(ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.) Murder—Will Speak

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 148, 23 June 1923, Page 25

(ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.) Murder—Will Speak

CHAPTER VIII. The kitchen of Bonny Doon, as is so often the ease in an old country house, was a big, cheerful room, overlooking the drive which led up to the front door. Mrs. Maclean and Jane Bower were often in and out of the kitchen, if only for the ' reason that they were fond of Elsie, the cook, an Aberdeen woman who had been with the Macleans since they first married. But the master of the house seldom had occasion to go there. A fortnight to the day after the exhumation of Mrs. Garlett, Dr. Maclean came out of 'hie study, after breakfast, and walked into the kitchen, shutting the door 'behind him. "Eleie," lie said, abruptly, "I want your good help. First, go and tell your mistress that I want to see her about something urgent and private. Then get hold of Miss Jane, and, if you can manage it. make her stay with you here till 1 have done with your mistress. As I for callers, or the telephone, say I'm engaged till eleven." The woman—ehe w.-»e an old and trusted friend by now—just nodded her head. "Aye," * sJhe said, "I'll do all J that." j A few moments later Mis. Maclean hurried in to her husband's study. "What is it?' , she asked, breathlessly. ■ "You shouldn't frighten mo like that, Jock. 'Secret and urgent.' indeed!" "Lock the door." he said, briefly, "and then come over 'here and sit down. What I've got to tell you won't take long, but I don't want to be interrupted While I'm saying it." She 'turned the key in the lock and came over close to where he was sitting. "Sit down," he said, rather sharply, and she obeyed him. "What is it, Jock?" He did not answer tor a moment, and then- he said, very quietly: "Harry Garlett did poison 'his wife. lie is to be arrested to-day, and we must manago to get Jane away, if it's in any way possible before it happens." She stared into 'her husband's sot face, but though ehe was utterly amazed she uttered no exclamation of surprise. She simply waited to 'hear more. "Well," he eaid, irritably, "well, Jenny, did you expect this?" "I expect it?" she exclaimed. "I expected it as little as you did. But what makes you so certain, Jock? Is there no loophole of escape?" And then she almost whispered the worde—"lt's the child I'm thinking of —what will happen to Jane, if this is true?" "She'll 'have to go through with it, and we shall have to help 'her do it," he said, briefly. And then he handed her a letter which he had propped up in front of him, while he had been engaged in the difficult task of trying to answer it. "Dear "Maclean. —I feel you should know that Garlett is to be arrested tomorrow on the charge of having murdered his wife. I may add, for your own information, that our man lias found five grains of arsenic, the largest amount ever given in 'his experience. It had actually penetrated the sacking material round the coffin, and the earth of the grave. "I hope you won't think it impertinent on my part to suggest that you would 'be wise to send your poor young niece as far away as maybe. How about Iona? Should she be required to give evidence, which I 'hope will not. ■be the case, she could always come back.—Yours, in frantic haste, Collin ! Macleod." There was a postscript: "Of course, I have no business to write you this letter. I'm doing it for I old times' sake. You may care to know I that Kentworthy, though shaken, still believes that Garlett may be innocent. !He has left the Government service. It I might be well for Garlett to employ \ihim in getting up his case." I Mrs. Maclean read the letter twice through. Then ehe ihanded it back to her husband. "You'll never get Jane to go away," she said, quietly. "She wouldn't believe Harry Garlett guilty if an angel from 'heaven came and told iher he was." '• "But 'he is 'guilty " answered Dr, Maclean, striking the •writing-table with, his hand. ! "I don't think you have any call to cay thai yet," observed his wife. I "I shant cay it out of this room till I have to get up and cay it on oath in the witness-box," he said, sombrely. "Oh, Jock. Will you have to do that?" Of course I ehall," he answered, bitterly, "and be known for rest of my lil" as the medical man who was bamboozled into giving a wrong death certificate" Dismay kept 'her silent. Till a moment ago ehe had only thought of Harry Garlett, and of how all this would affect Jane. She now realised what it would mean to her husband—the injury it I would cause to what had been, if a I quiet, yet in its way a very 'honourable jand highly esteemed career of a man noted for his skill, his kindness, and general ability, far beyond the confines of a wide medical practice. All the colour drifted from her healthy face, and Dr. Maclean felt queerly touched. He got up, came over to her, and laid his hand gently on her shoulder. "Come, come, woman," he said, a little hoarsely, "things are never as bad as they look. Many a better man than I has made that kind of mistake. As for Jane, she's young yet! She'll get ovr it, never fear." As his wife remained i silent, he added, "It isn't as if we'd I been improvident—if need be we can j I leave Terriford." ! "No," said Mrs. Maclean in a low tone, "we must stay and face it out. But as for Jane, we'll have to make some plan. She won't go away now, but we'll get her right away afterafter "she could not 'bring herself to finish the sentence— "l mean to a place where no one will have heard about this awful thing—lo my sister in New Zealand, or to the Macphersons in San Francisco." He looked at her amazed. How quick is woman's mind compared with man's: This was foresight with a vengeancewhy, she had already tried, judged, condemned. and—yes, hanged Harry Gar'lett! Also, strange to say, the colour jwas coming back into her cheeks, she vras looking more like herself. "Till this morning," he said, with a groan, "I would have staked my life on yon man's innocence 1"

By MRS. BELLOC LOWNDES

Author of "The Lodger." "The Chink in the Armour." "The Lonely Home," etc. " Murder, tbough it hath no tongue, will epeak."—Shakespeare.

"I suppose there's no 'hope that the woman may have done it herself?" she asked, hesitatingly. | He shook his head. "Xo hope at , all!" I And then Mrs, Maclean said something which startled her husband. "It's all so strange," she said, musingly, "be- j cause, as you know well, -lock, he really hardly knew Jane then." "It had nothing to do with Jane!" he j said, violently. "For God's sake Jean, put that horrible idea out of your mind. Tlie truth is—l can say so to you— Emily Garlett hail become intolerable" , —as he thought she was about to in- I terrupt him he hurried on: "I know all i yort would say! I know that, an the whole, she was a go(xt and unselfish wife to that unfortunate chap, but, even so. it was a miserable life that he led." | "That isn't true, Jock. If the map's i a murderer you're just trying to find I excuses for him." j "Not excuses," said Dr. Maclean, ' sharply, "but a reason for his mad and wicked act—yes! Broadly speaking, you may say 'no motive, no murder.'" "And now," said his wife, slowly, "which of ue is to tell Jane, and what will be the best way to break it to her?" "I think,' , said the doctor, hesitatingly, "that you had better tell her, my dear," "Perhaps I had, for she is a bit afraid of in<>, and she hasn't a shadow of fear of you! She'd ask you right out if you think Harry Garlett guilty. I don't think she'll ask mc that, and if she did — , well, I shouldn't know what to say—that letter hasn't really convinced mc, Jock." "I wish I could say the same." he muttered. ' And then, as so often happens in life, the doctor suddenly changed his mind as to who should break the terrible news to ! Jane Bower. ■ "I won't he a coward!" he exclaimed. : "You and I will speak to the child to- I gether.' , 'But they might have saved themselves ' the trouble of their painful little discus- ' eion, for when they went into the kitchen they found that Jano Bower had left the house without saying where she j was going. ! "I think she saw by my face that there | was trouble afoot," admitted the cook, j regretfully. "She just looked at mc and said, 'You can tell them I have gone up to the village.' She just put on that i Tam-o'-Shanter of her's that hangs on a peg in the hall, and off she went." "I wonder if she has gone to The Thatched House?" said Mrs. Maclean, in a dismayed tone. "That is where she has gone," said the cook, drily. "It's all over the village, Mrs. Maclean, that they will be arresting Mr. Garlett this morning. But the poor little wean doesn't know that." Driven, by some instinct which she would have shrunk from analysing, Jane Bower was hurrying towards The Thatched House, Harry Garlett had fallen out of the way of coming to sec her in the morning before going to the . Works. Since this great trouble had come upon him ■he had felt that neither the doctor nor his wife liked his coming in the morning when there were people coming and going "to Bonny Doon. As Jane passed by The Thatched Cottage she felt a pang of sharp annoyance, for she saw Miss Prince's long, pale face at the window, and, sure enough, though she hastened 'her footsteps, ehe soon heard that there was some one behind 'her. "Jane! Jane! Stop! You mustn't go to The Thatched House this morning, j my dear." j The girl 'turned round, a. feeling of j exasperated anger filling her already overburdened heart. "I have something very important to tell Harry before he starts for tlio Works," ehe said, sharply. "I doubt if you'll find him at 'home," said Miss Prince, in a mysterious voice. "He probably slept at the Works last night." " .'. I "That I know he did not," said the girl, positively. "He was with us till half-past ten, and if he had been going i into Terriford he would certainly have said co." The older woman looked at Jane, and there wae a touch of real pity and concern in her hard face. "I didn't want to tell you, 'but now I think perhaps you had better know that the police came out to The Thatched House last evening, while Harry was at Bonny Doon. They ransacked everything, and turned out every drawer in the place." j The -colour all drifted from the girl's face; she turned, and stayed her steps. "Why—why did they do that?" she asked "falteringly. Mise Prince made no answer. She had • already heard the Tumour that Harry Garlett was to be arrested this morning. j "Look here," ehe exclaimed, "let mc ' go up to The Thatched House, and if i Harry Garlett is there I'll ask him to come and meet you out here in the road. In any case, let mc come with you, dear. You ought not to go there ' alone." i "I am going there," said Jane, flrmty, "and I hope you won't think mc rude, Miss Prince, if I say that I would | rather go alone." ! Without waiting for the othert : answer she walked on quickly, leaving Miss Prince staring after her. The wrought-iron gate was wide open, and ehe hurried through it. to find, a little way up the drive, the Terriford ; Village policeman standing, as if j barring the way. ; Jane knew the young man well. She read aloud once a week to his invalid mother. "Have you 'business up at tne ' house, miss?" lie aeked hesitatingly. ■ She answered, "Of course I Save,! Jackson, or I shouldn't be going , there," I and walked firmly on. ' Oppressed though 6he was with an awful feeling of foreboding and fear, j even now she did not in the least realise what had happened. She only thought that the horrible news told her by Miss Prince was part of . the general," cruel, unfounded attack made on the man she loved. ' j It was with a leap of sudden joy that! she saw Harry Garlott standing by the j open front door of hie house. The.vcr> sight of him brought a feeling of comfort, of reassurance, to her burdened

1 liii't as he came forward to i .■ rihe saw that ho was in a , s: i great excitement. (.'?■' lie exclaimed. "I tried to get through to your uncle about half an hour ago, but Elsie told mc he was out. I wanted 'to tell him of the outrage that was committed on mc last evening—when I was out of the house, too —they wouldn't have dared do it if I'd been here." And then, as she said nothing, he hurried her into the empty 'hall, and "throwing hie arms round her, strained her to his heart. "My God!" he said, "It makeri all the difference—'having you with mc." And for a long, blissful moment they lost all thought, all remembrance of pain and trouble, in a clinging, passionate embrace. Poor Jane! Since this great trouble 'had come upon them all, Dr. and lira. Maclean had seemed to think it almost unseemly for 'the lovers to wish to 'l>e j alone together, ami this was the very first time the girl had come, unaccompanied, to The Thatched House since .her engagement. I At last she gently withdrew herself I from his enfolding arms. "What really happened last night?" she asked. ! "I suppose I'm a fool to mind what's happened,' , he answered, ihis haggard face still full of the radiance her response to his love 'had 'brought there. J "You are the only thing that matters to mc now." '• Once more lie took her in his arms, once more they forgot everything in the glowing blissful knowledge of their love. I "I suppose I'd better 'tell you about | 'last night?" ' ! "Yes," she said, and taking up his hand *he laid it against her soft cheek. I "The moment I'd turned the corner on my way to Bonny Dorm the police came and ransacked everything here! Mrs. iShcrlock and her daughter were scared out of their wits. They begged mc to let them go away at "once, and,, of course, I said 'yes.' So I spent the night | here alone. I thought of asking your mint if slin would allow Elsie to come up for a bit; then I thought it a shame to bother her. I can't tell you the state those brutes left my study in—they actually forced the lock of "my writing table drawer " 1 He :i<ld(-rl fiercely: "I'm not going to let it rest there. I don't care whose fault it was—what mistake has been . made—whoever ordered it to be done is going to suffer for it. I told the man so very plainly." I "What man?" she asked. j Though the mere fact that they were l alone together brought witli it a deep 'comfort, as well as :> hidden ecstatic joy of which she was almost ashamed, I Jane t>lt not only frightened, but tor- , ribly perplexed. What did all this por- | tend? 'Harry Garlett. even now, was not, looking himself: it was clear that ,he had had an awful shock. I "The Terriford Inspector of Police, of course," he answered. "[ met him land his two underlings at the gate as I was coming back. He said something about sorry that lip h;ul had to , upset everything f o. If I had known i what he meant I'd have forced him to come back with mc! D'you mind seeing my study. Jane? I've left everything exactly as they left it! I want Dr. Maclean to sec it—the Vicar too. Of course 1 shall send in a claim for compensation." She followed him through the silent, cold holme, and then, at the door of what had been an ordcrlv. even a luxurious study, she stopped," amazed at the sight before her. The look of the room reminded her of the stories she had heard during the war. The cupboard doors of a large Chippendale bookcase were wide open; the 'books had been roughly turned out of the shelves, and lay on the floor. Tapers of every kind were scattered here, there, and everywhere; the drawers of the writing table were open, drawn out ns far as they could go, and the top drawer, which had been locked, had been wrenched open with some rough instrument and emptied. As a girl Emily Garlett had collected shells, and her small shell cabinet had been kept in this, her husband's room. Even that had not been spared rou"h desecration. The cotton wool on which the shells had rested had been thrown out, and lay, in wads, on the carpet. "This is the worst room," said Harry Garlett, quietly. "But my bedroom's I in a pretty queer state too; and as for (the dining-room, you'd think burglars had been in it! From what Mrs. Sherlock told mc it's pretty clear that they waited till I was safely out of the house and then started to "search." "Did they say what they wanted to find?" asked Jane, wonderinjlv. ."'No. They made a regular mysjtery of it! And yet they were fools .enough to ask that poor old woman and her-daughter if they had found any packets of powder about—grey or white!" "Grey or white powder?" echoed Jane, uncertainly. "Not salt or popper^ —arsenic!" he said, bitterly. And then," all at once, he took her in his arms, and kissed her with a passion that almost frightened her "God! what should I do if I hadn't you?" he muttered. "Oh, Jane—my darling, darling love! It's been hell ( this last fortnight—nevur, never seeing I you. D'you realise that I've never been able to have a word with you, exceptinb in the hall now and again for a minute or two—since we came back from London?" i "I know." she whispered. 'They've been very cruel, though they meant to , be kind." j "Did you feel them cruel?" he whispered back. I As only answer she slipped into his arms, and again, in that disordered desecrated room, it was as if heaven ! wrapt them round. , It was Jane who suddenly heard the I sound of footsteps echoing across the hall; and the two had only just started | apart when a loud voice called out: • j "Is anyone in this house? We are i looking for Mr. Henry Garlett." He hurried to open the door. "I'm ; Henry Garlott!" Two men in police uniforms hurried down the corridor. The one was the Terriford Inspector of Police —the other his sometime deputy. • I They looked taken aback when they j saw the man they sought was not alone, j and the older man stepped forward into the room. I "Is there any place," he said, looking ( round, "where we could speak t o you j for a minute " he hesitated, "and then added the word "sir." I There passed a look of intelligence between Harry Garlett and the Inspector of Police. i "Certainly, Inspector. Please follow mc into the dining-room." He turned to Jane. "Will you stop here for a few moments? Or, perhaps better still, go outside into the garden. I'll join you in a few minutes." i "Yes, miss, that's what you'd' better J do. You go out into the garden." j The Inspector spoke in a very kindly, respectful, pitying tone. But Jane moved across to Harry Garlett's side. She took his arm and

held it firmly. "Say, what you want to say to Sir. GarlgtJ here," she said, quietly. "I'm not going to leave him." ' The man came forward. "I'm sure the gentleman would rather We had our talk by ourselves, miss." j Harry Garlett said in a low voice: "He's right, my dear. I do beg you to go." She shook her head. "I can't," she said, piteously. "Don't be angry with mc, Harry, but I can't." He tried to smile. "Nothing could make mc angry with you, my darling." "Now, miss, can't I persuade you to go?" said the Inspector. "No," said Jane. "I'm very sorry, but you can't." "I'm sorry, too," said the man, gravely, "but duty is duty." He put his hand lightly on Harry Garlett's free arm, "I now arrest you," he said, solemnly, "on a serious charge. That of having murdered your wife, Mrs. Henry Garlett, on the 27th of last May." It was the first time that such a duty had fallen to Inspector Johnson, and he looked far more moved than the man he had just put under arrest, j "I must warn you," he went on, j "that anything you say henceforth may | l>o used in evidence against you." And ! then, inconseiluently, he added: "Have j you nothing to say Mr. Garlett?" "The only thing I have to say," said Harry Garlett, quietly, "is that I am innocent." 110 gently freed his arm from Jane Bower's detaining hand. "You must go homo now and tell your uncle and aunt what has happened. | Be of good courage," he said in a | lower tone. "And. Jane, I'm glad you stayed with mc: it's made all the difference." He turned to the Inspector. "I take it that I shall be allowed all reasonable opportunities of seeing my friends?" "That is so," said the man. He made a sign to his subordinate, and they both turned their backs while the prisoner and the girl, for whose sake they both believed he had committed an awful crime, bade each other a silent, and an apparently unemotional, farewell. She walked to the door without looking baok. But when out of doors, in , front of the house, she suddenly felt ! giddy; it was as if her mind became a ' blank. And thon there came a rush of memories—of acute, anguished real- | isation of what had happened. ! She covered her face with her hands: | "O God," she prayed, "make mc keep my reason, and help mc to help Harry." ; Then with steady steps she walked I on, past the pitying young policeman, who tried not to look at her, and past the closed car in which she knew hor lover was about to be taken to the ugly, sinister building known as Terriford Gaol, past which she had only driven two or three times with her uncle; for it was situated on the outskirts of the market town, far beyond i the prosperous doctor's usual round. j (To be continued Saturday next.)