THE STORYTELLER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 175, 28 August 1909, Page 4

THE STORYTELLER.

. THE BARTON TUNNEL MYSTERY. ANOTHER STARTLING SEXTON BLAKE STORY. "Can you please come down at OIU'J: Own terms. Urgent.—Johnson, editor Merriton Herald." Blake tossed the wire across to Bathuret. "Ever heard of the Merritoa Herald'?' he asked whimsically. "Truly the po\v:r. of the Press is upon us these days! The man wires as if he were at least a German princeling. I am afraid that I shall be inconsiderate enough to disappoint him. Meanwhile, I would be at p>aee, and read my papers." ' Bathurat picked up the telegram and glanced at it carelessly. Having mastered its contents, he threw it" aside, and continued his br»akfast i n silence.' Blake was reading betwixt spasmodic mouthfuls of toast and marmalade, whea suddenly he gave vent to a hurred exclamation of surprise. "By Jove! that 'Merriton man seems to have stumbled across something a bit OS the ordinary lines. The thing he' wires about is in the morning papers,"' he said. "Listen to this. It is headed 'The Barton Tunnel Mystery': 'l

"Barton Tunnel is some six miles from Merriton 011 a small single-line railway (inking up MerritO]; with ihe main system, which it joiiis at Fiuchurch Junction. . 'There is a train which leaves Meniton at 4.20 p.m. and arrives at Fulchurch at 4.40. When it drew into that station yesterday afternoon, a guard, un opening the door of a first-class smoker, was horrified to discover the body of a well-dressed, middle.aged man lying in a huddled heap on the floor near the farther door, the window of whwh was down. -TH® at once summoaed. assistance, and it was found that the man was dead. He had received a terrific blow on the left temple, which had fractured the skull.

He was immediately recognised by some of the railway employees as a Mc. Flaxman —a well-known resident of Merriton, who constantly travelled by that line. The body was removed to one of the waiting-rooms, and the police and a doctor summoned. "The doctor, after examining the wound, asserted unhesitatingly that the blow had been struck with such terrific force that death must have been practically instantaneous. 'A considerable sum of money in notes and gold was found on the body; also a valuable gold repeater and other articles of jewellery. The carriage showed no signs of anything in the na : ture of a serious or prolonged struggle having taken place; but the cushion nearest the corner on the seat facing the engine was partially displaced. "The police adopted the theory that the blow must have been struck suddenly Mr. Flaxman being taken in awares and that his assailant must have managed to effect his escape, taking the weapon used with him. "Prom the nature of the wound the weapon is supposed to have been a heavy life-preserver or some similar object. Their theory is supported by the fact that there has "been a small but very .vindictive labor strike at Merriton, which originated in a company of which Mr. Flaxman was chairman. His uncompromising attitude towards the strikers was well known. , "The authorities at Merriton were at once communicated with, the result being that a fresh complication arose. . "Both the 6tationmaster and the ticket-collector at that station had not only seen Mr. Flaxman into an empty carriage, but had stood chatting with him till the train moved out. The far- . ther door—the one by whjch the body was found—was locked. In addition to Mr. Flaxman, there were barely half a ' dozen passengers on that particular train, all local resents well known by i name and sight, and on the face of it to attempt to connect thejn with the crime would.be absurd.

"The difficulty, therefore, is to ascertain at what point the murderer en have gained access to and left the train. "The latter makes the entire journey at a speed of a trifle over thirty miles an hour with one exception—near Barton Tunnel the line is under repair, and I nil trains are compelled to slow down to a speed of something under eighl j miles unti! the tunnel has been left lie-1 bind.

"Even at that speed, however, it would require a man of very exceptional daring and activity to board it successfolly, and to do so unobserved, -with a rung of -workmen scattered along the line, would he additionally difficult. "The suggested motive is revenge.'

"Seems, to me to be rather a tough j nut to crack," said Bathurst, one of the strikers managed to get a temporary job on the line, and watched bis chance to get Flaxman alone." "That is certainly a point worth considering; but then " Blake paused abruptly. "It's no use theorising before one has been over the ground oneeelf. I think we'll accept Mr. Johnson's invitation, after all, and run down. You might look up a train whilst I sort out these papers. I'll bo ready in twenty miautes or so."

Merriton Is barely an hour's run from town, including the change at Fulchurch, and they decided to go direct to the terminus, Sir. Flaxman's body having been already removed there.

Blake,' who had been placidly reading all the way to the junction, roused himself into almost feverish activity as «ooa as they entered the little local .train.

He himself took the window on that side of the carriage where the body had heen found, and stood by it, stop-watch 1 in hand, mechanically checking the speed of the train by the jolt-jolt of tile rails and the known distances of the telegraph-posts. Bathurst took J charge, of the other window, for they i iad the carriage entirely to themselves. Arriving at. the tunnel, Blake kept watch with renewed vigilance, even going to the length of holding his walk-ing-stick' out of the window, at about the height of a man's head in a stooping position, in order to satisfy himself that there wa« no projection coming fmflVirr'!- close tit. the window to have caused U.u injury— supposing Mr. Flaxinan Sad been looking .out jjt the time and leaning forward. Blake remained at his post until the train drew in at Merriton.

Mr. Johnson, the editor, was waiting to iw! fhero, having been apprised by! v.-' - of their coming. I "TV*, is good of you Indeed, Mr. Blake!" he said effusively. "T hardly ventured to hope that you would come. T~"» lis. I am especially anxious toi the --•se in your hands for private tf»M? I We iiave been agitating for some time to get a more intelligent police service in the town—at present they are very lax-Hind the Herald has pitched into them pretty hot on one ar two recent occasions. If you, acting 1 for the paper, as it were, can elucidate the mystery of poor llr. Flaxman's fjeatb it will be a scoop for us and another sisiil in their coffin, and the authorities wlls be compelled to take notice of our foinjifaints. First of all y-'u mill, I suppose, wish to see the body, slid I have made all arrangements." Blake shook Ill's head.

"First of all." he said, "I wish to wait till the station is clear, and then Ip. examine the carriage in which the i gwjljii was found. I understand that it H m the siding here?"

"That is so. One moment. IU fetch ifhe stationmaster."

'""lien (that individual arrived they ad--i. ><! to tile siding. Blake, standing ' h line. meMuretf the height of the < ! inboard witlji bis eye, and shook

l 'l count' myself an active mtffl," he said—'"proVMv more active than OfS 3vrr«""---V'.t H would be a physical imV' 1 -*-" !j'ji 'or me to gain access to that when in moK<m from the level of the Try it, Bathurst, now that file carriase is at rest even, asd you will find it a bit of a scramble. Yoa qijist bear in mind that a (ouch of your, fow, on the wheel, or a slin. would inevftibly jne.an death or disablement." Bathurst tried: but it was only after a third attempt that he at Jast; scrambled up. J "You see," said lilake, -'with the traia

. (moving at a minimum speed of eight miles the thing would lie impossible. >To living (nan can have boarded that carriage when once it was under way, nor can be have done so as it was leaving the station, for the stationmaster here v -was watching this particular carriage, s Tet/s have a {ook at the interior." j Passinsr round to the platform side,! thev entered. Tliew was nothing to be, ; *e«n. exrenf that the cushion by the s floor which was still locked was a trifle disarranged, and there was an jjgly ?. PKienr on. the floor-enrpet where the! man's bead had lain. j s:: -"Where was Mr. Flaxman's hat! r found 1" risked Blake. j "On the sent. sir. liere," said the stal X . master. "He took it off and nlaeed, s 5,t there whilst I was speaking to him." j 5, '"Humnh! And this window of the t. .'(fperr which Is locked was opes tieu?"

"He opened it himself directly ho not into the carriage. It was a blazing sunny efternoon, sir, and verj' hot." "Thank you! By the way, the tram y as it stands in the station now is made up exactly as yesterday's 4.20?" "Exactly the same, sir—with the exception that another carriage is substituted for this, of course?" Quite 60! And now, Mr. Johnson, 1 should like to see the body." I Xlicir visit to the mortuary was a > r brief one. The wound was just such as had been described, and might have been o inflicted by almost any blunt, roundended weapon—a life-preserver, a pebble, a knob-stick, r. The one point noticeable about it was , e " ,e 'position—it was exactly over the .. left temple. II Blake examined it. t "This is particularly interesting," 'to . !, sal d. "The theory is that Mr. Flaxman was attacked suddenly taken un- 1 j awares; yet, from the position of tnc . wound, it is quite impossible that the , attack could have been made from behind."

c 'By Jove, Mr. Blake, you're right!" , exclaimed 'Johnson. "He must have j seen the man—even if it was only at the last instant." 5 "This is one of those cases," said L Blake, "i n which, having eliminated all ,! that cannot have happened, we must pin our minds to what must have liap- ' pencd, however improbable it may ap. '1 pear at first sight. I "Mr. Klaxir.au .entered the carriage 11 here -it Merriton in good health and ■ spirits. One door of the carriage u locked, the other under observation i: l' the train 'was travelling at a very considerable speed.' "We have proved by experiment that ■ it is a physical impossibility that any man can have entered the carriage from , the line en route—even setting aside the 1 fact that he could not have known in ! which carriage Mr. Flaxman was travc!1 ling. It is equally impossible that a man from another carriage could have made his way along the footboards, lor the handholds, the distances between which I measured, are too far apart. "Yet Mr. Flaxman was found dead when the train drew into Fulchurcb, twenty minutes later, and there is no obstruction of any sort along the ,; ne or in the tunnel which comes closer than five feet to the carriage window. "From those facts—and from the fact that there was no attempt at robbery, though the dead man had property of considerable value on him—there is oae obvious deduction—that Mr. Flaxman's assailant was not on the train at all during any part of the journey." • "But, confound it all, you yourself said that, from the position of the wound, he must have seen the man!" "Pardon me! It was you who said that. All I pointed out was that the blow could not have been struck from behind. By the way, perhaps yon can tell me, was Mr. Flaxman an athletic man—fond of sports, and so forth?" "Yes, very. Of course, he was getting on a bit, and had put on weight, so he couldn't do much himself except play | golf; but he was a keen supporter the local cricket and football clubs." "Ah, thanks! Well, now, if I may, I'll leave my friend Bathurst 011 your hands for an hour or so whilst I go ■for a stroll. I can't tell you when I shall be back, but the moment I return I will some straight to your office." "You have a theory, then?" 1 , "That is, perhaps, too much to say; but I have every hope of finding the implement with which Mr. Flaxman was killed."

It was past five in the afternoon when Blake knocked at the door of Mr. Johnson's private sanctum. "There's someone with him," said Bathurst. "I wonder "

The door was flung open, and Blake appeared, ushering in an elderly gentleman with a white moustache, dressed i;i a light flannel suit, and obviously "much agitated. "Colonel Kingsford!" exclaimed Mr. Johnson, in surprise. "Yes, Colonel Kingsford," said Blake I gravely, "who, unfortunately, but quite I innocently, is responsible for Mr. Flax-1 man's death." / "Good heavens!" gasped Mr. Johnson. I And the colonel sank heavily into a I chair, covering hie eyes with his hand, j "But, my dear sir, this is impossible!"' Johnson blurted out. ,

"On the contrary, it is, unfortunately, the truth," said Blake. "The whole affair was an accident. I will explain. I told you that I had satisfied myself that Mr. Flaxman's assailant had not been on the train. As a matter of fact, I felt pretty sure that he had not been hear it. In other words, I was sure the implement was really a missile of some sort—a rounded stone thrown by chance by some mischievous hoy, or—and tli-s was far more favorable—a golf-ball.

"On my way down the line I had noticed a golf-course on that side, some of the holes of which run parallel wifi, and dangerously close to, the railway. "Two at least of the teeing-grou.ids are so placed that a sliced ball—that is, of course, a ball curving away to the right—would inevitably cross the "ine or crash into a passing train. A ball hit with the full strength of a grown man has a terrific initial velocity; add to that the velocity of a train travelling ■it nearly thirty miles an hour in the opposite direction, and the force of impact would be tremendous. "I bicycled out to the club, obtained the services of half a dozen boys, and bade'them search the line and the embankment at points where a ball driven from either of those two tees might be expected to land after rebound from th; impact. It' took a couple of hours' hard searching, but at last we found it in some long grass halfway down the slope. Here it Is. You will notice that there are still slight traces of blood on this side of it.

"As luck >would have it, the owner, as is not unusual, had put a private mark on it—this little circle, drawn with an indelible ink pencil. "One of the caddies recognised it a 1 once as Colonel Kingsford's mark. Of course, I had not told them why I was searching for a ball there. "I found Colonel Kingsford at the club, and, on my asking him, lie at once remembered losing a ball at that hole the previous afternoon. "He was playing around with his wife. They had no caddies with them, and on that particular hole the full glare o c the sun was straight in their ey-!S. Neither of them saw the ball at all from the instant of its leaving the tec. Not only that, the colonel distinctly remembers the train passing as he played his stroke, and accounted for his failure to see the ball by the fact that Uie train distracted his attention.

"What happened, of course, was that he drove it awav to the right. Mr. Flaxman was leaning partly out of the open window, looking at the course—lie was, I learn, a prominent member of S-1.0 club—and the ball caught him with terrific force »n the side of the head, killing liirn instantly, "It was a deplorable accident, and I am sure the colonel has W sj»eere)-t sympathies. "Bathurst, we can just catch the ap train if we hurry."—Answers,