Evening star., 1926-09-05

ernoon. the four motor cars came
sobbing up the hill and stopped oppn
site that semicircular piece of turf. y
dozen policemen were there. holding
a cord which encirCled 40 or 80 yards
Of common and included the shed.
The members of the jury stood aim
lessly about, looking down at the turf.
still uncertain as to why they had
been brought there. Capt. Faulkener
passed his arm through George I'm
wins and drew him n little on one
side.
Before we go any further. Tn
win" he said. II think you'd better
get a grip of this business. Our friend
Goade here. who happened in upon
this affair, is quite a famous detec-
tive from Scotland Yard--the man.
by the by, who got the SIS, 900 reward
for arresting Mike Connolly. He came
over to see me yesterday morning
and drew my attention to certain
facts. l must confess that at first
was inclined to consider his theory
ridiculous. In the end, however. h"
converted me-"
And what might be his theory"
Cnwin inquired, "a little formally.
'In the first place." the other con
tinued. "the wounds upon Sir Mi
Gus shape. AS Mr.. Goade has point
ed out. they appear to have been
made by a horseshoe. but scarcely bH
the rear portion of it. He has insti-
tuted q thorough search among the
gorse bushes around, and about 20
yards away one of the men whom !
have detailed over here. discovered q
loose horseshoe upon which Wer"
marks of blood at a spot exactly coin
Gliding with the worst OF the wounds.
They found the horseshoe, as / told
you. about 20 yards away-just about
the distance. you see. that. man
might throw it,
You have the horseshoe"
Naturally. 1t is there for produ"-
ton before the jury. Further. a.
Goade has also pointed out. there j.
no sign whatever of the turf being
cut up by the struggling OF fallen
horse. ON the other hand. there are
marks of two distinct sets of foot
prints. Sir Michael, too, notoriouslH
never used his whip, yet on the side
of his mare there is today a tremen
dous vale"
Anything else?"
The chief constable nodded gravely.
"Goade made a thorough search ~
the place while he was waiting. No,t
see that little she'd
Cnwin, glanced at it and away
again almost Immediately.
''Well?"
Underneath a stone there" the
chief constable contided. II found
this
Cnwin took the scrap of paper into
his hand The words suddenly
danced before his eyes. The sweat
from his fingers smudeed the ink. He
stared at the four words scrawled on
a half sheet of his own notepaper.
battling all the time with a sickly
horror--his death warrant written in
the frail caligraphy he knew so well:
Be careful George suspects.
From all this. as you may imag.
inc" Capt. Faulkener continued.
glancing over his shoulder at the lit
tie group of men standing about in
the sunlight. "Goade has elaborated
mind convincing theory. He found
distinct traces Of a car in the road.
which came just as far as here and
no farther. His theory is that Sir
Michael-poor old Michael, we all
know that his reputation was none
of the best-has been making assig
nations here with some young woman
of the neighborhood. Her husband or
lover got jealous. She took alarm
which was. without q doubt, their
meeting place. He came up as usual
and found the husband or lover lying
in wait. The murderer. whoever he
may he. attacked Sir Michael with
this horseshoe. stunned him with II
unexpectedly. deliberately killed him
struck his horse that terrible blow go
that it should gallop off. and left him
lying here apparently the victim of
an accident. What do you think OF
that. Cnwin?"
"AmaZin9"' was the toneless reply.
Really I must express my congratu
lations to Mr.. Goade."
Don't hurry for a moment" the
chief constable begged. "Iie IS show
ing the jury the shed. Here they
come"
They have seen now everything
that is necessary Cnwin declared.
we shall go back to the village and
reopen the inquest. | must confess
that in the light of all this my In
structions 10 the jury were i'll found
ed. 'Willful murder against some per
son or persons unknown IL will have
to be this time. I'm afraid
*
CAPT FAULKENER shook his
head gravely Glancing around.
Unwin was suddenly aware that tw"
of the attendant policemen had drawn
a little closer to him. His hand dis
appeared into his waistcoat pocket
and afterWard his fingers rested upon
his lips.
Not necessarily unknown. ! am
afraid. Cnwin." his companion said.
solemnly. THE writing on that slip
of paper--your stationery, By the by
has already been identified as the
writing of your wife. The marks Of
the car which drew up here have
been traced TO your drive. The blood.
stained horseshoe thrown into the
gorse bushes was one you stopped to
pick up just outside Cudfeld Village
This is a very painful duty for me
Unwin. but 7 am afraid 7 must ask
you to consider yourself under ar
rest. ."
The handouts were on his wrists
before he could move. He followed
with his eyes the winding road
through the valley and around the
hills 10 where he could catch a dis
tant glimpse of his own house. The
road seemed suddenly to stagger be-
fore his eyes. Two iarks were sing
ing directly above his head. A puff
of hay-scented breeze was waited
across the road to mingle with the
perfume of the sun-warmed gorse and
wild thyme. The skies began to
dance. Inside he felt the breaking of
the waves. They were looking at him
curiously now. crowding up toward
him-his jury. lie summoned all his
strength.
Gentlemen of the jury" he fal.
tered, your verdict must be 'Willful
murder against George u'nwin.'
killed him. I'm glad I killed him.