Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1915-05-15
The Mysterious Monogram


ried off the earl, as the whole incident
only occupied few seconds under
most unfavorable conditions"
The memory of the detectives dis
comfture nearly caused Sir Harry to
smile, but MacBee appeared not to
notice his amusement and continued
without hesitation.
II have censured the man heavily"
MacBee went on, yet l cannot real
ly blame him much, as it seems to me
he took every precaution that seemed
needful The possibility of his lord
ship deliberately attempting to escape
would never have. occurred to me
and even now it seems incredible that
he could have done So"
Naturally" said Darlington. do
you, too, believe that he has been kid
mapped? ?"
Beyond a doubt" MacBee replied.
"As rule do not believe in discuss
ing cases upon which am working
especially with those involved in
them-but / think l may be frank
with you in this matter. l have re-
ceived cable from my agents in Ma
dras which gives me much valuable
material to work upon. For one thing,
I have learned positively that Kirshin
Kandwahr was not born to his prince
ly title"
Sir Harry looked up in surprise.
"You astound me-" he said. "None of
us like these fellows, but naturally we
of the army are obliged to associate
with them for diplomatic reasons.
That is why poor Towneshend went to
such pains to secure decent introduc-
tons for Kandwahr-at least so he
said to me--and cannot believe that
he would have done so unless he was
certain that Kandwahr's official posi-
ton warranted his going to such trou-
ble."
capt. Towneshend had no choice in
the matter" MacBee explained.
"Kandwahr is a real prince, although
he was not born to the rank. He is
Capt. Towneshend's half brother-son
Of the late Gen. Edward Towneshend
and an Indian woman. The elder
Towneshend served in India in the
nd
Kandwahr was born"
But. how could that make him a
prince ?" Darlington asked.
Under the Indian laws" MacBee
informed him, "an adopted son has
all the rights of natural heir. Kand-
wahr's mother later became the wife
of the Maharajah of Kandwahr, who
took a liking to the child and adopted
him. The woman was very clever and
my agents say that she induced the
Maharajah to make her son his heir.
The result was that upon the death
of the Maharaiah, Kandwahr sue
cecded to the title and the estates"
"But do you see how this would
lead to any quarrel between Kand-
wahr and Towneshend ?" Sir Harry
asked.
mo, frankly | do not" said Mac
Bee. "On the contrary | have every
reason to believe that a genuine affec-
&;o,. o.,;c+ol ba@uon,, tba tx,o n, or, onI
that makes me feel more strongly that
I have been wrong i'm suspecting
Kandwahr In fact ] am becoming
more and more strongly convinced
that Kandwahr is not the murderer,
and unless | discover some further
evidence against him, shall release
him shortly"
But why do you suppose Towne-
shend never told us of this relation
ship"
"The reason for that is frankly adj
mitted by Kandwahr himself. He feels
the prejudice society holds toward all
Indian princes, and if the facts of his
birth had been divulged, his entire
would have been all the more difficult.
| have talked with kandwahr several
times, and he seems to feel Towne-
shend's death most keenly, although
with the characteristic calmness of
his race-he shows but little feeling
openly. On the other hand, it seems
equally impossible that Lord Harcourt
could have done it. believe implicitly
in his innocence, yet, as things stand
now, everything points to his having
struck the blow, and have been
obliged to order his arrest"
But what do you make of the death
of Dodson, the door man." Sir Harry
inquired.
THAT is the one weak spot in the
case against Harcourt," said MacBee.
"The murder of Towneshend could
easily have been done by Harcourt.
The death of Dodson bears the ear
IL r III