.....The Case of Vincent Pyrwhit continued.... |
| We both looked at each other. I said
with the stupid affectation of calmness one always puts on when one is a little bit
frightened: 'Probably a servant in that room wishes to speak with you.' He got up, walked over to the machine, and swung the green cord towards me. The end of it was loose. 'I had it disconnected this morning,' he said, 'also the door of that room is locked, and no one can possibly be in it.' He had turned the color of grey blotting-paper; so probably had I. The bell rang again -- a prolonged, rattling ring. 'Are you going to answer it?' I said. 'I am not,' he answered firmly. 'Then,' I said, 'I shall answer it myself. It is some stupid trick, a joke not in the best of taste, for which you will probably have to sack one of your domestics.' 'My servants,' he answered, 'would not have done that. Besides, don't you see it's impossible? The instrument is disconnected.' 'The bell rang all the same. I shall try it.' I picked up the receiver. 'Are you there?' I called. The voice which answered me was unmistakably the rather high staccato voice of Mrs. Pyrwhit. 'I want you,' it said, 'to tell my husband that he will be with me tomorrow.' I still listened. Nothing more was said. I repeated, 'Are you there?' and there was still no answer. I turned to Pyrwhit. 'There is no one there,' I said. 'Possibly there is thunder in the air affecting the bell in some mysterious way. There must be some simple explanation, and I'll find it all out tomorrow.' |
| He went to bed early that night. All
the following day I was with him. We rode together, and I expected an accident every
minute, but none happened. All the evening I expected him to turn suddenly faint and
ill, but that also did not happen. When at about ten o'clock he excused himself and
said goodnight, I felt distinctly relieved. He went up to his room and rang for
Williams. The rest it, of course, well known. The servant's reason had broken down, possibly the immediate cause being the death of Mrs. Pyrwhit. On entering his master's bedroom, without the least hesitation, he raised a loaded revolver which he carried in his hand, and shot Pyrwhit through the heart. I believe the case is mentioned in some of the textbooks on homicidal mania. |
| This story may be found in Victorian Ghost Stories: An Oxford Anthology. Edited by Michael Cox and R. A. Gilbert, 1991 |
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| Animated GIF's by Bill
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