Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-24
CHAPTER XII.

Beatrice reached out hand and steadied
herself against a chair. Just for a mo-
ment the whole world seemed to be spin
ming around her. Brave and courageous
as she was these shocks, coming one after
thu other had been too much for her.
When she opened her eyes again she found
that Mark Ventmere was standing by her
side.
Courage, darling he whispered. 1--WE
seem to have come to the worst OF every
thing. Whatever may be the result and
meaning of this dastardly outrage, nothing
can hurt your father
The color was slowly coming back into
the girls palid lips. With an effort she
struggled for the possession or herseif.
She was alone in the world, she had po-
sltion that would cause most of her women
friends to turn coldly from her, but Mark
remained. And there was always the feel
ing that she had nothing further to fear
from Stephen Richford.
II can bear it all now" she said. Tell
me everything, please.
Up to the present there Is very little TO
say" Inspector Field observed. Il came
here little before 10 his morning to open
Sir Charles bed room so as to be prepared
for the visit of the jury and the coroner.
After the decision arrived at by both doc
tors. of course the inquest today would
have been quite formal. 1t would have
Deen ueIerfeQ IOr Il rev DAYS p6uuluS TIC
post-mortem examination. 1 am putting it
as delicately as possible
oh. know. 1 know" Beatrice said with
a shudder. "Only it is a dreadful thing
for a daughter to listen to. VIII you go
on, please?
that the seals have not been tempered with
OF course in large hotel like this, where
guests are in the corridor all day and
night l never for a moment anticipated
anything wrong. Still, 1 examined the
seals carefully and they appeared to me to
be absolutely intact. With my sergeant we
broke the seals and entered the room, the
door of which was locked. Imagine our
establishment when we found that the body
the extraordinary cases that have come
ever under my notice l never recollect any
thing amazing as this
1t was amazing. stupendous-so much so
that nobody spoke for a little time. Be-
Rtrice had taken a seat and sat waiting
for somebody to ask questions. She was
no longer dazed and frightened; her brain
was working rapidly. 1t seemed to her that
she would be able to throw light on this
mysterious disappearance presently.
Are you quite sure that the seals are
intact?" Mark asked.
IF you had asked me that question half
an hour ago 1 should have said most as
suredly so, SIR" Field replied II looked
carefully to see. We always do. How on
earth a body could have been spirited
away like this with people about till late.
to say nothing of the night Waterman go
Ing his rounds and the night porter down
below-but we need not go into that yet
My seals appeared to be In perfect order.
But that really could not have been the
fact" Mark persisted. II fancy We can
dispense with the idea that Sir Charles
was removed by spiritual agency. Now.
would it not have been possible for any one
to have taken an impression of the seals?'
Just possible" Field admitted But
what would have been the use Of"
"A great deal of use. 1t seems to me-"
Mark went on. But l will come to that
presently. Let us take one thing at time.
For some reason other those scoundrels
have found 1t imperatively necessary to
spirit away the body of Sir Charles. Per-
haps they are afraid of the result of a post
1nortem. That is another point we need
not bother about for the present Did you
give any orders to the Waterman here to
keep an eye on that door,"
il..Well,- L did," Field admitted 1T partic-
ularly mentioned the seals. In case any
very Jealous housemaid, imagining that
somebody had been disfguring the doors,
Should remove them. ..
Then If the seals had been broken the
night Waterman would have noticed it?"
r'I should say that such thing was
highly possible" Field admitted. with an
ndmring glance in the direction Of his
questioner. Really. sir. You would make
the scoundrels might require some little
time in the next room, and that any inter-
ruption-"
Precisely" Mark proceeded LET us
admit, for the sake of argument, that these
men were staying in the hotel last night
Where so many people come and go they
would not be noticed. and, the whole,
that plan would be safer. II they were
seen. even in the dead of night, in the cor
ridor-possibly in slippers and pajamas-
by the Waterman, no suspicion would have
been aroused. Previously they had man
aged to get an Impression of the seal and
made one like it. They then broke the seal
and entered the room by means of a mas
ter key. The confederate outside imme-
n 81 oil nod fInr cnnl hoo
inside were quite safe until they were
ready. After the body was stolen, another
seal affixed which gave them plenty of
time and prevented discovery by the night
Waterman, to say nothing Of the addition
of mystery to the thing"
The inspector nodded approvngly. So far
as he could see, the reasoning was per-
fectly clear But then it did not tend to