The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-06-28

IL don't know, sir" she stammsred
with scared look. II can take my
stand in any court Of"
Face this way" ma am" interrupted
Lakeland. who was indignant at tn,
way in which Gebb was usurping his
authority. I'm in charge OF this office.
I'm the officer to take your evidence.
Mr.. Gebb. Discipline!"
"Ali right, go ahead" replied the de-
tective, inwardly cursing the too meth
odical procedure of his superior. II
don't want to interfere. But" he add
ed with emphasis, II think we should
so at once and look at the corpse"
''All i'm good time, Mr.. Gebb. More
haste, less speed" said Lakeland crisp
ly.
And the more delay the less chance
OF getting at the truth" retorted Gebb.
The fact was that Gebb's sporting in
stincts were reused. ard he wanted 20
be off on the trail while il was yet fresh.
Every moment was of Importance. Yet,
as he was not in charge of the case. he
was forced to stand idly by and hear
the laundering inspector putting a lot
of irrelevant questions-good for moth
ing. but wasting time. However. Gebb
managed to exact some grains Of wheat
out of a vast quantity of chaff. and in
a roundabout way-.thanks to the in
spector's method OF questioning
learned the following facts, which were
sufficient to inform him how matters
stood at present:
- Miss Ligram was, or rather had been,
since she no longer existed. a lodger In
the house of Mrs. Presk. No. 13 Para
disc row. She was a quiet, inoffensive
old lady, who gave little trouble and
who remained by preference in her own
room. On the night OF July "a Mrs.
Presk and her servant, Matilda Crane,
had attended lecture delivered I'm the
Town hall The lecture-an amusing
one on Charles Dickens and his works
had afforded them much pleasure, and
they returned at IL oclick to Paradise
row in state of high spirits On pass
ing round to the back entrance they
saw that n light was still burning IN
Miss Ligram's sitting room. and Won
dering at the sight-for the lodger usu-
ally retired early-Mrs. Presk on enters
ing the house had gone upstairs to see
IL anything was wrong. To her horror
she found Miss Lgram dead with n
cord round her neck. Terrified by the
sight she had called up Matilda Crane.
who. more impressionabl and less
hardened. had promptly tainted away.
Mrs. Presk "a woman Of energy and re-
source. had Immediately sought the aid
OF the police, and now insisted that
Lakeland and his subordinates should
remove the corpse and capture the
murderer
That last is easier said than done"
was Gebb's comment on this demand.
by this time tte~sassassin is far
enough away. However. there's no time
to be lost in looking at the scene of the
crime. as I suggested"
quite so." said Lakeland gruffly.
"No time to waste. ma'am." to Mrs.
Presk. March. Gebb come with me
and catch the murderer"
This proposition recommending itself
TO Mrs Presk. she left the police office
with inspector and detective, and led
the pair TO her housef which was situa-
ted down a side street no great dis
tance away. As the front door was
closed, she conducted the men round
the back way. through the kitchen and
up the stairs into Miss Lgram's sitting
room. ON the mat in the passage Til
da. the servant. lay still inscnslble. so
Mrs. Presk lifted her IN her strong arms
and carried her TO the kitchen to be
revived as speedily as possible .fin case.
as was almost certain, her evidence
might be wanted In the meantime
Lakeland and Gebb had entered the