THE FATAL ROOM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15056, 27 July 1912, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE FATAL ROOM.

1 ,wSw* r srecu " miKGranOT>'K™.', '.■ __

3Y JAMES McELDERRY, I , „ Tho veil of Circumstance," etc. ,j jißOior of - rfco i-"■: . ' conmcHT. i<s CHAPTER T. I:': „r. H .o<n or lu-vnt, ■■: " , . a which greeted the appearance " ' ** E f! Fc ck,' S first book of poem, &* D ? nrinTnrilv, to the fact that the l^ dß '/l«dbeen singularly barren of W«££fof originality or the vital onus, but it i-no indict- ' Epar ♦t the enormous popularity winch v bbi9 that tn Altars'' and each subsequent fiction or poetry-en-Hg SSw«- the mysterious veil shrouded the author's personality. S&tad on half » hundred occasions, Crlt f«7l half a hundred distinguished **SX « the idolised - author or ■ 3S » became quite a tasonatmg ; S£L Bridge had begun to pall. fW L,t the feature, that blushed be£h ho veil filled the breach admirably. , S Sl-known paper even offeredla pri« to 1 first Of its reader., who should tear ' S shroud aside and convict its wearer of "L beyond all shadow of doubt, the J Dolores Fernanda, whether man or

woman- , >■ ' But the prize was destined never to be • ■Won Tlm) faroo " s author had Polished L'balf a dozen books when her tragic • death revealed her identity. Gradually U» suspicion of foul play was. dissipated, nd at last I think it came to be generally ■ believed that what at first had appeared % to be a murder of diabolical cleverness • a- after all, only a case of suicide or -'Heath* by misadventure. Nothing could lave been further from the truth. ' : : It will be best, perhaps, if, at the out'•.'kct. I reconstruct, from the notes I made ' cii tie subject, the- circumstances in which ; ;'I first .became acquainted with the facts : Clone of the most amazing and baffling ■•'•'.' mysteries in the annals of crime. Jly acquaintance with Max Denmark, lite w"U-known millionaire, though it had pot been intimate, had been of some live years' duration, when, early in 19—, I rented from him a small bungalow and a Jaw hundred acres of rough shooting adjoining his famous Eddlesham coverts. tike ■: my bosom friend John Hollow. I was a J»rrkt"J with very considerable hopes and very inconsiderable practice, and as ■pa were both sportsmen and there was eouid; very passable fishing, we made a practice of spending our week-ends at the bungalow during the summer, walking the seven or eight miles from the station on ■"' the' Saturday afternoon and returning to town on the Monday morning. During ■ this time we saw little of either Denmark. jßfho was ft man of many tastes and pur- ■ suits, or of '.lis frequent house-parties, and jby some odd coincidence Hollow never made either his acquaintance or that of Gerald; Manning—a frequent visitor at Eddlesham Court — the latter was a member of our club. Denmark's wife jive had frequently encountered—indeed, to remarkable was her fondness for walking that it was difficult for anyone staying IBiany hours in the neighbourhood not to (some across her on one of her expeditions, pcccmp'Ulied. invariably, solely by the bullHog that was her inseparable companion. Gradually, without fully realising it, we (tame to look forward to these frequent testings, and fell entirely beneath the tjEJell of her wit and her ethereal beauty, lad on many occasions we had laid aside ,wr reds on purpose to take some road jirhere there would be a faint opportunity iif waylaying her and securing the coveted invitation to accompany her.

I, myself, was never able to resist the appeal of beauty allied to wit, but I remember that at the time nothing surprised me more than the way —whom I had always known as cpld to almost everything 'outside works on criminology, natural fcttoiy, and science— succumbed to the fascination of this woman of more than middle age. I was afterwards to discover that it was the first faint stirring of a new phase in his character, and one ithat was to revolutionise his life.

At the beginning of the first week in June, three years after the date of my lease of the bungalow, Hollow and myself .ViitavD.ed to town on the Monday morning. 'We had seen Margaret Denmark on the i:iiiri<lay_ and by some curious coincidence the subject of spiritualism had cropped tip, during a conversation on which .Mrs. [Denmark had expressed with considerable, 'earnestness views practically identical iwith these held by the famous Dolores Fernandez, and embodied in a volume recently published. I remarked upon it at the time, and she confessed to having read the book, suggesting that she had probably unconsciously imbibed much of the great Writer's teaching and beliefs. On my way to lunch next, morning I was Startled to hear the familiar name on the lips of the newsboys. They were shouting ■■the vests .of Dolores Fernandez's death ° bawling to the world at large the intelligence that the veil of anonvmitv had been lifted at last. . A moment later ] bought a paper and fore it open. I must know at once who Dolores Fernandez was. Trie truth stared at me in the most ghastly capitals it has ever been mv illfortune to see: SUDDEN DEATH OF JfllS. MAX DEXMAItK. 6TBAXGE STORI* OF A DOUItLI-; LIFE. THE HEAL DOLORES FERNANDEZ. I daggered into a cafe, and ordered I Know not what for lunch. Ido not think I ate anything. _ My eyes were glued to the columns of biography and details "-or what passed for details—of Mar garet Denmark's death. And out of 2t all only one thing emerged. She had died suddenly, without warning. without apparent illness, somewhere between eleven O'clock on Sunday night and three on the Monday morning <m whirl) the news ■tvas published. and'Vhe had died on" tinfirst of June in the room in which, exaetlv a year ago. her daughter had died suddenly, and in which, "two years ago,'.-i guest had died equallv uivs*teriouslv ' ] was prepared for the placard legend which confronted me when 1, emerged from the cafe: JSXTJtAOJIIMNAY MVSTI.'K'V OF A I" AT A t ROOM. I was prepared, even, for the. wealth or conjecture and amateur detective work put in by the reporters during the next twenty-four hours; but I was not, prepared lor the startling suddenness' with which I Was to find myself plunged into the mazes of what will go down to historv as The Mystery of the Fatal Room." v On leaving the cafe I made my way Straight to Hollow's chambers. the paper st! 'l '•hitched between mv fingers. A glance, at his face was. sufficient to toll me that ho had heard the news. I put the paper down in the midst of a confusion of documents and law books, and balanced myself on the fable without speaking. For son 10 five omites there was a pregnant silence. 'J hen Hollow .sprang to his leet with a fierce exclamation.

_ "Vincent," he said, his features work-S-g and his voice betraying a pitiful effort a!., composure, "I would give fifty years of my life for the chance to avenge* that foul and dastardly murder!" I looked at, him with unconcealed surprise, ft was the first hint I had had that there could be any suspicion of foul play, though I own to having had my doubts as to the manner of CarJofcla's death a year since— doubt that the Medical man had not hesitated to put forth. And aloud I protested, even while ** sense of conviction gripped me. ''It _is impossible —" I began. "It is murder," interposed Hollow, with. out looking up, in a tone that silenced protest, "It is as certain that Margaret Denmark was: murdered as it is-—"

Ho broke off and crossed to the door. Someone was coming tip the —someone with a halting gait that had a curious sense of familiarity to me. A moment later I knew. I heard my name spoken in a voice that was unmistakable. It was Gerald Manning's, and lie was following Hollow inio the room.

He took my outstretched hand in a grasp that was limp and strangely unlike the .vice-like grip 1 had been accustomed to, and then sank into a chair as though the effort to stand were too much for him, and buried his face in his hands. For some moments he sit thus, and when he raised his head I saw that there was more than a suspicion of moisture about his eyes. I turned away and looked out of' the window, and as I did so I heard the door click, and knew that Hollow had left the room. Even he, with his cynicism and surface adamant, could not look upon a once strong man's tears. How long I stood thus I do not know, but" I was shaken from my thoughts and conjectures bv a hand on my shoulder that was more like that of the Manning i had known than I should have thought possible after my fast sight of him in his present state of collapse. " Vincent," he said, slowly, " I have come to you for help. Iyou—" '•Yes,'l have heard—the bare facts, or such as have transpired. But Ido not see how I can help." To my surprise he turned on mc sharply. " You mean to say that if I tell you that/ there has been murder doneit" I toll you that Margaret Denmark has been murdered, as I believe Cariotta was murdered, and as I suspect Weider was murdered —you will not believe me, and will lift no" hand to bring the murderer to justice?" There was a touch of what seemed half hysteria,- half melodrama in his tone, and for a moment I was inclined to think that illness had affected his mind. Before I could frame a .'reply, however, ho steadied himself, and when "lie spoke again his voice was calm and collected.

" Vincent," he said, " I want your help ; and in common decency you can't refuse to give it ! I have come to you because I have seen how everything .you said of your friend Hollow has been confirmed by his success in the Gaddesdon cjvse, and ; because I believe that he is the man who will be able to avenge Mrs. Denmark if anyone can. I want you to ask him to pocket his pride and to take up this case as an ordinary detective. I will pay him any sum he cares to name? — would pay my last farthing to revenge Carlotta and her mother." '• I do not think that money, much as he needs it, will influence Hollow in any wav," I interposed; "and I am certain that, despite the fact that I am his friend, he will do nothing for me that ho would not do for you or anyone whose wishes "happened to* fall in with his own. Perhaps, if you feel strong enough to tell all you know, it woidd be best for me to call him in at once. You knew, of course, that it was Hollow who met you on the stafrs —or, rather, at the door?" Manning stared at me incredulously. '' Good heavens, no!" he ejaculated. "That was the man —" He broke off, with firmly compressed lips: and I waited in silence for me moments before I put an interrogation. ''Tho man von— V But he refused to be drawn, and nothing I could say could induce him to complete his sentence. "It is nothing—nothing," he kept repeating. '• It is a. mistake —a mistake. Believe me. it is only a matter in which I had evidently confused identities— thing I am apt "to do in my present fctate of health, and one which distresses me greatly because it. is a sign of weakness." Presently he added : " Vincent, yen will do me a great favour if you refrain frcm mentioning this foolish idea -J mine to your friend." * . . * Knowing Manning's sensitiveness, I promised, with a smile of amusement at his earnestness, and forebore to press him for an explanation. Little as I tnought it, the incident was to be recallea vividly to mv mind before many days were past at a "time when events were moving with bewildering rapidity. As I gave the promise I opened the door, and called to Hollow,' who had betaken himself to the next room. Ho came at once, hi* eyes betraying an obvious impatience to know the meaning oi Manning's' visit at such a time. With a few well-chosen words, and what was for him an unwonted geniality, he dispelled the slight constraint that our visitor appeared to feel in his presence, and taking a seat in such a position that he could observe Manning without himself beimr observed, asked him to give his reasons for the suspicions he entertained. The effect upon Manning was startling. Whether or not he read between the lines, and discerned beneath Hollow's affectation of indifference a deep interest and concern. T do not know, but a transformation seemed to take place in his bearing and appearence. Ho seemed to throw off all trace of his intense nervousness; the colour came back to his cheeks; he pulled himself up, and something of his old strength and suggestion of latent power crept into his eyes. He began to-pace tho room with lon's, determined strides, utterly unlike the. short, agitated steps I had' remarked as he entered; and presently, addressing himself entirely to Hollow. * he began his story, hie eyes fixed rigidly en the carpet, and never once during his recital meeting ours.

trace of his intense nervousness; mo I colour camo back to his cheeks; he pulled < himself up, and something of his old } strength and suggestion of latent power I crept into his eyes. He began to-pace tho | mom with lon's, determined strides, ut- ] teily unlike the, short, agitated steps I j had' remarked as he entered; and prejscntlv. addressing himself entirely to HolI low. ' he began his story, hie eyes fixed | rigidlv en the carpet, and never once during his recital meeting ours. CHAPTER IT. j manning'S story " There will be no need." he began, "to i call to your mind, Mr. Hollow, the, circumI stances attending the death of Hermann ! Welder two June's ago, nor that of Gari lotta Denmark in June of last year. As I you v.'ill have seen in this afternoon j paper, three successive Junes have been j marked. /at Eddlesham Court, by three | successive tragedies —practically 'identical as to the circumstances surrounding them. J Each has taken place in' the same room, | and the evidences present in death have j been preciselv the same in all capes. It ! will perhaps be as well if I at once dis- ! abuse your mind of any idea that there is nccessarilv some clue or sinister sugges- ! tion in the coincidence as to the month, ! ft has happened that the room which ha» I to-day been eo appropriately christened, the Fatal Room has actually only been ! used during the latter end of May and the [ beginning of June of each successive year | in which tragedy has followed tragedy so j relentlessly. It has been Max Denmark's j custom to have a particularly big house- : party at the beginning of each summer, and the room has been utilised as an over- , flow room. F have ascertained that it was I praeticallv never used before the year in ' which Hermann Weider met his death i there. 1 " Kveryovie can understand Hermann ; Welder's being given the room. There i appears to have been nothing then to sngi gest that any fatality attached to it. lint j von will say —as others besides myself j have said—that the mad folly which alj lowed Carlotta Denmark to meet her death i there became a mixture of insanity and criminality when her mother was permitted to spend several nights therenights which were ended by her death. I will tell you at once what you may or may hoi know : that obstinacy and a contemptuous but amazingly vital hatred of superstition or the supernatural are the strongest traits in Max Denmark's character. They would be quite sufficient to account for his allowing anyone to sleep there even after the second or third tragedy. '' Now these traits have been inherited, to some extent, by his daughters; but in • Carlotta's caso they would not- havo been sufficient to induce her to sleep in the room, or rather,, they would have been counterbalanced by my entreaties and her mother's strong belief in the supernatural, had site not chanced to overhear a remark | of her father's reflecting on her courage, j and suggesting that she would not have j the strength of mind to occupy tho bed- ! room until he himself had nrnvfd that

criminality when her mother was permitted to spend several nights there —nights which were ended by her death. I will tell you at once what you may or may not know : that obstinacy and a contempttions but amazingly vita! hatred of superstition or the supernatural are the strongest traits in Max Denmark's character. They would be quite sufficient to account for his allowing anyone to sleep there even after the second or third tragedy. ■' Now these traits hare been inherited, to some extent, by his daughters; but. in • Cnrlotta's case they would not have been sufficient to induce her to sleep in the room, or rather,, they would have been counterbalanced by my entreaties and her mother's strong belief in the supernatural, had she not chanced to overhear a remark of her fathers reflecting on her courage, and suggesting that she 'would not have the strength of. mind to occupy the. bedroom until he himself had proved that nothing but a natural cause was responsible for Welder's death, despite the doctors' belief to the contrary. This remark had the effect of putting her upon her mettle, and in June, when the house filled up. she had her things moved into the roomwith tho result you know." Here Manning paused, apparently overcome with emotion, and for some moments remained standing in the centre of the room, his face hidden in his hands. When he resumed it was in a low, monotonous voice that contrasted oddly with his incisive accents a few moments before. "Carlotta was—as you, Vincent, at least are aware—everything in the world to me; but even our mutual love and my passionate entreaties were unavailing against the reflection upon her personal

courage. When she died I vowed that I would never rest until I had discovered her murderer—for that she was murdered —foully done to death— am convinced,, even though I can give definite reason* for belief. I employed - detectives—without result. It was 1 who, after superhuman efforts, persuaded Mai Denmark to have the inner walls of the room pulled down. The dismantling revealed nothing. I have continued to visit at the house— partly because of my deep friendship with Mrs. Denmark, but mainly because I shall never know a moment's peace until I have avenged Cariotta. But mv frequent visits have been as fruitless as my first efforts. "1 will pass now to this last, and— from everyone'*; point of view except mine —most terrible and poignant tragedy. Five days ago, when I was the sole visitor at Eddlesham Court, .Mrs. Denmark declared her intention of .sleeping during the summer months in what we will now call the Fatal Room. .1 opposed it strenuously. To my surprise Denmark himself was even more strenuous in his opposition. It showed me, I am glad to say, one trait that was stronger than his obstinacy and his hatred of superstition— his love for his beautiful wife. He locked the doors of the room, and absolutely forbade his wife to go near it.

" 1 know nothing of what passed between them later on in the day; but, to my amazement, before evening' Mrs. Denmark came to me and told mo that she had won her husband's consent. 1. am afraid that I lost my head, so great was ray anger. Yet, so marvellous was her power of fascination, her irresistible appeal to the man in one—and to the highest in that man—that in a few moments she reduced me to silence. If you knew anything of her, and if you have read, as I supposo you have, her 'Interviews with Unseen People,' you will know how real the spirit-world was to her. Well, sho had come to the conclusion that only by being alone, in the watches of the night in the room in which Carlotta had died, could she hold communion with the daughter who had passed over before her. Her desire to hold communion with her daughter, and her belief that she would do so, were so strong, so pathetic, so appealing, that I was melted as Denmark himself had been melted boforo me. I understood his weakness, knowing that it came from her great power and his great love of her. "" He could never refuse her anything. Would to God he had refused her this !

" Tho room lay in the western wing— the creeper-clad side that can be seen from the road—and in order to be near her Denmark and myself, with the two other guests who arrived that day, moved into the wing, all of us occupying rooms on the opposite side of the corridor, which overlooks the quadrangle, whereas the Fatal Room overlooks the park. The night passed uneventfully, and the next day Mrs. Denmark told me privately, knowing that I was the only one who had real sympathy with her beliefs, that she had spoken for some time with her daughter, and that it had brought her very great comfort. At her request I said nothing to anyone, and yon are tho first to whom I have mentioned it—oven since her death."

" I take it- that she told you nothing of the nature of these communions?" asked my friend. "Practically nothing. On the next three days she informed me that the fame thing had happened, and I must admit that I myself noticed, if such a thing were possible, an even greater spirituality about her features than was usually visible. "On the fifth night the household retired to bed at eleven within a f-iw minutes of the hour. I may tell you that there is a small ante-room between the corridor and tho Fatal Room itself, and that Denmark from the first insisted upon its being occupied by a maid during the time that his wife was sleeping in the Fatal Room. The maid left her mistress at a quarter-past eleven and retired to bed. She states distinctly and emphatically that it was exactly the half-hour when she extinguished the light. From that time till shortly after four o'clock everyone appears to have slept soundly. Certainly the maid who was deeping in the anteroom heard nothingremained undisturbed. "On the opposite side*of the corridor, as I have said, Denmark and myself and two other guests were —Detaille, the scientist, and Senor Santiago, who was staying with Denmark over the Derby week. At ten minutes past' fourand I can swear to the time, because I immediately looked at my watch—l was awakened by something which I can enly liken to the report of a revolver. I thrust my feet into -my slippers, pulled on a dressing-gown, and made my way to the corridor. Simultaneously the doors of Denmark's and Detaille's rooms were wrenched open. Each of us had heard an identical —none of us could define it more precisely than I have defined it to you. We glanced in the direction of Santiago's room, only to find the door open and tho room unoccupied. At that moment we saw Santiago himself coming down the corridor.

,C I should have told you that Inert is a largo dressing-room leading off the Fatal Room, as well as the ante-room, and that this dressing-room has a separate door opening on to tho passage which crosses the end of the corridor at right angles. It was from the end of tho corridor at which this passage lay that Santiago was coming, and on our questioning him ho at once explained that ho had been sitting up reading at the timo of the disturbance, and that, thinking it to come from the exact direction in which the door of the dressing-room lay—though I may remark that he would not, of course, know of the existence of the room itself —he had hurried along there, half-suspecting that an attempt had been made to break into the house. Finding that this was not so, he had called through the door of the dress-ing-room, and, receiving no answer, had tried tho door itself, only to find it locked on the inside."

"Do I understand you to say that the .door was locked on the inside, or that Senor Santiago merely declared that it was?" inquired Hollow, looking up in the midst of taking a number of notes. "That is an important point," said Manning. " 1 mean you to understand that Senor Santiago declared that it was locked on the inside. We at once, tried the doors of all rooms in the passage and tho corridor. They were all shut and locked, most of them having been shut up for some months. So dazed were we that, strange as it may seem now, no thought of the Fatal Itoom crossed our minds until just as I was in the act of trying the last of the doors in the corridor except Mrs. Denmark's. I suppose, if any fear had attacked us, we should have dismissed it. seeing that the maid was occupying the outer room, It was at that moment that the door opened and tho maid, very scantily chid, burst out with a look of unspeakable terror on her face. '" If- was some time before we could calm her sufficiently to ascertain the cause of her terror. When we did so it was only to find that her (errors were mainly imaginary." Here Manning again broke off and continued pacing the room for a space without speaking. Then he said : " Perhaps I should correct my la.st sentence. I should have said that in the light, of later knowledge we came to the conclusion that her terrors were mainly imaginary."'

Hollow smiled

"Just so. It is as well to be exact. Tell us precisely, if it is possible, for you to do so, what the girl said." " She declared, positively, that she had been awakened by the sound of firing in her mistress's room, and that there had been not one, but several reports. She explains the interval of time between the report we all heard arid her appearance in the corridor by tiro fact that she was at first frightened and hid beneath the clothes —a. simple and natural explanation. She then called her mistress, and receiving no reply and finding that Mrs. Denmark had locked the communicating door, partially dressed herself and was about to call for assistance when she beard our voices outside the door.

''Denmark's state of fear and anguish was terrible and pitiful to behold Seeing that he was utterly unable to control himself, and knowing that the door to which the'girl referred was too heavy for us to break it down. I at once ran to the end of the corridor in order to break in by way of the dressing-room. What was my surprise to find that this outer door, far from beins locked on the inside, was not locked at all, though the key was on the inner side of the door. Detaille was behind me. and can bear witness to this. .We rushed to the door leading into Mrs. Denmark's room, to find, however, that this was undoubtedly locked, and that the key was on the other side. I had forgotten that

1 this, too, was of enormous thickness, but then, I had expected to find it unlocked. Nothing less than a heavy crowbar -would have forced it. We, therefore, retreated to the passage and returned to the corridor, where I found that Santiago had had the presence of mind to send lor a crowbar, with which he was already battering at the door leading from the anteroom to the room in which Mrs. Denmark had passed the night. , , "Both Detaille and myself lent what assistance we could, but it was Denmark himself who. suddenly awakening from his lethargy, gave the "final blows, and by means of his superhuman strength broke in the door. " By this time a large number of servants,' attracted by the noise, were filling the corridor. Denmark waved them back, and when they did not move cursed them in the most frightful language. I have never seen him so completely lose control of himself.

"We broke into the room, only to start back in horror-stricken dismay. Clad only in her nightdress, and face downwards on the floor in the centre of the room, lay Margaret Denmark— in the same position as Carlotta had been found before her. For some moments we were paralysed. Santiago broke out into a. passion of sobbing that was more terrible to witness than the work of Death before our eyes. I have learnt since that many years ago he was a lover of the dead woman, which explains his grief.

'• At last Denmark roused himself, and began to give orders. We lifted Iter on to the bed, and tested her heart. But we knew beforehand that she was dead. The doctors who were called think that she had been dead two hours."

Hollow drew in his breath sharply. " But the report? Were there no"signs of violence an attack ? Was there 'nothing to suggest the-cause of death?" Manning stood suddenly still, and looked out of the window for a while before he answered.

" Nothing, nothing," he said. "It is incredible—unbelievable— but it is so. There was nothing.' The doctors are baffled. They suggested poison, just as tfcvy suggested it in the case of Weider and Carlotta. But in neither of those casescould they find any trace to justify their suspicion. * " Now, listen. I examined the second door—the door leading into tho dressingroom which gave on to the passage. • lc was not only locked on. the inside, but it was doubly boltedwith bolts that are like the crowbars of to-day. The door that we broke down had been bolted in the same waywith a single bolt. Hud not the hinges given way I doubt whether we could 1 have broken it in. They were the only two doors in her room. The window was open but a few inchesperhaps three. It is a very old window, and is so fixed that it cannot be opened any wider, and it is the only window in the room. There is one fireplace, but the uiiimney, which is wide at the bare, narrows so much about four or five feet from the opening that it would be impossible for a large dog to gain entrance to the room or, to escape by it.

" Those facts Santiago, Denmark, Detnille, and myself will swear to. We made the most minute examination. It was impossible for any living soul to enter or escape from the room: there was no one concealed in it, and yet I will swear that Weider, Carlotta, and, lastly, Margaret Denmark, have been murdered." My friend fixed his eyes keenly upon Manning's face. " You can swear that there are no hollow walls—no sliding panels that could give anyone in the house easy access to the room "

" After Carlotta's death, as I told you, the walls were taken down. Neither then, nor now, lias there been any such thing in them. I have had them this morning tested —though I knew it was folly both by the police and by a competent architect. I can swear that there is no such thing in any wall, and I can swear that no one could have entered by the window or the doors. As for the chimney— well, you have only to see it to realise how utterly impossible it would be for anyone to descend, much less to ascend it. Besides, there was not a speck of soot on the hearth."

With a quick exclamation Hollow sprang to his feet, his eyes alight with excitement.

" Then, Mr. Manning, I take the case up from this moment-- I touch no other case till I have given you the name of the murderer. That Margaret Denmark lias been murdered I am certain, and, God willing, I will avenge her." Hollow's declaration did not surprise me. His tone when he had spoken to mo before Manning's arrival; the admiration he felt for Margaret Denmark as a woman, quite apart from his admiration of Dolores Fernandez, the Writer; and the success which had attended his few excursions into what, I will call the realm of detectivity led mo to the belief that he would be "quick to avail himself of the opportunity. After a silence of considerable duration, during which his eyes seemed to wander incessantly from Manning's face to the window and back again, ho said : " There is one thing we have forgotten. Has' Max Denmark given Ids consent to an inquiry being made into the circumstances a detective being engaged?" " Ho has given a reluctant consent to your being engaged, Mr. Hollow— you are Vincent's friend. Except you and the inevitable Scotland Yard officials he will allow no on© to make any investigation this time. lam afraid that my attitude after Carlotta's death is responsible for this."

" You both pay me, I am afraid, - an undeserved compliment," replied Hollow, lightly. " I will promise—though you are the first man to whom I have ever made any such promiseto prove that you have not erred in coming to rae. Now, there are one or two questions I wish to tusk, and I want you to think before you answer them. Gould you swear, after consideration and upon oath, that the doors of Delaille's and Denmark's rooms were opened simultaneously with your own? You said that they were wrenched open. That is a figure of speech that you could not bo in a position to justify. May I take it that the word simultaneously is a. part of that figure of speech?" A slight pallor crept into Manning's cheeks, which had grown flushed during his narration, as He-flow put the question. " I am afraid," he said, doubtfully, " that 1 was not as careful of my language as I might havp been. I should have said that, as I left my room, I saw both Denmark and Detailh apparently in the act of leaving theirs." " That may be important," said Hollow. "And, of course, you can swear that the door leading from the ante-room into the room in which Mrs. Denmark died was actually locked and bolted on the inside? There "is no question of the door having been locked from the ante-room merely, mid the key having been shifted afterwards—say, when you entered tin; room, and such a thing could be done in the confusion that might ensue?" " We could see the key on the inside. Tho bolt, was certainly shot when wo were battering at. the door. Why do you ask?" " Because when the impossible has happened, it is always well to be sure of all things. 1 merely wished to confirm my belief that the servant did not, while Santiago was returning from the dressingroom door to the, corridor, allow anyone to escape through tho dressing-room, lock and bolt the door between tho dressing-room and her room, and her mistress's, and then, returning to her own room, lock the door from her own fide. This would have accounted for her delay, and for your finding tho dressingroom, door unlocked instead of locked, as Santiago says he found it." " But the bolt socket on tho inside of the door between the fatal room and the anteroom was wrenched out as we entered the room."

"Then the maid is probably innocent of any share in the murder. You say that Santiago declares that he was sitting up reading. If this is true, he would have heard the reports if there were more than one. Even if he were nob speaking the truth about his reading, ha must have been in the corridor or thereabouts before you .wakened, and therefor© would have heard them?"

"Decidedly. Besides which I myself am now so light a sleeper that the slightest report or noise would at once awaken me, whereas the maid is admittedly a heavy sleeper. lam convinced that there was but one report, and that, the girl's fear .and imagination are responsible for the exaggeration. What that report was time alone will show." .

" There was no revolver in the room— and no indication of one having been discharged J"

Absolutely none. Neither was there any sign, on the body of a, blow or wound but that you will, have learnt from tho press reports." Hollow nodded, and took one or two sharp turns up and down the room. Then; ho swung round sharply on his heel. "You can tell mo nothing that is likely to be of importance with regard to the character of Santiago or Detaille on the personal side?" ho asked at last. " Nothing. I should have considered them both beyond suspicion. Santiago is really one of the best types of sportsman —with, a hatred of evorvthing that is not clean and above board. Detaille is, besides being a scientist, a courtly and benevolent old gentleman with an amazing wit for a professor— a member of the old French aristocracy. Santiago, as I have told you, was at one lime a suitor for Mrs. Donmark's hand ; but that was a, long time she met Denmark. Detaille was, like Weider and everyone who visited much at the court, a- very area* admirer of Mrs. Denmark." " ""

" There could be no suspicion of anything but admiration— a mutual esteem—between them?" asked Hollow, sinking his voice till it was little more than audible.

Manning turned on him with a blazing wrath that -was magnificent to see. "Margaret. Denmark," lie said, with the deliberation of white heat, after a pause in which his heavy breathing could be heard across the room, "Margaret Denmark was my friend. She was also the mother of the woman I should have married, and the purest woman God ever made. She was the friend of all the world ; • but she was the wife and the lover, of Max Denmark in every moment of her married life. I will ask you to remember that, Mr. Hollow, whenever we two are in the same room."

Hollow looked at him for some seconds in amazement. Then he held out his hand.

"I ask your pardon, and her pardon," he said then. " But her honour is as dear to me, little as I knew her, as it is to you, Mr. Manning. I was suggesting nothing dishonourable perhaps, a possible warmth on her part, producing, perhaps, a certain passion in the other. One has to disprove each theory that arises and is not tho true explanation. Tho question I have asked is the first and most natural that will occur to everyone. We can now dismiss it. Denmark himself, was, of course, devoted to her?"

Manning nodded. "As they must have been in the beginning, so they were to the- end, different though their tastes ■were. Woman never had a more devoted lover than Denmark, and I, personally, never met a straighter man." Presently he added : " I came away before I heard the report of the doctors ; but there was to be a consultation, and, I expect, as in the other two cases, a post-mortem. Sir George Hailey will bo sure to insist on it. I do not think, however, that any light the doctors will be able to throw on her death will assist you. It will be best for you to- be on the spot if yon can spare the time. How soon can you come'? If you could return with me, my motor is at the,door." Hollow looked across at mo with a frown.

" I propose to come to Eddlesham Court to-morrow," he said. "You, Vincent, will como with me? If Mr. Manning can, arrange it we will remain there, until we have woven together the threads that will convict the murderer. Perhaps, Vincent, you will ring up Pawson and arrange for him to take over that Massingham. right-of-way case. Ho will be glad of the opportunity. lam going to sit down and think."

(Jo be continued.)

Another instalment of this very interesting story will be given in these columns on Wednesday next, and instalments will appear on Wednesdays and Saturdays until its completion.