Sentenced to Death.

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 47, 18 May 1927, Page 16

Sentenced to Death.

By

Louis Jracy.

Author of ** The Long Lane of Many Windings/* " One Wonderful Night/* “ Love and the Aces/* “ The Token/* &c., &c.

(Copyright for the Author in the United States and CanaGa by Edward J. Clode. Inc., New York All other rights reserved.)

SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. CHAPTER l.—A young officer, Antony Blake, learns from a sKilled physician that he has not many months to live One of the valves of the heart is clogged and nothing less than a miracit can save him He arrives at a part of Regent’s Park where a pcny and governess car are stationed which had passed through Harley Street during his interview The stout driver has vanished. A vivid flash of lightning causes the pony to bolt As Antony is walking, in a drenched condi tion. two men overtake and rush past him. one tall and thin, the other short and fat The rotund runner falls, picks himself up and tears along Antony notices a shit rp-pointed daggei shinine in the grass. He picks It up and examines it. Anally flinging it into the long grass fringing the shrubbery He reaches a small wooden hut A girl is sheltering there He shelters there also She tells him she was no meet her uncle, who was driving a nony in a governess car The two leave the hut. turning to the left Instead of to the right

CHAPTER ll.—Blake takes her to ner home Her nanre is Iris Hamilton Soon after he is again in the Park and he finds the dagger About half-past nine he glances through the day's news The first item that catches hi;* eye ts ‘Tragedy in Re gent’s Park Supposed Murder ” An other paragraph details how Dr Ensley Jones found a ong-bladed dagger in r he body of the dead man. Its description tallies with the one in Blake’s possession He taxis »o the nearest police station and tells his story Blake finds himself practically under arrest, suspected of com plicity In the murder of Robert Lastine ham

CHAPTERS 111 and IV. Furneaua arrives, identifies Blake, hears his story and then asks the inspector for the knife Then Furneaux invites himself to Blake's flat As the tWO men ore making theO way to Antony’s rooms, his housekeeper. Mrs Wilson says that a young ladv had called and left a letter for him It is from Iris Hamilton and relates to the murder In spite of happenings iris* Hamilton keeps an appointment They taxi to the Marble Arch, where Blake phones Mrs Wilson his change of plans Iris draws his attention to the fact that the short, stout man whom Blake is con necting with the murder has lust oassert He has a woman with him

An attempt Is make to arrest the fat man hut the retective Is stunned by a chauffeur, while Blake suffering a heart attack can only stand hv helpless Iris goes to get hel ? but does not return

CHAPTERS V. to VII. Blake sees the tall thin man at Albert Gate, and after sending a note to Furneaux. follows him to Soho Detectives join him and they succeed In finding the haunt of the criminals The fat man walks in and is caught Blake calls on Iris and Is surprised at her reception She warns him to go away quickly An American crook threatens Bla’-ce over the telephone Blake attends a dinner of detectives where the mention of the name of “Natalie Gortzchakoff’* strikes terror

into one of the guests. Then Miss Hamilton rings him up but the conversation is cut short. News comes of a fight between the police and a gang at Blake’s house. Blake himself had another heart attack when he was on his way to Iris. He goes to the flat with a detective, where Mrs. Hamilton is arrested for complicity in the murder.

CHAPTER Vlll.—(Continued). Iris Hamilton had not fainted. She was not “one of the fainting sort,” she told Blake as they crossed Hyde Park that morning. She had simply wilted under the stress of emotion, but recovered so quickly that a young man literally aching to whisper an encouraging word in her ear kept himself in hand if only that Sheldon should not be interrupted needlessly. She rose now and approached her mother with a fine fearlessness. “You are doing no one any good by refusing to answer this gentleman’s questions,” she said. “1 am sorry I dragged you into this unpleasant position, but regret is useless in the conditions. I don’t believe you know the name or addres of any single one of the men who brought you here tonight.” “Nor do I,” protested Mrs. Hamilton, who herself seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Why, then, are you fencing with him? Tell him the truth and I am sure he will be satisfied.” “But 1 know so little. The man they call ‘the Professor’ called this afternoon and said I was to adopt any means to stop you from having any conversation with Mr. Blake. Tonight’s plan was his, not mine. I didn’t hire the car or choose the men. He was the only one 1 was at all acquainted with and even now 1 couldn’t supply his name or address if my life depended on it.” “Do you mean to say you had never met him before?” said Sheldon. “No —of course I don’t. He is mixed up with the crew Robert Lastingham employed, but he did seem to oppose ~a horrid scheme for my daughter’s marriage to—to one whom she can never marry—so I trusted him.” Iris gasped at that and again Sheldon’s hand enjoined silence. “How often have you seen ‘the Professor,’ as we may describe him?” ho went on. “About four times during the past six months.”

“And you actually do not know his name?”

“No. He concealed it deliberately. He said it would be dangerous for me even to remember it.”

“But, please be a little more explicit. Pie came into your life somehow.” “It’s a long story. I cannot go on with it now. My poor brain is reeling But, if you come and see me to-mor-row I’ll keep back nothing, though 1 don’t really think you will find what I have to say of any great service.” For some reason which Blake failed utterly to fathom until its true inwardness was revealed later, Sheldon agreed instantly. “That’s all right, Mrs. Hamilton,’’ he said, rising. “I have no wish to put too great a strain on you. Tomorrow we shall all be a little older, and, perhaps, a little wiser. I’ll send you home now in a cab. I must ask you to let your daughter remain here a few minutes, as I have some questions to put which I would prefer her to answer, if she so elects, without fear of offending you in any way. . . . Y'es, I must inisist on that,” because both women showed signs, the one by positive terror and the other by dismay, of refusing to fall in with this plan “I am treating you with a great deal of forbearance as it is, and I promise that I shall escort Miss Hamilton to your door within the next ten minutes. Moreover, she will not be frightened by any prospect of being arrested. . Yes, please. Come with me. I’ll take you to the constable stationed outside, and he will get a taxi for you.” He added over his shoulder to Blake:

“Get Miss Hamilton a biscuit and a glass of wine if you have anything of the sort in stock. She has not eaten a morsel all day, I imagine.”

So the detective’s shrewd eyes, though of different dimensions, had discovered something which had escaped the younger man’s more equable vision. No wonder the girl’s limbs had yielded to a sudden stress at the prospect of her mother being taken away to prison, since it is thus that people not versed in legal procedure regard detention by the police. Blake, solicitous and remorseful, though, indeed, he was not to blame for Iris Hamilton’s lack of food, dashed to a sideboard.

“Plere’s the stuff to give the troops!” he cried, trying to strike a cheerful note after those tensely dramatic moments. “ A small bottle of Cliablis, some assorted biscuits, a cake, and a packet of cream cheese. I don’t believe the Ritz could do you as well at five seconds' notice.’’

He whipped out the cork with the skill of an expert, but the girl seemed to be watching him with a sadness that was distinctly repressive of his wellmeant effort to ease a difficult situa tion. “Oh, Mr. Blake,” she said despairingly. “why don’t you do as l ask, and cut yourself adrift from this horrible business? Let me implore you now before that detective man comes back, to promise you will leave London for a time. You are in real danger. I know it. And it is all through me.” “Miss Hamilton.’’ he vowed earnestly, “1 am quite convinced that my life is

perfectly safe for ” lie was about to say “six months, or a trifle less,” but switched off to “a sufficiently long time that all existing worries should be forgotten before I fade from the picture. My real trouble just now is that Sheldon, who is quite a good fellow, will think I am letting him down badly if he doesn’t find you taking nourishment when he comes in. Is is really true you are starving? If so, take a sip of this wine first, and then a: sandwich made of two biscuits and a thin slice of cheese—like this. Sorry I have no butter. It is kept in the larder, and if 1 ring for Mrs. Wilson she will want to talk, and that way madness lies. Come now, try a mouthful, and see how hungry you really are!” A young and attractive and healthy girl may be in the utmost distress, but if she is thoroughly hungry her physical needs will conquer for the moment all agonies of heart and brain. Iris had hardly swallowed a morsel before she was aware that if she would live she must eat.

Blake summed up the situation with a wisdom beyond his years. He would not let her talk, and, indeed, the rigid bonds of convention forbid any young lady from speaking with her mouth full.

Nor did Sheldon seem in any great hurry when he came in again. “Gee!” he sighed. “I’m longing for a smoke. Any objection, Miss Hamilton?”

She shook her head, and actually smiled. After a pause, for biscuits are dry fare, she asked if she might have a little water instead of yie wine, and Blake brought a fresh decanter from the bathroom.

Then Sheldon thought he might reopen the discussion, since time was flying, and there was much to be done before he could dream* of retiring for the night.

“Suppose I make a start, Miss Hamilton,” he said, nonchalantly. “I hope 1 shall not make you jump by introducing certain names and personalities. After all, it must come as a relief to find that things which you regard as entirely secret and hidden are matter of almost common knowledge in police circles. For instance, I can probably tell you a great deal more than you know yourself about the history and activities of that remarkable woman Natalie Gortschakoff .... Y'es, I understand,” because Iris looked at him with a bewildered dismay. “1 staged that lady without delay purposely She rather takes one’s breath away, doesn’t she? But you gather my intent? Once you are prepared to admit that all this miserable tangle is centred in her it does remove a lot of doubts and reservations, 1 fancy?”

“I—l have heard.of her. but never saw her until this morning.” faltered Iris, still gazing at the detective with the terrified eyes of a wild bird cooped in a trap from which escape is impossible.

“Exactly. Your own actions proved that. You did not even suspect her identity, or you would never have joined Mr. Blake in that chase across Hyde Park. But when the atmosphere of mystery which surrounds your uncle’s death is dispelled you will be the first to realise that clv.mre did not serve you badly when you were

brought in touch with that woman today. Otherwise you would have been kept in ignorance at a time when ignorance might be most perilous. Now, one other significant name, and there is no fear of our being at cross purposes. Of course, when that car drove up in the park, you saw that Mrs. Hamilton had not gone to Brighton, but was one of the people waiting for La Gortschakoff and her strange companion?” Iris pushed aside the tray with the gesture of one who found eating and listening absurdly incompatible. “Go on, please,” she murmured. “Then, when you fled home, it is probable—l am sure you will correct me here if there is any flaw in the sequence of events—you came face to face with Mademoiselle Gortschakoff for the first time? In fact, she may have been there when Mr. Blake called ' this afternoon?”

“Y’es, that is right. Oh, if only mother had known all this —that the police were so well informed, I mean —she would have behaved so differently.”

“H-m-m! I rather doubt it. Mrs. Hamilton does not see eye to eye with you in many ways, I imagine. Of course, when you endeavoured to shoulder some of the blame for tonight’s happenings you were thinking that your indiscreet revelations at home were fraught with danger to Mr. Blake. What made you form that opinion?”

“When Mr. Furneaux came last evening with the news of my uncle’s death I had to tell him what little 1 knew—about Mr. Blake and the incidents during the storm, I mean Mother was furious with me afterwards, not about meeting Mr. Blake, which was an accident, but because I had meant to keep an appointment with my uncle. Then, when I reached home to-day, I was simply compelled to warn both her and Mademoiselle Gortschakoff that their association might become known to the authorities, and the other woman frightened me. She is rather a dreadful person —all the more so in that her manners are so fascinating.”

“Splendid! How quickly the ground is cleared when people try to be honest and not deceitful!” and Sheldon beamed at the girl so pleasantly that she seemed to gain confidence thenceforth. “Now explain Mr. Lastingham’s position. You call him ‘uncle.’ yet Mrs. Hamilton says he is no relation.”

“1 suppose he was my guardian, or it would be more accurate to describe myself as his protegee. I believe my father and he were friends At any rate I was brought up to regard him as an uncle, and address him as such, until the break came two years ago.” “What break?” “Some disagreement between mother and him. It was never explained to me by either. His personal interest and kindness did not slacken the least bit, so I could hardly think it altogether wrong to disobey mother’s orders that I was never to see or speak with him again. Some things are absurd and unreasonable. It was

quite ridiculous that a man who always treated me with great affection should be driven out of my life owing to a quarrel concerning the rights and wrongs of which I was not permitted to- judge.”

“It is an intimate question, but forgive me if I ask whether your mother and you live in the accord which might be looked for in ordinary conditions?”

At that the girl herself smiled. “Indeed, we don’t!” she said. “I have tried so hard to accommodate myself to her way of thinking. But I have never succeeded. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that the more I strive to fall in with her general outlook the farther apart we drift.” “You have a brother, I believe?”

“Y r es. Hugh is in Buenos Aires. He is two years older than me. He wants me to join him out there, but mother says he is too young yet to know his own mind, and has his way to make in the world. A sister might hamper him, even in the matter of living expenses.” “Does he write?” “He is not the best of correspondents. I hear from him about once a month.” . “And Mrs. Hamilton?” “Oh, he sends messages to her in my letters. He’s just a boy, you know—rather casual in those respects.” “Will you give me his address?” “Y'es. It’s a box number at the City Central Post Office. Of course, I have his office and residential addresses, too. but the box number is best, because the letters go to the firm in a special bag.” Sheldon jotted down the details in his note-book. “I suppose La .Gortschakoff left your place soon after Mr. Blake called to-day?” he said, without looking up. “Yes. You are rather marvellous. I do wish you had told mother these things.” “I shall tell your mother nothing. 1 do not trust her. Let me explain that remark. She is endeavouring to shape events toward the end she has in view, and that may be the exact opposite to the requirements of the law. 1 put no embargo on you, however, except that it will help if you recall nothing of what I have said. With regard to yourself and any statements you have made, you can be as candid as you like. Now. one more vital point and i have finished for to-night. From what you said to Mr. Blake over the phone, I take it that Mrs. Hamilton and you intend leaving London tomorrow?”

“Look here!” broke in Blake, rather testily, “I’ve sat like a graven image thus far, but I'm jiggered if I can let Miss Hamilton assume that I have repeated to anyone a single word she said.” Sheldon laughed at that. (To be Continued.)