Evening star., 1912-11-03
CHAPTER XIV.
A Reshuffling of the Pack
Drawings by Howard Giles


~N- lega1ooking fooscap on his desk, and
@Su9OA evidently settling down for another
SSLMvMM long spell of note taking.
y@ES u am,' came the confident reply
lMGSIl saginaw, Lake Champlain, and
hINHMY6 East 64th-st, New York"
W1EGlW "You have heard the evidence of the
WZNW previous witnesses. Do you contradict
wv them in any important particulars?'
6SI ~ "No"
wy The Coroner permitted himself to
Sx look bewildered, and Waverton
OlS smiled.
MAY | make a statement in my
own words, SIR" he asked. at will facilitate matters
greatly, and SHALL of course be prepared to answer
any questions subsequently,
"By all means, breathed the Coroner, glad to find
that he was to be spared the necessity of pointing out
how inconsistent was that emphatic "no with the wit
ness firm disclaimer of the druggists Identification
at must be plain to you, Sir and to every unbiased
hearer, said Waverton, that have hardly recovered
from accident sustained at Palm Beach early
in May. When l regained consciousness after having
been thrown out of automobile, soon found that
my memory had become very much impaired and the
defect remains though it is gradually improving can
recall certain incidents of the past but my mind IS
blank where others concerned. suppose that, at
the time said to have gone to Jose Nulmos shop,
regarded the purchase of the poison trivial matter,
and it evidently within the second category
that of forgotten things mean When was charged
today with personal share IN something that Mrs
Kyrles legal adviser very properly called conspiracy
having for its apparent object the murder OF man |
had never seen, resented the mputaon as monstrous
of the poison transaction | am well acquainted with
Jose Vuos store, and describe its situation ex
acty SO it is quite probable, therefore, that | dld
execute Mrs. Kyrles commission, though certainly
do not recoect it. | withdraw my earlier implied re-
pudaton unreservedly, since Mrs Kyrles evidence has
convinced me that | mistaken.
The Coroner wrote every word; SO there were ire
quent pauses in Waverton's statement. In ordinary
conditions the cautious official would have rejected
phases as being mere comment but 1t was clear
that he meant to allow the witness to express himself
exactly as he thought mt on this occasion.
do you know anything whatever of Mr.. Kyrle's
death? he asked after glancng carefully through what
he had written
Nothing beyond the accounts in the newspapers.
when did you first hear of it,?
LAST Sunday fortnight at Providence. My valet
showed it to in the Sunday newspapers"
"Why?"
"He recognized the address. He that Mrs.
Delamar- he and | have always known Mrs.
Kyrle by that me-went occasionally to a cottage at
Absecon called the Rosery 1t understood that the
place her property; at least such was my inn
preston | do not wish 1t to be assumed that L was
misled in the matter by Mrs Deamar
"Did the lady mention her husband to youo'
al cannot remember any instance.
"You took it for granted that she was a married
woman?"
"She might have been widow"
"But you did not trouble to inqure?'
"No Why should II If | gave any thought at all
to the matter probably imagined that she had good
reasons for not speaking of it, so held my tongue"
The Coroner seemed to regard this excellent
sell he obviously repressed desire to question the
witness further Nodding to Forbes he said:
"Have you anything you wish to ask"
"No Sir, came the unexpected reply.
Nov, most people in court including Waverton him.
~ SELF fully anticipated sharp passage at arms be-
the District Attorney and witness whose
nection with the inquiry though remote, the
less important Even the Coroner somewhat taken
aback by the lawyers sharp negative. He evidently
unprepared for it. indeed he might well have looked
for very different answer, since, to certain extent,
he in the confidence of the police, and knew that
wider issues than the of Kyrles death in
volved in the inquiry He perplexed too by Waver
tons pose as needless Lohario He had encountered
all and conditions of men, but this stern self