Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-26
THESLAVE OF SILENCE
BY FRED M. WHITE.
Copyright 1906 by n.ndc Company es.ed)
BY FRED NJ. WHITE.
CHAPTER XIII.

CHAPTER XIII
Berrington's exclamation of surprise was
not lost upon Inspector Field. He stood OBJ
viously waiting for the gallant officer to say
something. AS there was a somewhat long
pause, the inspector took up the parable for
himself.
I'm a great many cases that come under
our hands, so many give US chance" he
said. I'VE allow something for luck. More
than once in looking up one business l
have come across a burning clue OF an
other"
What is the meaning Of all this phil
osophy, Mr.. Field?'' Bennington asked.
well, / think it is pretty obvious, If you
care to see 1t. We are engaged. just for
the present, on looking for private han
som, painted black. in which is seated a
lame gentleman. The rest of our investiga-
ton does not matter just now, because we
have beyond doubt actually traced the par
ties who conveyed the body of Sir Charles
from the hotel. When the lame gentleman
Is spoken OF you say something about No
you know something Of the man. or at any
rate you think you do. May l point out
that it is your duty to help us if you can"
Bennington looked uncomfortable. AS a
matter of fact he had made up his mind to
say nothing to Audley place.
There are several Audley places in the
Directory Field went on. Il am sure
you would not put us to the trouble of look
ing them all up. sir. Tell me all you know.
Anything that you may say will be treated
as CONFIDENTIAL
Il quite see your reasoning" Bennington
replied. Let me tell you that l should
have said nothing-for the present, at any
rate-had I not betrayed myself. Look
here, Field, 1 might just as well inform you
that We are treading on very delicate ground
here. AS soon as 1 begin to speak, Sir
Charles daughter comes into the business"
You mean Miss Darryll-Mrs. Richford, l
should say. How, colonel?"
Because I am quite sure that she knows
something of the matter. In the first place
you must understand that the marriage was
the reverse of a love match. Sir Charles
affairs were in anything but a prosperous
condition at the time of his DEATH
"In fact he was on the point Of being ar
rested in connection with certain COM
pany,' Field said coolly. II got that IN
mere piece of gossip, but did not identify
it as in any way connected with the sub
sequent tragedy"
well, l should not be surprised to hear
that it had an important bearing on the
mystery. As far as I could judge after the
wedding there was a quarrel between Mr.
and Mrs. Richford-"
"Ahr' Field exclaimed. His face was
shrewd and eager. Can you tell me what
about?"
Indeed, ] cannot I cannot even guess
But can't see what that has to do with
it,"
Mrs. Richford shall tell me herself, pres
emily. But we are getting no nearer to the
lame gentleman in Audley place"
ooh, yes we are. Let us admit that quar-
rel. l am certain of it, because Yesterday
Mr.. Richford had luncheon at the same
table myself. He ordered steak and
potatoes. When 1t came he asked the waiter
who had been putting salt on his plate
Sure enough, there was salt on his plate,
and in the shape of bullet. Directly Rich
ford saw that his whole aspect changed. He
was like one beside himself with terror. He
did not know that l was watching him; he
knew nothing beyond the horror of the mo-
ment.'
you mean that shaped salt had some
hidden meaning sir?' Field asked.
II am certain of it. Now don't run your
head up against the idea that you are on
the track of some political society, that
anarchism has anything to do with it. 1t so
happens that / have seen that salt sign
before in India under strange circumstances
that we need not go into at the present mo-
ment. The man who pointed 1t out to me
disappeared and was never heard of again.
The sign was in his own plate at dinner. A
little later l was enabled to get to the bot
tom Of the whole thing; the story shall be
told you in due course.
We'll l wanted to see what Mr.. RichfOrd
would do next. Was the sign an imperative
one or not? Evidently it was, for he got
up, finished his brandy and left the table
without having had a single mouthful of
have taken action, but you see, Mrs.
Richford is a great friend of mine, and
was anxious to see how far her husband
was in with these people. To make long
story short, 1 followed Richford's cab, and
traced him to No. 100 Audley place, which
is somewhat at the back OF Wandsworth
common. There l was SO fortunate as to
find a policeman who had been in my regi-
al 10 IN for ION,
he could as to the inhabitants of the house.
The gist of that information was that the
owner of the house was a lame gentleman
who sometimes went out in a bath chair.
Now you do see why 1 cried out when the
cabman finished his story today?'
Field nodded thoughtfully. He saw per-
fectly WELL For little time he was silent,
piecing the puzzle together. On the whole,
he was more than satisfied with the morn
ing's work.
II see," he said at length 1.-THE lame
gentleman, of course. sent the message to
Mr. Richford. Within a few hours the body
of Sir Charles disappears Why, them was
this message sent? So that the lame man
could get posted in all his facts with a view
to stealing the body In other words, Mrs.
Richford's husband was a party to that
daring crime. Why that body was fetched
away we cannot inquire into at present.
What 1 want to know. and what 1 must
know. is what Mrs. Richford and her hus-
band auarreled about
vision of Beatrice being cross-eXamined by
this sharp, shrewd policeman. And yet the
thing was inevitable. Fields eyes asked
question.
'All right, inspector" Bennington said,
not without some irritation. .Fll go and
see the lady. and let her Know what you
have already found out. suppose it is ia
tai to try to conceal anything. This comes
of lady marrying such a sweep as that
Beatrice listened calmly enough to all Ber-
rington had to say. 1t was not nice to have
to tell her story over again, but she decided
to conceal nothing. She had done foolish
thing, a wrong thing to save her father,
and the world was going to know the Whole
sordid truth. But SO long as Mark stood
by her. what did the opinion of the world
matter?
ASK Inspector Field in here" she said.
mo, I do not blame you, my dear old
friend. Is it not far better that everything
should come out? dreadful crime has
been committed and the guilty should be