不知道柯南道爾先生是否真的不喜歡福爾摩斯﹐但大家有沒有看過他1908年的作品＜＜The
Lost Special＞＞﹐這篇不是福案﹐是完全不同的主人公。雖然沒有指名道性﹐但文
章裡有一段由“他”﹐倫敦最知名的偵探做出一番嚴密的推論解釋這個奇怪的案件﹐
正當大家都毫無疑問要接受的時候﹐真正的結果卻是表明“他”的推理完全是荒謬
的。
這是否是黑色幽默……
有興趣看那篇文章的朋友﹐我將它貼在下面。
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The Lost Special
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1908
The confession of Herbert de Lernac, now lying under sentence of
death at Marseilles, has thrown a light upon one of the most
inexplicable crimes of the century - an incident which is, I
believe, absolutely unprecedented in the criminal annals of any
country. Although there is a reluctance to discuss the matter in
official circles, and little information has been given to the
Press, there are still indications that the statement of this
arch-criminal is corroborated by the facts, and that we have at
last found a solution for a most astounding business. As the
matter is eight years old, and as its importance was somewhat
obscured by a political crisis which was engaging the public
attention at the time, it may be as well to state the facts as
far as we have been able to ascertain them. They are collated
from the Liverpool papers of that date, from the proceedings at
the inquest upon John Slater, the engine-driver, and from the
records of the London and West Coast Railway Company, which have
been courteously put at my disposal. Briefly, they are as
follows:
On the 3rd of June, 1890, a gentleman, who gave his name as
Monsieur Louis Caratal, desired an interview with Mr. James
Bland, the superintendent of the London and West Coast Central
Station in Liverpool. He was a small man, middle-aged and dark,
with a stoop which was so marked that it suggested some deformity
of the spine. He was accompanied by a friend, a man of imposing
physique, whose deferential manner and constant attention showed
that his position was one of dependence. This friend or
companion, whose name did not transpire, was certainly a
foreigner, and probably from his swarthy complexion, either a
Spaniard or a South American. One peculiarity was observed in
him. He carried in his left hand a small black, leather
dispatchbox, and it was noticed by a sharp-eyed clerk in the
Central office that this box was fastened to his wrist by a
strap. No importance was attached to the fact at the time, but
subsequent events endowed it with some significance. Monsieur
Caratal was shown up to Mr. Bland's office, while his companion
remained outside.
Mr. Bland struck the electric bell, summoned Mr. Potter Hood,
the traffic manager, and had the matter arranged in five minutes.
The train would start in three-quarters of an hour. It would take
that time to insure that the line should be clear. The powerful
engine called Rochdale (No. 247 on the company's register) was
attached to two carriages, with a guard's van behind.
The first carriage was solely for the purpose of decreasing
the inconvenience arising from the oscillation. The second was
divided, as usual, into four compartments, a first-class, a first-
class smoking, a second-class and a second-class smoking. The
first compartment, which was nearest to the engine, was the one
allotted to the travellers. The other three were empty. The guard
of the special train was James McPherson, who had been some years
in the service of the company. The stoker, William Smith, was a
new hand.
Monsieur Caratal, upon leaving the superintendent's office,
rejoined his companion, and both of them manifested extreme
impatience to be off. Having paid the money asked, which amounted
to fifty pounds five shillings, at the usual special rate of five
shillings a mile, they demanded to be shown the carriage, and at
once took their seats in it, although they were assured that the
better part of an hour must elapse before the line could be
cleared. In the meantime a singular coincidence had occurred in
the office which Monsieur Caratal had just quitted.
A request for a special is not a very uncommon circumstance in
a rich commercial centre, but that two should be required upon
the same afternoon was most unusual. It so happened, however,
that Mr. Bland had hardly dismissed the first traveller before a
second entered with a similar request.
This was a Mr. Horace Moore, a gentlemanly man of military
appearance, who alleged that the sudden serious illness of his
wife in London made it absolutely imperative that he should not
lose an instant in starting upon the journey. His distress and
anxiety were so evident that Mr. Bland did all that was possible
to meet his wishes. A second special was out of the question, as
the ordinary local service was already somewhat deranged by the
first. There was the alternative, however, that Mr. Moore should
share the expense of Monsieur Caratal's train, and should travel
in the other empty first-class compartment, if Monsieur Caratal
objected to having him in the one which he occupied. It was
difficult to see any objection to such an arrangement, and yet
Monsieur Caratal, upon the suggestion being made to him by Mr.
Potter Hood, absolutely refused to consider it for an instant.
The train was his, he said, and he would insist upon the
exclusive use of it. All argument failed to overcome his
ungracious objections, and finally the plan had to be abandoned.
Mr. Horace Moore left the station in great distress, after
learning that his only course was to take the ordinary slow train
which leaves Liverpool at six o'clock. At four thirty-one exactly
by the station clock the special train, containing the crippled
Monsieur Caratal and his gigantic companion, steamed out of the
Liverpool station. The line was at that time clear, and there
should have been no stoppage before Manchester.
The trains of the London and West Coast Railway run over the
lines of another company as far as this town, which should have
been reached by a special rather before six o'clock. At a quarter
after six considerable surprise and some consternation were
caused amongst the officials at Liverpool by the receipt of a
telegram from Manchester to say that it had not yet arrived. An
inquiry directed to St. Helens, which is a third of the way
between the two cities, elicited the following reply -
"To James Bland, Superintendent, Central L. & W. C.,
Liverpool. - Special passed here at 4;52, well up to time. -
Dowster, St. Helens."
This telegram was received at six-forty. At six-fifty a second
message was received from Manchester -
"No sign of special as advised by you."
And then ten minutes later a third, more bewildering -
"Presume some mistake as to proposed running of special. Local
train from St. Helens timed to follow it has just arrived and has
seen nothing of it. Kindly wire advises. - Manchester."
The matter was assuming a most amazing aspect, although in
some respects the last telegram was a relief to the authorities
at Liverpool. If an accident had occurred to the special, it
seemed hardly possible that the local train could have passed
down the same line without observing it. And yet, what was the
alternative? Where could the train be? Had it possibly been
sidetracked for some reason in order to allow the slower train to
go past? Such an explanation was possible if some small repair
had to be effected. A telegram was dispatched to each of the
stations between St. Helens and Manchester, and the
superintendent and traffic manager waited in the utmost suspense
at the instrument for the series of replies which would enable
them to say for certain what had become of the missing train. The
answers came back in the order of questions, which was the order
of the stations beginning at St. Helens end -
"Special passed here five o'clock. - Collins Green."
"Special passed here six past five. - Earlstown."
"Special passed here 5:10. - Newton."
"Special passed here 5:20. - Kenyon Junction."
"No special train has passed here. - Barton Moss."
The two officials stared at each other in amazement.
"This is unique in my thirty years of experience," said Mr.
Bland.
"Absolutely unprecedented and inexplicable, sir. The special
has gone wrong between Kenyon Junction and Barton Moss."
"And yet there is no siding, so far as my memory serves me,
between the two stations. The special must have run off the
metals."
"But how could the four-fifty parliamentary pass over the same
line without observing it?"
"There's no alternative, Mr. Hood. It must be so. Possibly the
local train may have observed something which may throw some
light upon the matter. We will wire to Manchester for more
information, and to Kenyon Junction with instructions that the
line be examined instantly as far as Barton Moss."
The answer from Manchester came within a few minutes.
"No news of missing special. Driver and guard of slow train
positive no accident between Kenyon Junction and Barton Moss.
Line quite clear, and no sign of anything unusual. - Manchester."
"That driver and guard will have to go," said Mr. Bland,
grimly. "There has been a wreck and they have missed it. The
special has obviously run off the metals without disturbing the
line - how it could have done so passes my comprehension - but so
it must be, and we shall have a wire from Kenyon or Barton Moss
presently to say that they have found her at the bottom of an
embankment."
But Mr. Bland's prophecy was not destined to be fulfilled.
half an hour passed, and then there arrived the following message
from the station-master of Kenyon Junction -
"There are no traces of the missing special. It is quite
certain that she passed here, and that she did not arrive at
Barton Moss. We have detached engine from goods train, and I have
myself ridden down the line, but all is clear, and there is no
sign of any accident."
Mr. Bland tore his hair in his perplexity.
"This is rank lunacy, Hood!" he cried. "Does a train vanish
into thin air in England in broad daylight? The thing is
preposterous. An engine, a tender, two carriages, a van, five
human beings - and all lost on a straight line of railway! Unless
we get something positive within the next hour I'll take
Inspector Collins, and go down myself."
And then at last something positive did occur. It took the
shape of another telegram from Kenyon Junction.
"Regret to report that the dead body of John Slater, driver of
the special train, has just been found among the gorse bushes at
a point two and a quarter miles from the Junction. Had fallen
from his engine, pitched down the embankment, and rolled among
the bushes. Injuries to his head, from the fall, appear to be
cause of death. Ground has now been carefully examined, and there
is no trace of the missing train."
The country was, as has already been stated, in the throes of
a political crisis, and the attention of the public was further
distracted by the important and sensational developments in
Paris, where a huge scandal threatened to destroy the Government
and to wreck the reputations of many of the leading men in
France. The papers were full of these events, and the singular
disappearance of the special train attracted less attention than
would have been the case in more peace4ful times. The grotesque
nature of the event helped to detract from its importance, for
the papers were disinclined to believe the facts as reported to
them. More than one of the London journals treated the matter as
an ingenious hoax, until the coroner's inquest upon the
unfortunate driver (an inquest which elicited nothing of
importance) convinced them of the tragedy of the incident.
Mr. Bland, accompanied by Inspector Collins, the senior
detective officer in the service of the company, went down to
Kenyon Junction the same evening, and their research lasted
throughout the following day, but was attended with purely
negative results. Not only was no trace found of the missing
train, but no conjecture could be put forward which could
possibly explain the facts. At the same time, Inspector Collins's
official report (which lies before me as I write) served to show
that the possibilities were more numerous than might have been
expected.
"In the stretch of railway between these two points," said
he, "the country is dotted with ironworks and collieries. Of
these, some are being worked and some have been abandoned. There
are no fewer than twelve which have small-gauge lines which run
trolly-cars down to the main line. These can, of course, be
disregarded. Besides these, however, there are seven which have,
or have had, proper lines running down and connecting with points
to the main line, so as to convey their produce from the mouth of
the mine to the great centres of distribution. In every case
these lines are only a few miles in length. Out of the seven,
four belong to collieries which are worked out, or at least to
shafts which are no longer used. These are the Redgauntlet, Hero,
Slough of Despond, and Heartsease mines, the latter having ten
years ago been one of the principal mines in Lancashire. These
four side lines may be eliminated from our inquiry, for, to
prevent possible accidents, the rails nearest to the main line
have been taken up, and there is no longer any connection. There
remain three other side lines leading -
(a) To the Carnstock Iron Works;
(b) To the Big Ben Colliery;
(c) To the Perseverance Colliery.
"Of these the Big Ben line is not more than a quarter of a
mile long, and ends at a dead wall of coal waiting removal from
the mouth of the mine. Nothing had been seen or heard there of
any special. The Carnstock Iron Works line was blocked all day
upon the 3rd of June by sixteen truckloads of hematite. It is a
single line, and nothing could have passed. As the Perseverance
line, is a large double line, which does a considerable traffic,
for the output of the mine is very large. On the 3rd of June this
traffic proceeded as usual; hundreds of men including a gang of
railway platelayers were working along the two miles and a
quarter which constitute the total length of the line, and it is
inconceivable that an unexpected train could have come down there
without attraction universal attention. It may be remarked in
conclusion that this branch line is nearer to St. Helens than the
point at which the engine-driver was discovered, so that we have
every reason to believe that the train was past that point before
misfortune overtook her.
"As to John Slater, there is no clue to be gathered from his
appearance or injuries. We can only say that, so far as we can
see, he met his end by falling off his engine, though why he
fell, or what became of the engine after his fall, is a question
upon which I do not feel qualified to offer an opinion." In
conclusion, the inspector offered his resignation to the Board,
being much nettled by an accusation of incompetence in the London
papers.
A month elapsed, during which both the police and the company
prosecuted their inquiries without the slightest success. A
reward was offered and a pardon promised in case of crime, but
they were both unclaimed. Every day the public opened their
papers with the conviction that so grotesque a mystery would at
last be solved, but week after week passed by, and a solution
remained as far off as ever. In broad daylight, upon a June
afternoon in the most thickly inhabited portion of England, a
train with its occupants had disappeared as completely as if some
master of subtle chemistry had volatilized it into gas. Indeed,
among the various conjectures which were put forward in the
public Press, there were some which seriously asserted that
supernatural, or, at least, preternatural, agencies had been at
work, and that the deformed Monsieur Caratal was probably a
person who was better known under a less polite name. Others
fixed upon his swarthy companion as being the author of the
mischief, but what it was exactly which he had done could never
be clearly formulated in words.
Amongst the many suggestions put forward by various newspapers
or private individuals, there were one or two which were feasible
enough to attract the attention of the public. One which appeared
in The Times, over the signature of an amateur reasoner of some
celebrity at that date, attempted to deal with the matter in a
critical and semi-scientific manner. An extract must suffice,
although the curious can see the whole letter in the issue of the
3rd of July.
"It is one of the elementary principles of practical
reasoning," he remarked, "that when the impossible has been
eliminated the residuum, however improbable, must contain the
truth. It is certain that the train left Kenyon Junction. It is
certain that it did not reach Barton Moss. It is in the highest
degree unlikely, but still possible, that it may have taken one
of the seven available side lines. It is obviously impossible for
a train to run where there are no rails, and, therefore, we may
reduce our improbables to the three open lines, namely the
Carnstock Iron Works, the Big Ben, and the Perseverance. Is there
a secret society of colliers, an English Camorra, which is
capable of destroying both train and passengers? It is
improbable, but it is not impossible. I confess that I am unable
to suggest any other solution. I should certainly advise the
company to direct all their energies towards the observation of
those three lines, and of the workmen at the end of them. A
careful supervision of the pawnbrokers' shops of the district
might possibly bring some suggestive facts to light."
The suggestion coming from a recognized authority upon such
matters created considerable interest, and a fierce opposition
from those who considered such a statement to be a preposterous
libel upon an honest and deserving set of men. The only answer to
this criticism was a challenge to the objectors to lay any more
feasible explanations before the public. In reply to this two
others were forthcoming (Times, July 7th and 9th). The first
suggested that the train might have run off the metals and be
lying submerged in the Lancashire and Staffordshire Canal, which
runs parallel to the railway for some hundred of yards. This
suggestion was thrown out of court by the published depth of the
canal, which was entirely insofficient to conceal so large an
object. The second correspondent wrote calling attention to the
bag which appeared to be the sole luggage which the travellers
had brought with them, and suggesting that some novel explosive
of immense and pulverizing power might have been concealed in it.
The obvious absurdity, however, of supposing that the whole train
might be blown to dust while the metals remained uninjured
reduced any such explanation to a farce. The investigation had
drifted into this hopeless position when a new and most
unexpected incident occurred.
This was nothing less than the receipt by Mrs. McPherson of a
letter from her husband, James McPherson, who had been the guard
on the missing train. The letter, which was dated July 5th, 1890,
was posted from New York and came to hand upon July 14th. Some
doubts were expressed as to its genuine character but Mrs.
McPherson was positive as to the writing, and the fact that it
contained a remittance of a hundred dollars in five-dollar notes
was enough in itself to discount the idea of a hoax. No address
was given in the letter, which ran in this way:
"My Dear Wife, -
"I have been thinking a great deal, and I find it very hard to
give you up. The same with Lizzie. I try to fight against it, but
it will always come back to me. I send you some money which will
change into twenty English pounds. This should be enough to bring
both Lizzie and you across the Atlantic, and you will find the
Hamburg boats which stop at Southampton very good boats, and
cheaper than Liverpool. If you could come here and stop at the
Johnston House I would try and send you word how to meet, but
things are very difficult with me at present, and I am not very
happy, finding it hard to give you both up. So no more at
present, from your loving husband,
"JAMES McPHERSON."
For a time it was confidently anticipated that this letter
would lead to the clearing up of the whole matter, the more so as
it was ascertained that a passenger who bore a close resemblance
to the missing guard had travelled from Southampton under the
name of Summers in the Hamburg and New York liner Vistula, which
started upon the 7th of June. Mrs. McPherson and her sister
Lizzie Dolton went across to New York as directed and stayed for
three weeks at the Johnston House, without hearing anything from
the missing man. It is probable that some injudicious comments in
the Press may have warned him that the police were using them as
a bait. However, this may be, it is certain that he neither wrote
nor came, and the women were eventually compelled to return to
Liverpool.
And so the matter stood, and has continued to stand up to the
present year of 1898. Incredible as it may seem, nothing has
transpired during these eight years which has shed the least
light upon the extraordinary disappearance of the special train
which contained Monsieur Caratal and his companion. Careful
inquiries into the antecedents of the two travellers have only
established the fact that Monsieur Caratal was well known as a
financier and political agent in Central America, and that during
his voyage to Europe he had betrayed extraordinary anxiety to
reach Paris. His companion, whose name was entered upon the
passenger lists as Eduardo Gomez, was a man whose record was a
violent one, and whose reputation was that of a bravo and a
bully. There was evidence to show, however, that he was honestly
devoted to the interests of Monsieur Caratal, and that the
latter, being a man of puny physique, employed the other as a
guard and protector. It may be added that no information came
from Paris as to what the objects of Monsieur Caratal's hurried
journey may have been.
This comprises all the facts of the case upon the publication
in the Marseilles papers of the recent confession of Herbert de
Lernac, now under sentence of death for the murder of a merchant
named Bonbalot. This statement may be literally translated as
follows:
"It is not out of mere pride or boasting that I give this
information, for, if that were my object, I could tell a dozen
actions of mine which are quite as splendid; but I do it in order
that certain gentlemen in Paris may understand that I, who am
able here to tell about the fate of Monsieur Caratal, can also
tell in whose interest and at whose request the deed was done,
unless the reprieve which I am awaiting comes to me very quickly.
Take warning, messieurs, before it is too late! You know Herbert
de Lernac, and you are aware that his deeds are as ready as his
words. Hasten then, or you are lost!
"At present I shall mention no names - if you only heard
the names, what would you not think! - but I shall merely tell
you how cleverly I did it. I was true to my employers then, and
no doubt they will be true to me now. I hope so, and until I am
convinced that they have betrayed me, these names, which would
convulse Europe, shall not be divulged. But on that day...well, I
say no more!
"In a word, then, there was a famous trial in Paris, in the
year 1890, in connection with a monstrous scandal in politics and
finance. How monstrous that scandal was can never be known save
by such confidential agents as myself. The honour and careers of
many of the chief men in France were at stake. You have seen a
group of ninepins standing, all so rigid, and prim, and
unbending. Then there comes the fall from far away and pop, pop,
pop - there are your ninepins on the floor. Well, imagine some of
the greatest men in France as these ninepins and then this
Monsieur Caratal was the ball which could be seen coming from far
away. If he arrived, then it was pop, pop, pop for all of them.
It was determined that he should not arrive.
"I do not accuse them all of being conscious of what was to
happen. There were,as I have said, great financial as well as
political interests at stake, and a syndicate was formed to
manage the business. Some subscribed to the syndicate who hardly
understood what were its objects. But others understood very
well, and they can rely upon it that I have not forgotten their
names. They had ample warning that Monsieur Caratal was coming
long before he left South America, and they knew that the
evidence which he held would certainly mean ruin to all of them.
The syndicate had the command of an unlimited amount of money -
absolutely unlimited, you understand. They looked round for an
agent who was capable of wielding this gigantic power. The man
chosen must be inventive, resolute, adaptive - a man in a
million. They chose Herbert de Lernac, and I admit that they were
right.
"My duties were to choose my subordinates, to use freely
the power which money gives, and to make certain that Monsieur
Caratal should never arrive in Paris. With characteristic energy
I set about my commission within an hour of receiving my
instructions, and the steps which I took were the very best for
the purpose which could possibly be devised.
"A man whom I could trust was dispatched instantly to South
America to travel home with Monsieur Caratal. Had he arrived in
time the ship would never have reached Liverpool; but alas! it
had already started before my agent could reach it. I fitted out
a small armed brig to intercept it, but again I was unfortunate.
Like all great organizers I was, however, prepared for failure,
and had a series of alternatives prepared, one or the other of
which must succeed. You must not underrate the difficulties of my
undertaking, or imagine that a mere commonplace assassination
would meet the case. We must destroy not only Monsieur Caratal,
but Monsieur Caratal's documents, and Monsieur Caratal's
companions also, if we had reason to believe that he had
communicated his secrets to them. And you must remember that they
were on the alert, and keenly suspicious of any such attempt. It
was a task which was in every way worthy of me, for I am always
most masterful where another would be appalled.
"I was all ready for Monsieur Caratal's reception in
Liverpool, and I was the more eager because I had reason to
believe that he had made arrangements by which he would have a
considerable guard from the moment that he arrived in London.
Anything which was to be done must be done between the moment of
his setting foot upon the Liverpool quay and that of his arrival
at the London and West Coast terminus in London. We prepared six
plans, each more elaborate than the last; which plan would be
used would depend upon his own movements. Do what he would, we
were ready for him. If he stayed in Liverpool, we were ready. If
he took an ordinary train, an express, or a special, all was
ready. Everything had been foreseen and provided for.
"You may imagine that I could not do all this myself. What
could I know of the English railway lines? But money can procure
willing agents all the world over, and I soon had one of the
acutest brains in England to assist me. I will mention no names,
but it would be unjust to claim all the credit for myself. My
English ally was worthy of such an alliance. He knew the London
and West Coast line thoroughly, and he had the command of a band
of workers who were trustworthy and intelligent. The idea was
his, and my own judgement was only required in the details. We
bought over several officials, amongst whom the most important
was James McPherson, whom we had ascertained to be the guard most
likely to be employed upon a special train. Smith, the stoker,
was also in our employ. John Slater, the engine-driver, had been
approached, but had been found to be obstinate and dangerous, so
we desisted. We had no certainty that Monsieur Caratal would take
a special, but we thought it very probable, for it was of the
utmost importance to him that he should reach Paris without
delay. It was for this contingency, therefore, that we made
special preparations - preparations which were complete down to
the last detail long before his steamer had sighted the shores of
England. You will be amused to learn that there was one of my
agents in the pilot-boat which brought that steamer to its
moorings.
"The moment that Caratal arrived in Liverpool we knew that
he suspected danger and was on his guard. He had brought with him
as an escort a dangerous fellow, named Gomez, a man who carried
weapons, and was prepared to use them. This fellow carried
Caratal's confidential papers for him, and was ready to protect
either them or his master. The probability was that Caratal had
taken him into his counsels, and that to remove Caratal without
removing Gomez would be a mere waste of energy. It was necessary
that they should be involved in a common fate and our plans to
that end were much facilitated by their request for a special
train. On that special train you will understand that two out of
the three servants of the company were really in our employ, at a
price which would make them independent for a lifetime. I do not
go so far as to say that the English are more honest than any
other nation, but I have found them more expensive to buy.
"I have already spoken of my English agent - who is a man
with a considerable future before him, unless some complaint of
the throat carries him off before his time. He had charge of all
arrangements at Liverpool, whilst I was stationed at the inn at
Kenyon, where I awaited a cipher signal to act. When the special
was arranged for, my agent instantly telegraphed to me and warned
me how soon I should have everything ready. He himself under the
name of Horace Moore applied immediately for a special also, in
the hope that he would be sent down with Monsieur Caratal, which
might under certain circumstances have been helpful to us. If,
for example, our great coup had failed, it would then have become
the duty of my agent to have shot them both and destroyed their
papers. Caratal was on his guard, however, and refused to admit
any other traveller. My agent then left the station, returned by
another entrance, entered the guard's van on the side farthest
from the platform, and travelled down with McPherson the guard.
"In the meantime you will be interested to know what my
movements were. Everything had been prepared for days before, and
only the finishing touches were needed. The side line which we
had chosen had once joined the main line, but it had been
disconnected. We had only to replace a few rails to connect it
once more. These rails had been laid down as far as could be done
without danger of attracting attention, and now it was merely a
case of completing a juncture with the line, and arranging the
points as they had been before. The sleepers had never been
removed and the rails, fish-plates and rivets were all ready, for
we had taken them from a siding on the abandoned portion of the
line. With my small but competent band of workers, we had
everything ready long before the special arrived. When it did
arrive, it ran off upon the small side line so easily that the
jolting of the points appears to have been entirely unnoticed by
the two travellers.
"Our plan had been that Smith, the stoker, should
chloroform John Slater, the driver, so that he should vanish with
the others. In this respect, and in this respect only, our plans
miscarried - I except the criminal folly of McPherson in writing
home to his wife. Our stoker did his business so clumsily that
Slater in his struggles fell off the engine, and through fortune
was with us so far that he broke his neck in the fall, still he
remained as a blot upon that which would otherwise have been one
of those complete masterpieces which are only to be contemplated
in silent admiration. The criminal expert will find in John
Slater the one flaw in all our admirable combinations. A man who
has had as many triumphs as I can afford to be frank, and I
therefore lay my finger upon John Slater, and I proclaim him to
be a flaw.
"But now I have got our special train upon the small line
two kilometers, or rather more than one mile, in length, which
leads, or rather used to lead, to the abandoned Heartsease mine,
once one of the largest coal mines in England. You will ask how
it is that no one saw the train upon this unused line. I answer
that along its entire length it runs through a deep cutting, and
that, unless someone had been on the edge of that cutting, he
could not have seen it. There was someone on the edge of that
cutting. I was there. And now I will tell you what I saw.
"My assistant had remained at the points in order that he
might superintend the switching off of the train. He had four
armed men with him, so that if the train ran off the line - we
thought it probable, because the points were rusty - we might
still have resources to fall back upon. Having once seen it
safely on the side line, he handed over the responsibility to me.
I was waiting at a point which overlooks the mouth of the mine,
and I was also armed, as were my two companions. Come what might,
you see, I was always ready.
"The moment that the train was fairly on the side line,
Smith, the stoker, slowed-down the engine, and then, having
turned it on to the fullest speed again, he and McPherson, with
my English lieutenant, sprang off before it was too late. It may
be that it was this slowing-down which first attracted the
attention of the travellers, but the train was running at full
speed again before their heads appeared at the open window. It
makes me smile to think how bewildered they must have been.
Picture to yourself your own feelings if, on looking out of your
luxurious carriage, you suddenly perceived that the lines upon
which you ran were rusted and corroded, red and yellow with
disuse and decay! What a catch must have come in their breath as
in a second it flashed upon them that it was not Manchester but
Death which was waiting for them at the end of that sinister
line. But the train was running with frantic speed, rolling and
rocking over the rotten line, while the wheels made a frightful
screaming sound upon the rusted surface. I was close to them, and
could see their faces. Caratal was praying, I think - there was
something like a rosary dangling out of his hand. The other
roared like a bull who smells the blood of the slaughter-house.
He saw us standing on the bank, and he beckoned to us like a
madman. Then he tore at his wrist and threw his dispatch-box out
of the window in our direction. Of course, his meaning was
obvious. Here was the evidence, and they would promise to be
silent if their lives were spared. It would have been very
agreeable if we could have done so, but business is business.
Besides, the train was now as much beyond our controls as theirs.
"He ceased howling when the train rattled round the curve
and they saw the black mouth of the mine yawning before them. We
had removed the boards which had covered it, and we had cleared
the square entrance. The rails had formerly run very close to the
shaft for the convenience of loading the coal, and we had only to
add two or three lengths of rail in order to lead to the very
brink of the shaft. In fact, as the lengths would not quite fit,
our line projected about three feet over the edge. We saw the two
heads at the window: Caratal below, Gomez above; but they had
both been struck silent by what they saw. And yet they could not
withdraw their heads. The sight seemed to have paralysed them.
"I had wondered how the train running at a great speed
would take the pit into which I had guided it, and I was much
interested in watching it. One of my colleagues thought that it
would actually jump it, and indeed it was not very far from doing
so. Fortunately, however, it fell short, and the buffers of the
engine struck the other lip of the shaft with a tremendous crash.
The funnel flew off into the air. The tender, carriages, and van
were all smashed up into one jumble, which, with the remains of
the engine, choked for a minute or so the mouth of the pit. Then
something gave way in the middle, and the whole mass of green
iron, smoking coals, brass fittings, wheels, wood-work, and
cushions all crumbled together and crashed down into the mine. We
heard the rattle, rattle, rattle, as the debris struck against
the walls, and then, quite a long time afterwards, there came a
deep roar as the remains of the train struck the bottom. The
boiler may have burst, for a sharp crash came after the roar, and
then a dense cloud of steam and smoke swirled up out of the black
depths, falling in a spray as thick as rain all round us. Then
the vapour shedded off into thin wisps, which floated away in the
summer sunshine, and all was quiet again in the Heartsease mine.
"And now, having carried out our plans so successfully, it
only remained to leave no trace behind us. Our little band of
workers at the other end had already ripped up the rails and
disconnected the side line, replacing everything as it had been
before. We were equally busy at the mine. The funnel and other
fragments were thrown in, the shaft was planked over as it used
to be, and the lines which led to it were torn up and taken away.
Then, without flurry, but without delay, we all made our way of
the country, most of us to Paris, my English colleague to
Manchester, and McPherson to Southampton, whence he emigrated to
America. Let the English papers of that date tell how thoroughly
we had done our work, and how completely we had thrown the
cleverest of their detectives off our track.
"You will remember that Gomez threw his bag of papers out
of the window, and I need not say that I secured that bag and
brought them to my employers. It may interest my employers now,
however, to learn that out of that bag I took one or two little
papers as a souvenir of the occasion. I have no wish to publish
these papers; but, still, it is every man for himself in this
world, and what else can I do if my friends will not come to my
aid when I want them? Messieurs, you may believe that Herbert de
Lernac is quite as formidable when he is against you as when he
is with you, and that he is not a man to go to the guillotine
until he has seen that every one of you is en route for New
Caledonia. For your own sake, if not for mine, make haste,
Monsieur de__, and General__, and Baron__ (you can fill up the
blanks for yourselves as you read this). I promise you that in
the next edition there will be no blanks to fill.
"p.s. - As I look over my statement there is only one
omission which I can see. It concerns the unfortunate man
McPherson, who was foolish enough to write to his wife and to
make an appointment with her in New York. It can be imagined that
when interests like ours were at stake, we could not leave them
to the chance of whether a man in that class of life would or
would not give away his secrets to a woman. Having once broken
his oath by writing to his wife, we could not trust him any more.
We took steps therefore to insure that he should not see his
wife. I have sometimes thought that it would be a kindness to
write to her and to assure her that there is no impediment to her
marrying again."
(The End)
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