Read Philip Van Doren Stern (ed) Online
Authors: Travelers In Time
"
'But
we
had
better
go
upstairs
ourselves
and
see,'
said
I.
And
we did."
Thus
Chalmers.
Humphreys,
the
manservant,
gave
the
following account:
"The
bell
rang
from
Captain
Brayton's
room
at
half
past
five.
I answered
it
at
once
myself,
and
Captain
Brayton
asked
me
at
what hour
the
post
left.
I
replied
that
we
sent
the
letters
from
the
house
to the
post
office
in
the
village
at
six.
He
then
asked
me
to
return
at that
hour
and
fetch
those
of
his
which
would
be
ready.
I
returned precisely
at
six,
and
I
saw
Captain
Brayton
lying
in
a
heap
upon
the rug
in
front
of
the
fire.
He
was
dead,
and
he
held
a
revolver
tightly clenched
in
his
hand.
As
I
stepped
over
him,
I
smelt
that
something was
burning.
He
had
shot
himself
through
the
heart,
and
his
clothes were
singed,
as
if
he
had
held
the
revolver
close
to
his
side."
These
stories
were
repeated
at
the
inquest,
and
at
this
particular point
in
Humphreys's
evidence
the
coroner
asked
a
question:
"Did
you
recognise
the
revolver?"
"Not
until
Captain
Brayton's
hand
was
unclenched."
"But
then
you
did?"
"Yes,"
said
Humphreys.
The
coroner
pointed
to
the
table
on
which
a
revolver
lay. "Is
that
the
weapon?"
Humphreys
took
it
up
and
looked
at
the
handle,
on
which
two initials
were
engraved—"A.
C."
"Yes,"
said
the
man.
"I
recognised
it
as
Mr.
Cranfield's.
He
kept
it in
a
drawer
by
his
bedside."
No
revolver
was
found
amongst
Captain
Brayton's
possessions.
It
became
clear
that,
while
the
three
men
were
talking
in
the
billiard
room,
Captain
Brayton
had
gone
to
Cranfield's
room,
taken
his revolver,
and
killed
himself
with
it.
No
evidence,
however,
was
produced
which
supplied
a
reason
for
Brayton's
suicide.
His
affairs
were in
good
order,
his
means
sufficient,
his
prospects
of
advancement
in his
career
sound.
Nor
was
there
a
suggestion
of
any
private
unhappi-ness.
The
tragedy,
therefore,
was
entered
in
that
list
of
mysteries
which are
held
insoluble.
"I
might,"
said
Chalmers,
"perhaps
resume
the
argument
which Humphreys
interrupted
in
the
billiard
room,
with
a
better
instance than
any
which
I
induced—the
instance
of
Captain
Brayton."
"You
won't
go?"
Archie
Cranfield
pleaded
with
Mr.
Twiss.
"Lin-field
and
Chalmers
leave
to-day.
If
you
go
too,
I
shall
be
entirely alone."
"But
why
should
you
stay?"
the
lawyer
returned.
"Surely
you
hardly propose
to
remain
through
the
winter
in
this
house?"
"No,
but
I
must
stay
on
for
a
few
days;
I
have
to
make
arrangements
before
I
can
go,"
said
Cranfield;
and
seeing
that
he
was
in earnest
in
his
intention
to
go,
Mr.
Twiss
was
persuaded.
He
stayed
on, and
recognised,
in
consequence,
that
the
death
of
Captain
Brayton had
amongst
its
consequences
one
which
he
had
not
expected.
The feeling
in
the
neighbourhood
changed
towards
Archie
Cranfield.
It cannot
be
said
that
he
became
popular—he
wore
too
sad
and
joyless an
air—but
sympathy
was
shown
to
him
in
many
acts
of
courtesy
and in
a
greater
charity
of
language.