The Dark House at Highgate

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10680, 29 July 1912, Page 2

The Dark House at Highgate

'OUR jSERIAL.)

CHAPTER IV.—Ccnt-inucd

"Jut it would mean promotion for you if you could pat the !\tcj on the iraek c;f iburglars and pmtans I urged. "There was no burglary—nothing vsiolr.u ; that much 's certain," said 'ie, "jir.iJ it wor.hl live."..'i' the poor--lioi:g.- fur me and the kids ii .m.thing ■came leif it, anld lit \vat> f.linwn to bo >a <« of .siuicide, which, very like.y ,it vw. I've heard mthhig that pees to ;.th:)vv to the cccitiary." , B , invaro as 1 w.i.» of the peril . that itJucat-riied AxuvSk happiness, I was net disii>Ga:d to lot the matter -drop. I .felt certain- flirt the American had tairjpered wviu my wine, ami th.it the dragging 'must have been >d«ne with -a purp::w. It was odd iihat ithl'fi did! not occur to me as f.'-mu •ap I found tfoa policeman, sleeping by tho roadside. "You know I cant ignore th? iruttei;," J s:£d. "Very well, .ar,'" raid tho .;v.o!ce■man. "JJut if you toll your story. I shall ha.vo to give my side of it. ! idiaM have to say, 1 ' lie wedt (An rciflcetivcly, "thl.it it was yru that adfministe.red lioev:.--!.! d d-nhik to Mr Mbtt ivnl mo. And it .may Hook as. if you -wanted to levvo the house in tire ■right, .uukno.vn 'to the landlord, a.nd ■as if you c'uln't wish to have me int'.ffli'fcir.ing with you. -when you wcto niiti-, : .:1u.' A£ thct trlb n'uaiti'fit tire America vi doctor tells equally against ■ydursuf. <: : iv. as I leek at ft." The ruddy-jracod .pciYcenv.-n .might appear simple and bucolic, "but 1 realised that he bad h'rj wifn about .him. and t'.wb -there \va.s n.ndi c-veso in bin (logic. If Mr Mott end the policeman .liad been drugged, it was I, Peter Ryoroft, who hl'd drugged them, al.though in perfect ignorance. But innocence decs xtot! alway.s .pass for what it is. Plainly, it miiglht not ibe safe j ito .pursue the matter further, i For ni.y own sa-tisfaet-iovi, however, ] and; with a determination to leave | nothing undone that might alley-late A"i,ii'3'« anxiety, I wallkecl on to the Jolly Farmer'lnn and asked for the .imply port bottle, explaining, as fully ! en "oii'veniicnt, my 'reason for ] \v;\: ;t. 'there might be some .di'Ygoleft in -It, I thought, that a clie- ; \Y':t Voud am.'lyoo, a.ivcl tlie -prcscince •of a-;jy drug could 'be detected. But a cartload of empty tattles bad been i'n>!it hack to tho- wine, dealer that niwx'ning, my empty 'bottle amongst ttoem. As for the strangers,, they had 3eft i tli's ilvoune at .nine o'clock h. a t'.xi- ! cab that had como for thorn from the , market town, three mil&r.' away. .1 had to iC-f) i »fe?* myself lxai?'c ; ii frr the present— as irt'.i amateur detective I did not .shine— jcitl I waVc-.l back -to Holly Lodge -in a very d:«.wvtisfied frame of mind. Pfc wa.s Tony who received nic this 'time, rising -briskly froni a gsrek-:! chair, and comiuig fivrwßivd wifch ccrd•lalT ii.and .outstixtchcd— a pale young mini, neatly drc-s/scd, witli raven hair '{nidi div:ic -eyev. Tony had a Jiajipy 'knack of stroking' every one the -right wfly. and -he greeted me now a's if I were the enc .mja'U. in the vrcrkl lie .most wmnted to see. "Vory glad to .see yon,, old chap,"' li-o sa.id. "I miu'it liLve mi-soad yon on tllte way isomeihow. Anne said you had gone to tho -police station", and I've just come from it. Sit down. I'll gi,ve you scimcthiug cool to dr'nk and you'll y'my to dinner." ii yieide-d to all the yciM m.an'..awaited his return 'fr'om f-h'3 bouse with two tank:ird& of some insidiously r.i'cring beverage <;f ?]i* own. mixing, and then spoke of the tragedy at Polton. "So you know this ?vlr Bctewcrth r" 1 wid. "Ye-f, 1 was dining win'th liim only last 'night," -said Tou'y, iligliting a cigarette. "The police are simply useless, you know. They've got it into their thick heads th.it it was a case of .suicide. It was nothing of the sort." "You fipeak confidently, Tony." "Certainly j I knew the man." "Wnai't a ipistol found beside km, and empty?" I asked. "Xot beside .him], so far as I can gather," exclaimed Tony. "The -poor old chip was found lying half way between his table and the .winodw. The pistol was on the floor, just inside the w?n,dovr." - "It .might have slipped from his hand when he fell. !S6 murderer wbw-ld leave such a damiMiig ]}iecc of icvidc-noo ibehind Wm," I raid. "My dear fellow, I don't say it wasn't bis pistol," observed Tony. "I think very IKke'ly it was. But if •you slitting .up lato in your 'room, Mid an .armed' burglar, came tbrofigh the window and threatened you, wouldn't you have a pop at him, and peii'haps throw the pistol in his

BY DERWENT MIALL Author of "Lady Rosalie's Lou-acy," "Bellamy's Warning," "The Strange Case -i Vincent Hume," "In tho We,j. •"' Etc Etc.

[ facp if \ -■'' ti:):f.-:oc1 him?" • J "( ;.iK!iiiiln't, pei'f.'.Tnn'ly," T rc- [ !'»I ;■'".!. '•' .•:;:'::;> 1 never possessed j tmwU a vcanon in my Iffo. Ari' jou s;i;v 1 i: ; r; lir 'JicWorLli did?" "Yes," .said Tony. "How do you know?" "How:" rupeited T«:iy. Was it lf;i:-,:-;-. (t; did a bidden finch come into h'r, face? Was there evasion', in }iri,:> voice as he repiicd : "Oh, of course,, he would have firearm.-; of .some* kind for protection, you know. People in the countrv do." It was so unlike Tony to iViok guilty when questioned that J chitted 1111e'asily in my chair, disturbed by sudden suspicion. And yet Tony could not hnve done a 'po:r old gentleman to death, ft was unthinkable. But he w.a.s plainly cijlsen-.i.ehvted as ho accounted -for the finding of the pisi toi. "Won't the' -size of the ibullet teil whether it -was fired cut <jf the pitted *th:vfc was found rjn the* room?" F o-nn--1 tinned, after a few uncomfortable mo-mobt-s. "Not jie.cces.uily,,'' replied Tony. "Two men may ilrave weapons of the same calibre." He seemed determined that the '•weapon found hi,.Mr Betsworfch's room -a-, not the carjso of h.. ; s death, and T had to accept the ni'iing cif 1.1. law student,, unversed as I was myself in the weighting of evidence. ; "But you went to the police station yoursetf," pursued To,ny. "Am T to knew why?" "Oh,, yes. Thei<e were two stran-) gers staying at the inn last right, air:). 1 thought they might have had ,snneS thing to do with the tmgedy: But the policeman has convinced .me that j-any evidence which might toil against *thcm wcuM toll with even greater •force against Ah, here J s | your mother," I concluded, rkuig j to shake hankls with a pretty, fruil- \ looking woman of fifty, with si I vet !hair and dark eyes, .remarjvably like •Tony's. "Don't .say anything ahout this •affair before my mother," wlmpared the young .man, always, gently considl 'erate of her, although he might cause ( f her many anxieties by hi* oxtravaI -gant mode of living. A.nd J acial uf>- ' on his waiiiiiing cn-mi^li. i Tlie Bets worth mystery was ibpgpining to get upen my w.'vo*. oud ! I ta.-iec.' to forgot about it; t'-vd, olso, | I to d'erget Tony's manner wis. n arkod fiow 'he came to know that the dead man lind a pistol in Mb . r :*w6n. | Fancy had mif/.ed me, no doubt, when I, .1 thought I detected evasion in the ymmg mab'« t'Mies; at all evoait.?, it was ploasanter to think so. The occasion was not quite such a pl:as>.int ire-union ns it imigM mivo been had no shadow fallen upon tke •;ioigh!*::urh;wd ; but Mr il!f*t*.',vfirth had bo-era a stirainse-r to Mrs Kettering, so there wm no, n-asc-n why the Matter's sprite rdiould bo mi- ! duly caet down. A.n.ne ,howevfr, waworried, and could lx«r>t >wholiy shake off lier preoccupation' of mind throughout dii-mier. Later, when the ftrat -stirs had begun to f.viiiilcle, and bata flitted about the-, eaves of the .house, -she strolled out into tho garden with me, and we walked up and down Ibecitfe the holly hedge dividing tke garden from tlie road. The rote* of Schubert's "Serenade" crme droflpinajly tiirough the dw.'k,, for Tony was playing the piano in .the' low, old fad'iiened parlour, and the windows had been left open. Tony played well, and the sensuous melody was vaguely d:«-. r,uiet>.)g. A iiiue of Browniu&'s kept running in my h?.id : "Never the time, •Mid (the ,p!ace, and the. loved one all together." There was nothing ami-s-s ■with the pl'ace, but it was truly , a 'troubled time. What, a pity this trouble hiwl intruded!! And yet, where not Anue'fj i'eiris rather ctiimerieal ? 1 wa.nted to comfort'her. Telling her s:i, a.nd M-dding her think lens about the tragedy, I took her baud and- put it On my arm. We tunied. at the end of the ipath and paced back toward .* the gate, talk-:rig. 5n ilow tone?.., her 'hand sti!l ire.sting.on .my ivr.in, jvhen a tall figure cimo in througli the gate and cxwiifrouted us. It was I'i'sdnile, with a Mglu coat open over 9xis evening dress. "Ob, 1 il>eg your p/.ivdon," be «iid, .fttarming an 'surinrise. Tlie're was a significant pause'. "My mother sent jme down' with a message for Mrs Kettering," he added coldly, and ! 'strode up to the house ilike a man i.n i.ngt-I'. (To be Continued.)