Moreland’s knowledge of his dead friend’s life and habits might be able to supply information on two points, namely, who was most likely to gain by Whyte’s death, and who the heiress was that the deceased boasted he would marry. But the fact that Moreland should be ignorant of his friend’s tragic death, notwithstanding that the papers were full of it, and that the reward gave an excellent description of his personal appearance, greatly puzzled Gorby.
The only way in which to account for Moreland’s extraordinary silence was that he was out of town, and had neither seen the papers nor heard anyone talking about the murder. If this were the case he might either stay away for an indefinite time or return after a few days. At all events it was worth while going down to St. Kilda in the evening on the chance that Moreland might have returned to town, and would call to see his friend. So, after his tea, Mr. Gorby put on his hat, and went down to Possum Villa, on what he could not help acknowledging to himself was a very slender possibility.
Mrs. Hableton opened the door for him, and in silence led the way, not into her own sitting-room, but into a much more luxuriously furnished apartment, which Gorby guessed at once was that of Whyte’s. He looked keenly round the room, and his estimate of the dead man’s character was formed at once.
“Fast,” he said to himself, “and a spendthrift. A man who would have his friends, and possibly his enemies, among a very shady lot of people.”
What led Mr. Gorby to this belief was the evidence which surrounded him of Whyte’s mode of life. The room was well furnished, the furniture being covered with dark-red velvet, while the curtains on the windows and the carpet were all of the same somewhat sombre hue.
“I did the thing properly,” observed Mrs. Hableton, with a satisfactory smile on her hard face. “When you wants young men to stop with you, the rooms must be well furnished, an’ Mr. Whyte paid well, tho’ ‘e was rather pertickler about ‘is food, which I’m only a plain cook, an’ can’t make them French things which spile the stomach.”
The globes of the gas lamps were of a pale pink colour, and Mrs. Hableton having lit the gas in expectation of Mr. Gorby’s arrival, there was a soft roseate hue through the room. Mr. Gorby put his hands in his capacious pockets, and strolled leisurely through the room, examining everything with a curious eye. The walls were covered with pictures of celebrated horses and famous jockeys. Alternating with these were photographs of ladies of the stage, mostly London actresses, Nellie Farren, Kate Vaughan, and other burlesque stars, evidently being the objects of the late Mr. Whyte’s adoration. Over the mantelpiece hung a rack of pipes, above which were two crossed foils, and under these a number of plush frames of all colours, with pretty faces smiling out of them; a remarkable fact being, that all the photographs were of ladies, and not a single male face was to be seen, either on the walls or in the plush frames.
“Fond of the ladies, I see,” said Mr. Gorby, nodding his head towards the mantelpiece.
“A set of hussies,” said Mrs. Hableton grimly, closing her lips tightly. “I feel that ashamed when I dusts ‘em as never was—I don’t believe in gals gettin’ their picters taken with ‘ardly any clothes on, as if they just got out of bed, but Mr. Whyte seems to like ‘em.”
“Most young men do,” answered Mr. Gorby dryly, going over to the bookcase.
“Brutes,” said the lady of the house. “I’d drown ‘em in the Yarrer, I would, a settin’ ‘emselves and a callin’ ‘emselves lords of creation, as if women were made for nothin’ but to earn money ‘an see ‘em drink it, as my ‘usband did, which ‘is inside never seemed to ‘ave enough beer, an’ me a poor lone woman with no family, thank God, or they’d ‘ave taken arter their father in ‘is drinkin’ ‘abits.”
Mr. Gorby took no notice of this tirade against men, but stood looking at Mr. Whyte’s library, which seemed to consist mostly of French novels and sporting newspapers.
“Zola,” said Mr. Gorby, thoughtfully, taking down a flimsy yellow book rather tattered. “I’ve heard of him; if his novels are as bad as his reputation I shouldn’t care to read them.”
Here a knock came at the front door, loud and decisive. On hearing it Mrs. Hableton sprang hastily to her feet. “That may be Mr. Moreland,” she said, as the detective quickly replaced “Zola” in the bookcase. “I never ‘ave visitors in the evenin’, bein’ a lone widder, and if it is ‘im I’ll bring ‘im in ‘ere.”
She went out, and presently Gorby, who was listening intently, heard a man’s voice ask if Mr. Whyte was at home.
“No, sir, he ain’t,” answered the landlady; “but there’s a gentleman in his room askin’ after ‘im. Won’t you come in, sir?”
“For a rest, yes,” returned the visitor, and immediately afterwards Mrs. Hableton appeared, ushering in the late Oliver Whyte’s most intimate friend. He was a tall, slender man, with a pink and white complexion, curly fair hair, and a drooping straw-coloured moustache—altogether a strikingly aristocratic individual. He was well-dressed in a suit of check, and had a cool, nonchalant air about him.
“And where is Mr. Whyte to-night?” he asked, sinking into a chair, and taking no more notice of the detective than if he had been an article of furniture.
“Haven’t you seen him lately?” asked the detective quickly. Mr. Moreland stared in an insolent manner at his questioner for a few moments, as if he were debating the advisability of answering or not. At last he apparently decided that he would, for slowly pulling off one glove he leaned back in his chair.
“No, I have not,” he said with a yawn. “I have been up the country for a few days, and arrived back only this evening, so I have not seen him for over a week. Why do you ask?”
The detective did not answer, but stood looking at the young man before him in a thoughtful manner.
“I hope,” said Mr. Moreland, nonchalantly, “I hope you will know me again, my friend, but I didn’t know Whyte had started a lunatic asylum during my absence. Who are you?”
Mr. Gorby came forward and stood under the gas light.
“My name is Gorby, sir, and I am a detective,” he said quietly.
“Ah! indeed,” said Moreland, coolly looking him up and down. “What has Whyte been doing; running away with someone’s wife, eh? I know he has little weaknesses of that sort.”
Gorby shook his head.
“Do you know where Mr. Whyte is to be found?” he asked, cautiously.
Moreland laughed.
“Not I, my friend,” said he, lightly. “I presume he is somewhere about here, as these are his head-quarters. What has he been doing? Nothing that can surprise me, I assure you—he was always an erratic individual, and—”
“He paid reg’ler,” interrupted Mrs. Hableton, pursing up her lips.
“A most enviable reputation to possess,” answered the other with a sneer, “and one I’m afraid I’ll never enjoy. But why all this questioning about Whyte? What’s the matter with him?”
“He’s dead!” said Gorby, abruptly.
All Moreland’s nonchalance vanished on hearing this, and he started up from his chair.
“Dead,”
