Chapter XIX. Jane Finn

by Agatha Christie

　　"My train got in half an hour ago," explained Julius, as he ledthe way out of the station. "I reckoned you'd come by thisbefore I left London, and wired accordingly to Sir James. He'sbooked rooms for us, and will be round to dine at eight.""What made you think he'd ceased to take any interest in thecase?" asked Tommy curiously."What he said," replied Julius dryly. "The old bird's as closeas an oyster! Like all the darned lot of them, he wasn't going tocommit himself till he was sure he could deliver the goods.""I wonder," said Tommy thoughtfully.Julius turned on him."You wonder what?""Whether that was his real reason.""Sure. You bet your life it was."Tommy shook his head unconvinced.Sir James arrived punctually at eight o'clock, and Juliusintroduced Tommy. Sir James shook hands with him warmly."I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Mr. Beresford. I haveheard so much about you from Miss Tuppence"--he smiledinvoluntarily--"that it really seems as though I already know youquite well.""Thank you, sir," said Tommy with his cheerful grin. He scannedthe great lawyer eagerly. Like Tuppence, he felt the magnetismof the other's personality. He was reminded of Mr. Carter. Thetwo men, totally unlike so far as physical resemblance went,produced a similar effect. Beneath the weary manner of the oneand the professional reserve of the other, lay the same qualityof mind, keen-edged like a rapier.In the meantime he was conscious of Sir James's close scrutiny.When the lawyer dropped his eyes the young man had the feelingthat the other had read him through and through like an openbook. He could not but wonder what the final judgment was, butthere was little chance of learning that. Sir James took ineverything, but gave out only what he chose. A proof of thatoccurred almost at once.Immediately the first greetings were over Julius broke out into aflood of eager questions. How had Sir James managed to track thegirl? Why had he not let them know that he was still working onthe case? And so on.Sir James stroked his chin and smiled. At last he said:"Just so, just so. Well, she's found. And that's the greatthing, isn't it? Eh! Come now, that's the great thing?""Sure it is. But just how did you strike her trail? MissTuppence and I thought you'd quit for good and all.""Ah!" The lawyer shot a lightning glance at him, then resumedoperations on his chin. "You thought that, did you? Did youreally? H'm, dear me.""But I guess I can take it we were wrong," pursued Julius."Well, I don't know that I should go so far as to say that. Butit's certainly fortunate for all parties that we've managed tofind the young lady.""But where is she?" demanded Julius, his thoughts flying off onanother tack. "I thought you'd be sure to bring her along?""That would hardly be possible," said Sir James gravely."Why?""Because the young lady was knocked down in a street accident,and has sustained slight injuries to the head. She was taken tothe infirmary, and on recovering consciousness gave her name asJane Finn. When--ah!--I heard that, I arranged for her to beremoved to the house of a doctor--a friend of mine, and wired atonce for you. She relapsed into unconsciousness and has notspoken since.""She's not seriously hurt?""Oh, a bruise and a cut or two; really, from a medical point ofview, absurdly slight injuries to have produced such a condition.Her state is probably to be attributed to the mental shockconsequent on recovering her memory.""It's come back?" cried Julius excitedly.Sir James tapped the table rather impatiently."Undoubtedly, Mr. Hersheimmer, since she was able to give herreal name. I thought you had appreciated that point.""And you just happened to be on the spot," said Tommy. "Seemsquite like a fairy tale."But Sir James was far too wary to be drawn."Coincidences are curious things," he said dryly.Nevertheless Tommy was now certain of what he had before onlysuspected. Sir James's presence in Manchester was not accidental.Far from abandoning the case, as Julius supposed, he had by somemeans of his own successfully run the missing girl to earth. Theonly thing that puzzled Tommy was the reason for all thissecrecy. He concluded that it was a foible of the legal mind.Julius was speaking."After dinner," he announced, "I shall go right away and seeJane.""That will be impossible, I fear," said Sir James. "It is veryunlikely they would allow her to see visitors at this time ofnight. I should suggest to-morrow morning about ten o'clock."Julius flushed. There was something in Sir James which alwaysstirred him to antagonism. It was a conflict of two masterfulpersonalities."All the same, I reckon I'll go round there to-night and see if Ican't ginger them up to break through their silly rules.""It will be quite useless, Mr. Hersheimmer."The words came out like the crack of a pistol, and Tommy lookedup with a start. Julius was nervous and excited. The hand withwhich he raised his glass to his lips shook slightly, but hiseyes held Sir James's defiantly. For a moment the hostilitybetween the two seemed likely to burst into flame, but in the endJulius lowered his eyes, defeated."For the moment, I reckon you're the boss.""Thank you," said the other. "We will say ten o'clock then?"With consummate ease of manner he turned to Tommy. "I mustconfess, Mr. Beresford, that it was something of a surprise to meto see you here this evening. The last I heard of you was thatyour friends were in grave anxiety on your behalf. Nothing hadbeen heard of you for some days, and Miss Tuppence was inclinedto think you had got into difficulties.""I had, sir!" Tommy grinned reminiscently. "I was never in atighter place in my life."Helped out by questions from Sir James, he gave an abbreviatedaccount of his adventures. The lawyer looked at him with renewedinterest as he brought the tale to a close."You got yourself out of a tight place very well," he saidgravely. "I congratulate you. You displayed a great deal ofingenuity and carried your part through well."Tommy blushed, his face assuming a prawnlike hue at the praise."I couldn't have got away but for the girl, sir.""No." Sir James smiled a little. "It was lucky for you shehappened to--er--take a fancy to you." Tommy appeared about toprotest, but Sir James went on. "There's no doubt about her beingone of the gang, I suppose?""I'm afraid not, sir. I thought perhaps they were keeping herthere by force, but the way she acted didn't fit in with that.You see, she went back to them when she could have got away."Sir James nodded thoughtfully."What did she say? Something about wanting to be taken toMarguerite?""Yes, sir. I suppose she meant Mrs. Vandemeyer.""She always signed herself Rita Vandemeyer. All her friendsspoke of her as Rita. Still, I suppose the girl must have beenin the habit of calling her by her full name. And, at the momentshe was crying out to her, Mrs. Vandemeyer was either dead ordying! Curious! There are one or two points that strike me asbeing obscure--their sudden change of attitude towards yourself,for instance. By the way, the house was raided, of course?""Yes, sir, but they'd all cleared out.""Naturally," said Sir James dryly."And not a clue left behind.""I wonder----" The lawyer tapped the table thoughtfully.Something in his voice made Tommy look up. Would this man's eyeshave seen something where theirs had been blind? He spokeimpulsively:"I wish you'd been there, sir, to go over the house!""I wish I had," said Sir James quietly. He sat for a moment insilence. Then he looked up. "And since then? What have you beendoing?"For a moment, Tommy stared at him. Then it dawned on him that ofcourse the lawyer did not know."I forgot that you didn't know about Tuppence," he said slowly.The sickening anxiety, forgotten for a while in the excitement ofknowing Jane Finn was found at last, swept over him again.The lawyer laid down his knife and fork sharply."Has anything happened to Miss Tuppence?" His voice waskeen-edged."She's disappeared," said Julius."When?""A week ago.""How?"Sir James's questions fairly shot out. Between them Tommy andJulius gave the history of the last week and their futile search.Sir James went at once to the root of the matter."A wire signed with your name? They knew enough of you both forthat. They weren't sure of how much you had learnt in that house.Their kidnapping of Miss Tuppence is the counter-move to yourescape. If necessary they could seal your lips with a threat ofwhat might happen to her."Tommy nodded."That's just what I thought, sir."Sir James looked at him keenly. "You had worked that out, hadyou? Not bad--not at all bad. The curious thing is that theycertainly did not know anything about you when they first heldyou prisoner. You are sure that you did not in any way discloseyour identity?"Tommy shook his head."That's so," said Julius with a nod. "Therefore I reckon someone put them wise--and not earlier than Sunday afternoon.""Yes, but who?""That almighty omniscient Mr. Brown, of course!"There was a faint note of derision in the American's voice whichmade Sir James look up sharply."You don't believe in Mr. Brown, Mr. Hersheimmer?""No, sir, I do not," returned the young American with emphasis."Not as such, that is to say. I reckon it out that he's afigurehead--just a bogy name to frighten the children with. Thereal head of this business is that Russian chap Kramenin. Iguess he's quite capable of running revolutions in threecountries at once if he chose! The man Whittington is probablythe head of the English branch.""I disagree with you," said Sir James shortly. "Mr. Brownexists." He turned to Tommy. "Did you happen to notice wherethat wire was handed in?""No, sir, I'm afraid I didn't.""H'm. Got it with you?""It's upstairs, sir, in my kit.""I'd like to have a look at it sometime. No hurry. You'vewasted a week"--Tommy hung his head--"a day or so more isimmaterial. We'll deal with Miss Jane Finn first. Afterwards,we'll set to work to rescue Miss Tuppence from bondage. I don'tthink she's in any immediate danger. That is, so long as theydon't know that we've got Jane Finn, and that her memory hasreturned. We must keep that dark at all costs. You understand?"The other two assented, and, after making arrangements formeeting on the morrow, the great lawyer took his leave.At ten o'clock, the two young men were at the appointed spot. SirJames had joined them on the doorstep. He alone appearedunexcited. He introduced them to the doctor."Mr. Hersheimmer--Mr. Beresford--Dr. Roylance. How's thepatient?""Going on well. Evidently no idea of the flight of time. Askedthis morning how many had been saved from the Lusitania. Was itin the papers yet? That, of course, was only what was to beexpected. She seems to have something on her mind, though.""I think we can relieve her anxiety. May we go up?""Certainly."Tommy's heart beat sensibly faster as they followed the doctorupstairs. Jane Finn at last! The long-sought, the mysterious,the elusive Jane Finn! How wildly improbable success had seemed!And here in this house, her memory almost miraculously restored,lay the girl who held the future of England in her hands. A halfgroan broke from Tommy's lips. If only Tuppence could have beenat his side to share in the triumphant conclusion of their jointventure! Then he put the thought of Tuppence resolutely aside.His confidence in Sir James was growing. There was a man whowould unerringly ferret out Tuppence's whereabouts. In themeantime Jane Finn! And suddenly a dread clutched at his heart.It seemed too easy.... Suppose they should find her dead ...stricken down by the hand of Mr. Brown?In another minute he was laughing at these melodramatic fancies.The doctor held open the door of a room and they passed in. Onthe white bed, bandages round her head, lay the girl. Somehow thewhole scene seemed unreal. It was so exactly what one expectedthat it gave the effect of being beautifully staged.The girl looked from one to the other of them with largewondering eyes. Sir James spoke first."Miss Finn," he said, "this is your cousin, Mr. Julius P.Hersheimmer."A faint flush flitted over the girl's face, as Julius steppedforward and took her hand."How do, Cousin Jane?" he said lightly.But Tommy caught the tremor in his voice."Are you really Uncle Hiram's son?" she asked wonderingly.Her voice, with the slight warmth of the Western accent, had analmost thrilling quality. It seemed vaguely familiar to Tommy,but he thrust the impression aside as impossible."Sure thing.""We used to read about Uncle Hiram in the papers," continued thegirl, in her low soft tones. "But I never thought I'd meet youone day. Mother figured it out that Uncle Hiram would never getover being mad with her.""The old man was like that," admitted Julius. "But I guess thenew generation's sort of different. Got no use for the familyfeud business. First thing I thought about, soon as the war wasover, was to come along and hunt you up."A shadow passed over the girl's face."They've been telling me things--dreadful things--that my memorywent, and that there are years I shall never know about--yearslost out of my life.""You didn't realize that yourself?"The girl's eyes opened wide."Why, no. It seems to me as though it were no time since we werebeing hustled into those boats. I can see it all now." Sheclosed her eyes with a shudder.Julius looked across at Sir James, who nodded."Don't worry any. It isn't worth it. Now, see here, Jane,there's something we want to know about. There was a man aboardthat boat with some mighty important papers on him, and the bigguns in this country have got a notion that he passed on thegoods to you. Is that so?"The girl hesitated, her glance shifting to the other two. Juliusunderstood."Mr. Beresford is commissioned by the British Government to getthose papers back. Sir James Peel Edgerton is an English Memberof Parliament, and might be a big gun in the Cabinet if he liked.It's owing to him that we've ferreted you out at last. So you cango right ahead and tell us the whole story. Did Danvers give youthe papers?""Yes. He said they'd have a better chance with me, because theywould save the women and children first.""Just as we thought," said Sir James."He said they were very important--that they might make all thedifference to the Allies. But, if it's all so long ago, and thewar's over, what does it matter now?""I guess history repeats itself, Jane. First there was a greathue and cry over those papers, then it all died down, and now thewhole caboodle's started all over again--for rather differentreasons. Then you can hand them over to us right away?""But I can't.""What?""I haven't got them.""You--haven't--got them?" Julius punctuated the words withlittle pauses."No--I hid them.""You hid them?""Yes. I got uneasy. People seemed to be watching me. It scaredme--badly." She put her hand to her head. "It's almost the lastthing I remember before waking up in the hospital....""Go on," said Sir James, in his quiet penetrating tones. "What doyou remember?"She turned to him obediently."It was at Holyhead. I came that way--I don't remember why....""That doesn't matter. Go on.""In the confusion on the quay I slipped away. Nobody saw me. Itook a car. Told the man to drive me out of the town. I watchedwhen we got on the open road. No other car was following us. Isaw a path at the side of the road. I told the man to wait."She paused, then went on. "The path led to the cliff, and downto the sea between big yellow gorse bushes--they were like goldenflames. I looked round. There wasn't a soul in sight. But justlevel with my head there was a hole in the rock. It was quitesmall--I could only just get my hand in, but it went a long wayback. I took the oilskin packet from round my neck and shoved itright in as far as I could. Then I tore off a bit of gorse--My!but it did prick--and plugged the hole with it so that you'dnever guess there was a crevice of any kind there. Then I markedthe place carefully in my own mind, so that I'd find it again.There was a queer boulder in the path just there--for all theworld like a dog sitting up begging. Then I went back to theroad. The car was waiting, and I drove back. I just caught thetrain. I was a bit ashamed of myself for fancying things maybe,but, by and by, I saw the man opposite me wink at a woman who wassitting next to me, and I felt scared again, and was glad thepapers were safe. I went out in the corridor to get a little air.I thought I'd slip into another carriage. But the woman calledme back, said I'd dropped something, and when I stooped to look,something seemed to hit me--here." She placed her hand to theback of her head. "I don't remember anything more until I woke upin the hospital."There was a pause."Thank you, Miss Finn." It was Sir James who spoke. "I hope wehave not tired you?""Oh, that's all right. My head aches a little, but otherwise Ifeel fine."Julius stepped forward and took her hand again."So long, Cousin Jane. I'm going to get busy after those papers,but I'll be back in two shakes of a dog's tail, and I'll tote youup to London and give you the time of your young life before wego back to the States! I mean it--so hurry up and get well."