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第60章

the queen of hearts-第60章

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penetration as an uncommonly sharp man。

I have only one word more to add; and it is this: If any
individual ventures to assert that Mr。  Jay and his confederates
are innocent o f all share in the stealing of the cash…box; I; in
return; defy that individualthough he may even be Chief
Inspector Theakstone himselfto tell me who has committed the
robbery at Rutherford Street; Soho。

Strong in that conviction; I have the honor to be your very
obedient servant;

MATTHEW SHARPIN。


FROM CHIEF INSPECTOR THEAKSTONE TO SERGEANT BULMER。

Birmingham; July 9th。


SERGEANT BULMERThat empty…headed puppy; Mr。 Matthew Sharpin;
has made a mess of the case at Rutherford Street; exactly as I
expected he would。 Business keeps me in this town; so I write to
you to set the matter straight。 I inclose with this the pages of
feeble scribble…scrabble which the creature Sharpin calls a
report。 Look them over; and when you have made your way through
all the gabble; I think you will agree with me that the conceited
booby has looked for the thief in every direction but the right
one。 You can lay your hand on the guilty person in five minutes;
now。 Settle the case at once; forward your report to me at this
place; and tell Mr。 Sharpin that he is suspended till further
notice。

Yours; FRANCIS THEAKSTONE。


FROM SERGEANT BULMER TO CHIEF INSPECTOR THEAKSTONE。

London; July 10th。


INSPECTOR THEAKSTONEYour letter and inclosure came safe to
hand。 Wise men; they say; may always learn something even from a
fool。 By the time I had got through Sharpin's maundering report
of his own folly; I saw my way clear enough to the end of the
Rutherford Street case; just as you thought I should。 In half an
hour's time I was at the house。 The first person I saw there was
Mr。 Sharpin himself。

〃Have you come to help me?〃 says he。

〃Not exactly;〃 says I。 〃I've come to tell you that you are
suspended till further notice。〃

〃Very good;〃 says he; not taken down by so much as a single peg
in his own estimation。 〃I thought you would be jealous of me。
It's very natural and I don't blame you。 Walk in; pray; and make
yourself at home。 I'm off to do a little detective business on my
own account; in the neighborhood of the Regent's Park。 Tata;
sergeant; tata!〃

With those words he took himself out of the way; which was
exactly what I wanted him to do。

As soon as the maid…servant had shut the door; I told her to
inform her master that I wanted to say a word to him in private。
She showed me into the parlor behind the shop; and there was Mr。
Yatman all alone; reading the newspaper。

〃About this matter of the robbery; sir;〃 says I。

He cut me short; peevishly enough; being naturally a poor; weak;
womanish sort of man。

〃Yes; yes; I know;〃 says he。 〃You have come to tell me that your
wonderfully clever man; who has bored holes in my second floor
partition; has made a mistake; and is off the scent of the
scoundrel who has stolen my money。〃

〃Yes; sir;〃 says I。 〃That _is_ one of the things I came to tell
you。 But I have got something else to say besides that。〃

〃Can you tell me who the thief is?〃 says he; more pettish than
ever。

〃Yes; sir;〃 says I; 〃I think I can。〃

He put down the newspaper; and began to look rather anxious and
frightened。

〃Not my shopman?〃 says he。 〃I hope; for the man's own sake; it's
not my shopman。〃

〃Guess again; sir;〃 says I。

〃That idle slut; the maid?〃 says he。

〃She is idle; sir;〃 says I; 〃and she is also a slut; my first
inquiries about her proved as much as that。 But she's not the
thief。〃

〃Then; in the name of Heaven; who is?〃 says he。

〃Will you please to prepare yourself for a very disagreeable
surprise; sir?〃 says I。 〃And; in case you lose your temper; will
you excuse my remarking that I am the stronger man of the two;
and that if you allow yourself to lay hands on me; I may
unintentionally hurt you; in pure self…defense。〃

He turned as pale as ashes; and pushed his chair two or three
feet away from me。

〃You have asked me to tell you; sir; who has taken your money;〃 I
went on。 〃If you insist on my giving you an answer〃

〃I do insist;〃 he said; faintly。 〃Who has taken it?〃

〃Your wife has taken it;〃 I said; very quietly; and very
positively at the same time。

He jumped out of the chair as if I had put a knife into him; and
struck his fist on the table so heavily that the wood cracked
again。

〃Steady; sir;〃 says I。 〃Flying into a passion won't help you to
the truth。〃

〃It's a lie!〃 says he; with another smack of his fist on the
table〃a base; vile; infamous lie! How dare you〃

He stopped; and fell back into the chair again; looked about him
in a bewildered way; and ended by bursting out crying。

〃When your better sense comes back to you; sir;〃 says I; 〃I am
sure you will be gentleman enough to make an apology for the
language you have just used。 In the meantime; please to listen;
if you can; to a word of explanation。 Mr。 Sharpin has sent in a
report to our inspector of the most irregular and ridiculous
kind; setting down not only all his own foolish doings and
sayings; but the doings and sayings of Mrs。 Yatman as well。 In
most cases; such a document would have been fit only for the
waste paper basket; but in this particular case it so happens
that Mr。 Sharpin's budget of nonsense leads to a certain
conclusion; which the simpleton of a writer has been quite
innocent of suspecting from the beginning to the end。 Of that
conclusion I am so sure that I will forfeit my place if it does
not turn out that Mrs。 Yatman has been practicing upon the folly
and conceit of this young man; and that she has tried to shield
herself from discovery by purposely encouraging him to suspect
the wrong persons。 I tell you that confidently; and I will even
go further。 I will undertake to give a decided opinion as to why
Mrs。 Yatman took the money; and what she has done with it; or
with a part of it。 Nobody can look at that lady; sir; without
being struck by the great taste and beauty of her dress〃

As I said those last words; the poor man seemed to find his
powers of speech again。 He cut me short directly as haughtily as
if he had been a duke instead of a stationer。

〃Try some other means of justifying your vile calumny against my
wife;〃 says he。 〃Her milliner's bill for the past year is on my
file of receipted accounts at this moment。〃

〃Excuse me; sir;〃 says I; 〃but that proves nothing。 Milliners; I
must tell you; have a certain rascally custom which comes within
the daily experience of our office。 A married lady who wishes it
can keep two accounts at her dressmaker's; one is the account
which her husband sees and pays; the other is the private
account; which contains all the extravagant items; and which the
wife pays secretly; by installments; whenever she can。 According
to our usual experience; these installments are mostly squeezed
out of the housekeeping money。 In your case; I suspect; no
installments have been paid; proceedings have been threatened;
Mrs。 Yatman; knowing your altered circumstances; has felt herself
driven into a corner; and she has paid her private account out of
your cash…box。〃

〃I won't believe it;〃 says he。 〃Every word you speak is an
abominable insult to me and to my wife。〃

〃Are you man enough; sir;〃 says I; taking him up short; in order
to save time and words; 〃to get that receipted bill you spoke of
just now off the file; and come with me at once to the milliner's
shop where Mrs。 Yatman deals?〃

He turned red in the face at that; got the bill directly; and put
on his hat。 I took out of my pocket…book the list containing the
numbers of the lost notes; and we left the house together
immediately。

Arrived at the milliner's (one of the expensive West…End houses;
as I expected); I asked for a private interview; on important
business; with the mistress of the concern。 It was not the first
time that she and I had met over the same delicate investigation。
The moment she set eyes on me she sent for her husband。 I
mentioned who Mr。 Yatman was; and what we wanted。

〃This is strictly private?〃 inquires the husband。 I nodded my
head。

〃And confidential?〃 says the wife。 I nodded again。

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