Sharp at the hour we heard a heavy step upon the stairs, and thefamous millionaire was shown into the room. As I looked uponhim I understood not only the fears and dislike of his manager butalso the execrations which so many business rivals have heapedupon his head. If I were a sculptor and desired to idealize thesuccessful man of affairs, iron of nerve and leathery of conscience,I should choose Mr. Neil Gibson as my model. His tall, gaunt,craggy figure had a suggestion of hunger and rapacity. An AbrahamLincoln keyed to base uses instead of high ones would give someidea of the man. His face might have been chiselled in granite,hard-set, craggy, remorseless, with deep lines upon it, the scars ofmany a crisis. Cold gray eyes, looking shrewdly out from underbristling brows, surveyed us each in turn. He bowed in perfunctoryfashion as Holmes mentioned my name, and then with a masterfulair of possession he drew a chair up to my companion and seatedhimself with his bony knees almost touching him.
“Let me say right here, Mr. Holmes,” he began, “that money isnothing to me in this case. You can burn it if it’s any use in lightingyou to the truth. This woman is innocent and this woman has tobe cleared, and it’s up to you to do it. Name your figure!”
1330 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
“My professional charges are upon a fixed scale,” said Holmescoldly. “I do not vary them, save when I remit them altogether.”
“Well, if dollars make no difference to you, think of thereputation. If you pull this off every paper in England and Americawill be booming you. You’ll be the talk of two continents.”
“Thank you, Mr. Gibson, I do not think that I am in needof booming. It may surprise you to know that I prefer to workanonymously, and that it is the problem itself which attracts me.
But we are wasting time. Let us get down to the facts.”
“I think that you will find all the main ones in the press reports.
don’t know that I can add anything which will help you. But ifthere is anything you would wish more light upon—well, I am hereto give it.”
“Well, there is just one point.”
“What is it?”
“What were the exact relations between you and Miss Dunbar?”
The Gold King gave a violent start and half rose from his chair.
Then his massive calm came back to him.
“I suppose you are within your rights—and maybe doing yourduty—in asking such a question, Mr. Holmes.”
“We will agree to suppose so,” said Holmes.
“Then I can assure you that our relations were entirely andalways those of an employer towards a young lady whom he neverconversed with, or ever saw, save when she was in the company ofhis children.”
Holmes rose from his chair.
“I am a rather busy man, Mr. Gibson,” said he, “and I have notime or taste for aimless conversations. I wish you goodmorning.”
Our visitor had risen also, and his great loose figure toweredabove Holmes. There was an angry gleam from under thosebristling brows and a tinge of colour in the sallow cheeks.
“What the devil do you mean by this, Mr. Holmes? Do youdismiss my case?”
“Well, Mr. Gibson, at least I dismiss you. I should have thoughtmy words were plain.”
“Plain enough, but what’s at the back of it? Raising the price onme, or afraid to tackle it, or what? I’ve a right to a plain answer.”
“Well, perhaps you have,” said Holmes. “I’ll give you one. Thiscase is quite sufficiently complicated to start with without thefurther difficulty of false information.”
“Meaning that I lie.”
“Well, I was trying to express it as delicately as I could, but ifyou insist upon the word I will not contradict you.”
I sprang to my feet, for the expression upon the millionaire’sface was fiendish in its intensity, and he had raised his greatThe Case Book of Sherlock Holmes 1331
knotted fist. Holmes smiled languidly and reached his hand outfor his pipe.
“Don’t be noisy, Mr. Gibson. I find that after breakfast eventhe smallest argument is unsettling. I suggest that a stroll inthe morning air and a little quiet thought will be greatly to youradvantage.”
With an effort the Gold King mastered his fury. I could not butadmire him, for by a supreme self-command he had turned in aminute from a hot flame of anger to a frigid and contemptuousindifference.
“Well, it’s your choice. I guess you know how to run your ownbusiness. I can’t make you touch the case against your will. You’vedone yourself no good this morning, Mr. Holmes, for I havebroken stronger men than you. No man ever crossed me and wasthe better for it.”
“So many have said so, and yet here I am,” said Holmes, smiling.
“Well, good-morning, Mr. Gibson. You have a good deal yet tolearn.”
Our visitor made a noisy exit, but Holmes smoked inimperturbable silence with dreamy eyes fixed upon the ceiling.
“Any views, Watson?” he asked at last.
“Well, Holmes, I must confess that when I consider that this isa man who would certainly brush any obstacle from his path, andwhen I remember that his wife may have been an obstacle andan object of dislike, as that man Bates plainly told us, it seems tome——”
“Exactly. And to me also.”
“But what were his relations with the governess, and how didyou discover them?”
“Bluff, Watson, bluff ! When I considered the passionate,unconventional, unbusinesslike tone of his letter and contrastedit with his self-contained manner and appearance, it was prettyclear that there was some deep emotion which centred uponthe accused woman rather than upon the victim. We’ve got tounderstand the exact relations of those three people if we are toreach the truth. You saw the frontal attack which I made uponhim, and how imperturbably he received it. Then I bluffed him bygiving him the impression that I was absolutely certain, when inreality I was only extremely suspicious.”
“Perhaps he will come back?”
“He is sure to come back. He must come back. He can’t leaveit where it is. Ha! isn’t that a ring? Yes, there is his footstep.
Well, Mr. Gibson, I was just saying to Dr. Watson that you weresomewhat overdue.”