Evening star., 1920-03-07

1t Is a most deadly weapon. .dwardes
made use of it. have not the least
doubt. But he did not use an arrow;
he chose a much smaller. yellow -tufted
dart. That dart l found, l had it ex-
amined by an analyst in rare poisons.
He found a trace of a poison which Is
made by crushing certain deadly black
ants, formidable production Of tropical
forests.
"Edwardes committed this crime one
night. the very night when Oswald
Street so unwisely made his steaithy
visit to the house. Edwardes knew
Branderwine's habits. OF course; that he
spent a few hours each evening in his
study. He knew that the inmate fire.
quen,ly passed out on a balcony as he
read. Edwardes, in a room in one Of
the houses opposite, separated merely
by narrow strip of pavement and the
inclosed azalea beds. loaded his weapon
and waited. His chance came His
first attempt failed. We found that
cart embedded in the painting. 1t must
have whistled past the head Of it's in
tended victim, through the open window
and lodged where luckily discovered
it. The second proved fatal l am in
clined to think that it struck it's victim
on the scalp, inhicting perhaps a merely
slight scratch, which was concealed by
his long white hair.
- "Branderwine stepped back into his
study He knew that his moments
of remaining life might be numbered
on the fingers OF his hands. The at
tack, as you will soon see, was not
unsuspected by him. Already he felt
the soaring agony Of the poison. And
it was at that moment Oswald Street
entered.
What followed must be clear to
your intelligence. Branderwine was
determined not to endure the un-
speakable anguish which was begin
ming to burn in his veins. He asked
his visitor, forcing calmness worthy
of him, to hand him a certain phial.
He had no power to say more. He
drank. 1t was his last act in life.
"And the motive of this somewhat
uncanny crime? 1t is staring us in
the face. 1t was the passion which
Edwardes had conceived for Margaret
Wildrave. He must have mentioned
it to Branderwine. or the latter sus-
was very proud Of his protege, he,
very rightly, was sternly inimical to
any idea of marrying his niece to
him. There was not much dark blood
in the others veins, but there was
some. Indeed. there was enough, as
We have seen, to rise in rebellion
against refusal and to create the
altogether savagely conceived idea Of
putting the obstacle to his passion
entirely out Of the way.
yet that was not his first notion.
Recall the sinister figure under the
trees in the park. j am convinced
that was Edwardes. whose jealousy
had Informed him of the trysting
place where Miss Wildrave used to
meet her lover. God knows what
dreadful intent had occurred to his
ferocity. 1t is evident that he was
impersonating Street; that he even
went so far as to conceal his swarthy
features by u facial mask. Such dis
suises are today works of art. COM
posed from a photograrh of the orig
inal. His sparkling black eyes. quick
with passion, made the rest seem
rigid. lifeless, something sinister. On
tHo SuCSecOlu6 IISHl he lOuuu MINI
self face to face. not with Miss Wild
rave, but with Branderwine. There
must have been a struggle. And from
that moment Branderwine felt that
his life would probably be menaced
by this young tiger whom he had
brought up.
That is all my dear Francie. |
think the evidence we have will hang
Edwardes and make a happy couple
Of Margaret and Oswald Street. To
that evidence is added his attempt to
kill me. That was II bad move. He
should not have followed us from his
house to the restaurant. That con-
frmed my suspicions.'
But how did You know OF his inn
pending marriage" J asked, as Tired
ways paused to light his cigar, which
had gone out.
"The lady's mysterious conduct by
suggesting marriage TO me, sent me
to the Office Of the superintendent
registrar. Edwardes had got the Ii
rcnse all right. That he would use ii
instantly and set out OF the country
with his wife WAS sure. That was
why | would not lose sight of him
even for twenty minutes by going
myself to street. The situation WAS
too critical. The stions l asked