Mystery in White (British Library Crime Classics) by J. Jefferson Farjeon

Author:J. Jefferson Farjeon [Farjeon, J. Jefferson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: British Library Publishing Division
Published: 2014-09-28T00:00:00+00:00

Replacing the fragment of letter in the fragment of envelope, Mr. Maltby continued:

“Unfortunately the signature is absent, so we do not know the name of the sender, but we may deduce the name of the recipient from this on the envelope: ‘rles Shaw.’ The letter, therefore, was from some unknown person to Charles Shaw, and the complete letter itself, up to the point where it breaks off, probably ran along these lines:

“ ‘Dear Charles, I shall be coming to spend Christmas at’—wherever this is—’so get in stores for a week. I shall leave the items to you, but there will be two of us, myself and my daughter, and I enclose’—however much the writer actually enclosed—’to cover the cost. I expect to arrive on Christmas Eve, probably in the evening’—or afternoon—’just before dinner. Say nothing about this visit.’

“We may take it that Charles Shaw was the caretaker or servant here. We may also take it, I think, that he slept in the room now occupied by Thomson, as it was there I found the scrap of letter, and as that room has been recently occupied. A slightly moist toothbrush was in a glass, and the jug was full of water. I also noticed a pair of pyjamas hanging from a hook on the door.

“Very well, then. Charles receives this letter—it is a pity the date was torn off—and buys the necessary stores for a week, unconscious of the fact that some of the stores will eventually be used by a marooned party from a train. I am assuming, by the way, that Charles occupied this house alone in the absence of his master, and was alone when he received the letter, and was alone this morning when he got up. Does the bedroom you have commandeered, Mr. Hopkins, look as though anybody had slept in it lately?”

“I can’t say that it does,” replied Mr. Hopkins, after a moment’s thought. “No, I can’t say that it does. Several unpleasant cobwebs about.”

“Then Charles is not as meticulous as he ought to be. How about the water jug and the water bottle?”

Mr. Hopkins thought again.

“Well, yes, of course!” he exclaimed suddenly. “I had a wash!”

“And found towels?”

“That’s right. I didn’t have to use my handkerchief!”

“Do you remember whether the towel you used was clean, or had it been used before? And was it a new cake of soap?”

“Towel clean, soap new.”

“All of which suggests that the room has not been slept in lately, but was prepared for some one tonight. That fits the pattern. And your sister’s room, Mr. Carrington? Can you help me there?”

“Yes,” replied David. “She told me I was to add, ‘To soiling two fresh towels, defacing one cake of soap, and use of nailbrush,’ to the charge sheet.”

Mr. Maltby nodded.

“Good. The background of the picture is coming. Having laid in the stores, the lonely Charles awaits the arrival of his master and his master’s daughter. This morning he prepares two bedrooms for them, but not as thoroughly as he might. He omits to remove sundry cobwebs.

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