THE SOLUTIONS OF RADFORD SHONE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 109, 9 May 1908, Page 2

THE SOLUTIONS OF RADFORD SHONE.

|_PCBLIBHED: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.]

Being Narratives by Officers of the Criminal Investigation Department, and of the Provincial Police, in respect* of dealings . Trith the eminent Expert, Mr Radford Shone.

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Communicated to and edited by HEADON HILL.

CHAPTER V. THE GRANTON RUBIES.

Vaeue rumours had reached us at the Netford police-office that the Duchess of Grantoh had lost her celebrated rubies; but as the loss had not been reported officially I parf very little attention to the matter, thinking that if the gems had ever been lost at all they must have been speedily found. At any rate,, it was no part of my duty as Superintendent or the local force to go poking my nose into an affair in which our services were apparently not required. Then, on the second day,- a more precise rumour came in that the rubies were still missing, but that, rather than have recourse to the police, tne Duchess had sent to London for the fashionable investigator, Radrora Shone, who had arrived at.Granton Abbey and was, conducting a rigid finally, on the third day, the whole business was lifted out of the region of rumour and automatically crystallised into a police cast? by the tragedy of the death of Monsieur Lupin, the French tutor. It is open to any one to employ whom they like in the matter of missing property,, but when human life has been ■■■filched even .a duchess has no option but to call m the constituted authorities. . It was shortly after ten o'clock in the morning when-toe telephone summoned me to the Abbey with the meagre information that the tutor was^ead, and that I was wanted immediately. Taking a uniformed constable with me^m the doarcart^l quickly traversed the two miles, from the town to his Grace's ancestral mansion, and was at once shown into the presence of the Duchess., I was that the Duke was m America, on" a shooting trip out West~Her Grace, a handsome, blonde woman of thirty, received-me m her boudoir, and it was easy to see at a glance that she had been shaken .up rather badly. From her attitude when I entered I should say that she had. been staring out over the park, but she jumped up on hearing my name announced and came forward, talking a^6h. Mr Foster!" she began, "the most dreadful thing has toppenedl. My eldest boy's French tutor hafebeen found hanging in a disused well in the apple orchard, quite dead! I feel as sure as dan be that it was. an accident. There was no reason why he should commit suicide. He was well and cheerful last night. Theidea. of a murder is not to be entertained tor a moment. It is preposterous-! She spoke in little ]erky sentences, her breath coming short. Her face was twitching nervously, and her fingers kept plucking at the buttons of her silk blouse. . . "I can better form an opinion on ■ that point when I have viewed the spot and talked with' the doctor, I replied. "But—your Grace will pardon me^-you speak as « the idea of murder had been mooted. "Did I?" she faltered. "I ? didn t . mean to. I only thought——" Then she broke down, and, it it is permitted Ho use the phrase abou. a lady of such exalted position, looked foolish. , I tried her on a new tack. m "We have heard some gossip m the town about your Grace having lost s£S valuabtejewellery^i &njl "and that>ou were having the matter investigated privately. I don't want to pvy into what may be only kitchen talk, but I need not remind you that if there has been a robbery it may have some bearing on this gentleman s death. In justice to every one you ought to give us all your confidence. "The two cases are absolutely distinct, Mr Foster, yet—" she faltered, and then went on as.though impelled against her will. "Yes, this affair of poor Lupin has made concealment impossible. I had hoped to hush it up, but that is out of the question now. It is true that my rubies are lost, and that I sent for Mr Radford Shone to find them. "Is he at the Abbey now?" I hazarded. "In another room, waiting to> see you, and full of a theory which I beg you to disregard," the Duchess replied pleadingly. ''He is so convinced that he is right that he insists on imparting his views to you; otherwise I tell you frankly that I should not have put he idea of murder mto your head." -- . . "Your Grace, it seems, has lost confidence in Mr Shone?" '..... The Duchess looked down and hesitated, toying with those blouse buttons so violently. I expected them to come off. "N-o-o—not exactly, she said at last. "On the contrary I believe him to be very clever. But I know—that is, I feel certain—that he has been misled about the cause of Lupin's death." "Has he found the rubies?" "Not yet. He thinks, he has a clue —at least, he suspects some one in whose innocence I believe firmly. But' there! I have not patience to discuss it. You would never have heard of Shone's idea if it had not been for this calamitous death of the tutor. As it is, there^is no help for it. You had better see Mr Shone at once and hear what he has to say." She touched a bell, antT a footman came to conduct me to the room where the eminent investigator awaited me. As I passed through the corridors I could not resist an inward chuckle at the irony of fate which had driven the Duchess to .employ the costly aid of a private expert, and then to have to beseech the police to treat him with contempt. For, practically, that was what her vehement disclaimer of his theory amounted to. The servant showed me into _ a small library where two men were sitting, one on either side of the hearth. The"tallest. a clean-shaven fellow with curious cod-fish eyes, jumped up on my entrance; the other, who was stout and stolid, retained his seat and surveyed me with lazy insolence. It was not intended to reach my ears, but I distinctly heard him mutter: "The usual type of provincial copper. Shone. Plenty of zeal, but limited intelligence. A nice mess he d

have made'of it if you hadn't been here." The tall man took no notice, but advanced to meet me,, his-proturberant eyes making play on my, face with; what struck me as'affected keenness.; It was as though: he wished to impress me with his powers of insight— that he was summing me up and probably finding me deficient. "I am Radford Shone—you will . have heard of me," he began m a strident, high-pitched voice. You I will be Superintendent—er—Foster f Well, as this jewel robbery on which I have been engaged has developed into a case of murder, you will naye to take charge, but you can have the benefit of my notes. They will enable you to arrest your prisoner within an hour." . "That will be very convenient, I replied. "It is my duty to view the body and go over the ground as soon as possible, but I shall be glad to hear the opinion you have formed. The Duchess hinted " Mr Radford Shone checked me with a wave of his long, bony hand. ' 'The Duchess!'..' he snorted. ' 'Her •>Grace is:the most impossible client I have ever had. She employs me,^sir, to recover her rubies, and then, wHen I am on the point of adding another to my long list of achievements, she —what's the word, Martin?" He I turned angrily to the stout man in I the chair.

"Flouts you," was1 the response, in a tone almost awe-struck. "Flouts me," snapped-Shone, affecting an explanation and an introduction in one by added : "Mr Samuel Martin, my literary helpmeet and— er " "Advertising agent?" I could not resist mildly suggesting, for somehow this man chafed me with his airs of superiority. , "Historian," Shone corrected mem turn with a scowl. "As I was saying, the Duchess declines to accept my : theory—flouts me, as .Martin puts it because my discoveries run counter to her personal regards and will hang*1 the son of her pet-parson. Here.it is in a nut-shell." \, ■ The expert swung himself on to the table and sat there, dangling his long legs while he plunged into his narrative. Martin watched him with a strange mixture of nervousness and adoration. And I—well, I am only an .official, and no genius, as you know, so' I simply listened. ' ' On- the previous day, in response to "ah urgent wire, Shone had arrived at the Abbey about noon, had been informed by the Duchess that the rubies, which she kept in a locked drawer in her sleeping-apartment, were missing, and had at once started his investigation by questioning her Grace's maid. This woman, by name Larraway, informed him that she had seen the Duchess place the' rubies in the drawer three days since and lock it with a key which she wore night and day on a chain round her neck. Larraway had also been present that# morning when the Duchess had imlocked the drawer and had discovered that ths gems were missing. The lock had not been tampered with and the key had never left the Duchess's person, so Shone naturally concluded that a false or skeleton key had been used to open the drawer.* From the maid he had turned his attention to the other inmates of the Abbey, but without being able to connect any of them directly with the robbery. Direct evidence not being available, ho had searched for that of the circumstantial kind, and had elicited the fact that the governess of the younger children, Miss Madeleine PerciyaJ, had .a lover in the impecunious son of the vicar of the parish. The young people had recently become engaged, but without any prospect of an early marriage. There was, of course, no proof of the crime in this, but it had fixed the attention of Shone on Miss Percival, and from his own" showing he must have handled her pretty severely—so much so that the girl seemed to have lost control of her temper. Though he didn't say so, I ascertained afterwards .that she had called him all kinds of fcol, which must have been galling to a person of his eminence. Compensation, however, was .in store for him, from the mouth of the -very, next1 .witness he* examined—liti-"h pin, the French tutor. This indivi-l dual, pressed hard by Shone, had Jtur- ' riished, with every show of reluctance, | a clue confirming the expert's sus-J picions. Two nights previously he had been sitting late at his bedroom window, after putting out his light, to smoke a final cigarette. Suddenly he had seen a man, whom he had recognised in the moonbeams as Harold Sterling, the vicar's son, creep from a shrubbery and station himself under Miss Percival's window in the opposite wing. In a little while Lupin had seen the governess open her window softly and throw down a small parcel, with which young Sterling made off/ "And what more do you want?" Shone demanded, rolling his eyes as if he suspected me of collusion with the thieves. ■<.'■'

"Getting warm," I admitted, none

too readily; for I liked Harold Sterling, and had sympathised with his lack of prospect—still more with the cause. He had thrown up a good billet in the City to go out to the' .war.with the Yeomanry, and had not !beeu- reinstated.

"Warm !" Shone flung at me with a sniff oi contempt. "I call it conclusive. Well, I had the governess in,' to explain matters to the Duchess. The minx met me with a flat denial of, the truth of Lupin's story.- I sent over for young Sterling and confronted, him with the Frenchman in the presence of the Duchess. Martin and I had t<> fling ourselves on him to prevent his flying at the tutor] s throat. And then her Grace tops it all by believing the precious pair of lovebirds, refuses to prosecute, and orders me to begin all over again. And now," Shone added, after an impressive pause, ''this morning Lupin is found hanging in the old >yell,_ and wiliy*nilly; youihiave to come into the business. A clearer case of murder .for the double motive of revenge and of gutting out of the way an inconvenient witness never came my way." It is not, for a police-officer to express opinions, but if I had spoken my mind I should have been bound to admit that on the face of it things looked pretty black against the vicar's son—for the murder, as apart from the robbery. For, knowing the boy as I did, I thought it possible that he might have been betrayed into a violent deed of _ revenge for a false accusation against his sweetheart and himself in respect of a mean theft, of which they knew themselves innocent. -

"Well," said I, "it is my duty to see the body, first, and the place where it was found. Then, just as a matter of official1 form, I shall have to verify the evidence which you have collected." (To be continued.)