The Argosy

In the Dead of Night This serial novel (Chapter XVIII) concerns the investigation into Lionel Dering's escape from Duxley gaol. After Dering flees, authorities offer substantial rewards—first £200, then £400 for Dering's capture, and £150 for the man who aided him. An impostor successfully impersonated lawyer Mr. Hoskyns to facilitate the escape, deceiving both a jailer named Jabez Creede and prison warders. Mr. Drayton, the police superintendent, deduces the impostor must be an acquaintance of Dering's who knew Hoskyns intimately. His suspicions fall on Tom Bristow, Dering's friend and frequent prison visitor. However, when questioned at the magistrate's office, Bristow provides an alibi: he was home by 11 p.m. on the escape night, corroborated by his landlady Mrs. Potts and a clock. He further proves his location by describing witnessing Sir Harry Cripps's broken trace incident two miles outside town. Though exonerated, Drayton remains privately skeptical of Bristow's innocence.