THE MYSTERIOUS BRIDEGROOM.

Lake County Press, Issue 2347, 20 October 1910, Page 2

THE MYSTERIOUS BRIDEGROOM.

(PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.)

JOHN K. LEYS. Author of “The Broken Fetter,” “A Sore Temptation,” “The Thumb Print,’ “Fallen Among Thieves,” etc., etb.

(Copyright.)

CHAPTER xxy HI-Continued, “I hope to have the pleasure of making- Master Robert’s acquaintance before long,” said Alan’s visitor. There-was a pause, during which rio sound was ijeard but the tap,: tap, tap of Mr. StetfHouse’s'p'eficil as he gently struck the end of it against his teeth. “I tyonder,” he said musingly,“whether any one who called at the office—some acquaintance -of your own, perhaps, or of Carruccio’s—can have taken the thing?” ' “When I ran in shortly after five,” said Alan after a pause, “to tell Mr. Blomfield of the'appointment the girl had made with me —which was a very important one for me—he had a friend .with him. L.dpu’t ,supposc for a moment that his friend knew anything about !the. affair, but you wanted me to tell you if ‘any stranger could have got at., the. Revolver. Possibly this man might,: if he had wished, but I don’t suppose he even knew it was - there. He knew Connie Montague, too—l forgot .that.” v ; “Could he hear what you said to Blomfield.about meeting her that night on-Hampstead Heath?” asked Stenhouse, in; a voice of subdued excitement.- '

This, however, affected him but little,, In the face, of the awful danger in which he stood, the loss of his money seemed a trifle. Day by day he waited anxiously for some news from Stenhouse but all he had had was one short note, Which'ran thus' “Investigation promising well, but • onq important witness ill in hospital, and another away' on a yachting cruise. If necessary will apply for postponement of trial!”

- “Of course he could. He • was in Blomfield’s room.” “Can you give me his name and address?” 1 “No; but he was ■ a friend of the chiefs, I‘ have heard him call him Teddy,”- ' ' ' “Thata’s good enough for me,” said. Mr. Stenhouse. “Keep up your heart,” he -added, looking at Alan with an alert, searching gaze. “I’m certaiivwe are on the right track now. ■ I only, wish we- had .a little- more time.: But you may depend upon it that I will make the best use of what I have.” ~V Alan had a very different opinion of the little man when he left the cell ■ him when he entered it. Perhaps the HaMbsfead Heath mur- . ;dfer would have attracted more attention in : London -if-it-hrrd not been that just then the discovery of the South . Atlantic f, ’ u Company fraud burst upon the ears of an astonished public.',. Everybody said that it was the . -most audacious, the ' most impudent swindle that oven the Gold Mine market had ever known. The rumours of

This was cold comfort, and to add to his anxiety he found that Mr. Rowe was about the worst legal adviser he could have chosen for an emergency like the present. He had had no experience of criminal matters, and was disposed to leave everything to Stenhouse, just as he might have done if that astute young man had belonged to his own profession, and had been specially engaged for the case. Where Stenhouse now was, nobody seemed to know. He had drawn a considerable sum of money from Mr. Rowe, in the name of travelling expenses, and had then disappeared into space. The only news Mr. Rowe had had from him was a letter dated from a seaport in the south of France, saying that he was on the track of an important witness, and that if he did not turn up by the first day of the sittings of the court, he must apply for a postponement.of the trial.

adverse private reports had. multiplied, and when at last a committee of shareholdersi investigated the matter, they found that the mines which belonged to the ; Company were not those that had been recommended by the great expert whose report, had floated the Compalny. In other words, he had been shown the wrong mines. Soon after he left-Brazil the names of the mines he had .visited .were changed, and in short the public were induced to subscribe for shares in a company which held only property of very doubtful value. Of course criminal prosecutions were at once resolved upon, but it was seen that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove guilty knowledge on the part of the directors —save only the chairman, Henry Blomfield, who was undoubtedly the mainspring and the chief actor in the swindle. By his orders everything had been done; he . had conceived and carried out the fraud, and apparently he had sold his shares when they still commanded a high price in the market. And now he was not to be found. A warrant was issued against him, and detectives were busy hunting for him. everywhere, but apparently without any great chance .of. success.

.Mr. Rowe knew that it was very doubtful whether such an application would be granted,without some indication of the evidence the missing- witness was expected to give, and' his heart was filled with anxiety. But his anxiety would naturally have been much greater if he had been able to believe in the prisoner’s innocence. He had tried to do this, and had failed, for the simple reason that he could not conceive how the crime ■ could have been committed by any one else. He did not know Alan as Winnie knew him, and he had not her faith. He thought it possible that by some fluke he might escape paying the penalty of his offence, and that was all. As for Winnie, Mrs. Rowe, who now knew her secret was astonishetd at her hopefulness. Not even in these darkest days before the trial, when it seemed vain to look anywhere for help, did she' despair. Such was her faith in the innocence of her lover, that she yould not believe that twelve honest men could find him guilty.

CHAPTER XXIX.—THE TRIAL. The first day of the sittings of the Central Criminal. Court arrived, and no further message had come from Stenhouse. Mr. Rowe was furiously angry, but he was helpless. Then, just at the last moment, came a telegram : Get Falconer’s case postponed to end of sittings. Am arriving Thursday with important witness. —Stenhouse. V Who the important witness could be, Mr. Rowe could form no conception. But he took care that the application was made, and it was granted without difficulty.

Mr. Rowe’was very much afraid that the money Blomfield had paid to the Greatorex trustees, having been derived from the sale of shares in the South v; Atlantic Mining Company, would',be • ordered to be given up to help to .satisfy the claims of the defrauded v&bareholders; but happily foi who investigated the #ffatt'',found. such abundant proof that? Meredith- and, .Blomfield had been that Blomfield wag in’ fact an accessory to the robbery of the. trust money, and had indeed and used it, knowing it to h3ve-been’ stolen —that his ,payments to the trustees were nothing more than acts of restitution.

One result of the fraud' was that Alan fouiid himself beggared, as he had spent mpst of the money he had -received' aS^ salary, and in the meantime his Shares-in.:t)le South Atlantic Mining CorUpap^,'Which he had taken; for the claim, were unsaleable ao& wqrthlqss. ' • ,

On Thursday morning, as he had promised, Stenhouse turned up in Court. Beside him sat a stout, welldressed man whom Mr. Rowe knew by sight. He was a merchant in a large way of business named Finlayson. What he could possibly have to do with Connie Montague, or the guilt or innocence of the prisoner, was a mystery. It had been understood that the Hampstead Heath murder case would be taken that day, and the court was crowded. The murder of an actress would draw a crowd to the trial if the German fleet were in the Thames. In a .corner from which she could see and hear whatever was going on sat Winnie, with Mrs. Rowe at her side. She had insisted on being present,, and had made Mr. Rowe promise that he would tell Alan where to look for her. “Put up Alan Falconer,” said the associate to the chief warder, and a moment later Alan stepped into the dock. Pale and thin as he was, a different being from the sunburnt youth who had landed from Brazil only a few short months before; there was yet a self-possession and a quiet confidence in his bearing that impressed the spectators in his favour. He neither seemed unduly depressed nor • over bold. In a voice , that was low but firm and clear, he answered “Not guilty,’’ when the question was put

to him, and stood looking straight in front of him, till the judge said he might be seated.

Just before he sat down, Mr. Rowe passed a scrap of paper to him. He read it, and his face lit up with a sudden brightness, so that the chief warder, who'was watching him, thought that he must have secured news of the arrival of a witness who could secure his acquittal. But it was not so. The note merely told him to look at a certain bench in the courf, and he knew well whom he would sec there. He did not allow his glance to wander at once in that direction, for he knew that a hundred eyes were upon him; he waited till the prosecuting counsel, a Q.C. of the name of Harlahd, had begun his speech, and then he stole a look at the corner where Winnie was sitting. She did not dare to life her hand by way of greeting, so anxious was she that no eye should intercept the look that passed between them, but her sweet face shone like a star, and spoke to him of hope. Mr. Harland began his speech in a slow, moderate yet assured manner, and every ear in court was bent to catch the words that fell so smoothly from his lips. The principal facts, he said, would be fresh in the recollection of the

jury. The case against the prisoner, he was bound to say, was purely one of circumstantial evidence, but seldom had a stronger case been brought into a court of justice. Such circumstantial evidence as he should bring before .them was in .reality a thousand times stronger than direct evidence, for the eye-witnesses of a crime might conceivably be perjured or mistaken on a question of identity. He then went on to tell the story of the finding of the body among the gorse bushes, and ,said he .would call the young man who had picked up the weapon on the scene of the crime, and two most respectable witnesses, who would swear that they had seen the prisoner take that very weapon out of a packing-case that belonged to him, and put it in his desk. The witnesses —several people who could speak to the intimacy between Vlan and Connie —the policeman who had first seen the corpse, and Stenhouse, who had picked up the revolver —were called, and each in turn gave his evidence. Following them came the secretary Matthews, who, in addition to identifying the revolver as belonging to the prisoner, swore that he had on one occasion overheard the prisoner say to Mr. Blomfield that he was ready to shoot a certain Captain Brabazon at sight. It was the theory of the prosecution that Alan had not re cognised Connie Montague under her disguise, and had shot her under the impression that he was firing at a man —at the Captain Brabazon he had threatened to kill at sight.

It was noticed that Alan’s senior counsel left it to his junior to crossexamine most of the witnesses, and that the cross-examination was of a very- perfunctory description. “They have no defence. Bet. you two to one there’s a verdict before five,” whispered a barrister’s clerk to his friend. • “Make it four and I take you,” whispered the other; and the little bet was duly entered. In an incredibly short space of lime the case for the Crown was completed, and Mr. Asher, Alan’s senior counsel, a stuff gownsman, but a man with a great reputation for defending criminals successfully, bustled into court.

“My lord, and gentlemen of the -jury,” he began, “I shall not take up your time by telling you in advance the story which my witnesses will tell you upon oath. I shall only promise one thing, and make one explanation. What I wish to assure you of is this, that the evidence of my witnesses, if it is to be believed, and I think that even my learned friend’s ingenuity will not be able to suggest to you a plausible reason for doubting it —will wholly and completely exonerate my client from this charge, and prove to you that he is as innocent as any one of you gentlemen now listening to mo. And I will offer you this explanation. It may be said, and probably will be said, if this story is genuine, why was it not told before the magistrate who sent the prisoner for trial P The answer to that, gentlemen, isthat when the prisoner was before the magistrates, this evidence was not known to the prisoner’s legal advisers. And, in fact, the most important witness of them all, perhaps, has only arrived in London this morning from the Mediterranean, where he has been on a yachting tour. Any other remarks I have to make, I will

was plain that Alan could not be guilty of the murder, for Miss Lavender had met him going towards the heath' after she had missed her dog. The significance of the lady’s testimony became plain enough when Mr. Harland began cross-examining her. But he got very little for his pains. Miss Lavender said in answer to him that although she had never seen Alan before to her knowledge, she had no difficulty in recognising him, because he had remained speaking to her for some seconds, though he was evidently in a great hurry, and she was quite certain that he was going up towards the heath, “for,” she added, “I met him face to face, and I know well enough that I was going down.” At this point the judge intervened to ask the policeman who had found the body whether the dog which had guided him to the spot by its bark was the terrier which Miss Lavender had brought-into court with her; and the man said that although! he could not swear that it was the same animal ■it was certainly about the same size, and of the same breed as the one he had seea that night on the heath. The next witness called was the porter who guarded the main door of the building in which were the offices of the Central Brazil Mining Company. This man, whose name was Dickinson, was an ex-guardsman ; his manner, his whole appearance spoke of punctuality, accuracy and fidelity. He said he remembered well what happened the evening before the murder, for the fact that Mr. Falconer had been apprehended that night had driven him to recall the circumstances while they were yet fresh in his memory.

About five o’clock in the afternoon that day the clerks employed in the various offices in the building began to pour downstairs and into the street. He could not say whether the prisoner had been among them or not. But a few minutes after five Mr. Falconer returned. He knew that, because ever since a clerk'in one of the offices had boen found tampering with the books of the firm after office hours, he had always taken particular note of any clerk who came back after the rest had gone, with a view to seeing that he left the premises within a short lime. Mr. Falconer did not stay long. He seemed to be in a hurry,* bounding up the stairs three steps at a time. In less than three minutes he was down again ; and he had not been gone five minutes when Robert, the office-boy, came back. He was accompanied by another lad, whom he now saw in court, who was a stranger to him. This lad waited at the foot of the stairs while Robert, the officeboy, went up. He also remained but a very short time upstairs. He ran down and went off with his friend Following him came Mr. Blomfield and a gentleman who was with him.

He, witness, called a hansom for them, and jnst as it drove up to the kerb-stone, Mr. Blomfield turned and said a few words to his friend, .and then, as though he had forgotten something, he ban upstairs to the office. He was down again immediately, jumped into a cab, and drove off.’

After that neither the prisoner nor any one belonging to the Central Brazil Company returned to the office till the great door was finally closed at eight o’clock. Of that he was ready to take his oath. No cross-examination shook this witness by so much as a hair’s breadth, and the judge complimented him on the clearness with which he had given his evidence. But the full force and meaning of his testimony was not apparent until the next witness was called. This was none other than Robert, the office-boy, himself. He said he had just come out of hospital, having had' the misfortune to break his arm. Before that happened he was officeboy in the Central Brazil Mining' Company’s office. The prisoner kept a revolver in his desk. He had often seen it there, and one afternoon he took it out to show to a boy he knew, named Hodgson, a friend of his. That was the-last day Mr. Falconer was at the office. He took it to the office of Mr. Finlayson, where Hodgson was employed meaning to keep it all night. But he took it back the same evening a little after five It might be half-past .five. He would swear that he put the revolver back where he found it, and that was in Mr. Falconer’s desk. Richard Hodgson was then called, and he corroborated his friend; but a more important witness was at hand. “Call Mr. Finlayson,” said Mr. Asher, and a stout gentleman, wearing a flower in his buttonhole, went up the steps into the witness-box with a rather pompous air. This was the man Stenhousc had been hunting for the last ten days.

reserve, with his lordship’s permission, till the witnesses , have given their evidence.” The first witness was a 'lady. Alan seemed to remember that he had seen her somewhere not long before, but she gave a name that was quite strange to him —Miss Lavender. But as soon as she began to speak he remembered her. She was the lady who had met him as he was going on to the heath on the night of the murder, and begged him to find .her dog if he could. It was her dog, he had not a doubt, that had led him to the spot where Connie’s dead body was lying. She told what had happened quite simply and naturally, and at first even Alan himself did not see the importance of her evidence. But suddenly it flashed on him that a dog had guided not only himself, but the policeman to the scene of the murder, and if this was the same dog that the lady had lost, it was tolerably certain—at least there was a strong presumption—that it had found the dead body before its mistress began searching for it, and if that were so, it

Mr. Fin! lyson said that he remem bered the day of the murder very well because that was the day he started for his holiday. He went for a yachting- trip in the Mediterranean. On the evening of that day he remained later than usual at his office, making preparations for his departure. On his way out he noticed Hodgson, his office-boy, and another lad, who was a stranger to him, bending over something. “Going up to them,” continued the witness, “I saw that it was a revolver they were playing with. I was very angry, and asked the second lad where he had got it. He said he had taken it out of a desk, and I ordeted him to go at once and replace it. I' understood him to say that the desk he spoke of was one in the office where he was employed. That is the lad I am speaking of,”.said Mr. Finlayson, pointing at Robert with a disapproving linger. “He went out with the weapon under his pocket, and I saw no more of him. I went off to Paris that night, and I had no reason

mentioned with the murder till a clerk from the prisoner’s lawyers came to me at Nice. Then I consented to come home and give evidence, as nc said it was of great importance that I should come.

That the evidence was important there could be no doubt. Stenhouse had shown himself to be a most capable detective, shrewd, resourceful, and untiring. Most men would have been content with the evidence of the two boys, but Stenhouse saw that the point was of vital importance, and he reflected that judges and juries arc apt to look on the evidence of boys as of considerably less value than that of adults. Taken in conjuhction with the hall-porter’s evidence, the incident of the revolver showed that the prisoner could not possibly have had the revolver with him on Hampstead Heath on the fatal night, and the inference was that the hand that fired the fatal shot was not Falconer’s. So he spared neither time nor money in securing the presence of the man who could prove beyond doubt that the revolver had been taken back to the office after Falconer had left it for the last time. When Mr. Finlayson had been cross examined a rather unusual incident occurred. A man sitting in the body of the court rose and said that he could give evidence in corroboration of what had been said by the hallporter. His offer was not received with the enthusiasm he had expected.

As a matter of fact judges look with some suspicion on any witnesses who do not appear before the magistrates —volunteer witnesses . especially However, on the present occasion the judge coldly asked Mr. Asher if he wished the gentleman to be called. Mr. Asher contented himself with saying that he would not take the responsibility of shutting out the offered evidence, and in the end Mr. Wimpolc, for it was he, was* allowed to kiss the book. (To be continued.)