Evening star., 1921-09-04
be felt. The Judge put on the
black cap. The prisoner gave

him. yawned and stole out of court.
The Sunday school murder. one OF the
most popular crimes OF our genera
tion. had bored Mr.. Fortune excess
sively. and now that the Sunday
school superintendent was safely on
his way to the hangman Mr.. Fortune
desired to forget all about it at once.
He stood on the steps of the Shire
hall. lighting cigar. A large young
man. who had been struggling to get
dian policeman and ran at him. For
tune! My God!' he said emotionally.
Il thought I'd never get at YOU
say. come somewhere where we can
Mr.. Fortune looked down through
his smoke with sleepy eyes. One
moment. One moment" he murmured.
"Oh, ah. You're Charlecote-Beaver
Charlecote. Well. and what's the
best with you. Beaver"
Its murder, old man." Chariecote
muttered.
"Everybody's doing it," Mr.. Fortune
frowned at him. who's slain now!
ITS my father
Mr.. Fortune was startled into SYM
pathy.
Il say. Fortune. for Gods sake"
Charlecote gasped.
linked arms with him. and marched
him off.
When Reggie Fortune ambled
through his four years at Oxford.
Geoffrey Charlecote was one of the
great men of his college, a cricket
suspected of brains. The Charlecote
family dated from the Victorian age.
When the building of railways began,
Geoffrey's grandfather was a NAVY.
million. and died Shares of his prac-
tical ability. his originality. his driv-
Ing power. and his disdain for the ten
commandments Che was mean old
proportions by his three descendants:
Stephenson Charlecote. his son. had
one child. Geoffrey. and was also the
guardian of an orphan nephew. Her
bert. Stephenson Charlecote was a
capable man of business In his hands
the family wealth increased. His
only ambition was that the family
should get on in the world. So 1t was
Eton and Oxford for Geoffrey. Har-
row and Cambridge for his cousin cousin
oxford. Geoffrey disturbed his father
by showing signs of originality. He
was bored by the big house in May.
with society. he scoffed at going into
parliament. This freakish obstinacy
reused the hereditary temper in Ste
phenson Charlecote. who was the
nephew Herbert obeyed him in all
things, and was successful In the
most pompous drawing rooms. The
breaking point came when Geonrey
abroad and be a sculptor. Stephenson
Charlecote ragged and decreed that he
should not And Geonrey went.
All this Reggie Fortune. who never
forgot anything when he wanted It.
rest Geoffrey told him as his car took
them back to London
my God. Fortune. it's CHASTITY!
found him lying dead in the street
Sn,oe1e Siood Ths ms old 1s; suv'norS p''1
"ouite. Quite" said Reggie For
tune. Now begin at the beginning.
What is the beginningg
Well. you q1arreled. didn't you:
blackguardly. I dare say 1t was my
fault Yes. we had asbdgaraw. rDamn
1t. man, what do ydu mean..:, Do ,yoa
think - Oh. 1 say, this ~. ts -loafn. na,in.
think. The old ,guv:nor!"
Eyes. But this don't help him." said
Reggie Fortune. placidly. From the
beginning. please"
Geoffrey Charlecote stared at him,
Eulped. and became more coherent.
.well, after the row I went abroad.
Paris Rome. Munich. kept up a
little place in Chelsea, too. l never
saw the old man. and we didn't write
I suppose I've been a brute"
Hard stuff in the Charlecote fam
fly. What?"
"Yes. I'm sorry. Fortune swear
Tn sorry"
well, in Munich I married" He
flushed. You know. she's an angel,
Fortune"
"ouite. German angel?"
mo. She's Italian. She came to
in a month we were married. I tell
you. Fortune, I've been different
man since. It's as if she'd given me
soul. you know"
"Did you tell your father that?
TT was she made me write to my
father again. Lucia-she can't bear
being in a quarrel She's so gentle.
any sort of bad feeling hurts her So
she brought me to try and make 1t
up. I wrote to the old man and he
note. But Lucia was sure 1t would
lead to something. and SO we came
back to England. Then I wrote to
him again. and he came to see us In
a week ago today: He was pretty
stif and standoffish. but he took to
Lucia. Everybody does, you know.
Fortune, old man. she's wonderful. !
thought he seemed good deal aged,
but he was just as brisk and sharp
as ever. He had US to dine with
him on Monday. And then-well, last
night he called on us again, came
about four. stayed a long time. And
he was so jolly and genial And after
ward I went out to post some letters.
and there he was. lying not dozen
yards from our door. He'd been
stabbed He was in a pool of blood.
Good God. 1t was awful"
GIVES. Yes. Seems to be a quiet
street where you live
"vinton place-it's a little cul-de-
sac
"It was dark when he left? And
you heard nothing? Yes. I wonder
who his money goes to-"
What the devil do you mean?"
Geoffrey cried.
well. that's quite fair question"
said Reggie Fortune. placidly. III
I'm actin for you. and il you like. I
will look only to your interests. II
I'm actin for Scotland Yard-and If
it's hard case, they'll call me in
I'm only concerned to get the truth
out whoever suffers"
"And do you, think I don't want
the truth Geofrrey cried. what are
you limiting at? Do you mean 1 mur-
Preserve absolute calm." said Reg
gle Fortune.
.T'm not calm. What q beast L
should be II I was calm. I want tha
thing cleared up. man. ] want my
father to have justice. Whether you
act for me or act for the police it's
the same thing"
"If you take it that way, I'll act for
+ha nciice Reayer" said Reggie Mac