eyes you're not ill or sickening for anything are you he asked anxiously measles or mumps or something don't be silly she said go on and tell me something about Mr. Lexman he's going to America said TX and before he goes he wants to give a little lecture it sounds rum doesn't it but that's just what he wants to do why is he doing it she asked TX made a gesture of despair that is one of the mysteries which may never be revealed to me except he perked his lips and looked thoughtfully at the girl there are times he said when there is a great struggle going on inside a man between all the human and better part of him he's a professional part of him one side of me wants to hear this lecture of John Lexman very much the other shrinks from the ordeal let us talk it over at lunch she said practically and carried him off end of chapter 18 recording by Peter Tomlinson chapter 19 of the clue of the twisted candle by Edgar Wallace this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Peter Tomlinson chapter 19 one would not readily associate the party of top booted Suerman who descend nightly to the subterranean passages of London with the stout Vice Consul at Geratso yet it was one unimaginative man who lived in Lambeth and had no knowledge that there was such a place as Geratso who was responsible for bringing this comfortable official out of his bed in the early hours of the morning causing him albeit reluctantly and with violent and insubordinate language to conduct certain investigations in the crowded bazaars at first he was unsuccessful because there were many Hussein offenders in Geratso he sent an invitation to the American Consul to come over to Tiffin and help him by the dickens the foreign office should suddenly be interested in Hussein offending I cannot for the life of me understand the foreign department has to be interested in something you know said the junior American I received some of the quaintest requests from Washington I rather fancy they only wire you to find if they are there why are you doing this I've seen Hackat Bay said the English official I wonder what this fellow has been doing there is probably a wigging for me in the offing at about the same time the Suhrman in the bosom of his own family was taking loud and noisy sips from a big mug of tea don't you be surprised he said to his admiring better half if I have to go up to the old Bailey to give evidence Lord Joe she said with interest what has happened all his pipe and told the story was a wealth of rambling detail he gave particulars of the hour he had descended the Victoria Street shaft of what Bill Morgan had said to him as they were going down of what he had said to Harry Carter as they splashed along the low roof tunnel of how he had a funny feeling that he's going to make a discovery and so on and so forth until he reached his long delayed climax TX waited up very late that night and at twelve o'clock his patience was rewarded for the foreign office messenger brought a telegram to him it was addressed to the chief secretary and ran number 847 yours 63952 of yesterday's date begins Hussein offending a prosperous merchant of this city left for Italy to place his daughter in convent Meri Teresa Florence Hussein being Christian he goes on to Paris a fly rally a sea ends half an hour later TX had a telephone connection through to Paris and was instructing the British police agent in that city he received a further telephone report from Paris the next morning and one which gave him infinite satisfaction very slowly but surely he was gathering the pieces of this baffling mystery and was fitting them together Hussein offending would probably supply the last missing segments at eight o'clock that night the door opened and the man who represented TX in Paris came in carrying a travelling Ulster on his arm TX gave him a nod and then as the newcomer stood with the door open obviously waiting for somebody to follow him he said show him in I will see him alone they walked into his office a tall man wearing a frock coat and a red fez he was a man from 55 to 60 pothole built with a grave dark face and a thin fringe of white beard he salamied as he entered you speak French I believe said TX presently the other vowed my agent has explained to you said TX in French I desire some information for the purpose of clearing up a crime which has been committed in this country I have given you my assurance if that assurance was necessary that you would come to know harm as the result of anything you might tell me that I understand if Fendi said the tall Turk Americans and the English have always been good friends of mine and I have been frequently in London therefore I should be very pleased to be of any help to you TX walked to a closed bookcase on one side of the room unlocked it took out an object wrapped in white tissue paper he laid this on the table the Turk watching the proceedings was an impassive face very slowly the commissioner unrolled the little bundle and revealed at last a long slim knife rusted and stained with a hilt which in its untarnished days had evidently been of chased silver he lifted the dagger from the table and handed it to the Turk this is yours I believe he said softly the man turned it over stepping nearer the table that he might secure the advantage of a better light he examined the blade near the hilt and handed the weapon back to TX that is my knife he said TX smiled you understand of course that I saw a mean offendi of Juratso inscribed in Arabic near the hilt the Turk inclined his head with this weapon TX went on speaking with slow emphasis a murder was committed in this town there was no sign of interest or astonishment or indeed of any emotion whatever it is the will of God he said calmly these things happened even in a great city like London it was your knife suggested TX but my hand was in Juratso offendi said the Turk he looked at the knife again so the black roman is dead offendi the black roman asked TX so little puzzled the Greek they called Kara said the Turk he was a very witted man TX was up on his feet now leaning across the table and looking at the other with narrowed eyes Kara he asked quickly the Turk shrugged his shoulders who else could it be he said are not your newspapers filled with the story? TX sat back again disappointed and a little annoyed with himself that is true who's saying offendi but I did not think you read the papers neither do I nor did I know that Kara had been killed until I saw this knife how came this in your possession it was found in a rain sewer said TX into which the murderer had apparently dropped it but if you have not read the newspapers offendi then you admit that you know who committed this murder the Turk raised his hand slowly to a level with his shoulders though I am a Christian he said there are many wise sayings of my father's religion which I remember and one of these offendi was the wicked must die in the habitations of the just by the weapons of the worthy shall the wicked perish your excellency I am a worthy man for never have I done a dishonest thing in my life I have traded fairly with Greek with Italians have with Frenchmen and with Englishmen also the Jews I have never thought to rob them nor to hurt them if I have killed men God knows it was not because I desired their death but because their lives were dangerous to me and to mine ask the blade all your questions and see what answer it gives until it speaks I am as dumb as the blade for it is also written that the soldier is the servant of his sword and also the wise servant is dumb about his masters affairs TX laughed helplessly I had hoped you might be able to help me hoped and feared he said if you cannot speak it is not my business to force you either by threat or by act I am grateful to you for having come over although the visit has been rather fruitless as far as I am concerned he smiled again and offered his hand excellency said the old Turk soberly there are some things in life that are well left alone and there are moments when justice should be so blind that she does not see guilt here is such a moment and this ended the interview one on which TX had set for a high hopes his gloom carried to Portman Place where he had arranged to meet Belinda Mary where is Mr Lexman going to give this famous lecture of his was the question with which he greeted him and please what is the subject it is on a subject which is of supreme interest to me he said gravely he has called his lecture the clue of the twisted candle there is no clearer brain being employed in the business of criminal detection than John Lexman though he uses his genius for the construction of stories whereas employed in the legitimate business of police work I am certain he would make a mark second to none in the world he is determined on giving this lecture and he has issued a number of invitations these include the chiefs of the secret police of nearly all the civilised countries of the world O'Grady is on his way from America he wireless me this morning to that effect even the chief of the Russian police has accepted the invitation because as you know this murder has incited a great deal of interest in police circles everywhere John Lexman is not only going to deliver this lecture but he is going to tell us who committed the murder and how it was committed she thought a moment where will it be delivered I don't know he said does that matter it matters a great deal she said emphatically especially if I want it delivered in a certain place would you induce Mr. Lexman to lecture at my house a portman plays she shook her head no I have a house of my own a furnished house I rented in Blackheath will you induce Mr. Lexman to give the lecture there but why he asked please don't ask questions he pleaded do this for me Tommy he saw she was in earnest I'll write to old Lexman this afternoon he promised John Lexman telephoned his reply I should prefer somewhere out of London he said and since Mr. Bartholomew has some interest in the matter my extend my invitation to her she shall not be any more shocked than a good woman need me and so it came about that the name of Melinda Mary Bartholomew was added to the selected list of police chiefs who were making for London at that moment to hear from the man who had guaranteed the solution of the story of Cara and his killing the unravelment of the mystery which surrounded his death and the significance of the twisted candles at that moment we're reposing in the Black Museum at Scotland Yard End of Chapter 19 Recording by Peter Tomlinson Chapter 20 of the Clue of the Twisted Candle by Edgar Wallace this Libby Rocks recording is in the Pavlik Domain Recording by Peter Tomlinson Chapter 20 the room was a big one most of the furniture had been cleared out to admit the guests who had come from the ends of the earth to learn the story of the twisted candles and to test John Lexman's theory by their own they sat around chatting cheerfully of men and crimes a great coups planned and frustrated of strange deeds committed and undetected scraps of their conversation came to Melinda Mary she stood in the chintz draped doorway which led from the drawing room that she used as a study do you remember Sir George the Volver case I took the man at Odessa the curious thing was that I found no money on the body only a small gold charm set with a single emerald so I knew it was the girl with the fur bonnet who had Pino got away after putting three bullets into me but I dragged myself to the window and shot him dead that was a real good shot they rose to meet her and TX introduced her to the men it was at that moment that John Lexman was announced he looked tired but returned the commissioners greeting with a cheerful mien he knew all the men present by name as they knew him he had a few sheets of notes which he laid on the little table which had been placed for him and when the introductions were finished he went to this End of Chapter 20 Recording by Peter Tomlinson Chapter 21 of The Clue of the Twisted Candle by Edgar Wallace this Librivox recording is in the public domain Recording by Peter Tomlinson Chapter 21 The Narrative of John Lexman I am, as you may all know a writer of storage which depend for their success upon the creation and unravelment of criminological mysteries The Chief Commissioner has been good enough to tell you that my story was something more than a mere seeking after sensation and that I endeavoured in the course of those narratives to propound obscure but possible situations and with the ingenuity that I could command to offer to those problems a solution acceptable not only to the general reader but to the police expert as though I did not regard my earlier work with any great seriousness and indeed only thought after exciting situations and incidents I can see now, looking back that underneath the work which seemed at the time purposeless there was something very much like a scheme of studies you must forgive this egotism in me because it is necessary that I should make my explanation and you who are in the main police officers of considerable experience and discernment should appreciate the fact that as I was able to get inside the minds of the fictitious criminals I portrayed so am I now able to follow the mind of the man who committed this murder or if not to follow his mind to recreate the psychology of the slayer of Remington Cara in the possession of most of you are the vital facts concerning this man you know the type of man he was you have instances of his terrible ruthlessness you know that he was a blot upon God's earth a vicious wicked ego seeking the gratification of that strange blood lust and pain lust which is to be found in so few criminals John Lexman went on to describe the killing of Vasillaro I know now how that occurred he said I had received on the previous Christmas Eve amongst other presents a pistol from an unknown admirer that unknown admirer was Cara who had planned this murder some three months ahead he it was who sent me the browning knowing as he did that I had never used such a weapon and that therefore I would be not using it I might have put the pistol away in a cupboard out of reach and the whole of his carefully thought out plan would have miscarried but Cara was systematic in all things three weeks after I received the weapon a clumsy attempt was made to break into my house in the middle of the night it struck me at the time it was clumsy because the burglar made a tremendous amount of noise and disappeared soon after he began doing no more damage than to break a window in my dining room naturally my mind went to the possibility of a further attempt to this kind as my house stood on the outskirts of the village and it was only natural that I should take the pistol from one of my boxes and put it somewhere handy to make doubly sure Cara came down the next day and heard the full story of the outrage he did not speak of pistols I remember now though I did not remember at the time that I mentioned the fact that I had a handy weapon a fortnight later a second attempt was made to enter the house I say an attempt but again I do not believe that the intention was at all serious the outrage was designed to keep that pistol of mine in a get-at-able place and again Cara came down to see us on the day following the burglary then I must have told him though I have no distinct recollection of the fact of what had happened the previous night it would have been unnatural if I had not mentioned the fact as it was a matter which had formed a subject to discussion between myself, my wife and the servants then came the threatening letter with Cara providentially at hand on the night of the murder whilst Cara was still in my house I went out to find his chauffeur Cara remained a few minutes with my wife and then on some excuse went into the library there he loaded the pistol placing one cartridge in the chamber and trusting to luck that I did not pull the trigger until I had it pointed at my victim here he took his biggest chance because before sending the weapon to me he had had the spring of the Browning so eased that the slightest touch set it off and as you know the pistol being automatic the explosion of one cartridge reloading and firing the necks and so on it was probable that a chance touch would have brought this scheme to naught probably me also of what happened on that night you are aware he then went on to tell of his trial and conviction and skimmed over the life he led until that morning on Dartmoor Cara knew my innocence had been proved and his hatred for me being his great obsession since I had the thing he had wanted but no longer wanted let that be understood he saw the misery he had planned for me and my dear wife being brought to a sudden end he had by the way already planned and carried his plan into execution a system of tormenting her you did not know he turned to TX that scarcely a month passed but some disrepectable villain called at her flat with a story that he had been released from Portland or Wormwood Scrubs that morning and that he had seen me the story each messenger brought was one sufficient to break the heart of any but the bravest woman it was the story of ill treatment by brutal officials of my illness, of my madness of everything calculated to harrow the feelings of a tender hearted and faithful wife that was Cara's scheme not to hurt with the whip or the knife but to cut deep at the heart with his evil tongue to cut to the raw places of the mind when he found that I was to be released he may have guessed or he may have discovered by some underhand method that a pardon was about to be signed he conceived his great plan he had less than two days to execute it through one of his agents he discovered a warder who had been in some trouble with the authorities a man who was avaricious and was even then on the brink of being discharged from the service for trafficking with prisoners the bribe he offered this man was a heavy one and the warder accepted Cara had purchased a new monoplane and as you know he was an excellent aviator with this new machine he flew to Devon and arrived at dawn in one of the unfrequented parts of the moor the story of my own escape needs no telling my narrative really begins from the moment I put my foot upon the deck of the empress the first person I asked to see was naturally my wife Cara however insisted on my going to the cabin he had prepared and changing my clothes and until then I did not realise I was still in my convict's garb a clean change was waiting for me and the luxury of soft shirts and well-fitting garments after the prison uniform was not described after I was dressed I was taken by the Greek steward to the larger stateroom and there I found my darling waiting for me his voice sank almost to a whisper and it was a minute or two before he had mastered his emotions she had been suspicious of Cara but he had been very insistent he had detailed the plans and shown her the monoplane but even then she would not trust she had been waiting in a motorboat moving parallel with the yacht until she saw the landing and realised as she thought that Cara was not playing her force the motorboat had been hired by Cara and the two men inside were probably as well bribed as the water the joy of freedom can only be known to those who have suffered the horrors of restraint that is a trite enough statement but when one is describing elemental things there is no room for subtlety the voyage was a fairly eventless one we saw very little of Cara who did not intrude himself upon us and our main excitement lay in the apprehension that we should be held up by a British destroyer or that when we reach Gibraltar we should be searched by the Brits authorities Cara had foreseen that possibility and had taken in enough cold to last him for the run we had a fairly stormy passage in the Mediterranean but after that nothing happened until we arrived at Durazzo we had to go ashore in disguise because Cara told us that the English consul might see us and make some trouble we wore Turkish dresses Grace heavily veiled and I wearing a greasy old calf can which with my somewhat emaciated face and my unshaven appearance passed me without comment Cara's home was and is about 18 miles from Durazzo it is not on the main road but it is reached by following one of the rocky mountain paths which wind and twist among the hills to the south east of the town the country is wild and mainly uncultivated we had to pass through swamps and skirt huge lagoons as we mounted higher and higher from terrace to terrace and came to the roads which crossed the mountains Cara's palace you could call it known less is really built within sight of the sea it is on the acrocyronian peninsula near Cape Lingüeta hereabouts the country is more populated and better cultivated we passed great slopes entirely covered with mouldery and olive trees whilst in the valleys there were fields and corn the Palazzo stands on a lofty plateau it is approached by two paths which can be and have been well defended in the past against the sultan's troops or against the bands which have been raised by rival villages with the object of storming and plundering this stronghold the skivertars of blood-sirsty crowd without pity or remorse were faithful enough to their chief as Cara was then so worth that it was not profitable to rob him moreover he kept their own turbulent elements fully occupied with the little rage which he or his agents organised from time to time the Palazzo was built rather in the Mooristan in the Turkish style it was a sort of eastern type to which was grating an Italian architecture a house of white-columned courts of big paved yards fountains and cool dark rooms when I pass through the gates I realise for the first time something of Cara's importance there were a score of servants all eastern perfectly trained silent and obsequious he led us to his own room it was a big apartment with divans running round the wall the most ornate French drawing-room suite and an enormous Persian carpet one of the finest of the kind ever been turned out of Shiraz here let me say that throughout the trip his attitude to me had been perfectly friendly and towards grace all that I could ask of my best friend considerate and tactful we had hardly reached his room before he said to me with that Bonhommi which he had observed throughout the trip you would like to see your room I expressed a wish to that effect he clapped his hands and the Romanian servant came through the curtain doorway made the usual salam and Cara spoke to him a few words in a language which I presume was Turkish he will show you the way said Cara with his most genial smile I followed the servant through the curtains which had hardly fallen behind me I was seized by four men flung violently on the ground a filthy tar-bosh was thrust into my mouth and before I knew what was happening hand and foot as I realised the gross treachery of the man my first frantic thoughts were of grace and her safety I struggled with the strength of three men but they were too many for me and I was dragged along the passage the door was open and I was flung into a bare room I must have been lying on the floor for half an hour when they came for me this time accompanied by a middle-aged man named Savalia who was either an Italian or a Greek he spoke English fairly well and he made it clear to me that I had to behave myself I was led back to the room from whence I had come and sound Cara sitting in one of those big armchairs which he affected smoking a cigarette confronting him, still in her Turkish dress was poor Grace she was not bound I was pleased to see but when on my entrance she rose and made as if to come towards me she was unceremoniously thrown back by the guardian who stood on her side Mr. John Lexman drew Cara you are at the beginning of a great disillusionment I have a few things to tell you which will make you feel rather uncomfortable it was then that I heard for the first time that my pardon had been signed and my innocence discovered having taken a great deal of trouble to get you in prison said Cara it isn't likely that I'm going to allow all my plans to be undone and my plan is to make you both extremely uncomfortable he did not raise his voice speaking still in the same conversational tone suave and half amused I hate you for two things he said and tick them off on his fingers the first is that you took the woman that I wanted to a man of my temperament that is an unpardonable crime I have never wanted women either as friends or as amusement I am one of the few people in the world who are self-sufficient it happened that I wanted your wife and she rejected me because apparently she preferred you he looked at me quizzically you are thinking at this moment he went on slowly that I want her now and that it is part of my revenge that I shall put her straight in my harry nothing is farther from my desires all my thoughts the black roman is not satisfied with the leavings of such poor trash as you I hate you both equally and for both of you there is waiting and experience more terrible than even your elastic imagination can conjure you understand what that means he asked me still retaining his calm I did not reply I did not look at grace to whom he turned I believe you love your husband my friend he said your love will be put to a very severe test you shall see him the mere wreckage of the man he is you shall see him brutalised below the level of the cattle in the field I will give you both no joys no ease of mind from this moment you are slaves and worse than slaves he clapped his hands it was ended and from that moment I only saw grace once John Lexman stopped and buried his face in his hands they took me to an underground dungeon cut in the solid rock in many ways it resembled the dungeon of the Chateau of Chilon in that its only window looked out upon a wild storm-sweep lake and its floor was jagged rock I have called it underground as indeed it was on that side for the palazzo was built upon a steep slope running down from the spur of the hills they chained me by the legs and left me to my own devices once a day they gave me a little goat flesh and a panicion of water and once a weak car would come in and outside the radius of my chain he would open a little camp-stool and sitting down smoky cigarette and talk about the things that man said the things he described the horrors he related and always it was Grace who was the centre of his description and he would relate the stories he was telling to her about myself I cannot describe them they are beyond repetition John Lexman shut it and closed his eyes that was his weapon he did not confront me with the torture of my darling he did not bring tangible evidence of her suffering he just sat and talked describing with a remarkable clarity of language which seemed incredible in a foreigner the amusements which he himself had witnessed I thought I should go mad twice I sprang at him and twice the chain about my legs threw me headlong on that cruel floor once he brought the jailer in to whip me but I took the whipping and such phlegm that it gave him no satisfaction I told you I had seen Grace only once and this is how it happened it was after the flogging Ankara who was a veritable demon in his rage planned to have his revenge for my indifference they brought Grace out upon a boat and rode the boat to where I could see it from my window there the whip which had been applied to me was applied to her I can't tell you any more about that he said brokenly but I wish you don't know how fervently that I had broken down and given the dog the satisfaction he wanted my god it was horrible when the winter came they used to take me out with chains on my legs to gather in wood from the forest there was no reason why I should be given this work but the truth was as I discovered from Salvalio Ankara thought my dungeon was too warm it was sheltered from the winds by the hill behind and even on the coldest days and nights it was not unbearable then Ankara went away for some time I think he must have gone to England and he came back in a white fury one of his big plans had gone wrong and the mental torture he inflicted upon me was more acute than ever in the old days he used to come once a week now he came almost every day he usually arrived in the afternoon and I was surprised one night to be awakened from my sleep to see him standing at the door a lantern in his hand his inevitable cigarette in his mouth he always wore the Albanian costume when he was in the country those white kilted shorts and suave jackets which the Hillman effect and if anything had added to his demonical appearance he put down the lantern and lent against the wall I'm afraid that wife of yours is breaking up, Lexman he drawed she isn't the good stout English stuff that I thought she was I made no reply I had found by bitter experience that if I included into the conversation I should only suffer the more I sent down to Duratso to get a doctor he went on naturally having taken all his trouble I don't want to lose you by death she is breaking up he repeated with relish and yet with an undertone of annoyance in his voice she asked for you three times this morning I kept myself under control as I had never expected that a man so desperately circumstanced could do Kara I said as quietly as I could what has she done that she deserves this hell in which she has lived he sent out a long ring of smoke and watched its progress across the dungeon what has she done he said keeping his eye on the ring I shall always remember every look, every gesture and every intonation of his voice why she has done all that a woman can do for a man like me she has made me feel little until I had a rebuff from her I had all the world at my feet Lexman I did as I liked if I cooked my little finger people ran after me my experience with her has broken me oh don't think he went on quickly that I am broken in love I never loved her very much it was just a passing passion but she killed my self confidence after then whenever I came to a truthful moment in my affairs when the big manner the big certainty was absolutely necessary for me to carry my way whenever I was most confident of myself for my ability and my scheme a vision of this damn girl rose and I felt that momentary weakening, that memory of defeat which made all the difference between success and failure I hated her and I hate her still he said with remnants if she dies I shall hate her more because she will remain everlastingly unbroken to menace my thoughts and spoil my schemes through all eternity he lent forward his elbows on his knees his clenched fist under his chin how well I can see him and stared at me I could have been king here in this land, he said waving his hand towards the interior I could have bribed and shot my way to the throne of Albania don't you realise what that means to a man like me there is still a chance and if I could keep your wife alive if I could see her broken in reason and in health a poor skeleton gibbering thing that knelt at my feet when I came near her I should recover the mastery of myself believe me, he said nodding his head your wife will have the best medical advice that it is possible to obtain Kara went out and I did not see him again for a very long time he sent word just a scrawled note in the morning to say my wife had died John Lexman rose up from his seat and paced the apartment his head upon his breast from that moment he said I lived only for one thing to punish Remington Kara and gentlemen I punished him he stood in the centre of the room and thumped his broad chest with his clenched hand I killed Remington Kara he said and there was a little garter of astonishment from every man present save one that one was T. X. Meredith who had known all the time End of chapter 21 Recording by Peter Tomlinson