The Ponson Case quotes

The dying sun of a July evening shone rosily on the old Georgian house of Luce Manor, mellowing the cold grey of the masonry, bringing out with soft shadow its cornices and mouldings, and softening and blurring its hard outlines.

A fine old house, finely set on the summit of a low hill, and surrounded by wonderful old trees, it seemed to stand symbolical of the peace, security, and solid comfort of upper-class rural England.

But tonight, being entirely alone, he retired at once from the table to his library, where he would sit, reading and smoking, till about ten or later he would ring for Parkes, the butler, to bring him his nightly tumbler of hot punch.

But ten came, and half past ten, and eleven, and there was no ring.

“Boss is late tonight, Mr. Parkes,” said Innes, Sir William’s valet, as he and the butler sat in the latter’s room over a bottle of Sir William’s old port, and a couple of Sir William’s three and sixpenny cigars.

“But he wasn’t armed, sergeant,” rejoined the doctor. “

A man with a revolver is not armed unless he has something to fire out of it. That’s no more an arm than any other bit of old iron.

”

“Nope. Not Tony B. This one about an hour; this one about a week at a guess. But don’t you take all you hear for gospel.

I don’t know, as the girl said when her lover proposed.

”

She waited until he was seated in the most comfortable chair in the drawing-room with his cigar well under way, and then she spoke of the subject next her heart.

“Tell me, Jimmy,” she begged, “just what you really think. I want to understand exactly what we have to meet.”

He told her. Directly and without any attempt to gloss over the uglier facts, he told her all he knew. She listened in silence for the most part, but occasionally interjected shrewd, pertinent questions.

Nothing could be easier than to step out of the window on to the roof, and drop to the ground. The open door of the outhouse to which led many wheel tracks showed where the motor had been kept.

Tanner swore savagely. Never before had he been so completely and so easily duped.

It was now evident to him that William Douglas had recognised him approaching the house, and had invented a brother to enable him to hold the Inspector’s attention while he bolted. And he had played his cards skilfully!

She looked steadily in Jimmy’s eyes as if challenging him to contest her statement.

He marvelled at the faith a good woman will show in the man she loves, and he felt if Austin had by word or deed deceived her, hanging would be too good for him.

He hesitated in replying, and she went on:

“You thought he was”—she hesitated for a moment—“not telling you all he might?”

Jimmy hated doing business in opposition to a clever woman. Again and again he had found that except for their own purposes they seldom considered either his words or actions, but always his quite private and secret thoughts.

He realised that Lois knew exactly what was in his mind regarding Austin.

“Ay, she did what she ought to have done at the start—married young William Ponson.”

“Never neglect the smallest clue!” thought Tanner triumphantly, as he recalled his doubt of the wisdom of following up the photograph.

The connection between Douglas and Sir William was strengthening. Doubtless he was on the right track at last, and maybe if he questioned him skilfully, this old man would let something drop which would give away the secret.