A woman's debt

by William Le Queux

“Richard Croxton, you are no fool, you can see the situation as it presents itself to me, as it would present itself to anybody who knew the circumstances. The secret of that safe is known only to us two, you and I alone have access to it with our separate keys. Even supposing for a moment, and it is a most wild supposition, that some third party could have gained temporary possession of your key and mine, and, after taking impressions of them, had duplicates made, how was he to know the secret of the mechanism, the time at which the safe would open. We saw the articles here two days ago; they have been taken between yesterday and this morning.” He paused and added significantly: “At that time when the safe could be opened, I had left the house early, and was in my private room in the city. You had work to finish here, and were to come down to me with the report you were preparing at twelve o’clock.”

It was difficult for Croxton to preserve his faculties of thought as the damning evidence grew and accumulated on him. But a ray of light seemed to pierce suddenly through his benumbed brain.

“We breakfasted together at eight o’clock, sir, and you left directly you had finished. After you had gone, I went up to my own room, and remained till it was time for me to leave to join you in the city. I never during that time entered this apartment. To that I am ready to swear; I will take any solemn oath you care to dictate to me.”

Morrice seemed just a little staggered by the solemnity with which these words were uttered, and for a second the hard, stern look melted, but only for a second. His keen, logical mind at once prompted the question.

“You say that you were in your own room practically all the time you were alone. Is there any evidence you can bring forward to corroborate this statement? Did Mrs. Morrice, Rosabelle, any of the servants look in upon you during that period?”

The young man made a despairing gesture: “Alas, no. It is very rarely that either Mrs. Morrice or Rosabelle pays me a visit when I am at work. The servants are hardly ever about the house at that time. And I know from what they said that both the ladies were out very early on a shopping expedition. I don’t suppose that anybody knew for certain whether I was here or in my own room. I have nothing to offer you, sir, but my bare word, my solemn oath, if you choose to accept it. But if I am what you appear to think me, my oath would carry no more weight than my word. Again I say, much as appearances are against me, inexplicable and astounding as the whole thing is, before heaven I am not the thief who has stolen your property.”

“Then if you are not the thief, I must be,” cried the irate financier with bitter sarcasm, “though, I take it, the most suspicious detective in the world would hardly dare to suspect me of purloining my own money and diamonds.”

There was another long pause. Morrice walked up and down the spacious room with long strides, the stern frown on his face now deepening, now clearing a little, as his conflicting thoughts raced through his brain. No doubt to him the brazen effrontery of the young man seemed incredible, in view of the damning facts of the situation. And that seemingly feeble excuse that he had been in his own room during the time of the burglary, during the whole period between breakfast and the moment when he left the house—did it hold water?

Was it a lie invented on the spur of the moment, or had it been thought out beforehand to be produced at the moment of discovery. And yet, if Richard were a cunning criminal, would he not have taken precautions to secure some sort of alibi? The theft from the safe would not have taken more than a minute, the articles were all together, their removal would have taken no time. He could have gone back to his room, rung the bell three or four times to summon a servant on one pretext or another. It might not have been convincing proof, for the robbery could have been accomplished so quickly, but it would have been better than no proof at all.

But then the cleverest criminals made often very stupid mistakes, and he could not believe the young man to be a hardened malefactor. He had some secret vices that had never been suspected, he had got into money difficulties; in his perplexity he had taken advantage of the trust reposed in him, and yielded to a sudden temptation.