'Pardon me,' observed Vandeloup, coolly, removing some ash from his velvet coat, 'it implicates Octave Braulard, who is at present,' with a sharp look at Gollipeck, 'in New Caledonia.'

'If that is the case,' asked the doctor, gruffly, 'who are you?'

'I am the friend of Braulard,' said Vandeloup, in a measured tone.

'Myself, Braulard, and Prevol--one of the writers of the book you refer to--were medical students together, and we all three emphatically knew about this poison extracted from hemlock.'

He spoke so quietly that Gollipeck looked at him in a puzzled manner, not understanding his meaning.

'You mean Braulard and Prevol were medical students?' he said, doubtfully.

'Exactly,' a.s.sented M. Vandeloup, with an airy wave of his hand. 'Gaston Vandeloup is a fict.i.tious third person I have called into existence for my own safety--you understand. As Gaston Vandeloup, a friend of Braulard, I knew all about this poison, and manufactured it in Ballarat for a mere experiment, and as Gaston Vandeloup I give evidence against the woman who was my mistress on the ground of poisoning Selina Sprotts with hemlock.'

'You are not shielding yourself behind this girl?' asked the doctor, coming close to him.

'How could I?' replied Vandeloup, slipping his hand into his pocket.

'I could not have gone down to St Kilda, climbed over a wall with gla.s.s bottles on top, and committed the crime, as Kitty Marchurst says it was done. If I had done this there would be some trace--no, I a.s.sure you Mademoiselle Marchurst, and none other, is the guilty woman.

She was in the room--Madame Midas asleep in bed. What was easier for her than to pour the poison into the gla.s.s, which stood ready to receive it? Mind you, I don't say she did it deliberately--impulse--hallucination--madness--what you like--but she did it.'

'By G.o.d!' cried Gollipeck, warmly, 'you'd argue a rope round the girl's neck even before she has had a trial. I believe you did it yourself.'

'If I did,' retorted Vandeloup, coolly, 'when I am in the witness-box I run the risk of being found out. Be it so. I take my chance of that; but I ask you to keep silent as to Gaston Vandeloup being Octave Braulard.'

'Why should I?' said the doctor, harshly.

'For many admirable reasons,' replied Vandeloup, smoothly. 'In the first place, as Braulard's friend, I can prove the case against Mademoiselle Marchurst quite as well as if I appeared as Braulard himself. In the next place, you have no evidence to prove I am identical with the murderer of Adele Blondet; and, lastly, suppose you did prove it, what satisfaction would it be to you to send me back to a French prison? I have suffered enough for my crime, and now I am rich and respectable, why should you drag me back to the depths again? Read "Les Miserables"

of our great Hugo before you answer, my friend.'

'Read the book long ago,' retorted Gollipeck, gruffly, more moved by the argument than he cared to show; 'I will keep silent about this if you leave the colony at once.'

'I agree,' said Vandeloup, pointing to the floor; 'you see I had already decided to travel before you entered. Any other stipulation?'

'None,' retorted the doctor, putting on his scarf again; 'with Octave Braulard I have nothing to do: I want to find out who killed Selina Sprotts, and if you did, I won't spare you.'

'First, catch your hare,' replied Vandeloup, smoothly, going to the door and unlocking it; 'I am ready to stand the test of a trial, and surely that ought to content you. As it is, I'll stay in Melbourne long enough to give you the satisfaction of hanging this woman for the murder, and then I will go to America.'

Dr Gollipeck was disgusted at the smooth brutality of this man, and moved hastily to the door.

'Will you not have a gla.s.s of wine?' asked Vandeloup, stopping him.

'Wine with you?' said the doctor, harshly, looking him up and down; 'no, it would choke me,' and he hurried away.

'I wish it would,' observed M. Vandeloup, pleasantly, as he reentered the room, 'whew! this devil of a doctor--what a dangerous fool, but I have got the better of him, and at all events,' he said, lighting another cigarette, 'I have saved Vandeloup from suffering for the crime of Braulard.'

CHAPTER XIV

CIRc.u.mSTANTIAL EVIDENCE

There was no doubt the Sprotts' poisoning case was the sensation of the day in Melbourne. The papers were full of it, and some even went so far as to give a plan of the house, with dotted lines thereon, to show how the crime was committed. All this was extremely amusing, for, as a matter of fact, the evidence as yet had not shown any reasonable ground for supposing foul play had taken place. One paper, indeed, said that far too much was a.s.sumed in the case, and that the report of the Government a.n.a.lyst should be waited for before such emphatic opinions were given by the press regarding the mode of death. But it was no use trying to reason with the public, they had got it into their sage heads that a crime had been committed, and demanded evidence; so as the press had no real evidence to give, they made it up, and the public, in private conversations, amplified the evidence until they constructed a complete criminal case.

'Pshaw!' said Rolleston, when he read these sensational reports, 'in spite of the quidnuncs the mountain will only produce a mouse after all.'

But he was wrong, for now rumours were started that the Government a.n.a.lyst and Dr Gollipeck had found poison in the stomach, and that, moreover, the real criminal would be soon discovered. Public opinion was much divided as to who the criminal was--some, having heard the story of Madame's marriage, said it was her husband; others insisted Kitty Marchurst was the culprit, and was trying to shield herself behind this wild story of the hand coming from behind the curtains; while others were in favour of suicide. At all events, on the morning when the inquest was resumed, and the evidence was to be given of the a.n.a.lysis of the stomach, the Court was crowded, and a dead silence pervaded the place when the Government a.n.a.lyst stood up to give his evidence. Madame Midas was present, with Kitty seated beside her, the latter looking pale and ill; and Kilsip, with a gratified smile on his face which seemed as though he had got a clue to the whole mystery, was seated next to Calton. Vandeloup, faultlessly dressed, and as cool and calm as possible, was also in Court; and Dr Gollipeck, as he awaited his turn to give evidence, could not help admiring the marvellous nerve and courage of the young man.

The Government a.n.a.lyst being called, was sworn in the usual way, and deposed that the stomach of the deceased had been sent to him to be a.n.a.lysed. He had used the usual tests, and found the presence of the alkaloid of hemlock, known under the name of conia. In his opinion the death of the deceased was caused by the administration of an extract of hemlock. (Sensation in the Court.)

Q. Then in your opinion the deceased has been poisoned?

A. Yes, I have not the least doubt on the subject, I detected the conia very soon after the tests were applied.

There was great excitement when this evidence was concluded, as it gave quite a new interest to the case. The question as to the cause of death was now set at rest--the deceased had been murdered, so the burning anxiety of every one was to know who had committed the crime. All sorts of opinions were given, but the murmur of voices ceased when Dr Gollipeck stood up to give his evidence.

He deposed that he was a medical pract.i.tioner, practising at Ballarat; he had seen the report of the case in the papers, and had come down to Melbourne as he thought he could throw a certain light on the affair--for instance, where the poison was procured. (Sensation.) About three years ago a crime had been committed in Paris, which caused a great sensation at the time. The case being a peculiar one, was reported in a medical work, by Messieurs Prevol and Lebrun, which he had obtained from France some two years back. The facts of the case were shortly these: An actress called Adele Blondet died from the effects of poison, administered to her by Octave Braulard, who was her lover; the deceased had also another lover, called Kestrike, who was supposed to be implicated in the crime, but he had escaped; the woman in this case had been poisoned by an extract of hemlock, the same poison used as in the case of Selina Sprotts, and it was the similarity of the symptoms that made him suspicious of the sudden death. Braulard was sent out to New Caledonia for the murder. While in Paris he had been a medical student with two other gentlemen, one of whom was Monsieur Prevol, who had reported the case, and the other was at present in Court, and was called M. Gaston Vandeloup. (Sensation in Court, everyone's eye being fixed on Vandeloup, who was calm and unmoved.) M. Vandeloup had manufactured the poison used in this case, but with regard to how it was administered to the deceased, he would leave that evidence to M. Vandeloup himself.

When Gollipeck left the witness-box there was a dead silence, as everyone was too much excited at his strange story to make any comment thereon. Madame Midas looked with some astonishment on Vandeloup as his name was called out, and he moved gracefully to the witness-box, while Kitty's face grew paler even than it was before. She did not know what Vandeloup was going to say, but a great dread seized her, and with dry lips and clenched hands she sat staring at him as if paralysed. Kilsip stole a look at her and then rubbed his hands together, while Calton sat absolutely still, scribbling figures on his notepaper.

M. Gaston Vandeloup, being sworn, deposed: He was a native of France, of Flemish descent, as could be seen from his name; he had known Braulard intimately; he also knew Prevol; he had been eighteen months in Australia, and for some time had been clerk to Mrs Villiers at Ballarat; he was fond of chemistry--yes; and had made several experiments with poisons while up at Ballarat with Dr Gollipeck, who was a great toxicologist; he had seen the hemlock in the garden of an hotel-keeper at Ballarat, called Twexby, and had made an extract therefrom; he only did it by way of experiment, and had put the bottle containing the poison in his desk, forgetting all about it; the next time he saw that bottle was in the possession of Miss Kitty Marchurst (sensation in Court); she had threatened to poison herself; he again saw the bottle in her possession on the night of the murder; this was at the house of M.

Meddlechip. A report had been circulated that he (the witness) was going to marry Mrs Villiers, and Miss Marchurst asked him if it was true; he had denied it, and Miss Marchurst had said that sooner than he (the witness) should marry Mrs Villiers she would poison her; the next morning he heard that Selina Sprotts was dead.

Kitty Marchurst heard all this evidence in dumb horror. She now knew that after ruining her life this man wanted her to die a felon's death.

She arose to her feet and stretched out her hands in protest against him, but before she could speak a word the place seemed to whirl round her, and she fell down in a dead faint. This event caused great excitement in court, and many began to a.s.sert positively that she must be guilty, else why did she faint. Kitty was taken out of Court, and the examination was proceeded with, while Madame Midas sat pale and horror-struck at the revelations which were now being made.

The Coroner now proceeded to cross-examine Vandeloup.

Q. You say you put the bottle containing this poison into your desk; how did Miss Marchurst obtain it?

A. Because she lived with me for some time, and had access to my private papers.

Q. Was she your wife?

A. No, my mistress (sensation in Court).

Q. Why did she leave you?

A. We had a difference of opinion about the question of marriage, so she left me.

Q. She wanted you to make reparation; in other words, to marry her?

A. Yes.

Q. And you refused?

A. Yes.

Q. It was on this occasion she produced the poison first?