THE STORYTELLER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 13 July 1907, Page 3

THE STORYTELLER.

THE CAT'S PAW.

"Of course, as you say, * detective

does occasionally come across some curi ous crime j the majority defend for go'ution, more u|*»n laborious routine work than th" exercise of those marvellous powers vested iu the heroes of popular fiction, whose instincts of de duction and, very often, imagination are jtdnccd to an exact science."

Conway puffed *t his pipe reflectively. "You see the common or garden cnminal—save in exceptional cases—is more the agent of a sudden impulse tha i a scientific, calculating person, and even when be chance* to be the latter, there is generally a screw loose somewhere in his methods which affords us a clue sooner or later; then H is only a question of commonsense and diligence, combim-l, certainly, with luck in following it up. "I think, in all my experience, I have only come across one case which displayed elements of the bizarre—lt was one which laid the fii't strpping-stone to nr reputation—and it practically solved itself, although I waß lucky enough to gain all the kudos."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I had be gun to think my dinner with Conway, 1,1 whom, as a solicitor, I had had the fortune to be of service in a recent case, Was going to prove of barren interest to me u a criminologist. "I should like to hear about it if you bare no objections," I said, passing the whisky and soda. Hfl glanced at me with a cunning, tanned smile—there was certainly very little of the "Dupin" about this - stolid, heary-tpeeched ex-police officer. "It's a good many yean ago now," he KpUed slowly, "and can hardly discount By present wort, so I don't mind if 1 do. "Do you remember the 'Pelham' case, about twelve years back!" A tried to recall it to mind, but with Out success.

Tin afraid my interests were centred fa Vamp-collecting* in those days," I an ■wend.

Conway laughed ponderously.

"One of the disadvantages of the publie school education," he remarked; "post - ■aria would be of much more practical VM 'in OUT profession, at all events. However, that's beside the mark. Here goe» then." And «o he settled down to tell, and I to hear, the story I will now *t forth briefly.

There was a certain Miss Jfargaret Pelham, wealthy, eccentric, of uncertain *gß and solitary habits, irho resided in ihe ground floor half of a house in Flaxton Gardens, Barnsbury; the top part WW occupied by two lady artists wlio, although not on very Intimate terms with Miss Pelham. were nevertheless friendly enough to have a fair knowledge of her manner of living—ln fact, they (bared a tort of general servant between than.

This servant—a Mrs Fenting—did not Weep on the premises, the young ladies

upstairs had no room for her, and Miss

Pelham had a fad against domestics living In (on account of her cats, I believe ■—she bad about half a dozen prize Perriaat, and she was afraid of their being treated badly), so Mrs Fenting used to

•one each morning at eight and leave —*ojfc it-Joea-ia tfe-OTenkg: ~ - One morning cn arrival she went as

nraal to Miss Pelham's sitting-room, and

found tlie latter, to her great surprise, sit - ting upright in her basket armchair, dressed for the day. Thinking that perhaps Jfiss Pelham

Was gobff out extra early, or else that benelf was later than usual, Mrs. Fenting said, "Good morning," and asked if she could get breakfast ready liefore doing the room (Miss Pelham. I m-Mt tell you, was sitting before the fireplace, with her back to the door), and, aston {■bed at receiving no reply, she repeated the question, and the same time going towards her mistress. Niot until she was close to Jfiss IVI - did she discover, to Iter great horror, that her was dead. As soon as she could collect herself. Mrs Fenting ran upstairs, and informed the elder of the two ladies, Miss Brampton, who, with great presence of mind, lent her first >f all for a medical man.

•nd then to the police station. The doctor and the (unstable arrive! •bmdtaneoosly, and, while {he latter interrograted Miss "Brampton and Mrs

Tenting, the former examined Miss Pe! ham's body, ultimately expressing his opinion of foal play. The constable rent a message to headquarters, with the result that I was de (patched to Banubury with instructions to take the ease in hand. I arrived at Flaxton Gardens aliout in hour before midday—the body had beer, removed to t}» bedroom, bnt the doctor was stfll in attendance, so I had n.> -TifSentty in obtaining information as to its previous exact pos : il;n.

There were no indications of violence, lave that the left wrist was scored by three parallel scratches, which had (nrnfcda livfd purple in color, while the whole t>f the arm was considerably swollen. The face, too. was pnffed up almost Beyond recogni'fon, and the physician »?- feerted that death w*s due to the effect] of some extremely rapid and virulent poison—though what he was unable to pronounce without a post-mortem examination. Evidence rppnred t.i point to an eviernal introduction of the poison throng'' .the scratches—indeed, the doctor stated that the symptoms bore a great resemUance to those caused by the bite of lome deadly snake, such as the Indian fcarelt or cobra de-eapello—hnt that V»t tne more in the maze than before Infernal food poisoning I could un3entftnd—Pd Bad to So with such cases t>efore ? Indirectly—hnt when it came to Veptite, and in Barn*hury of all places. J had nothing In the tray of preeent fo Mp me.

It seemed as though looking for a flu» | ;would be like Hunting for a proverb! »1 ; needto in the iaystack—hut that only Bhowt bow we may 1* misled, and. a* Brennan, our ch'ef, pays, pass over fhc Obvious in search of the obscure. The oonslaMe had awertained tluif «o money or jewellery was missing—Mfc»s Pflham paM all her accounts by cheque, and her hook T ay untouched on her writ fog-table—so the motive could not ha'v Wn robbery: suicide was out of the question—the affair was puzzling in the extreme. ~ " Sly next step—7 had certified fliat ad the door and window fastenings had not teen tampered with—was to cross-exam-ine Miss Brampton as lo what sV knew of Mlm Pelham'e friends and relation", and whether ahe Tiad any known en* afc«.

Of the latter. Mis* Brampton was mi *- tthe had none; Miss Peltiam's good works ' and charity endeared W io all; !k- I principal visitor* were old ladies »nd clergymen, and her sole relative was a yotmg army officer at present in England on furlough. When questioned as to whether he had tailed upon her lately, ahe wax unable ( to Mty for eertain, fctif believed he had, tat Mrs Fenting would doubtless be abie to better inform me on that point ; her Sttiwer to my query if he were on £OO,I farm* with her aunt, was given v.-it!- a ■tight hesitancy- she fancied that Mis* felham had, at one time, been mthpr npfcet by bis wtravajja.it habitß anl hud fed some words, but she thought thev |«4 Made op their difference some little

time ;»aek. She. believed tbat in tbo event *>« Mise Peluam's decease, har money would go to hiiu in entirety, llvre, at all events, was something to work upon, and I felt I was on the scent ' ft hen Mrs Feuting informed me that not only had Captain Imenon—the nephew in question—called frequently of late, but ; had l>een in the house for at least two hours the previous afternoon. To I* sure my hopes were somewhat discounted by her going oil to say that. Miss Pelham w;h out until uearly seven o'clock. Captain lineson arrived at about four, and on being told that his aunt might be in at any moment, had said hf would wait, but had had to leave hurriedly at a few minutes pant nix. but 1 f<'lt that I had progressed a atep towards solving the puzzle. Further pressed. Mrs Kniting said tint she had given him some tea. as she knew Miss Pel ham would have wished it, indeed that the latter was verv disap pointed, when she returned, that she had missed him. I asked her how long the Captain had Wen in Knglaiid. where he liad been ?tatinned, and where he was now to lie found!—to whirh slie replied that lie had be*n in London for about eight monthshad gathered, in faet, fnnfi an argument that she had heard between him and his sunt, that hj" had resigned his si<-n throiufi «ou\e trouble he had get into in his regiment, which was somewhere in the Ea-t. and that his addrcsp

j na- 257. Duke street, St. .lames', to which place she had occasionally posted letters for h"r mistress.

II at once sent off a wire— purporting to come from the doctor—that Miss P»!ham was dangerously ill, and wished to fee him at once, surmising that even if guilty he would not hesitate to come lest he should draw suspicion upon himself. Sure enought my conjecture was right; lie arrived within an hour and a half after the despatch of the telegram. Miss Brampton opened the door to show him into the sitting-room, where she introduced him to me—according to my instruction—as Mi?s Pelham's doctor. Captain Tmeson was a tall, fair, good though dissipated-looking n'sn of thirty or therealmnt.s. with a nose which did i*» best to make up for the weakness of his chin; his hand shook as he gave it to nu> ilt hough that, of course, might have been due to na'nral anxiety.

He Itioked at me squarely In the eye: the fellow had pluck, if nothing else—«nd asked, "fa Hiss Tellium any better —what is the mailer with her!" I replied that she was at the moment uneonscions, hr,' that T had hope hp would be able to see her presently, after which. Ignoring his second question, I purposely turned the conversation to other topics. It is a strang* fact that in nins out of ten eases a criminal will, in conversation. if he fancies himself secure of crime especin Ilv that branch of which he has Wr. guilty.

As constantly as T evaded Jus query las to the nth,re of his aunt's illness. Captain Tmeson returned to it, until »l lor.gfh. losing patioce. he rather rnde'y remarked that as I was apparently at »» ntv diagnosis, be felt he ought to iiiMSt on my calling in another opinion.

As a piece of Muff it was masterly, although I doubt if he would have had the impudence to carry out Ids threat, but as t-wjw Wartfly ceitsia that_ie was the agent, if not the actual author,

e: the murder * thought the time was ripe to play a liold card.

liis nervousness, meanwhile, ha 3 been gradually growing—he kept walking quickly np and down, turning his head every time In passed the folding doors which separated us from the bedroom, to listen ir.:ently for any sound from within.

(if course there was nothing to hear, as I had taken the precaution before hand to lock th" only other door lei.i ing into the hill, so that anyone want injr to gain the room would nave had lo pass through the one in which we w r ere tested, and the \ cry fact of this silence served to increase his agitation.

Tf von really must know/' I began, with my l»aek towards him. "T have reason to believe that Miss Pelham has been poisoned."

I spun round as I said the last word to see how he would take it. Ho stopped suddenly near the window «nd I saw the perspiration ooze out on his forehead and his face turn ashen as he tried to control himself.

"'Poisoned! Nonsense!" he managed to say, with a queer kind of catch in Ms voice; "who fhrnld poison her!"

"That is what we shall have to discover," I answered, still watching Him narrowly. "Whoever it was has certainly covered up his tracks very clearly"— he looked a liC'.'t relieved on hearing this. "Still, T have no doubt that with your help I shall be abe to Dncl the culprit."

'TVith my help," he "wavered. "How c«n I ." he glanced at ine with and dm fear, cloaked by an assumption of anger. "I don't believe you're a doctor at oil. This is a trap to t*y and incriminate me, bat you'll find yourself in the wrong Ik>x this time, my friend. I shall certainly have to insist on calling in another and more reliable opinion" lie moved towards the door as he spoke.

i; You may call in as many doctors as you like, Capfain lineson." T replied sternly. "Mrs Fetning shall fetch anyon? you care to name, but for the pre-si-nt I'm .ifiaid you cannot leave this nw»in.' ? "W hat do yim mean?" be hhistfiv-I. falling back \ pace as ] sat myself betA>ei: hur. and the door.

"Mean*'' I repeated.going towards kirn, nny doubt I had had giving way to c. itainty. -f mean that i shall have to ar re>t you on suspicion W being nrerned in the death of your aunt. Mi-s IYI- - "lJ r -ld!" he echoed. "l)ead r . M\ (Uxir lie j»aiik ba'k into a chair near tLt « window looking a= if he we v e going i.?' faint; there wa* a sudden screech aiu? a huge black IVrdan cat leapt, half with pain into 'he air from air the where it had been lying, chawing Captain Tmeson'i hand which he had put out in astonishment to help him to get up—viciously in its flight. For a second we were both too startled to speak—the captain had his eyes fixed on the weals which had ri-rn red and angry from the cat's claws, in an expression of fear and horror, terrible to

liehohl. ] 'The cat!" he almost whimpered. "did yoit see the cai?*' -See it?" I answered. amazed at Hie way he was taking the incident. u l should think I did, you nearly killed the poor brute'/ 1 lie paid no attention to my word*, hut -tarted to tremble like a man with the ague. l, Mv hand!'' he sobbed—"look—look, my hand!*' I stepped forward to examine the wound more elo?ely—he had sunk limply info the chair again—it was beginning to swell and turn purple. I know for a fact then, how Miss Pel.ham had died, but T al?«> knew that that moment was not the time to obtain cvijdenee—fmeson must be saved, if pos* Isible. for the law to punish. I "A doetor!" T eried. "I'll fetch a doe[tor.

Hp stsiyed me with « wiry sliakc of th* head, "ft would to: uo use," he replied. his teeth chattering as if he wer<« ihjilf--froz-u. 'Tm donf l for in less than 'a quarter of an hour—and I don't know

but that I'd rather it were this way than the other. If you waut to know the facts of tlie case you'd better stick them down, and I'll sign it—if you don't hurry though I shall lie gone before you have time," he continued, with a ghastly attempt at a grin. What he told nie was, shortly, as follows: • ,

Always hard up, after he was dismissed the service he was reduced almost to beggary, and as a last resource had unhealed to his aunt for money. She had helped him on several occasions, but, as lie had made no attempt to get work, she had cut oil' supplies, Saving he. would have to fence for himself.

Captain iMcson was desperate, and his visit to l'laxton Hardens the day liefore Miss Pelham's death had been to make a final appeal to her generosity. 11c knew quite well that lie was heir to her money, though it is doubtful if .lie idea of making away with her had occurred to liini before that afternoon.

At all events, while lie was sitting at tea during his call. "Scrulilis," one of Miss I'elham's black Persians, jumped 011 liis knee to make friends with him and be fed.

The temptation must then have entered his mind. lie hail the means—some of the most daily "I'pas" poison made by the savage "Munits," for their arrow tips—procured when, as a Soldier, lie was accompanying a civil exploring expedition into their territory.

Miss Pelham's pets were all trained to sheath their claws, hut he had often seen them gently scratch at his aunt's hand to attract her attention. Fate—or the Devil —favored him, for as he completed' the operation of daubing the stuff on tlie cat's claws the lighted end of his cigar had caught tfie ball of her foot, and with a shill "miaouw" she bounded from his lap.

Repentance, even if it were there, was too late for on no account would "Serubbs" allow him to go near her again to undo this mischief. The finale to liis action you know. He signed the deposition when T had written it out, and expired in agony, which the doctor was quite unable to relieve, shortly after.

I How he had come to lie carrying the poison about with him I could not ascertain—indeed, I thought it better not to ask. If mortal terror of tJie unknown world into which he was about to make

such an unprepossessing entry were any punishment, Captain Tmeson certainly expiated his crime.