Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-30
Shadows.
CHAPTER TX.

The revelation held ne utterly dumb
founded.
Already l had by placing my hand In
contact with the shawl ascertained its
exact texture and saw that both its tint
and its fabric were unquestionably the
same as the tiny fragment 1 held in my
hand. Chenille shawls, as every woman
knows, must be handled carefully or the
ltghtly-made fringe will come asunder;
Tor the kind Of cord Of floss silk is generally
made upon a single thread, which will
break with the slightest strain.
BY some means the shawl in question had
accidently become entangled-or, perhaps
been strained by the sudden uplifting OF
the arm Of the wearer. In any case the
little innocent-looking fragment had be-
come strained and been dropped at the
bedside Of the murdered man.
The gave suspicious of Ethelwynn which
1 had held on the previous night when
she endeavored to justify her sisters
neglect crowded again upon me, and Sir
Bernard's hint at the secret OF her past
thrust the iron deeply into my heart.
My eyes were fixed upon the little OBJ
ject in my palm-the silent but damning
evidence-and my mind became filled by
bitterest regrets. 1 saw how cleverly /
had been duped. and recognized that this
woman whom l had thought an angel was
only a cunning assassin.
No reader, l was not prejudging her!
The thought had already occurred to me
that she might have entered the room
wearing that shawl perhaps to wish the
invalid good night. She had, however, in
answer to my question, declared that she
had retired to bed without seeing him
for Nurse Kate had told her that he
was sleeping. She had therefore not dis
turbed him.
Then yet another thought had occurred
to me. She might have worn the shawl
when she entered after the raising Of the
alarm. In order to clear up that point
l had questioned the servants, one by one,
and all had told me the same story, namely
that Miss Ethelwynn had not entered the
room at all. She had only come to the door
and glanced in, then turned away in hor-
ror and shut herself in her own room. As
far as anyone knew, she had not summoned
suf1oient courage to go in and look upon
the dead mans face. She declared herself
Mortified and dared not to enter the death
chamber.
In the light of my discovery all these
facts as related to me made the truth only
too apparent. She had entered there un-
known to anyone, and that her presence
had been with a fell purpose 1 could no
longer doubt.
II l gave the clue into Amber Jeyons'
hands he would, l knew, quickly follow
1t, gathering up the threads Of the tangled
skein one by enc, until he could openly
charge her with the crime. stood unde-
cided how to act. Should / leave my friend
to make his own Investigations independ-
entity and unbiased, or should l frankly tell
him OF my own startling discovery?
l carefully went through the whole OF
the circumstances. weighing point after
point and decided at last to still retain
the knowledge l had gained. The point
which unbalanced my intention was the
curious admission OF Short regarding the
possession of the knife. So 1 resolved
to say nothing to my friend until after the
inquest.
AS may be imagined, the London papers
that afternoon were full OF the mystery.
Nothing like a frst-class sensation. SUBJ
editors will tell you. There is an art In
alliterative headlines and startling ~"cross-
heads" The inevitable interview with a
member Of the family" who is generally
anonymous, be 1t said, is sure to be eagerly
devcured by the public. The world may
sheer at sensational journalism, but after
all II loves to have it's curiosity excited
over the tragic denouement of some do
nestle secret. AS soon as the first informa-
ton reached the Central News and Press
association, therefore, reporters crowded
upon us. Representatives, not only of the
metropolitan press, but those of the local
newspapers, the Richmond and Twicken-
ham Times the Independent over at Brent
ford, the Middlesex Chronicle at Hounslow,
and even the Middlesex Mercury Of Isle
worth, all We'd with each other in obtaining
the most accurate information.
Say nothing" Jevons urged. "Be civil,
but keep your mouth closed tight. There
are one or two friends of mine among the
crowd. I'll see them and give them some
thing that will carry the story further.
Remember, you mustn't make any statement
whatsoever"
l obsyed him. and although the reporters
followed me about all the morning, and
outside the house the police had difficulty
in preventing a crowd assembling, l refused
to express any opinion or describe any
thing l had witnessed.
At IL o'clock / received a wire from Sir
Bernard at Hove as follows:
much shocked at news. Unfortunately
very unwell. but shall endeavor to be with
you later in the day"
At midday I called at the neighbours
house close to Kew Gardens station, where
the widow and her sister had taken refuge.
Mrs. C~ourtenay was utterly broken down,
for Ethelwynn had told her the terrible
truth that her husband had been murdered.
and both women pounced upon ms eagerly
to ascertain what theory the police now
held.
/ looked at the woman who had held me so
long beneath her spell. Was II possible that
one so open-faced and pure could be the
author OF so dastardly and eowardly a
crime? Her face was white and anxious,
but the eountenance had now re-assumed its
normal innocence of expression. and in her
eyes I saw the genuine love-look Of old. She
had arranged her hair and dress and no
longer wore the shawl.
TITS terrible-terribIe, Ralph" she cried.
Poor Mary! The blow has utterly crushed
II I'M to blame-it is my own fault" ex-
claimed the young widow. hoarsely. Blu
had no idea that his end was so near. l
tried TO be a dutiful wife. but oh-Only
Ethelwynn knows how hard IL was. and
how l suffered. His malady made him un-
bearable, inc instead Of Quarreling /
the better plan was to go out and
leave him with the nurse. What people
have always said was, alas, too true. Owing
to the difference of our age our marriage
was a chastity failure. And now IL has ended