THE STORYTELLER. THE QUEEN SQUARE MYSTERY.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 4994, 28 December 1906, Page 4

THE STORYTELLER. THE QUEEN SQUARE MYSTERY.

t CIiAFTEU XVU

—Where tlu- Mystery lk-gan it Ends.-

•Well o.d chap, how are you to-•-Well.; oiii thap,how are you to•t; R vin Lindsay, ' who sat m an armchair by the lire. Aiwtrutlwr himsMf opposite. •llath.-r iHtter, 1 fancy, "' returned krlston, "In" "<> l lll^ vscll - Vl " l> lio glance-d UwUy ut the visitor. MmirihinK in his inan'tK-r put the nu-v.-uturera quick brain on the aiert . •You dklnt come up here this 0-,,:0iu-BJ. out cnuxo tho i-al

„f the visit; Anbtruiiwr ; V auction had ho » ttr t i>l^ •What for? What was be asking ? •Uh ! who you are and where jou van* from, amd all, thai soft <>i thing. 1 asked tho Johnnie wnu; was up. but toe was rather vague— thought you wight bo n man who was -wanted,' but he wouldn't say what for.'' ••lie's on the wrong track, then, said Erlston with a coolness ho was far 'from feeling. "Who was this tec. ?" ' -Inspector J ohnson . " Thj information was not reassurring. John was tho man who had chur&v! of tho Queen Square nurder cusiv Krlstou felt that the crisis qi his fate had conn.-. l»y som* means or other the police had gut on !ns (rack; ou.e in thoir haiul*. all v."as over, it was a question of minutes. JTud Hervi betrajcJ nil", or <k-rald JJraudvfcort ? No, or Jchriscn would not have had to question anyone ol.se. Thvre was no time, however, for con,'jeture. Just when h* was toJing most secure, th-«> gulf open i at his feet. It s.vme-,1 to him \\u\\ Anstrulher suspect-d Kometirug wrung, though thy? idea might only be due to his TVwi guilty consciousness. He could not dismiss his fri ml — that would e.\citi- .suspicion. He must gvl out of Iho room unU'.*r some pretext or other. "Excuse me a iuinute," ho said, rising, niid ltt> Ing down hi* cigar. '-.I ought to have take-n my iK'dicme half an lvbur ago ; it's in my bedroom." Aiiotruther nodded, and" Kris'. on quitted the .room. His bedroom was opposite. •Once theiv he went to work rapidly. He hail some mi;ney on him — all he possessed in tlu* world. lie Hung on a great --c-oat, caught tip his hat, ami st ok* on tiptoe out on to the landing. The next moment ho was out of the house, anl walking rapidly towards bond Street. - As he- turned '-into that thoroughfare, a hansom, entered < AHffd>rd Street. Lt^was. of course, quite dark, but the huu]t]ight flashed upon v face lirlstou thought hi? knew to bo thut of Inspector J ohnson. lie w«a savei by less than a iiimjle! lie sprang into the iirst cu;j he saw and told the man to drive to the 'Horse Shoe" in. Tottenham '..'«. urt Koad. But when he- reached iholu-\.-in, ho tliti not outer it. lie walked" quicKly up Tottenham Court JJoad. and turned down Jiailev Street, through, lkdford Street, into tJow.-r Str..vt, and by way, of Kep-|h-1 street and llussvll. Stuart) »he tmi.'dvJ illoo-msbury .Square) into Southampton! ltow, where ho .struck diuj:uutrlly across to Cosmo I'Kwe, and so gained Queen .Square. * • ' "» ♦ "Mr Lindsay's in his room, ' .. a j 4 i tlie «tariL-.|-ii tt s;v.. preciJing ihc iw o tk-Uttivcs up i he stairs ; and ho opened fit.- uit ting-room tlaor, i o in com'ruirUxl by I'ercy AUstruther. TnSi^i.v .| o huso» put the boy uj-ide ana entered tho room". "J'eg pardon, Mr Aristruther," he said, "is Mr Lindsay here ?" 'In hi-* hedroom, 1 believe," •'•asivod JVrcy ; "he left me only 0 lew in mutes ugo." ' To the bedroom the detectives «ent, tins page showing this w u y, but it was clear the bird had flown. "You gave him thy tip, sir," said JnsfHctvr Johnson, "nirt meaning to, mi doubt." Anstriitiii'i* explained. "Thut'a it, sir," ya id tho Inspector, ••'ttvll. he's given himself away b; 1 \ ant ing like that. JJut he can t have yol far." • "What s be accu.sv.tl of?" crrod Anblruther. "Muixltr, sir— suspected, anyway. "Come, Trent, we've no time to lose." They departed, leaving IVrcy Anstrutlwr to gvt over his h\>m>r a wi a.«.av.enuiit as best he uri^it. Hut Inspector Johnson s»ot m, ik-w* of the fugitive that night. Tltuuch }>o had but v. few ltiinutes" tstwrt of thy police. h»; hail managed, for Mv> l»rescnt, at »uy rate, to effectually elude thorn. Jn the morning papers there was a paragraph to the effect that the police had almost matle an arrest in coniwction with the Queen Square murder; but the suspected person hud succeeded hi escaping. It was not likely he would go to his wife ; she hail no tuvuns of concealing him ie ! a house in which she only hui rooms, but she might know uJur- he. was. and a v u tch was s.t «,„ y v house in Turlington Square. JWote that, however, Ikrvl h ul i goue to lile»oinsl>ury .S<nmrtA-us a J;»Hen« apparently. .She w« s t»,e •""l *. lhm '. «' v ' wc'iu into the m,i-sulung-rvom at once. "Y ou kn , >iV why J have come?" she saitl. v» Hll tli.« tloor had closed. -You have seen the papers?" h ■M Vt ih n.V" t0 ° k IKT httllds ' and IKM them for a monuiH in his OW|l . *«t iUnvu here, Hvr\\ v«n i »»' "•a'danytihvgebc-' ''"^ • -■■•■ '»«*U.-e ii> l; U .. n Sqiiujv I, ..-..11 u,,n>, ii,. l Oukl 4 vi in. Hv

has, no doubt, thy missing latchkey." „ . , "He could not remain there, said illOHiHlesert ; "he would starve, and the police will surely think of that Islecrct ,cellarf" .**' Yet." JJcryHartsvrored, "you know lit is said that from oiie of the houses a secret passage runs a long wa y— l have been told as far as lla'mpstead. Jf there is such a nas•sagc. may" it not be from that house, even opening from that cellar? Any Majnaixl -knows of it. as he knew' of the cellar, and kept the means of entering the house, that h» might be able to escape. *It is veiy possible, Beryl. Have 1 your authority to make tlw sugtrestwn. if need be? Such a passage, remember, would be a daugorous -means of escape." "Yes." Beryl answered. "Do what you thing best, Gerald." * There was a knock at t-h.- door, and Dr. Beau-desert opened it. "Inspector JohiLSon, sir ." a ser-vant-said, "wishes to sec you." "Verj^ well." He tunic d Ijuck. to. Beryl. "Wait here," he said, "wmle I see the ihspecUir." '- Johnson -^ras waiting in a at.c room at the end bfHhe passaj?'?, and told his Ejory. to which Dr. Beaudesert listened attentively. <<Th-re «s no more use in silence he said, then ; "Gavin Lindsay is Maynard Erlston, but his wife did not know it until she met him by ?hance in society. She has now no idea whero he is, nor have L./cer tainly should not shelter him m any way. It is possible that he has escaped through the house in Queen Square " And he added his reason for the' suggestion, which Inspector Johnson. Jwaa no -means ißclraed to disregard. But he tried fust, and tried in vain, to trace "Gavin >Lindsay ono make pretty sure that the fugitive had not quitted London. Then owe night, in company with two other detectives, he went to the deserted house in Queen Square, having obtained the key from Iho landlord. They went straignt to the secret cellar, the door ot which had not been closed, lest it should be found difficult to open it ogam; and Inspector Johnson lirst stepped thretuffh the aperture, raising his lantern high. Instantly he uttered an exclamation. Opposite to him was a small aperture, partially closed, but open wide enough to admit the Passat of a man's body. The detectives came up ouickly. ••There is a passage," said Jonnson ; /it's a sliding door, and either he couldn't quite shut it, or was afraid to, lest h© might have to turn back. That looks as if he hadn't explored the passage to the end. Besides, he couldn t have had a light, going off in such a panic. We must go very cautiously. ' Leaving one of his men nt the entrance, in case of n-xd, Johnson, with the other, entered the passage. It was narrow, and so low that they could not walk ciuite upright. . but appeared to be solidly built. I'rocit'ding slowly and carefully, the two linn presently came .to a sharp turn, and' a few yards further on there was a sharp descent. Moving forwards, the men found themselves on ik; edge of what afU'rwair.s in-ovexl to be a drop of near-::. 20 feet. A rusty iron ladder suspended from rings connecting- the/vp { per.pas- j sage with the lower. Kneeling down and bonding over, Inspector Johr,son. lowering his lantern a little way and below the huddled-up form of a' man. He lifted ait ashen f.,ce to his companion. -»H-a Erlston'' lio " said in a hoarse, whisper ; ;'ho must have fftl.--'"'lh^other constabi.i w.is sununon-.-d. and sent for ropes, and | with some dirticulty the body, was g«>J «P from the place where it had lain three days. Ueat-b must have been instantaneous, for the n«ck was bro-k-en. Whether Erlston was .not, inti,i,ato with the passage, aml,jgrppin«; his way in the dark,' fell sheor over the edge of the passage, or^ m- Ins terror and haste, forgot his position could never be known ; but there was a grim poetic justice in tho nrannn- of his death— in the very house in which he had murdered his wretched brother ; and through the means of. that secret retreat, which had served to conceal his crime, until—for his own purposes— ho indicated the place of concealment. ■- -■- -*— ■'■*'■' * • The full story of that .murder in (iuetn Square., disclosed at the inqutj»t on Maynard Erlston, furnished a sensation not soon to be forgotten evui in Londdri. -There we're no tears shed for the* man who had perished miserably, as he deserved, but for his victim— his other self in outward seeming— the poor mother wept bitterly. She was souKnvhat comforted by Beryl's promise, to place a stone over his grave,, recording his name ; and, furthermore, the woman herself was provided for. Mrs Hurst drew her own moral, "after her kind." "I always said," she declared to Adela, "that it wasn't no use your dangiin' after that man — Lin !say, indeed ! To think if you j had 'aye married him ! Take care that you • know somethink about your n.'.xt beau !" -,., I'nd Adela. wiser, if not much sa-d---de»r, for her disappoint ineivt and esca])e, married an impecunious lordling after all, and bolstered up his impoverished estates with her vulgar millions. ♦ . ♦ * ...... "We- Can't ha^e a long honejinooh, dearest," Gerald Beaudesert said .to his betrothed the ttay benonj their maiTutye. 'I wish I could get away, but it is impossible— a week, no more." 'What does it matter ?" she answered, clinging closer «o him, as he folded her to his heart. "Is it not happiness enough to be >vith you ? 1 should make a H-eaven out of a desert by your side, Gerald." '•"Then there is no need for regret," he saud, stooping to put his lips to hers; -f O r if j O u are content, sweetheart, so am I. it will always be hoi^ynioon with us, Bor\l wherever we me, jn sunshine or sha- I dow. jn j O y ur j n sorrow, haiul in hand, heart to he»i t— through life to the end."

(The K)u\.)

In tli • island oi Cos, in tho Acg-iau '"•a, still tottevs a venerable pUino cr-e, fifty-four ftvt in 'ilmmeter, antlt'Miwafoa to )m over two HH>u«ainl ;. <nr^ ohl. i:in>o li\ j s v murhk' .-«a(, frum which Jlippocrulos is 'uuluvn" to have k-clinvd un tlvo lualintr art. 'J'Jie trw has sprcatl its itlsatv, airconli'H^ to Dean Karrar. ovi r St. l.uke an-.l St. Paul. Dr. l"*lwartl Clapton. tOrmerly physician at St. Thomas's Hospital, a n tni t'li. s ust ie aic!i:»cologi?,t, s.'nl an «c>'«t g s oar jr two a^\). who. at |!ii>nt ri-ik, pruv:i--rd sonic fra-u.iu-nts «.' •'.«• tr< ■. Jiv iiii.oi.ul ivlic is it'fiMhv d.v ,uul i.i-J.;. | M ,j k . SiiJ _ tail s onk,s. '!),.. !>»,..„.„,„ j,^ v .»:• J li.fii lunH.il «.v. r to i;,.. R o v u l ( ( ' lU .""' °«" SllJXriO IS. WJI-.-iV Ihy will t-y cii«j»layi'<j iv u u » mju.Scuuj.