THE JEW'S HOUSE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 77

THE JEW'S HOUSE.

By Fergus Httme.

CHAPTER VI.— THE INQUEST. The Dove family dwelt in a lordly house on the outskirts of Bruntlea, which cheap wits naturally called "The Dovecot." It was an ~ imposing residence, built of raw red-brick and furnished from cellar to garret by some flamboyant firm that gave gaudy value for the money. The mansion, bran new and aggressively pompous in a cheap way, stood in newly laid-out grounds, "wherein, Nature was hard at work tryingwith the aid of three prizra gardeners to grow sufficient greenery to hide the naked ugliness of the place. The Dovecot — people declined to call i£ otherwise — was fairly representative of the mushroom growth of the suburb. Ben-Ezra had said, "Let there be jerry-built houses of mixed architecture in five minutes," and jerrybuilt houses cf the pattern demanded rose Uke exhalations from the disgusted earth. Homing Grange— that jeras the late Sir Giles's name for the atrocity — was the newest eyesore. But the Dove family., knowing no better, dwelt imposingly in rooms damp nyith plaster and crowded~witii violently-coloured furniture. Lady Dove was the sole person who did not approve, but as 'she had been a governess in toe seventies, and came of a decent middle^class family^ before she married' Sir Giles for bread and butter, her taste was naturally better than that of her husband and onspring, who took after their father. Besides, Sir Gilas owed his money and his tijJe to the ex-governess. Site saw possibilities in the busy little commercial- butter man, whom, she had married against her family's consent, and brought out the best in him. She it was who persuaded him to increase the business left by his father, who suggested shops being opened all over London to supply genuine fresh eggs and butter that could be eaten, and it was her brains mainly that had selected tie speculations which had resulted in Sir Giles's gigantic fortune. When the successful pair retired to their native Midland town as plain Mr and Mrs Dove, it was the lady who insisted upon her husband taking a position as a municipal councillor and afterwards mayor. She introduced him to politics and made him stand for Parliament. Even though he failed to get in, his loose cash proved of such value to th« Government then in power tha* its heads felt kindly disposed towards a man with so deep a purse. Then Mr Dove — spurred on by his ambitious wife^ — built an orphanage and a hospital, and gave the town a picture gallery, 'besides endowing a scholarship. Representations extremely favourable were made in exalted quarters, and wher Dove was mayor for the third time, the King • came, in person to open a new wing of his orphanage, with the result' that' tie knelt a plebeian and rose up a baronet. He then felfr that his life's wort was done, and hoped to settle down quietly as an admired ornament.of his town. Kot so Lady !>ove. She met too many people who had known her and her baronet when they were tradesfolk; and the said people were too familiar. It was necessary so she decided — for the family to emigrate, not to a neighbourhood crowded with aristocracy, but to some comparatively unknown* locality, where then- title would raise them above everyone. With a far-seeing eye she selected Bruntlea, and the Doves, papa, mamma, one boy, and twin girls, together with a laa?ge establishment of servants, settled in Homing Grange, especially built, by BenEzra for their abode. Meantime, the boy went to Rugby and Oxford to be polished, and the twins were supplied with an expensive governess, and the parents became the great people of the neighbourhood. Poor self-satisfied Sir Giles thought he had found a resting-place for tlte sole of his foot at last, but his wife — not approving of the Taw, ugly barrack they dwelt in — insisted that he should obtain Tanbuck Hall, and become new wine ir an old bottle. Sir Giles did his best, but Ben-Ezra refused to sell,- and an enmity arose between Jew and Gentile, which culminated — as everyone thought and said — in the "Friday night murder in the fog. It was a sad end to Sir Giles's career, for,, once settled in Tanbuck Hall, his wife had inteiided to cultivate him into -an earl. But the luck which had held good for so many years without a break came to an abrupt and inglorious end. Poor Lady -Giles, a rank materialist, sufficient in herself to herself, marvelled at the unknown power that had robbed lier of an obedient husband and of a prospective peerage. The catastrophe upset he,, views, and she became religious for a cause which would have sent many believers out of church. So strangely does one woman's poison become another woman's meat. Naturally, Sir Giles's death put an end to everything but tears and preparations for his bestowal in a gorgeous new vault ■ which he had built for himself and family. Luckily, Reginald was now • three-a-nd-twenty, and could be trusted ' to look after things external, while Lady ' Dove sat in darkene-d rooms weeping her ; eyes red. She was an ambitious woman, ] but extremely good -hearted, and genuinely • sorrowed for the kindly, vulcar, hot-tem-pered little man to whom she owed co ' much. Certainly th-e fortunes of tins * Doves had been built i>p mutually by < both husband and wife, but if she nad ' been the brain, to plan. Sir Giles h«d < been, the hands tc execute. However. • he was gone, and Lady Dove began to consider if she could not likewise mould t her son. In. her heart-, she doubted sue- ' cess in this direction, for Reginald had ' no capabilities to 6peak of. He was a t heavy, stolid youth, more or less silent, r and easily controlled by the amorous pas- I sion. It- was' a knowledge of his urde- s niable weakness in tfejs respect which h made Lidy Dove doubt the governess. v Ida Cashell had taught tks twin girls

for two years, and was a .small, redhaired', vivacious woman who cbessed well and knew how to suit her conversation to her company. It was natural that Reginald should admire her, but not natural that she should dare to raise her eyes to the heir to the Dove estates and b title. Lady Dove gave Miss Cashell a p hint, which, was promptly taken, and t there were no further grounds for comf plaint, since the governess suddenly be- > came exceedingly demure and kept the b boy — he was little else — at a safe dis- , tanoe. For all her cleverness, Lady Dove i was not feminine enough to see danger in , this too.-obedient change of front, and ;~ thought— as she put it — tiutt she had ) taught Miss Cashell her position. As a I matter of fact, the astute Ida held the - young man on a very secure chain, and > under the rose the two saw more of on* i another than Lady Dove would have , considered desirable. Miss Cashell, who I was really 40 years of age, and — looking ■ much younger — confessed to five-and-i twenty, had led a stormy past, about wihich" she declined to furnish informa- " tion. Lady Dove's knowledge of her i began and ended with the references supplied by a fashionable education agency , in Kensington. Yet all the time &he was l eherishin-g a serpent in her bosom. i « Miss CasheH's plans were simple She k intended to many young Dove and i handle* the money, and take a position i in society, and had a- good time gene- > rally. -She was clever enough to do what ' she wanted, as a volcanic career bad : sharpened her wits Into desperately dan- " gerous instruments. But the death of i Sir Giles threw her plans into confusion, and she knew that she would have to i wearve fresh nets for the snaring of her i bird. While cogitating, 6he sympathised with the widow, taught the twins as • usual, and behaved like a» angel of mercy. No one dreamed that she was anything else, as Ithuarial'e spear waa wanting. Wain didn't gather these facts con- ■ eernang the Dove menage all at once, for learning them entailed many visits to afternoon teas and muoh clever questioning. Before the inquest took place and after the verdict was given he still pursued his inquiries. Luckily, ne met by chance an elderly lady who had known his mother, and she promptly asked him to tea. One introduction 'ed to another, until Wain was band-in-glove with all the gossips in Bruntlea. and thus managed to gain a very fair knowledge of the srreat people of the neighbourhood. The Doves, he found, were popular, because they spent thair money freely, and were really kind-hearted folk, even if they were a little stuck"-up. " But" the maiority of Wain's female acquaintances hated 'Ida Cashell fervently. Why, he could not exactly learn, save that «ossip said that • she- dyed her hair and> was no better than she should be. Wain's inaudries into the doings of the dead mane family wfire fade beeau'se he wished to learn if Sir Giles's past included an enemy who would proceed so far as murder. The reporter, after his conversation with Mr Verily, wa.s convinced that Ben-Ezra had no hand in the crime, and that it coii-ld be traced to some otbei person. But the person proved imoossible to find, and after all his inquiries Wain could discover no one upon whom the slightest suspicion could be thrown. Sir Giles, from common report, had been a hot-tempered little man, but kind-hearted ir the main, and although people laughed at his .pretensions to nobilitr, no one wished him ill. BenEzra, it was confidentially said, was his worst enemy, and of course people, on the strwarth of this report and judging hastily from the external circumstances of the case, believed hirr to be guilty. Wain did not think so, as ho considered the Jew too acute a man to avenge himself in so crude a manner. He might have tried to ruin the famiy in a financial way, which was exactly what a Hebrew would do, bu' murder is not a Jewish custom. The race is too subtle for such coarse bludgeon work. But Wain was alore in this opinion, since the Quakers held their peace, and when the day of the inquest came everyone deemed that the examination of BenEzra was a mere matter of form. Inspector Quill gathered all the evidence he could, and looked upoi his prisoner ' as a doomed man. Ben-Ezra was brought from prison and questioned, by the ' coroner, but steadily maintained his inno- 1 cenoe. And assuredly he did not look 1 like a guilty parson, as he was calm and 1 collected in his answers. But this, as one or two people pointed out. may have J been the brazer nerve of guilt. ■ i The jury inspected the body, wlvicti nad 1 been taken to Homing Grange, and then ! * went to a public-house to he.ar the cvi- 1 dence. It result&d in a verdict of wilful J murder being brought against the Jew. i Later on in ths day Ben-Ezira was -on- * front&d with a magistrate, and the ca. c e was gone into more thoroughly. Many t re-porters were present, for the case • awakened great interest, and, moreover, < it was the dull season of news, when 1 anything sensational was a boon and a f blessing to hard-up journals. Wain was T amor-gst his brethren of the stylograph ; 1 pen. and took notes. Once or twice the * prisorsr looked in Wain's diiection, and <■ f-reir.ed U regard him ls a friend. And s Wain was his friend— the sole one in ' court. From the curio no wav in which ' the newspaper man ha<! been brought into 1 connection with the cafe he believed that i the unsaen powers wished him to aid an | c entirely innocent mortal whom circum- { f stances conspired to han#. r The doctor who had examined the body n deposed that the deceased Had been killed ' i instantaneously by the first shot, which c had struck his temple and pierced the brain. But two more shots hid been firrd ' t recklessly into the corpse — one in the ' * breast and another lower down >nto the j 1 stomach It was apparent that the assassin n had wished to make absolutalv sure of his- v victim's death when this cold-blooded be- ii havioui was taken into account The , o

witness gave all necessary medical details, ' and produced the three bullets, which had been extracted from the body. • Inspector Quill proved that the three bullets fitted the empty chambers of the revolver which the prisoner had been holding when discovered by Dawkins- and Mr Wain. Three shots had been fired, as could be deposed by various witnesses, and three chambers of the revolver were empty The -remaining three still contained unftred cartidges. Quill had searched the body, and had found the watch and purse and jewellery of the deceased all in due order. But, of course, a3 the inspector said, It© did not suggest for one moment that Ben-Ezra had robbed, or had intended to rob, his victim. The motive of the crime was one of pure revenge. It will be seen from the above statement that Quill was perfectly convinced of the prisoner's guilt. And on the face of it he was justified in so judging. But it was the very ease .of the judgment founded on external circumstances that made Wain doubtful as to the truth of the insoector's belief Quill also detailed the facts of deceased's •visit to Tanbuck Hall at 7 o'clock to see the- prisoner, and produced the letter-^ ' found in "the prisoner's High street office — [ written by Sir Giles making the fatal ap- ! pointment. "Lady Dove/ stated the in- ' speetor, "can swear to this also, as her ' late 'hnslKJiKl "partook of an early" dinner on Wednesday night and left his home at 6.30 to call on the prisoner. Sir Giles left after & stormy interview, a few minutes after 8 o'clock. Mr Wain can prove that he heard deceased muttering to himself in the avenue about that hour. The deceased — as Mr Wain can prove likewise — then returned with the idea of forcing the prisoner to sell Tanbuck Hall, and it was some little time afterwards that Constable Dawkins, in the company of Mr Wain, beard the shots fired. Afterwards they came upon prisoner standing over the body of his victyn with the revolver in his hand."

(To be continued.)