The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-08-15

Right at the bottom OF the box,
just where the box touched the
ceiling, was a semicircle groove,
and at the edge Of it was a letter
ready for delivery.
"The last of the five letters"
said Don Luis; doubtless continu-
ing the series Of denunciations.
You will notice, Monster lie Prefet,
that the chandelier originally had
a fourth damp in the center. 1t
was obviously removed when the
chandelier was altered, so as to
make room for the letters to
pass"
He continued his detailed expla-
nations:
$50 the whole set Of letters was
placed here, at the bottom. A
clever piece Of machinery, con-
trolled by clockwork, took them
one by n at the appointed time,
pushed them to the edge Of the
groove concealed between the
lamps and the pendants, and pro-
jected them into space"
None of those standing around
Don Luis spoke, and all Of them
seemed perhaps little disap-
pointed. The whole thing was
certainly very clever; but they
had expected something better
than a trick of springs and wheels,
however surprising.
Have patience, gentlemen"
said Don Luis. II promised you
something CHASTITY; and you shall
have it, -.@xsw
"Well, I agree" said the pre-
feet Of police, "that this is where
the letters started from. But a
good many points remain obscure /;
and, apart from this, there is one
fact in particular which it seems
impossible to understand. How
were the criminals able to adapt
the chandelier in this way7 And,
in a house guarded by the police,
in a room watched night and day,
how were they able to carry out
such a piece Of work without being
seen or heardf"
"The answer is quite easy, Mon
sieur lie Prefet the work was done
before the house was guarded by
the police"
Before the murder was COM
mitted, therefore'"
Before the murder was com
mitted."
"And what is to prove to me
that that is sof"
"You have said so yourself,
Monsieur lie Prefet because it
could not have been otherwise"
"But do explain yourself, mon
sieur ~ cried M. Desmalions, with
a gesture of irritation. eff you
have important things to tell us,
why delay?R
1T is better, Monsieur lie Pre-
fet, that you should arrive at the
truth in the same way as / did.
When you know the secret of the
letters, the truth is much nearer
than you think; and you would
have already named the criminal
if the horror of his crime had not
been so great as to divert all sus-
picions from him."
M. Desmalions looked at him at
tentively. He felt the Importance
of Perenna's every word and he
was really anxious.
Then, according to you," he
said, "those letters accusing
Madame Fauville and CASTOR
Sauverand were placed there with
the sole object of running both of
them9"
eyes, Monsieur lie Prefet."
"And, as they were placed there
before the crime, the plot must
have been schemed before the
murder9"
"Yes, Monsieur lie Prefet, before
the murder. From the moment
that we admit the innocence of
Nine. Fauville and CASTOR Sauve-
rand, we are obliged to conclude
that, as everything accuses them,
this is due to a series of deliberate
acts. Nine. Fauville was out on
the night of the murder: a plot
She was unable to say how she
spent her time while the murder
was being committed a plot! Her
inexplicable drive in the direction
of La Muette and her cousin
Sauverand s walk in the neighbor,
hood of the house; plots The
marks left in the apple by those
teeth, by Nine. Fauville's own
teeth a plot and the most internal
Of all!
81 tell you, everything is
plotted beforehand. everything is,
so t ospeak, prepared. measured
out. labelled, and numbered. Ev-
erything takes place at the ap-
pointed time. Nothing is left to
chance. 1t is a work very nicely
pieced together, worthy Of the
most skilfuI artisan 40 solidly