The Madman's Room

‘The following year, meaning this year, our clairvoyant, having predicted love and death, now turns his talents to money. The lucky beneficiary will be Sarah’s brother who, following his advice, places a big bet on the horses and wins. That’s in early September. But our soothsayer has also predicted an incident, a fall perhaps, and — just as night follows day — Sarah’s brother does indeed himself faint and fall upon opening the door to the famous study, just like his sister a year earlier. The carpet is once again wet in the same spot and, needless to say, he doesn’t remember anything. And, apparently, there was no one in the room either. Sarah, who has meanwhile become engaged to Dr. Meadow, now gets another warning from Brian: “a misfortune, a truly great misfortune.” And what must inevitably happen does: she collapses in the doorway, in the same place, with the same terrified look in the direction of the carpet as in the previous year. This time, she dies. Of a heart attack. The carpet, needless to say, is damp. It’s worth noting, however, that between the time the maid sees her collapse and the time she returns with Mostyn, a good five minutes elapse. So, if there had been someone in the room, he would have had the time to escape. That’s merely an observation, for it’s hard to imagine that the mere sight of someone could kill the viewer on the spot.

‘The problem couldn’t be clearer: on the one hand, victims taken ill, always at the same spot and with traces of water near the fireplace; on the other hand a soothsayer who predicts the future, and in particular, their misfortunes.’

Inspector Hurst nodded his head, visibly satisfied with his summary. His radiant features were in stark contrast to those of the chief superintendent, who was mopping a brow damp with perspiration.

‘Remarkable,’ gushed Dr. Twist. ‘Quite remarkable! What conciseness, what impartiality! You’ve presented all the facts with a rare objectivity, Archibald.’ Hurst, glowing with pleasure, made a self-deprecating gesture. ‘Even so, my friend,’ he pursued gently, ‘I can’t help wondering whether what you’ve just reported wouldn’t have caused the best investigators of the genre to lose their reason.’

The inspector’s expression changed as he began to realise how incredible his account must have sounded, resembling as it did more of a macabre and fantastic fairy tale than the kind of case he normally encountered. He shot a hostile look at his friend whom he suspected of taking pleasure in underscoring the contradictory propositions of his account, but could detect nothing behind the pince-nez. He gave a deep sigh:

‘In a way I’m quite relieved that our clairvoyant hasn’t turned up. Who knows what new catastrophe he would have announced? We’ve quite enough on our plate as it is.’

(Fortunately for him, Archibald Hurst did not possess the gift of foresight, for what had happened up to that point would pale in comparison to what was to follow.) He turned to the chief superintendent:

‘We’ve talked about a lot of things, Redfern, but you haven’t yet given us the vital facts.’

His colleague looked dumbfounded.

‘Yes,’ continued Hurst with a cunning smile. ‘Who stands to inherit? I imagine you’ve already done your research?’

Redfern cleared his throat.

‘Well, yes. I saw Peter Higgins, the Thornes’ solicitor, yesterday evening. And I have to admit that what he told me was rather curious and doesn’t get us very far… Allow me to explain. The first strange thing is that Sarah went to see him a few days ago to make her will… as if she’d had a premonition. Higgins, surprised by the unexpected visit, thought she looked tormented and anxious. He was even more surprised when she asked him to keep the visit a secret, to which he retorted that it was against professional etiquette to do anything else. According to the terms of her will, half her fortune goes to her immediate family — in this case her parents and her brother — and the other half goes to her brother-in-law Brian Thorne.’

‘Nothing to her fiancé?’ asked Hurst in astonishment.

‘Nothing. Needless to say that intrigued Higgins, who knew about her matrimonial intentions with the young doctor. After beating about the bush, he managed to coax out of her the reason for her generosity to Brian. To paraphrase: “It’s natural, in the event of anything happening to me, for a large part of my late husband’s fortune to go to his family. Brian is the only living descendant of the Thornes. This way he’ll be able to conserve and maintain the manor.” She left it at that, and the will was prepared and signed.’

‘Bizarre,’ growled Hurst, scratching his chin. ‘In other words, everyone involved in this business benefits, except the fiancé.’

‘As I said before, it doesn’t get us very far,’ replied Redfern prudently, ‘particularly since we don’t know whether any of them was aware of the terms.’