第88章

"If you please, sir, who is it that we are after? A man who has stolen money, or a man who has stolen a wife?"The other low person encouraged him by laughing.Both have deserved an official reprimand, and both, I sincerely trust, will be sure to get it.

When the marriage ceremony was over, the three got into their cab and once more our vehicle (neatly hidden round the corner of the church, so that they could not suspect it to be near them)started to follow theirs.

We traced them to the terminus of the Southwestern Railway.The newly-married couple took tickets for Richmond, paying their fare with a half sovereign, and so depriving me of the pleasure of arresting them, which I should certainly have done if they had offered a bank-note.They parted from Mr.Jay, saying: "Remember the address--14 Babylon Terrace.You dine with us to-morrow week." Mr.Jay accepted the invitation, and added, jocosely, that he was going home at once to get off his clean clothes, and to be comfortable and dirty again for the rest of the day.I have to report that I saw him home safely, and that he is comfortable and dirty again (to use his own disgraceful language) at the present moment.

Here the affair rests, having by this time reached what I may call its first stage.

I know very well what persons of hasty judgment will be inclined to say of my proceedings thus far.They will assert that I have been deceiving myself all through in the most absurd way; they will declare that the suspicious conversations which I have reported referred solely to the difficulties and dangers of successfully carrying out a runaway match; and they will appeal to the scene in the church as offering undeniable proof of the correctness of their assertions.So let it be.I dispute nothing up to this point.But I ask a question, out of the depths of my own sagacity as a man of the world, which the bitterest of my enemies will not, I think, find it particularly easy to answer.

Granted the fact of the marriage, what proof does it afford me of the innocence of the three persons concerned in that clandestine transaction? It gives me none.On the contrary, it strengthens my suspicions against Mr.Jay and his confederates, because it suggests a distinct motive for their stealing the money.Agentleman who is going to spend his honeymoon at Richmond wants money; and a gentleman who is in debt to all his tradespeople wants money.Is this an unjustifiable imputation of bad motives?

In the name of outraged Morality, I deny it.These men have combined together, and have stolen a woman.Why should they not combine together and steal a cash-box? I take my stand on the logic of rigid Virtue, and I defy all the sophistry of Vice to move me an inch out of my position.

Speaking of virtue, I may add that I have put this view of the case to Mr.and Mrs.Yatman.That accomplished and charming woman found it difficult at first to follow the close chain of my reasoning.I am free to confess that she shook her head, and shed tears, and joined her husband in premature lamentation over the loss of the two hundred pounds.But a little careful explanation on my part, and a little attentive listening on hers, ultimately changed her opinion.She now agrees with me that there is nothing in this unexpected circumstance of the clandestine marriage which absolutely tends to divert suspicion from Mr.Jay, or Mr."Jack,"or the runaway lady."Audacious hussy" was the term my fair friend used in speaking of her; but let that pass.It is more to the purpose to record that Mrs.Yatman has not lost confidence in me, and that Mr.Yatman promises to follow her example, and do his best to look hopefully for future results.

I have now, in the new turn that circumstances have taken, to await advice from your office.I pause for fresh orders with all the composure of a man who has got two strings to his bow.When Itraced the three confederates from the church door to the railway terminus, I had two motives for doing so.First, I followed them as a matter of official business, believing them still to have been guilty of the robbery.Secondly, I followed them as a matter of private speculation, with a view of discovering the place of refuge to which the runaway couple intended to retreat, and of making my information a marketable commodity to offer to the young lady's family and friends.Thus, whatever happens, I may congratulate myself beforehand on not having wasted my time.If the office approves of my conduct, I have my plan ready for further proceedings.If the office blames me, I shall take myself off, with my marketable information, to the genteel villa residence in the neighborhood of the Regent's Park.Anyway, the affair puts money into my pocket, and does credit to my 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 individual--though he may even be Chief Inspector Theakstone himself--to 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 BULMER--That empty-headed puppy, Mr.Matthew Sharpin, has made a mess of the case at Rutherford Street, exactly as Iexpected 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.