The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1936-07-15
Chapter II
EW THEORY

Chapter II
NEW THEORY
THERE was. of course, good
l. deal Of regret oVel the murder
expressed specifically. and when.
ever men or women met the worn
out phrases automatically rose to
their lips: shocking :. awful =.
dreadful :. bad business up at the
Court :" and so on; but no one
was really sorry.
Arthur Burdett had no friends In
Hope Enderton, nor indeed any.
where else; and he had quite a num-
Der Of potential enemies. for good
score Of the cottages in the village
belonged to him. and he was the
absolute pattern and exemplar OF
all that landlord, even in his own
interests, should not be.
There was a school of thought,
regarded almost as disloyal by the
vast majority Of the villagers, that
the crime was committed by some
one outside Enderton altogether, a
stranger who had nothing to do
with the place.
This possibility was urged by
Sergeant White when he called
round. by order. to see the Inspector
at the Hoops the morning after their
first visit to Enderton Court.
Kingsley Hylton lad just polished
off two eggs and an OUTSIDE rasher
of Wiltshire bacon and was slipping
his extremely hot, though far from
excellent, coffee. He lit one of his
long thin cigars and pushed his
case towards the Sergeant.
White smiled, mo thanks sir.
That one yesterday nearly did for
me-"
"You find them bit strong? Well,
/ suppose they are. They help you
to think. you know, especially if
you've got slow brain like mine.
What makes you imagine that it's
somebody outside the village%
Il only say it may be SIR"
'It's a possibility, but some
how"
And the last few days I've seen
a couple of rough characters on the
roads that didn't belong here"
"Tramps?"
"That class sir"
"Um. Your theory is then: a
tramp comes up the door to beg,
forces his way in, kills the old man,
grabs a handful out of the safe and
disappears.
"It's possible SIR"
GAIL things are possible"
"And. of course, as like as not
anyone begging on the roads would
have heard some talk about Mr..
Burdett being a miser and having
something worth while up there"
"Um. Let's go and see what sort
Of night friend Lumsdale had"
HOWEVER sweet the quality Of
L L friend Lumsdale's slumber it
had not served to soften in any way
the pawkiness of his humor and the
hardly short of turbulence of his
bearing. He uttered short. derisive
laugh when he heard the Sergeants
theory.
"And 'ow would this tramp of
yours get in, Sergeant?" he asked.
"Mr. Burdett would think it was
you knocking at the door and go
and open It,"
"And when he saw it was some
one he didn't know, he'd ask him to
supper l suppose?"
"a tramp might have forced his
way in"
Against the chain?" Lumsdale
shook his head. mo, Sergeant.
That's just exactly what the old
skin-flint had the door put on the
chain for each time"
Hylton was inclined to agree with
sthis. Sergeant White. however. was
not entirely convinced. and he
begged leave to prosecute few en-
quiries on his own account.
"My dear fellow" Hylton urged
him in a humorous outburst. prose.
cute all the enquiries you like. Don't
think | mind overzealous subordi.
mates. | love EN-"
White smiled unabashed. and dis
appeared about his business, and
the Inspector devoted himself to an
even more thorough examination of
the room of the tragedy. 1t seemed
clear that entrance had been gained
by the door, for all the windows
were securely fastened and bolted
on the inside and had been so. ac-
cording to both Lumsdale and the
Sergeant, on the night Of the muir.
der.
The noise OF car on the drive
outside told the Inspector that the
man he was waiting for had arrived:
and presently the Chief Constable
OF the County was shown into the