Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-12-25
CHAPTER Kill.

After oil. 10 is true that the unex.
pctcd always hapIsns In my unravel'
ing ~ the Pen inn mystery never fa
q moment expected to find that Francis
wa. alive. was even ignorant that
f.lix hal been to the inn ON that night
lie had ridden round the hack way ~
the house, and As my room was over
the front door hal not heard his ar.
rival. Under these circumstances u
wa. easy for me Ia make the mistake
and think the dead man was Francis,
particularly ~ I was misled by the
marvellous resemblance. between the
brothcrs, and. moreover. saw the pearl
ring On the finger u the corpse My
mistake was . perfectly s,cusablo one,
and I had been confirmed In such cr'
rc0nou. belief by the adroit fashion In
which Francis. for his own safety. kept
up the dcc.ption.
Now I knew the truth-that Francis
was alive and Felix dcad-yet ~ regards
the name ~ the man who had commit.
tel the crime was .till quite In the
dark. Roe GernOn knew. but II was
Questionable whether she would confess,
even to save her own skin Either she
OF s,rcnt was the guilty person, n. none
other was In the inn nj that time. strent
hal vanished. but no doubt she knew
his whercabouts The question was
whether she would tell
"Oh. she'll tell where he Il. night
enough. said Mcrrick. To whom put
this view ~ the matter. ESPECIALLY IL
she IL guilty herself "
"you don't think she IL the criminal,
Mcrricki"
There IL no reason why she should
not IT," he replied argumentatiycly
"sho hed every reason to hate Felix
Briarfeld. lie had promised 10 marry
her and was engaged to Olivia Quite
enough rra-on there for ~ Jealous wom'
an such ~ she seems to b.
But she wanted Felix 90 kill his
brother. - that ,ho might force him To
marry her.
"Yc-. hut that little arrangement did
not come of. My idea u tha, she saw
Felix when he arrived at the Inn and
asked him straight cut II he hal nr'
ranged Ia marry Olivia She would
hear - the engagement while passing
through Marshminster ON her way to
the lone inn. No doub, Felix lied about
the matter. and she lost her temper. II
NAV H. that she did not intend to Kill
him. hut having the poisoned arrowhead
In her hand hal forgot how dangerous
IL WA. and threw herself on him He
put out his hand 30 keep her on. and
~ wa. wounded. Then he died. and, ter
rifiod AZ what the consequences might
L., she and Strrnt left the inn.
"But what about her blackmailing
frnnci.i"
''shc guessed what Francis hal done
and saw chance ~ securing her aims
by putting the murder On IN him. III"
hail ~ compromised himself by his fool.
ish actions that u course he was afraid
to denOuncc her
"still. why did she want To marry
himi She loved felir. not Francis
"It's my opinion she loy-i neither u
them. " -aid Meuick dryly. and simply
wanted to marry for rcspctability. v
"Do you think che will denouno
strnt''
"she'll denouncc any one 10 ave her
self.
"won't you come and hear her col'
fcs-ion, Merrickf'
"Not l. A respectable practitioner
like myself has no business to H. mixed
up In such criminality. Hitherto have
bc,n the sleeping partner Ia this affair
and You have carried through my idoa'
exccllen,ly well. Continue 20 do - and
then come and tell me all about IT, "
"vcry pleasant for you, ! grum'
blcd. but have all the hard work. y
Merrick laughed and pushed me out
~ the door. lie had dozen parents
waiting and could spare no more time
II. said ono last word before left.
"Oh, by the way. Dcnham. .aid he,
lifting warning forefinger. don't
you trust that Rose GcrnOn In the least.
I've locn making inquiries about her,
and she has black rccord-about the
wort In London. l should LAY"