The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-08-26

lllllllll RlllIll
well. let's see If can go through
my own mind again, and tell you
how guessed it. First OF all. the
Clothes
''Yes?'
ITO Cayley the clothes seemed an
enormously important clue. l felt
certain that. in that case. the alb
sence of the collar was unintentional.
In collecting the clothes he had
overlooked the collar. Why?"
1T was the one in the linen
basket?"
Yes. It seemed probable. Why
had Cayley put it there? The OBJ
vious answer was that be hadn't.
Mark had put it there"
go on" said Bill eagerly.
well, why had Mark changed
down there instead of in his bed
| room? The only answer was that
| the fact OF his changing had to be
| kept secret. When did he changer
The only possible time was between
lunch when he would be seen by the
| servants) and the moment OF
Roberts arrival. And when did Cay
| ley collect the clothes in a bundle7
Again. the only answer was Before
Roberts arrival So another was
wanted-to fit those three condi-
TONS"
And the answer was that a muir
der was intended, even before Robert
arrived?'
yes. Well now, It wasn't possible
a murder could be intended without
lany more preparation than the
changing into a different suit in
which to escape. The thing was too
childish. Also, IL Robert was to be
murdered. why go out of the way to
announce his existence to you all? I
began to feel now that Robert was
an incident only; that the plot was
a plot of Cayley's against Mark
either to get him to kill his brother.
or to get his brother to kill him
and that for some inexpncable rea-
son Mark seemed to be lending him.
self to the plot" He was silent for
a little. and then said. almost to
himself, 'I had seen the empty
brandy bottles in that cupboard"
You never said anything about
them" complained Bill
only saw LnGIu alI6IWdIu4 u
was looking for the collar, you re-
member. They came back to me
. afterward; knew how Cayley
would feel about it. 3 : Poor
devil!'
go on" said Bill.
well. then, we had the inquest,
and OF course I noticed the curious
fact that Robert had asked his way
: at the second lodge and not at the
first. So I talked to Amos and Par
: sons. That made it more curious.
| Amos told me that Robert had gone
out of his way to speak to him.
Parsons told me that his wife
was out in their little garden at the
first lodge all the afternoon. and was
certain that Robert had never come
past it. He also told me that Cay
ley had put him on to Job on the
front lawn that afternoon So
had another guess. Robert had used
the secret passage-the passage
which comes out into the park be-
tween the first and second lodges.
l Robert, then, had been in the house;
it was a put-up job between Robert
: and Cayley. But how could Robert
10 LAiSlS AdI AAON4uS
Obviously, Mark knew too. What
did it all mean?"
When was this7" interrupted
BIZ. Just after the inquest-after
you'd seen Amos and Parsons. of
course?"
Yes. I got up and left them. and
came to look for you. I'd got back
to the clothes then. Why did Mark
change his clothes so secretly7 Dis
guise? But then what about his
face? That was much more i'm
portant than clothes His face. his
beard-he'd have to shave off his
beard-and then-oh. idiot I saw
. you looking at that poster. Mark
acting, Mark made-up. Mark dis
guised. Oh. priceless idiot! Mark
was Rober2 Matches. please"
! ''Yes." said Bill thoughtfully. yes
But wait a moment. What
! about the Plough and Horses'7''
Antony looked comicalIy at him.
/ You'll never forgive me. BILL" he
) said.
What do you mean?" s'Iys lsfi
Antony sighed.
'fIt was a fake, Watson. wanted
you out of the way. / wanted to be
alone. So" he smiled and added.
. well. l knew you wanted a drink. .
THE END