Evening star., 1909-07-13
s A Woman's Enchantment
8 By WILLIAM LIE QUEUX
- by liam lie oueuxl
Copyright. 1909. BY william lie oueux)
CHAPTER IV-Continued.

/ CHAPTER IV-Continued.
| In the room were four men, one oi
whom Cunliffe introduced to me as Chiei
| Inspector Morton, a rather tall, gray
haired, gray-bearded man, who, as every
body knows, is one of the most expert
officers at New Scotland Yard. and one
of the council of seven. which sits in dis
cussion whenever a great crime is com
mitted. That council had already sat, Gun,
life had informed me. The director OF
criminal Investigations had been on the
| spot in his motor car, and gone again
while the quartet now making a thorougl
examination of the place were four OF
| the best known officers OF the c. !. d.
| Very pleased to meet you, sir eX-
| claimed the chief inspector. as he shook
| my hand. Il recollect our friend, Gun
| life. here, speaking of you once or
! twice. So he's brought you here to loos
on. eh: Well" he added, rather thought
fully, this is funny case-very
| curious.
No motive" ventured one of his com
small. black mustache, the ends OF
which were carefully curled.
| Not as far as We can see. Jock, re-
marked another, calling the detective by
his nickname, as is the usual habit
among the men of the department
No" declared the chief inspector
| thrusting his hands into the pockets OF
/ his gray tweed loungecoat. It's com
| plete mystery We had apparently dis
| turbed him in the act of going through
some papers taken from little escri-
| toire in the corner. The lady is q
| foreigner evidently, for our inquiries
have shown that she only occupied this
| place about twenty-four hours. A young
4 a. ~, -1a.,
furnished from Cowley & Boyd, the
agents, in st. James street. paying six
months rent in advance, negotiating by
| post and giving reference to somebody
/ abroad, and saying that her mistress
| wished for immediate possession, as she
had only just arrived in London. and die
/ not care TO go to hotel. They tele-
| graphed to the owner, lady living uI
/ at Forfar, asking whether, in the cir
cumstances, she would let it without ref
erences. and this lady, evidently pressed
| for money, replied in the affirmative
/ Therefore, on the Gay previous to the
tragic discovery, the key had been hand
| ed over, and the agreement was to fol-
low or the next day for the tenant $
signature. All of this is suspicious-very
suspicious
Then the name of the unfortunate
lady is unknown i remarked.
Exactly. The question, OF course,
arises as to the whereabouts of the faith
| full maid
| "Or the unfaithful maid,' George Cum
| life remarked, for it would seem as
| though there was some ulterior motive
| in the rapidity with which she took pos
session of this place.
Il quite agree" declared Morton. From
the house-agent's story it seems that the
place was only empty week. The own
er closed it up, left it without any serv-
ants, and went up to Forfar. The new
tenant, being a foreigner, who had only
just arrived in London, had no servants,
except this maid, who
Who might very we'll have been the
murderess,' remarked the Scot previous
ly addressed as Jock.
But, as far as the doctor has
discovered, there's no evidence that
the woman has been murdered"
| declared the chief inspector. "h- has
found no wound"
Cuniffe raised his finger, as though a
new theory had occurred to him.
violent quarrel, struggle and sudden
death from heart disease-eh?"
Merton shrugged his shoulders and
| said:
Depend upon it that it's more than
| that, my dear fellow. There are certain
elements in the affair which are peculiar
| extremely peculiar. There was a motive
| in her hurried occupation of a furnished
| house. I've circulated a description of
the maid. and the ports of departure are
| being watched. Unfortunately, however.
Cowley & Boyd's people are unable to
give any description of her All the nego-
tiations were by letter from an address
at Oxford.
But. of course, you're not going to
publish any facts, except those I'll tell
you afterward. Mr.. Cunliffe," he said.
"Of course not, Morton. You surely
know me better than that?' and he
| laughed.
In the meantime the other three detec-
tiveS were making a tour of The room,
noting anything which struck them as
curious
If we can only find that maid" Nor
| ton said, moment later then she'd tell
us something. Without the identity of the
victim being established we're in the
| dark. Rendell OF the special department
| is coming down presently. The affair
may be political, he thinks. The woman
! is a foreigner, Italian or Spanish most
| likely Therefore there's suggestion Of
anarchist vengeance. of course. And
Rendell's an expert among the Soho
crowd. you know.
l was reserying my own knowledge and
my own suspicious to myself.
| My eyes fell upon the curtain torn from
| its pole. and the sheet with the thing cold
| tell those men all l knew! And yet If
did ! should place my friend Granny be-
| meath suspicion which might or might not
| be justified.
/ could see that Morton was puzzled.
True, he was directing the inquiries. and
his companions were all of them picked
| men-men whose names were constantly
| in the papers as clever and successful in
| VestigatOrs of crime. But the absence Of
motive-indeed. the absence of any tangi-
| BILE cause of death-precluded him from
forming any clear and distinct theory.
| That there had been a desperate strug-
| gle in that room, and that some one had
| left the house fearing to arouse the
| neighbors or any passer-by in the street
/ by samming the front door, was quite
plain. But was that person an assassin?
| Suddenly the dark-mustached man
| known as Jock uttered cry and eX-
claimed:
"Hulloa. what's this mean?' And cross
| ing from near the fireplace he brought
| in his hand an antique Italian poignard,
with thin tapering blade badly rusted, but
| still keen a razor at the edges, the
cross-hilt of which, battered and Clipped.
| was of tortoise shell and mother r-of-pearl.
| l held my breath and ! stood in deadly
| fear that the pallor of my cheeks might
| be noticed.
carefully, turning 1t over and over, and
examining the blade minutely. There was,
| however no blood upon 1t.
| a curio evidently" was his remark
| Perhaps it was kept as a paper cutter
But formidable weapon nevertheless, >
he added. grasping its hilt and making a
downward stab in the air.
| Then Cunliffe took 1t. and afterWard il
| was handed to me. How / took it
| scarcely know.
| But with breathless eagerness / exam
ined the hilt. Yes. There upon the
square mother-of-pearl let into the center
were rough initials-my initials 'P. r.
long ago scratched with a pin. Fortu-
nately they had not yet been discovered
| But no doubt they would be ere long.
That old dagger was mine! l had rec