The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-08-11
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Who had shot and killed the
ne'er-do-well
ROBERT ALBEIT. within two min
utes after his arrival at The. Red
House, the country estate of his
wealthy bachelor brother,
MARK ABLETT7 Roberts body
was on the floor of the locked
the opinion of Inspector Birch. IT
was clear that Mark. who had
looked forward to Roberts return
from Australia with annoyance,
had shot him and disappeared;
cumStances. The shot was fired a
few moments before
ANTONY GILLINGHAM, gentle
man adventurer and friend of
BILL BEVERLEY, one of Marks
guests, had entered the hall
where he found
MATT CAYLEY, Marks constant
companion, pounding on the door
and demanding admittance. The
two men enter the room through
window and find the body.
Antony and Bill continue inves-
LEGATIONS and become convinced that
Cayley knows something about the
crime. They discover a secret
passage leading from The Red
then Antony questions the maid,
Elsie, who overheard Mark speak
ing to Robert in the office.
GO ON WITH THE STORY
at was you who heard MIR. Mark
yesterday. wasn't it7'' Antony
asked the maid.
Yes, sir"
ats my turn now. You wait I"
murmured Antony to himself.
Yes, sir. Nasty-like. Meaning
to say his chance had come"
81 wonder"
"Well. that's what I heard. sir.
Truly"
Antony looked at her thoughtfully
and nodded.
Eyes. I wonder. I wonder why"
''Why what, sir?"
"Oh, lots of things, Elsie. :"
He had found his pipe and went
downstairs again.
Antony was glad to have spoken
to her, because he had recognized
at once the immense Importance OF
her evidence. To the INSPECTOR no
doubt 1t had seemed ou;v OF i'm
portance in that it had shown Mark
to have adopted something of a
threatening attitude toward his
brother. To Antony it had much
more significance. 1t was the only
SN4AcENG liAdl MAI Aidd
been in the Office at all that after.
noon.
For who saw Mark go into the
office? Only Cayley. And II Cayley
had been hiding the truth about the
keys, why should he not be hiding
the truth about Marks entry into
the office? Obviously all Cayley's
evidence went for nothing. Some of
It no doubt was true; but he was
giving it. both truth and falsehood.
with a purpose. What the purpose
was Antony did not know as yet; TO
shield Mark, to shield himself, even
to betray Mark-it might be any Of
these.
Elsie's evidence. however, seemed
to settle the point. Mark had gone
into the office to see his brother:
Elsie had heard them both talking:
and then Antony and Cayley had
found the body o. Robert and
the inspector was going to drag the
pond.
But certainly Elsie's evidence did
not prove anything more than the
mere presence OF Mark in the room.
IT'S my turn now; you wait" That
was not an immediate threat; it
was a threat for the future. IL
Mark had shot his brother imme-
diately afterward it must have been
an accident. the result of a strug
gle, say, provoked by that nasty
like" tone OF voice. Nobody would
say ''You wait" to a man who was
Just going to be shot. You wait"
meant You wait, and see what's
going to happen to you later on"
The conversation Elsie had over
heard couldn't have meant murder.
Anyway not murder of Robert by
Mark.
Its a funny business" thought
Antony. THE one obvious solution
is so easy and yet so wrong"
He found Bill in the hall and pro-