Only a cat could have got in safely, for the height was considerable; and, indeed, Rhoda did not risk that mode of entrance again, for, finding a ladder in the cellar, which, I presume, had been used to get at the higher bins of wine, she placed this against the aperture, and thus was enabled to ascend and descend without difficulty.
Frequently by this means she entered the empty house, and went from room to room with her candle, singing gypsy songs as she wandered.
So here I had found the ghost of No. 13, although I don't suppose this impish gypsy girl knew as much.
She haunted the house just to amuse herself, when fat Mrs. Bensusan thought she was safe in bed.
"I asked Rhoda why she had entered the house on that particular night when I had caught her.
She confessed that she had seen some articles of silver in Clear's rooms which she wished to steal; but on this occasion he had locked the door—a thing which he did not always do in his drunken humours—and so Rhoda was returning disappointed.
After this confession I made her go back to her own house and promised to keep her secret.
I also told her that if she held her tongue I would give her a present.
For this purpose I made Ferruci buy me a cloak lined with rabbit skins, as Rhoda on her night excursions wanted something to keep her warm.
When Ferruci gave it to me, and it was lying in my room, Mrs. Clear came one night to see me, and finding it cold, she borrowed the cloak to wrap round her.
She kept it for some time, and brought it back on Christmas Eve, when I gave it next day to Rhoda.
It was Ferruci who bought the cloak, not I; and it was purchased for Rhoda, not for Mrs. Clear.
"The next night I entered No. 13 by the cellarway, and found it of great advantage, as I could visit Clear without exciting suspicion, and so keep an eye on him.
At first he was alarmed by my unexpected appearance, but when I showed him the secret way, he made use of it also.
We used it only on dark nights, and it was for this reason that we were not noticed by the neighbours. It would never have done for any one of us to be seen climbing over the fence.
Mrs. Clear once visited her husband, and had a quarrel with him about his drinking.
It was her shadow and Clear's which Denzil saw on the blind.
As soon as they heard his ring they both went out the back way, and in climbing hurriedly over the fence Mrs. Clear tore her veil.
It was a portion of this which Denzil found.
"On that night, Clear, after leaving his wife, entered the square by the front, and so met with Denzil, much to the latter's surprise.
I was very angry when Clear showed Denzil over the house; but he said that the young man was very suspicious, and he only showed him the house to prove that there was no one in it, and that he must have been mistaken about the shadows on the blind.
Notwithstanding this explanation, I did not approve of Clear's act, nor, indeed, of his acquaintance with Denzil.
"For some months matters went on in this way.
Clear remained in the Silent House, drinking himself to death; Mrs. Clear looked after Vrain in her Bayswater house; and I, in my old-man disguise, remained in Jersey Street, although at times I left there and went to see my daughter.
All this time Lydia had no idea of what we were preparing.
Then I began to grow wearied of the position, for Clear proved tougher than we anticipated, and showed no signs of dying.
In despair, I thought I would give him the means to kill himself.
"Mind, I did not wish to murder him myself; but the man, when in his drinking fits, thought he was attacked by enemies, and when in a melancholic frame of mind, on recovery, would frequently hint at suicide. I therefore thought that if a weapon were left within his reach he might kill himself.
I don't defend my conduct in this case, but surely this drunken scoundrel was better dead than alive. In choosing a weapon, I wished to select one that would implicate Ferruci rather than myself, in case there was any trouble over the matter; so I chose for my purpose a stiletto which hung by a parti-coloured ribbon on the walls of the library at Berwin Manor.
I fancied that the stiletto, having been bought in Florence, and Ferruci coming from Florence, he, if anyone—should any of these facts come to light—would be credited with giving it to Clear.
"I took this stiletto from Berwin Manor some time before Christmas, and, bringing it up to town, I left it, on the day before Christmas, on the table in Clear's sitting-room.
That was at nine o'clock in the night, and that was when I last saw him alive.
Who killed him I know no more than any one else.
"On Christmas Eve I was ill, and wrote to Lydia to come up.
She met me at the Pegalls', but as I felt ill, I left there at six o'clock, and Lydia stayed with the family all night.
At seven o'clock Mrs. Clear came to me with Ferruci, and brought back the cloak which I gave afterwards to Rhoda.
She wanted to see her husband again, but I refused to let her risk the visit.
Ferruci came to tell me that he was arranging to place Vrain—who was becoming too violent to be restrained—in the private asylum of Dr. Jorce, at Hampstead. Mrs. Clear was to go with him, and we conversed about the matter.
"Ferruci went away first, as he desired to see Clear, and for that purpose waited about until it was darker, and went into the back yard shortly after eight o'clock.
There he was seen by Rhoda as he was about to climb the fence, and, not knowing it was the girl, he took fright and ran out of the yard into Jersey Street.
Here he found Mrs. Clear, who had left me and was waiting for him, and the pair went off to see Dr. Jorce at Hampstead.
I believe they remained there all night.
"Left alone, I climbed over the fence about nine o'clock, and saw Clear.
He was celebrating Christmas Eve by drinking heavily, and I was unable to bring him to reason.
I therefore left the stiletto which I had brought with me on the table, and returned to my house in Jersey Street. I never saw him alive again.
I went to bed and slept all night, so I was aware of nothing in connection with the death until late on Christmas Day.
Then Mrs. Bensusan was told by Miss Greeb, the landlady of Denzil, that the tenant of No. 13 had been murdered.
I fancied that he had killed himself in a fit of melancholia, with the stiletto I had left on his table; but I did not dare to go near the house to find this out.
"Afterwards I learned that the doctor who examined the body was of the opinion that Clear had been murdered; and, being afraid about the police taking up the case, I paid Mrs. Bensusan a week's rent and left her house two days after Christmas.
I returned to Berwin Manor, and shortly afterwards Ferruci joined me there, as he had successfully incarcerated Vrain in the asylum under the name of Michael Clear.