The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-10-10

row limits Of the attic. by the way,
do you know that Norman was a Sc
cret drinker of brandyT'
Paul nodded, and told the detective
what he had learned from Mrs. Kriil.
Hurd was much struck with the intelll-
gence. 81 Sec" said he; what Mrs.
Krill says is quite true. Drink does
change the ordinary nature into the
opposite. Krill sober was timid rab-
bit; Krlll drunk was a murderer and a
thief. Good Lord, and how he drankp'
''How do you knOw?"
"Well." confessed Hurd, nursing his
chin, "Pash and l went to search the
Gwynne street house to find if possible
the story alluded to In the scrap of
paper Deborah Junk found. We
couldn't drop across anything OF that
sort, but in Norman's bedroom. which
nobody ever entered, we found brandy
bottles by the score-under the bed,
ranged along the walls, filling cup
boards, slowed away in boxes. 1 had
the curiosity to count them. Those
we found ran up to 500, and Lord
knows how many more he must have
got rid of when he found the bottles
crowding him inconveniently."
Il expect he got drunk every night,
said Paul, thinking. when he locked
up Sylvia and Deborah in the upper
room-I can understand now why he
did so-he could go to the cellar and
take possession of the shop key left on
the nail by Bart Then, free from all
Intrusion, he could drink till Keeling.
Not that l think he ever did reel" went
on Beecot mindful of what Mrs. Krill
had said; 'he could stand lot, and 1
expect the brandy only converted him
into a demon"
"And a clever business man." said
Hurd. you know Aaron Norman was
not clever over the books. Bart sold
those, but from all accounts he was a
Shylock when dealing, after Z o'clock,
In the pawnbroking way. under
stand now Sober, he was a timid foolj
drunk, he was a bold, clever villain"
MY poor Sylvia, what a father"
sighed Paul. But this crime
I'll tell you about it. Lemuel Krill
and his wife kept the Red Pig at
Christchurch, a little public house it is,
on the outskirts of the town, frequent
ed by farm laborers and such like. The
business was pretty good, but the cou-
pie didn't look to making their fortune.
Mrs. Krill was a farmers daughter"
"a Buckinghamshire farmer" said
Paul.
GLOW do you know? Oh ION receiv-
ing information), Mrs. Krill told you
so? Well, considering the murder of
Lady Rachel, she would have done bet
ter to hold her tongue and have COM
menced life with her dead husband 8
money under a new name. She's q
clever woman, too" unused Hurd. Il
can't understand her being so unneces-
sarily frank"
Never mind. Go on" said Paul i'm
patiently.
Hurd returned to his seat and refill
ed his pipe. well. then" he contin-
ued, 'Krill got drunk and gave his
wife great trouble Sometimes he
thrashed her and BACKED her eyes, and
lie treated their daughter badly too"
I1OW OIu was TIT dAuShANA
81 can't say. Why do you ask"
'T'I tell you later Go on, please"
''Weu. then, Mrs. Krill always re-
venged herself on her husband when
he was sober and timid, so the couple
We're evenly matched. Krill was mas
ter when drunk. and his wife mistress
when he was sOber-a kind of seesaN
DeI e. InI
where does Lady Rachel come inr
"What an impatient chap you are,
demonstrated Hurd in q friendly tone
I'm coming to that now. Lady Rache
quarreled with her father over SOM
young artist she wanted to marry. H,
would not allow the lover to come t
the hall, so Lady Rachel said she woulC
kill herself rather than give him up"
And she did said Paul, thinking o
the suicide theory.
There you go again. How am t
tell you all when you interrupt"
Il beg your pardon. l won't do S
again"
Hurd nodded smilingly and contin
ued. lone night-it was dark an
stormy-Lady Rachel had row roya
with her father. Then she ran out o
the hall saying her father would neve
see her alive again. She may have In
tended to commit suicide certainly O
she may have intended to join he
lover in London. But whatever sh
intended to do, the rain cooled her
She staggered into Christchurch ant
fell down insensible at the door OF tn
Red Pig Mrs. Kriu brought her in
doors and laid her on a bed
Did she know who the lady was :?
Hurd shook his head ''She said il
her evidence that she did not, but liv
ing in the neighborhood she certainl.
must have seen Lady Rachel some
times. Krill was drunk as usual. H
had been BOOKING all the day with
skipper Of some craft at Southampton
He was good for nothing, so Mrs. Kril
did everything. She declares that sh
went to bed at II, leaving Lady Rache
sleeping"