Then, at Burrell’s request, he thereupon wrote down the address of the firm in Paris, after which the detective thanked him heartily for his trouble and bade him good-bye.
“To-morrow,” said Burrell to himself, “if all goes well, I will take a run down to Mr. Henderson’s country seat and make a few inquiries there. After that it looks as if Paris is likely to be the scene of my next operations. There are one or two little preliminaries, however, that must be settled before I leave England.”
He was as good as his word, and the mid-day train next day landed him upon the platform at Detwich. He inquired how far it was to the Hall, and on being informed of his direction, set off along the High Road at a swinging pace. He was a man who never rode when he could walk, and, had he not chosen another profession, it is possible he might have made a name for himself in the athletic world as a pedestrian.
“It seems a sad thing,” he said to himself, as he turned in through the lodge gates and began to cross the park, “that a young gentleman owning such a beautiful place as this should be clapped into limbo on a charge of murder. But here I suppose is what the literary gentlemen call the 'Irony of Fate.’ However, it’s my business to get him out of the scrape he’s in if I can, and not to bother my head about anything else.”
Having reached the house he sent his name in to Mrs. Henderson, and asked for an interview. Her daughter Kitty was with her in the morning room when the butler entered.
“Mr. Jacob Burrell?” she said in a puzzled way, looking at the card the man had handed to her. “I don’t know the name, do you, Kitty?”
“Why, yes, mother, of course I do,” the girl replied. “How could you forget? He is the famous detective whom the lawyers have engaged to take up the case for poor Godfrey. Tell him that we will see him at once, Williamson, and show him in here.”
A few moments later Burrell made his appearance and bowed to the two ladies. That he was not at all the sort of individual they had expected to see was evident from the expressions upon their faces.
“Doubtless, ladies, you have heard my name and the business upon which I am engaged,” he said, by way of introducing himself.
They acknowledged that they had done so, and when they had invited him to be seated, inquired what success he had so far met with. He shook his head cautiously.