Arthur & George

show you. Watch carefully.” Whereupon the Devil approached the holy hermit from behind, and in a honeyed tone whispered in his ear, “Your brother has just been appointed Bishop of Alexandria.” And immediately a scowl of furious jealousy crossed the hermit’s face. “
That
,” said the Devil, “is how it is best done.”’
    Anson joined in Doyle’s laughter, though less than full-heartedly. The shallow cynicisms of a metropolitan sodomite were not to his taste. ‘Be that as it may,’ he said, ‘the Devil certainly found Wilde himself easy prey.’
    ‘I must add,’ Doyle went on, ‘that never in Wilde’s conversation did I observe one trace of coarseness of thought, nor could I at that time associate him with such an idea.’
    ‘In other words, a professional gentleman.’
    Doyle ignored the gibe. ‘I met him again, some years later, in a London street, you know, and he appeared to me to have gone quite mad. He asked if I had gone to see a play of his. I told him regrettably not. “Oh, you must go,” he said to me with the gravest of expressions. “It is wonderful! It is genius!” Nothing could have been farther from his previous gentlemanly instincts. I thought at the time, and I still think, that the monstrous development which ruined him was pathological, and that a hospital rather than a police court was the place for its consideration.’
    ‘Your liberalism would empty the gaols,’ remarked Anson drily.
    ‘You mistake me, sir. I have twice engaged in the vile business of electioneering, but I am not a party man. I pride myself on being an unofficial Englishman.’
    The phrase – which struck Anson as self-satisfied – wafted between them like a skein of cigar smoke. He decided it was time to make a push.
    ‘That young man whose case you have so honourably taken up, Sir Arthur – he is not, I should warn you, entirely what you think. There were various matters which did not come out in court …’
    ‘No doubt for the very good reason that they were forbidden by the rules of evidence. Or else were allegations so flimsy that they would have been destroyed by the defence.’
    ‘Between ourselves, Doyle, there were rumours …’
    ‘There are always rumours.’
    ‘Rumours of gambling debts, rumours of the misuse of clients’ funds. You might ask your young friend if, in the months leading up to the case, he was in any serious trouble.’
    ‘I have no intention of doing any such thing.’
    Anson rose slowly, walked to his desk, took a key from one drawer, unlocked another, and extracted a folder.
    ‘I show you this in strictest confidence. It is addressed to Sir Benjamin Stone. It was doubtless one of many.’
    The letter was dated 29th December 1902. At the top left were printed George Edalji’s professional and telegrammic addresses; at the top right, ‘Great Wyrley, Walsall’. It did not require testimony from that rogue Gurrin to convince Doyle that the handwriting was George’s.
    Dear Sir, I am reduced from a fairly comfortable position to absolute poverty, primarily through having had to pay a large sum of money (nearly
£
220) for a friend for whom I was surety. I borrowed from three moneylenders in the hope of righting myself, but their exorbitant interest only made matters worse, & two of them have now presented a bankruptcy petition against me, but are willing to withdraw if I can raise
£
115 at once. I have no such friends to whom I can appeal, & as bankruptcy would ruin me and prevent me practising for a long time during which I should lose all my clients, I am, as a last resource, appealing to a few strangers.
    My friends can only find me
£
30, I have about
£
21 myself, & shall be most thankful for any aid , no matter how small as it will all help me to meet my heavy liability.
    Apologizing for troubling you and trusting you may assist me as far as you can.
    I am,
    Yours respectfully,
    G.E. Edalji
    Anson watched Doyle as he read the letter. No need to point out that it was written five weeks before the first maiming. The ball was in his court now. Doyle flicked the letter over and reread some of its phrases. Eventually he said,
    ‘You doubtless investigated?’
    ‘Certainly not. This is not a police matter. Begging on the public highway is an offence, but begging among the professional classes is no concern of ours.’
    ‘I see no reference here to gambling debts or misuse of clients’ funds.’
    ‘Which would hardly have been the way to Sir Benjamin