The Monmouth inquirer., 1923-07-12

former heir, Ralph Weyland, was re-
sponsible for the disappearance, 40
he has been moving heaven and earth
to get the boy back without a pub
lie scandal. Have you heard of Mr..
Radford shone?"
THE private Investigators Yes. 1
have heard that he has a very ex-
tensive practice" was my non-com-
initial rejoinder.
well, Lord Tressilian rushed OF
to him and intrusted the finding OF
our child to him." her ladyship con-
tinued. "Mr. Shone agrees with my
husband that Ralph Weyland is at
the bottom of the business, but he
has utterly failed to obtain a shred
Of evidence substantiating that view.
/ could not allow the matter to drift
any longer, so / decided to report it
officially"
| told her that she had done wise
", as however talented a private in
v~estigator might be, the police have
facilities In disappearance cases
which he could not be expected to
enjoy. Advising her to go home and
inform Lord Tressilian chat she had
called on the police, i promised to
follow her almost Immediately to her
house IN Upper Brook street. On
my arrival there / had just been In
J time to witness the close Of a pain
full interview between Lord and
Lady Tressilian, the aged peer hav-
ing greatly resented his wife's APP
peal for police assistance. with It's
possible consequence of besmirching
the family name l had tried to
smooth matters by pointing out that
Mr.. Radford Shone having failed
IN three days to Justify his suspic-
ion Of Ralph Weyland. there night
be an entirely different explanation
of the affair. | had hardly made
the suggestion when Shone himself
was announced AMI | was asked to
lNgo with him to the nursery to hear
what the nurse had TO say.
Nurse Melvin's narrative, curtailed
In the manner | have described, had
been meager indeed. On the pre-
vious Monday afternoon she had left
both children in the nursery, accord
ing to her usual custom while she
went down to the basement to fetch
their tea. On her return, Maurice
was not there, and though a prompt
search was made. no trace of the
little fellow was to be found in the
house. Shone's theory. which he had
been ~expounding when Ella had in
terrupted him. was that the boy had
been beckoned by Ralph Weyland
from the street below and had run
down and Joined him, there being no
one In the front hall at that hour of
the servants tea. To hurry the boy
into a four-wheeled cab or closed
carriage would have been the work
or an instant, and the trick would
have been done.
The surmise was not without its
merits; yet from my own standpoint
1t had this drawback-that it was
the most Obvious explanation of the
affair. Mr.. Weyland In planning
the abduction which was to recon
stitute him his uncle's heir, would
have known that he would be the
first to be suspected of having a
hand in it. And he must have been
a very clever man if he had carried
out his PIN so as to battle detection
by a man of Shone's reputation.
From the first | had been on
| scious of a certain latent hostility on
| the part of Mr.. Radford Shone. due,
no doubt, to a perfectly natural de-
sire to finish a lucrative Ease with
out official interference. Az / caught
him upon the stairs l did my best
tos disarm him OF this feeling by
wrapping up my doubt of his theory
in a little judicious iattery on the
lines indicated.
But Mr.. Ralph Weyland has not
bafled me-" he protested with that
superior smirk of his. If Lady
Tressilian had exercised a little pa
thence | should have satisfied her on
that point"
Just then we entered the library,
| where Lord and Lady Tressilian were
awaiting us, and Shone continued In
the same vein.
81 have been telling Inspector
Hammond that by tomorrow at lat
est | shall be in possession of full
| proofs against Mr.. Ralph Weyland,"
he said. "Of course. If the police
| have been imported into the case,
they must pursue an Independent in
vestigation, if they please"
you would let Mr.. Hammond
| have the benefit of hearing what you
have already ~achieved?" said Lady
Tressilian eagerly.
But Radford Shone shook his head
| grimly. MY experience is that if
the police cannot help themselves,
II is very little use trying to help
Them he replied, with an air of
! lofty disdain. Il do not mind re-
| peating, however, what / have al
ready reported t your lordship and
your ladyship that the strict watch
which / have set OF Mr.. Ralph Wey-
| lands cottage at Mitcham has re-
vealed some very suspicious circum-