THE GRIMLEIGH MYSTERY.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 9819, 19 July 1900, Page 6

THE GRIMLEIGH MYSTERY.

CHAPTER V. In a surprisingly short space of time the news was in every mouth. It drew the idlers of Grimleigh hot-footed to the half-reaped meadow where the corpse still lay amongst the standing corn. But the police, having received early notice, were quickly on the spot, aud drew a cordon round the poor remains, that they might in no way be molested. Beyond this, the crowd ot fishers and laborers broke into excited groups, arguing and theorising. No one was sufficiently speculative or daring to name the murderer. Eyes looked into eyes, heads were shaken at heads, but the laborers could guess neither by whom, nor for what reason, the girl had been killed. Mayne alone made an attempt to solve the mystery as he escorted Rachel to her home. 'I wouder what Mr Johnson knows of this,' said he, suddenly. Rachel looked at him in surprise. ' I don't see what he can know of it, Herbert. The poor girl left his house while he was out' • Quite so, but he followed her.' ' How do you know ?' • I was coming up from Grimleigh on the night Bithiah disappeared. As I climbed that path which goes to the field I met our pastor coming from it. He looked wild-like, and tore past me like a storm wind. I did not kuow then what he was after; now I am sure he was in search of Bichiah.' 'Not to kill her, Herbert,' cried Rachel, shuddering ; ' not to kill her ?' ' No, I don't say that, Rachel. He had no reason to kill her, you know. He loved her. A man does not kill the "woman he loves. A minister, set high as an example to the coDgregation, does not break the sixth commandment.' Rachel turned on Mayne with a look of wrath in her usually mild eyes. ' Herbert Mayne, for shame,' she cried furiously. ' Shame upon you that you should say such things. I would as soon believe my own father killed Tera as Mr Johnson.' ' I don't want to accuse the pastor,' said Herbert gloomily ; but if he does not know how she came by her death, who does ?' 4 I believe that Bithiah, or Tera, as I should call her, carried away her pearls on that night, and wag killed by some tramp who wished to rob her.' ' How would a tramp know that Bithiah carried three thousand pounds' worth of pearls?' retorted Herbert, sharply. ' Your statement only strengthens the case against Mr Johnson. He alone knew that Bithiah had the pearls with her. He ' • A case against Mr Johnson !' interrupted Rachel. ' There is no case against him. How dare you talk like this ?' • It is merely a theory.' 'It is envy and hatred, Herbert Mayne. Here I am at home. I shall not ask you to come in ; you have spoken too cruelly of our pastor. Go away and ask God for a new heart—a contrite spirit. lam ashamed of you.' Rachel entered the house and closed the door in Herbert's face. He stood where he was for a moment. Then he turned and walked back to the field. In spite of Miss Carwell's denunciation, he bore no ill-will towards the minister. He only theorised on the sole evidence which he possessed. Johnson loved Tera, and she loved Finland. Johnson waa in desperate need of merry, and Tera had rim away, aud on the very night of her departure he had met Johnson on the very path near the cornfield where the body had been found. The evidence, circumstantial if it was, clearly poioted to Johnson's being more or less implicated. ' I don't say that he either stole the pearls or killed the girl,' mused Herbert, as he strode along. ' I merely thiuk he must in some way be connected with the matter, or at least know something about it. At all events, it will be for him to explain how he came to be in that particular place on that particular night. Sooner or later the police are bound to question him.' When he reached the field Herbert found that Inspector Chard had a; rived from Poldew. By his directions the body of Tera was carried into Grimleigh, and* there laid out in an empty building close to the police office. Notified that the dead woman was Mr Johnson's waivl the inspector, after making a few enquiries, paid a visit to the minister. As luck would have it, he met him coming out of his garden. He looked somewhat scared, and when he saw Chard's uniform he hastened towaid him. ' What is this—what is this ?' he asked hurriedly. 'I hear that a terrible crime has been committed.' ' Yes, sir,' s«d Chard with military brevity ; ' are you Mr Johnson ?' ' That is my name. But this murder—' ' I have come to speak to you about it, Mr Johnson.' 'To speak to me ?' repeated the minister, whose face looked emaciated and painfully white. ' Why, what have Ito do with it? , ' Don't you know who has been murdered?' asked Chard with a keen glance. 'No. How should 1? My mother was in the town just now, and returned with a story of some crime having been committed. She is rather deaf and heard no details. I was coming to the police office to make enquiries.' ' I will answer all your enquiries now, sir. Please take me within doors.' 'But who! are you?' asked Johnson, who did not recognise the officer. 'Inspector Chard, of the Poldew Police-office. I come to ask you a few questions.' 'About what?' said Johnson, conducting the inspector into his study. 4 About the dead woman.' 'Ah!' Johnson dropped into his chair with a gasp. 'A woman—the victim, then, is a woman?' He looked swiftly at, the stem polica-officer and passed his tongue over his dry lips. ' What questions can I answer ? 1 know nothing of this popr soul.' ' Pardon me, sir, but I thiuk that is not quite correct,' replied the inspector dryly. Then, with an observant eye — ' The dead woman is, 1 believe, a native girl who—' 'Tera!' Johnson lept up and shrieked the name. ' Tera,' he repeated, and dropped back into the chair. ' I—l knew it.'

' You knew it?' echoed the inspector, pounciDg upon the admission. 'And how did you know it ? Be careful, sir —for your own sake, be careful.' But the Minister was heeding him not at all. Indeed, in his then state of mind it is questionable whether he even heard the man. Certainly he in no wite took in the meaning of the warnings. 4 Tera,'he moaned, resting his forehead on the table. ' Oh, Bethi»h !' 4 Who is Bethiah ?' asked Chard, still on the alert for any clue. 'Bethiah is Tera,' said Johnson, lifting his haggered face. 4 When received her into the fold we named her Bethiah. And now sho is dead—dead. Who killed her?' he demanded with a sudden fierceness. ' That is what I wish to learn, Mr Johns-on ; and if you will l> so good as to answer my question we may i erhaps arrive at some clue to lead us to the discovery of the assaesin. .

The minister wiped the perspiration from his forehead and drew a long breath. Chard could see that the man's nerves were shattered, and that he was suffering from severe mental excitement and phyeical prostration.

' How long-have you been ill ?' asked the inspector suddenly. ' I am not ill, I am"worried.' 'Oh !' There was a world of meaning in Chard's ejaculation. ' Then how long have you been so worried ?' ' I don't know.' ' Shall we say a month ?' By this time the minisier was beginning; to see that there was something strange in the officer's attitude. 'Why a month ? ' he asked, as a new fear filled him. ' The body we found has been lying in the field for quite a month.' • Man !' cried Johnson, with a wild stare, ' you dou't mean to infer that I killed her ?' 4 1 —I infer nothing, sir. lam here to procure information, to ask questions, not to answer them. This dead woman was your ward. She has left you, as I understand, a month ago, and has not been heard of since. To-day we find hfr dead body in a cornfield belonging to Mr Carwell. It is my duty to learn how she came there—how she came to be strangled.'

4 Strangled ! Was she strangled ?' ' Yes,' said Chard drily, * She was strangled, and her body was hidden in the thick of the standing corn. I don't think I ever heard of a cornfield being ueed for such a purpose before. Moreover,' and Mr Inspector leaned forward, ' the body has been robbed.'

' Robbed !'

' Yes, the pearls, you know.' ' The pearla !' repeated Johnson, vacantly. ' Oh, yes, the pearls. But what are they—what is anything compared with her death ? Oh, I loved her, how 1 loved, her ! And she is dead.' He leaned his head on his hands and wept.

Chard was becoming a trifle impatient. The man was in such a state of mental excitement and physical debility that it seemed unlikely he would prove of much use—at piesent, at all events. Still, he was the person of all others from whom details regarding the paat, life of the dead girl could best be learned : and in her past life might be found a motive sufficiently strong to lead to some clue.

4 Who is—or, rather, who was this girl?' Chard asked, taking out his pocket book to note down the answers to his enquiries.

A Polynesian girl from the island of Koiau in the South Seas.'

' And how did she happen to be in England V

' She was brought here by myself, Mr Inspector. For a year or more I was missionary in Koiau, and while thfre I gained the goodwill of Buli thehierh chief. He inclined his ear to our fail h, and I believe would have become a professed Christian had not the heatheu party been so strong that they might have deposed and killed him. Aβ it was he aeked me to take his daughter Tera to England, and have her educatedin one of our schools, so that ehe might return civilised and converted, to do good in her own land. I accepted the charge, and after baptising the girl as Bithiah I brought her to England and put her to a school near London. She was there for a year, and a few months ago ahe came here to live with my mother and myself, pending her return to Koiau.'

' Oh, she was about to return, you 'Yes, her father being old and frail, wished her to come back that he might claim her as his successor. He sent home another missionary named Korah Brand to escort her back. It was only shortly before her death that I told Brand he could take her away.'

' You say you loved her ?'

Johnson flushed and looked troubled. ' The confe.-sion escaped me in my sorrow, , he said, in a low voice. ' I must ask you to lespect the privacy of a statement made under such circumstances.'

' Nevertheless, I fear you must speak of it,' said Chard. 'Iflam to trace the murderer of this poor creature I must know all about her.' ' Well, I don't care who knows,' cried the minister, recklessly. ' I have nothing to be ashamed of. Yes, Mr Inspector, I loved htr, and I asked her to marry me. She refused, declaring she was in love with a man named Jack Finland.' ' Oh, here is a fresh element. And who is Finland, may I ask ?' ' A sailor —a nephew of Farmer Carwell. , 'H'm,' ssid Chard; 'and it was in Farmer Carwell's field the bod} , was fout'd- Strange !' ' I don't think Finland killed her,' expostulated Johnson with some eagerness. ' He is EOt a godly man, aud it is true, I believe, that he is a trifle dissipated in his habits, but he is a good-humored, cheery sailor, and he loved the girl dearly. Indeed, lam certain that he is innocent.

'All men are presumed to be innocent until they are found guiltj 7 ,' said the officer drily. 'And where is Mr Finland now ?'

'At sea, for all I know. H* left Grimleigh three weeks ago to join his chip in London.' ' And now, Mr Johnson,' said the Inspector, ' tell me when this girl ran awuy.' ' On the evenius; of Atiguat 23rd.'

' Why did she go.' ' Because I informed her that for the future Brand would take charge of her, and would not let her see Finland again. I was absent when she went away, but my mother tells me that she left the house between five and six o'clock.' ' What did you do ?' ' I went out to look for her when I returned. I did not think she had run away ; but that she had merely gone for a stroll. I therefore went out to find her. and escort her home.' ' Did you see her ?' ' No. I walked about for nearly two hours, but I saw nothing of her.' ' Was there any circumstance which seemed to point to her having run away?' 4 Well, the pearls were missing, buli gave his daughter a bag of pearls worth at least three thousand pounds. She was to sell them, aud with the money buy goods to take back to Koiav. ; but i she was not to do so until immediately before her departure. For safety 1 took chiirge of them, and they were usually locked up in a drawer of this desk.' ' Did the girl know where they were ? ' Oh, yes. I showed them to her frequently. Oα the day she left I forgot to take my keys with me, and when I returned both Bithiah and the pearls were pone. Then it was that it crossed my mind she might have run away.'

' Willi Finland? , Johnson shook his head. ' Finland was questioned by M r Brand about that,' said he, ' and denied having seen the girl. He left Grimleigh a week after her disappearance.' ' Do you think Finland is guilty ?' ' I have already said that 1 do not, Mr Chard. He loved the girl, and she was quite willing to marry him and give up her fortune, so I do not see what motive he could have had to kill her. No. sir. Finland is iunocent.' 4 Had the girl any enemies ''' ' Not that I kupw ot.'

'Can you surmise -who killed her?' Johnson raised hi 3 head solemnly. 'As the Lord God liveth, I cannot,' he said, aiid his answer had all the solemnity of an oath. This ended the examination Ur the time being, and the Inspecor departed. It was ytsfe too early for him to make up his mind, but he was strongly of opinion thatJonnaoa knew luoie lhan he chose to confess. [to be continued.]