Devil May Care (A Jonathan Harker Mystery) (8 page)

I
next went to the George Hotel, where I asked the landlord if any letters had arrived for me. Fortunately the item that I was waiting for had been delivered: the report from my old friend Professor Van Helsing regarding Sir Owen Velland’s career in London prior to his move to Cornwall. I decided to return with it to Rosehill, where I would be able to study it at my leisure.

*

As Mina and Edith had arranged to visit a friend of the Ashbys in Penzance taking young Grace and Wilfred with them and as Charles Ashby was engaged in parish business, I had the rest of the day to myself. After a cold luncheon I read through the professor’s report.

Professor
Van
Helsing
to
Mr
Jonathan
Harker
:
15th
October
1895

My
dear
Jonathan
,

I
trust
that
your
journey
to
Cornwall
has
been
safely
accomplished
,
and
that
you
and
your
wife
are
both
well
.
I
am
aware
that
time
is
of
the
essence
in
your
investigation
,
and
during
the
last
week
I
have
done
what
I
can
to
gather
some
information
regarding
Sir
Owen
.
No
doubt
there
is
more
to
learn
,
but
I
flatter
myself
that
I
have
obtained
the
essentials
.

After
leaving
Oxford
in
1872
,
where
he
obtained
an
undistinguished
degree
in
classics
,
Mr
Owen
Velland
(
as
he
was
then
)
made
his
home
in
London
.
For
six
years
prior
to
his
inheritance
of
the
baronetcy
,
Velland
lived
with
his
cousin
,
Mr
Arnold
Paxton
,
a
wealthy
invalid
.
Velland
has
had
no
formal
occupation
and
it
seems
that
he
subsisted
on
his
own
small
private
income
and
his
cousin’s
generosity
.

Owen
Velland
was
not
by
all
accounts
a
very
sociable
man
,
and
was
best
known
for
his
interest
and
involvement
in
spiritualism
.
He
was
one
of
the
founder
members
of
the
Society
for
Psychical
Research
in
1882
.
His
connection
with
the
movement
was
entirely
respectable
,
and
at
one
time
he
counted
William
Crooks
,
the
well
known
physicist
,
and
William
Stead
,
the
journalist
,
amongst
his
fellow
enthusiasts
.
However
,
Velland’s
participation
in
such
matters
came
to
an
abrupt
end
in
December
1888
,
when
his
membership
of
the
Society
ceased
.
The
reasons
for
this
would
no
doubt
have
been
hard
to
ascertain
,
were
it
not
for
the
fortunate
coincidence
of
my
personal
acquaintance
with
Mr
Crooks
,
which
dates
from
the
time
when
we
both
worked
at
the
Radcliff
Observatory
in
the
1850s
.
He
was
kind
enough
to
tell
me
the
entirety
of
what
he
knew
,
on
condition
that
the
source
of
my
information
remained
secret
:
a
condition
which
I
am
sure
you
will
honour
.

According
to
Crooks
,
Velland
had
been
dabbling
in
the
occult
–
to
be
more
specific
,
in
the
practice
of
alchemy
and
black
magic
–
and
a
young
woman
of
his
acquaintance
had
threatened
to
inform
the
police
that
Velland
had
attempted
to
use
“
unnatural
arts
”
in
order
to
entice
her
into
an
immoral
liaison
.
There
was
some
doubt
about
the
truthfulness
of
her
allegation
:
one
suggestion
is
that
she
knew
of
his
potentially
scandalous
interest
in
magic
,
and
had
decided
to
turn
it
to
her
own
account
.
In
the
event
the
complaint
was
not
made
:
Velland’s
cousin
paid
off
the
girl
,
and
the
matter
was
kept
quiet
,
with
no
consequences
for
Velland
other
than
his
expulsion
from
the
Society
.
Somewhat
ironically
,
Crooks
was
adamant
that
the
evidence
subsequently
uncovered
of
Velland’s
activities
showed
that
he
was
very
far
from
being
an
adept
in
the
black
arts
,
and
was
in
Crook’s
words
a
“
bumbling
amateur
”.
There
was
certainly
no
indication
that
Velland
had
ever
achieved
any
results
from
his
attempted
sorcery
.
Apparently
his
alchemical
researches
were
no
more
successful
–
he
had
merely
copied
some
ancient
methods
for
discovering
the
philosopher’s
stone
,
with
predictable
results
.
A
charitable
view
of
Velland
would
therefore
be
to
see
him
as
a
harmless
eccentric
:
however
,
the
members
of
the
Society
for
Psychical
Research
,
some
of
whom
–
like
Crooks
himself
–
were
public
figures
,
decided
to
expel
Velland
from
their
ranks
in
order
to
protect
their
good
name
.

I
can
find
no
record
of
any
noteworthy
occurrences
in
Velland’s
life
between
the
time
of
his
expulsion
and
his
inheritance
of
the
baronetcy
in
1890
.
He
had
never
married
,
and
his
closest
companion
was
Arnold
Paxton
,
his
cousin
–
also
a
bachelor
–
who
moved
to
Cornwall
with
him
.
Your
letter
to
me
did
not
mention
the
latter
gentleman
,
and
from
what
I
have
discovered
regarding
his
perilous
medical
condition
when
he
was
last
in
London
five
years
ago
,
I
assume
that
Mr
Paxton
is
now
deceased
.