The Scales of Justice

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8540, 21 September 1907, Page 2

The Scales of Justice

CHAPTER XXXV.—Continued. "Now. do you know, that looks ' quite familiar," she said. "And yet, in some undefined way it is mixed up with the box. Let me think. Now, why does Ihit pager remind me of a lur.ch at the Alexandra Restaurant and red flowers on the table? We had lobster cutlets, and Dr. Beard insisted unon my taking a glass of something. There was a waiter with something the matter with his left eye. MrDelamere! .Mr Delamere!" Winifred uttered the name in a low tone. She was quite agitated. "It is as if something had split in my brain and shown me a set of pictures,I*' 1 *' she said. ."The luncheon I spoke of was no dream. I met Dr. Beard in Oxford Street that morning hv accident. I was shopping; getting ready for my wedding. Recollect that' Dr. Beard was disturbed

about something; he did not seem m the least like himse'.f. Whe iwe sat down to lunch a man took his seat at a little table opposite us. &e seemed to be interested -in our movements, and in some vague way i 4; seemed to me that Dr. Beard was afwiid of the str-anger. Somebody spoke to the stranger, and he left his luncheon and went out for a moment." "And in that moment Dr. Beard gave .you something to take care of?" Delamere suggested. right, Mr Delamere!' Winifred exclaimed. "Bow clever of to guess at!" Delamere exchanged glances with the others. So far, his theory was working-out with the most gratifying results. The stranger was a detective, and Beard had reason to be ■afraid of him. "I am not in the- least clever," Delamere said gravely. "Beard gave you something?" "Yes; a packet of papers. They were<folded so that 1 could read the 'outside of one of them. And the outside was exactly like the papers you have, just shown me. That is why the whole recollection has come back to me. The doctor handed me the papers with instructions to place them in the pocket of my loose jacket, and I did so. He said that I - was- to place them in some safe spot, and that.he would call for them that evening at our house.'' "Did the stranger you have spoken of come back again?" Delamere asked. "Oh, yes! He was not away more than a minute altogether. He returned and finished his lunch. He left the restaurant at the same time : that we did, and the doctor put me in ■ a cab." "Did Beard seem easier in his mind after he had parted with the papers?" Delamere asked. "Well, yes!" Winifred said. "Now you come to mention it, he did. Really, it is quite clever of me to remember all these details." Winifred talked with the easy abandon of a child. Not for a moment did she realise the tremendous importance of the occasion. 1 * , She did not seem to realise what her story meant. But to Delamere and the others it was quite plain. Beard had those stolen bonds in his pocket; He had • recognised the detective, and naturally concluded that he was the quarry the police were after. Hence his .disposal of- the bonds. They would.be quite safe in the possession of Winifred for an. hour or two. She would not Have the slightest idea of their value, and had promised not to say.anything about.them. "After that, I suppose you went home?" .Delamere.asked. "You went home, .and probably deposited, the .papers; in your little, red box? Shall «we.take.that for granted, Miss WuiiJred?"

"I suppose we -shall have to," Winifred, smiled, seeing that we have .discovered the papers .in the box. JBut I.can.assure .youihat I have not the faintest recollection of having ■placed.them.there. 1 am quite confused ,aod misty.on ithat,point." ".Then we vWill .try 3'QU," Delamere.said. "What I want .to.know.is, why .did .npt.iDr. Beard <come round .the .-same .evening and take,them .back?" "JThat.is,the simpleatccigestion you fcave [ yejt .asked mq," Winifred smiled, " When I reached :hpm§, ithere was.a,little surprise, in store for me. Gilbert .and Mary .weitp ithere, and they .had planned a .vyeekte .excursion 'to Hastings. We were to go .by train that evening. I .was so .delighted that I forgot iall about and his jpapers. .We went .away that evening, and .stayed for. weight days. Dr. Beard did not come near us." Delamere noddsd thoughtfully. He knejy perfectly .well, why .Beard had not gone £<■» Hastings; it was because Gilbert D,qy,le was there. It .seemed strange to the Virginian that Mary and Winifred should never noted how .compMely Beard avoided Gilbert Boyle.. Tihere was a good reason few this, as everybody knew except the innocent victim. At .that moment U w.as imperative, that Beard should run no kind of risk. "Then you did npj; .see Dr. Beatd again t'll your wedding morning?" Delamere askec:. i "No; I would rather .not speak of that tim?, piease. After that my mind was absolutely a bjkjnk. Ido not even want to think of it. It was so dreary and dreadful." "I have nearly finished," Delamere went on. "Yrulost all recollection of everything, I.daresay Dr. Beard has asked you several tiis.es since .what you did with those papers/ What did you say?" J "What could I say Mr Delamere? 1 had not the faintest recollection of any papers. I could not recall one incidtnt relating to tha*- lunch at the Alexandra. >lt was all an absolute blank. Over and over again Dr. Beard has questioned me, but to no effect." j "I hope he did not bully you over

By FRED M. WHITE,

- [Published By Special Arrangement.; [All Eights Reserved.]

it," Delamere smiled m> '. "He was everything t- good and kind," Winifred d< "I know that there are J. aople who regard him with susj ut to me he has been the b men. Bully me! Oh, dear, i are is not a kinder man in the Delamere hastened to - n any personal feeling in the n Neither did he attempt to c* ; conversation any further. - i own mind he was perfectly s with the result of his cross- ation of Winifred. Beard was jower now, and was going to >■ penalty of his guilt before But thei-e was much to b< yet. Winifred had left the along with Mary, and Flora to Delamere eagerly. "You feel certain the , ire on the right track?" P asked eagerly. "Absolutely," Delamt plied. "And my brother is of th •■;•■ opinion. When Beard pass. ■ ■■. those bonds to Miss Winifred >. .lor, he had a feeling that he wt; followed. Probably he recalled the stranger in the restau ;•!'.- as a famous detective. Beam :. -.. to the opportunity as he. alway.-' - ,>s. He rid himself of the illuminating papers so that he would !..- if an arrest was made. He v.v..-. dealing with an innocent girl, who a aid not have the faintest suspi-.:.-n that anything was wrong. Ami he could see his way to recover the i;-.;.ds in a few hours. But that u';::xpected jaunt to Hastings upset all t:i •• caJcualtions. If Gilbert Doyle had not accompanied the sisters, !■: would have gone down next day. Still, it was all right. Getting tii-: papers back was only a matter of ti-i-e. "You see, the wedding was fixed so far as Doyle was concerneii—Beard knew that he would be permanently out of the way before very long. Then he would get his papers. But he did not quite calculate upon the effect of his scheme; he did not expect that Miss Winifred would, suffer so terribly from the shock. That she suffered is known to all of Os. It is quite within the bounds of possibility that Miss Winif'ied forgot all about these papers. Yet, at the back of the stricken brain all the time was the knowledge that that red box contained valuables, and must be prized accordingly. . Miss Winifred was so fond of the box and took such care of it, that Beard regarded the feeling as, the outcome of ' childishness. The box was fastened, and nobody but Miss Winifred had the secret of the lock. And she had forgotten it. The papers, moreover, are light, and they were packed lightly, and could not rattle, so the box had the suggestion of being empty. And all these years Beard's ill-gotten gains had literally been staring him n the face?"

"It seems almost impossible," Flora said incredulously. "Well, so it does. And yet stranger things are happening around us every day. Beard might, with some plausibility, say that Winifred was under a complete delusion as to these bonds, and that if they were in her possession, why, Doyle gave them to her. But with so pointed a weapon in our hands, we shall find a way of using it to the best effect. . Beard must be tricked. It would be the greatest satisfaction to me to lure him* on and on-until he was caught red-handed. Not that I shall be satisfied with that. There is another of the thieves to catch."

"I am afraid that I don't quite follow you," Flora said. "Surely you have not forgotten Beard's unworthy accomplice, Madame Regnier. She had just as much of a hand m Doyle's, ruin as Beard. She. it was who found in Doyle's possession those bonds, or a portion of those bonds, that led to his arrest. She it was who wrote innocent-look-ing notes that were 'confirmation strong as proof of Holy Writ,' when they were produced in Court after being found in Doyle's waste-paper basket." ■"I had forgotten that woman," Flora said, the honest anger shining in her eyes. "You have some scheme to take the,two at the same time" "Weil, that is the idea," Delamere admitted. "I haven't quite thought it out' yet, but my notion i 3 to persuade Madame Regnier that her ally "is playing her false. I want to bring the two together and provoke a quarrel that we can overhear. I read a story in. a magazine the other day, that first gave me an inspiration. I'll tell it you when I.have got the details all worked out. But I will require Miss Winifred." "J3ut you will not be able to let ner ,know that she is part of the plot," Flora argued. (To be continued.)