Adventures of Martin Hewitt by Arthur Morrison

seafaring man, who had been a mate, but for some time had had no ship. He had
gone out an hour or so before the discovery was made—earlier than
usual, and without breakfast. That was all that Mrs. Beckle knew, and the
only other persons in the house were the servant and a Miss Walker, a school
teacher. They knew nothing; but Miss Walker was very anxious to be allowed to
go to her school, which of course he had not allowed till the inspector
should arrive.
    “That’s all right,” the inspector said. “And you’re sure the door was
locked?”
    “Yes, sir, fast.”
    “Key in the lock?”
    “No, sir. I haven’t seen any key.”
    “Window shut, just as it is now?”
    “Yes, sir; nothing’s been touched.”
    The inspector walked to the window and opened it. It was a wooden-framed
casement window, fastened by the usual turning catch at the side, with a
heavy bow handle. He just glanced out and then swung the window carelessly to
on its hinges. The catch, however, worked so freely that the handle dropped
and the catch banged against the window frame as he turned away. Hewitt saw
this and closed the casement properly, after a glance at the sill.
    The inspector made a rapid examination of the clothing on the body, and
then said, “It’s a singular thing about the key. The door was locked fast,
but there’s no key to be seen inside the room. Seems it must have been locked
from the outside.”
    “Perhaps,” Hewitt suggested, “other keys on this lauding tit the lock.
It’s commonly the case in this sort of house.”
    “That’s so,” the inspector admitted, with the air of encouraging a pupil.
“We’ll see.”
    They walked across the landing to the nearest door. It had a small round
brass escutcheon, apparently recently placed there. “Yale lock;” said the
inspector. “That’s no good.” They went to the third door, which stood
ajar.
    “Seems to be Mr. Foster’s room,” the inspector remarked; “here’s the key
inside.”
    They took it across the landing and tried it. It fitted Captain Pullin’s
lock exactly and easily. “Hullo!” said the inspector, “look at that!”
    Hewitt nodded thoughtfully. Just then he became aware of somebody behind
him, who had arrived noiselessly. He turned and saw a mincing little woman,
with a pursed mouth and lofty expression, who took no notice of him but
addressed the inspector. “I shall be glad to know, if you please,” she said,
“when I may leave the house and attend to my duties. My school has already
been open for three-quarters of an hour, and I cannot conceive why I am
detained in this manlier.”
    “Very sorry, ma’am,” the inspector replied. “Matter of duty, of course.
Perhaps we shall be able to let you go presently. Meanwhile perhaps you can
help us. You’re not obliged to say anything, of course, but if you do we
shall make a note of it. You didn’t hear any uncommon noise in the night, did
you?”
    “Nothing at all. I retired at ten and I was asleep soon after. I know
nothing whatever of the whole horrible affair, and I shall leave the house
entirely as soon as I can arrange.”
    “Did you have any opportunity of observing Mr. Pullin’s manners or
habits?” Hewitt asked.
    “Indeed, no. I saw nothing of him. But I could hear him very often, and
his language was not of the sort I could tolerate. He seemed to dominate the
whole house with his boorish behaviour, and he was frequently intoxicated. I
had already told Mrs. Beckle that if his stay were to continue mine should
cease. I avoided him, indeed, altogether, and I know nothing of him.”
    “Do you know how he came here? Did he know Mrs. Beckle or anybody else in
the house before?”
    “That also I can’t say. But Mrs. Beckle, I believe, knew all about him. In
fact I have sometimes thought there was some mysterious connection between
them, though what I cannot say. Certainly I cannot understand a landlady
keeping so troublesome a