Hunted Down by Charles Dickens

Part 3

It was November before I saw Mr. Slinkton again, this time in London. I
had a very important appointment at someone’s house. I arrived at the
house and went up the stairs. There were two doors at the top of the
stairs. The name ALFRED BECKWITH was written on one door. The name
JULIUS SLINKTON was written on the other door.
I went in the door marked Beckwith. The room was dirty and there were
empty bottles everywhere. Beckwith was on a sofa by the fire. He got up
and went in. He seemed very drunk.
‘Slinkton’s not in yet,’ he said loudly. ‘I'll call him. Hey! Julius! Come in
here and have a drink!’ he called.
Mr. Slinkton came into the room. He was shocked to see me.
‘Julius, this is Mr. Sampson!’ Beckwith introduced us. ‘Mr. Sampson, this
is my friend Julius. Julius is a real friend. He fills all my water bottles with
brandy. Boil the brandy, Julius!’ he said. He gave Mr. Slinkton an old
dirty saucepan. ‘ Come on, boil the brandy the way you usually do!’ I
could see that Mr. Slinkton was embarrassed because I was in the room.
‘ How is your niece, Mr. Slinkton?’ I asked him quietly.
He looked at me for a long time and I looked back at him.
‘ I am sorry to say my niece has left me,’ he replied. ‘ She went away
without a word of explanation.’
‘Boil the brandy, Julius,’ he repeated. ‘ Give me what you always give me
for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Boil the brandy, I tell you!
Now Mr. Slinkton looked even more embarrassed. This was not a
pleasant situation for him. He thought for a moment and then he spoke
to me.
‘You are a man of the world, Mr. Sampson,’ he began. ‘I´ll tell you the
truth.’
‘No, Mr. Slinkton,’ I said. ‘You’ll never tell the truth. I know all about you.’
‘I understand,’ he said, showing no feeling. ‘You want to save your
insurance company with my money. You will try to argue that I was
responsible for Beckwith’s condition - and for his death. But you won’t be
able to prove that, you know. You won’t be able to prove anything!’
Beckwith suddenly picked up his brandy-glass and threw it at Mr.
Slinkton. The glass cut his forehead and blood began to run down his
face. Mr. Slinkton took out his handkerchief and dried his face. While he
was doing this, another man came into the room - a man with grey hair.
Mr. Slinkton looked at this man in surprise.
‘Look at me,’ Beckwith cried out. ‘You’re a very bad man, Slinkton, and
I’ve caught you! I took these rooms on purpose, just to trap you. You’ll
never escape now. You see, that last time you went to see Mr. Sampson, I
had already been to see him myself - I went to his house very early that
morning. We know everything. We know what you were planning. You
thought you could kill me for the two thousand pounds of the insurance
policy, didn’t you?
Mr. Slinkton was shocked and at first did not know how to react. He was
very pale. He did not say a word.
‘I took these rooms on purpose,’ Beckwith continued. ‘I know what kind of
man you are, you see. You’re the man who’s already killed one innocent
girl for her money. And now you’re slowly doing the same with me.’
Slinkton laughed.
‘You never knew that I came into your room at night when you were
asleep. I took all your papers, Slinkton. I read your diary, too. It’s got all
the information about the poisons that you use. It explains everything. I
know where the diary is now!’
Slinkton looked at Beckwith.
‘It's not on your desk,’ Beckwith told him.
‘Then you are a thief,’ Slinkton told him, without any feeling in his voice.
But his face was white.
‘And I am also your niece’s shadow,’ said Beckwith.
Suddenly, Slinkton lost his calm and his courage. He looked frightened
now. Still he said nothing.
‘I’ve watched you all the time,’ Beckwith said. ‘ I knew that you were
poisoning Miss Ninner. I went to Mr. Sampson and I told him everything.
That man standing at the door is Mr. Sampson 's servant. The three of
us have saved your niece’s life!’
Beckwith stopped talking and looked at Slinkton for a moment. Then he
continued. ‘Maybe you want to know why one man has done everything
he could to hunt you down. I know that you asked Mr. Sampson several
times if he had any news about Meltham.’
‘When you sent your beautiful niece Margaret to Meltham’s office to
insure her life, he fell in love with her. But he could not save her. When
she died he was certain you killed her. Meltham decided to do
everything he could to destroy you. I am Meltham, and I’ve done it!’ he
cried. ‘I’ve hunted you down, Slinkton.’
Slinkton now looked in horror at the man who was accusing him. He was
unable to speak for fear.
‘You never knew my real name,’ Meltham told him. ‘You are seeing me
under my real name now for the first time. You will see me again when
you are in court for murder.
Slinkton turned quickly away from us for a second and put his hand to
his mouth. The room suddenly filled with the smell of poison. Slinkton
cried out and fell to the floor. He was dead.
Meltham and I made sure that Slinkton was dead. Then we left the room
together.
‘I have done what I promised to do,’ Meltham said sadly to me. ‘There is
nothing more for me in life.’
I did everything that I could to help him, but the poor man died the
following spring. He left all his properties to Margaret's sister. She
married my sister’s son and became a happy wife and mother.

The End