Flynn’s Weekly Detective Fiction. Vol. 27, No. 2, September 24, 1927

“She shall not look after me. Tomorrow she can go to Beech Croft or to London, whichever she prefers. She is not to stay here with Lovelace.” He lowered his voice, and added, “God knows, had she been content to stay at Beech Croft, with her husband, instead of always running across here, Orme Malone might have been alive to-day.”

A cruel laugh escaped his lips. Sacha uttered a cry of dismay. She tottered and clutched at Dr. Hailey’s arm for support. He led her out of the room.

In the corridor they met Ninon Darelli. The doctor signed to her that he wished to speak to her at once. She followed him to the gallery above the great hall. He told Sacha to go down and wait for him in the hall. He turned to Ninon.

“I have come to the conclusion,” he said, in tones the menace of which was unmistakable, “that Lord Templewood’s mind is deranged. I warn you that you will run a serious risk if, in these circumstances, you administer to him any drug.”

“What, you think he is not sane? You will certify him?”

The girl’s voice was so eager that Dr. Hailey started.

“I have not said that,” he declared coldly.

He left her, and began to descend the broad oaken stairway.

Chapter XX He Is Dangerous!

“My own reading of the case is that his sanity has been undermined by drugs. Behind that fact, however, lies another.”

Dr. Hailey paused to help himself to snuff. He set his eyeglass in his eye and faced Dick Lovelace. He added:

“I feel almost certain that this second fact is the lady to whom he refers as ‘my angel Beatrice.’ ”

Dick nodded.

“Her death was a great blow to him, undoubtedly.”

“It was not her death of which I was thinking, but of what happened before her death.” The doctor allowed his eyeglass to drop. “Death,” he commented, “is frequently less cruel than life.”

He sat with half-closed eyes, gazing vacantly in front of him. The young man puffed uneasily at a brier pipe. That sentiment, did Dr. Hailey but know it, exactly corresponded with his own mood. Now that Sacha had gone to bed, the thoughts which had been perched like ravens in his mind during the last twenty-four hours, descended once more to their roosting places.

“You do not happen to know any details of the history of the poor Beatrice?”

“I’m afraid not.”

The doctor sighed.

“I fancy,” he declared, “that Ninon Darelli could enlighten us, if she so desired. This galloping horseman, whom she simulated so cleverly last night, was not, I think, chosen at random as a means of terrorization.”

“Oh, of course not.” Dick took his pipe from his mouth. “It is a legend, you know, of the Templewood family, that a ghostly horseman rides to The Black Tower when a tragedy is about to befall some member of the family.”

“My dear sir, family legends become insignificant when personal experiences are set against them. The last time Beatrice came to this house, she came on horseback — at night. The family legend and the personal experience on that occasion were merged in one another.”

Dr. Hailey was watching his companion under his half-closed lids. He saw the young man start violently.

“You... you are sure of that.”

“I have Lord Templewood’s word for it.” The doctor took another pinch of snuff. “What I do not understand,” he added in casual tones, “is why this medium should wish to recall that very painful experience to the old man’s mind. Even if we grant that she is trying to drive him mad, we have not solved the mystery. What possible benefit can accrue to her if her employer is sent to an asylum?”

Dick shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“And yet, until I can answer that question, I feel the very greatest reluctance to sign a certificate of insanity. I have a strong feeling that Ninon is exceedingly anxious that I should sign such a certificate. The fact that she did her best, by means of that sound of galloping, to rouse her employer to frenzy in my presence, seems almost conclusive evidence on the point.”

Dick struck a match to relight his pipe.

“If I didn’t happen to know,” he said, “that Lord Templewood has made a will in Sach — in Mrs. Malone’s — favor, I would suspect that Mlle. Darelli must have inveigled him into leaving her property.”

“My dear sir, insanity is not death. If Ninon had ten wills, she would get nothing so long as he remained alive. Moreover, the fact of the insanity would tell very strongly against her claim if Mrs. Malone chose to dispute such a will.”

They fell into silence. Then Dr. Hailey asked:

“How long has Ninon Darelli been employed by him?”

“About four years. She comes three or four times a week, as a rule. Sometimes she stays for days on end.”

“He is a rich man?”

“Only moderately so. He is extremely careful with his money, however, extremely careful.”

They heard light footsteps descending the stairs. The next instant, Ninon Darelli faced them with wide-open, terrified eyes.

“I cannot stay with him!” she cried. “I cannot. It is too dangerous.”

Chapter XXI A Packet of Treasury Notes