THE MIDDLE BRIDGE MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19714, 13 August 1927, Page 14 (Supplement)

THE MIDDLE BRIDGE MYSTERY.

BY J. B. HARRIS-BURLAND.

CHAPTER X Two days later Letty left tho Pantiles and took up her residence in her new quarters. Sho had {.aid »ight hundred for the lease and goodwill of tho teashop, and sho had spent Ave hundred in tho purchase of furniture. This left her with a thousand pounds of her own. John Ilarirngton had offered to let her lako what she wished or wanted from her old home, but sho had only taken a few things that really did belong to her. " I want to be quito independent, Jack, old boy," she said, " and Dora won't thank mo for stripping her homo of furniture."

The three floors above tho shop consisted of two sitting rooms and five bed rooms. The rent, including tho ground floor whero teas wero served, came to two hundred a year, tho rates and taxes to another sixty pounds. It was a big undertaking for a girl who had to Fight for herself.

But Letty had-ho doubts whatever about tho future. Very soon the tea-shop was to become a restaurant, where people could get lunches and dinners. There would be a chance of leasing the house next door and extending th 6 business. Sho had a vision of a kind of hotel later on, and she fancied sho Could trado in antiques. A dozen plans formed themselves in that busy little head. But behind tlitin all lay the certainty that Richard Starling would come back to her, and that they would bo married before a year was over. He ,-had not been near her since his engagement had been broken off. But slio wtis quite certain that ho would coino back to her very soon. Well, at any rate, iio would find someone who behoved that he was a decent, honest chap who knew nothing whatever about the death of Lord Courtland.

Tho Sunday after sho moved into her new house she met him on the sea front at half-past two, and they sat down on two green chairs, and talked politely. It was hot until sho had told him sho had left Cruden that he seemed to take any interest in her. He asked questions, and sho answered them frankly. " It was a question ,of taking the place at once," sho said, " or leaving it altogether," and " Jock can rub along without mo until lie's married in Oclobci. I should have to have gone then in any case," and then again: "Oh, yes, I vc always wanted to bo quito free—girls are liko that nowadays.' " I'd like to see your new home, he said, and sho took him to see it. As yet, the sitting rooms wero only partly furnished, but ho admired them. " Jolly plucky of you, Letty," he said. " I expect Harrington has driven you out. hasn't lie ? " " Well, yes, Dick. He's going to be married." " When ? " " October." " He's painting Molly's portrait, isn't he? "

" Yes—five hundred guineas." Sir Richard Starling laughed. "It may cost him more than that," he said. " An artist could hardly help falling in lovo with Molly Pennant —well, I must be off. I s'pose I really ought not to have come hero at all. But I like to Bee how my friends live, so that I # can picture them in their homes. You are my friend, aren't you, Letty ? " " Oh, yes, Dick—yes, of course." " About the Only one I've got left now. Queer how people shrink from one, if one is even remotely connected with a crime. Now there's your sensible chap if ever there was one. Ho actually believes —" " Oh, no Dick—" " Yes, he belives that I killed old Courtland, just because' there was apparently no one else who could have done it. Tho motive ? To get a title and estate for my prospective father-in-law. The reward ? The breaking-off of my engagement. Was there ever such rubbish ? "

Tho door opened and Ilarringtoi entered tho room.

" Tho servant told me you were up here, Starling," ho said coldly. "If it were my house, I'd kick you out of it. Lettv must please herself." " l)on't be absurd, Jack," she answered sharply. " Dick, please go now, but como and have tea hero every day if you like—and you must see tho rest ol' the furniture when it arrives." She held out her hand, and Richard Starling raised it to his lips. " You're tho best of pals, Letty," ho said, " and I wish you the best of luck. I may look you up to-morrow." 110 did not; even look at Harrington, much less speak to him. lie behaved as though Harrington were not in the room. " He'll hit you one of these days," said Letty, when Starling had departed, " and you won't get the best of the light," John Harrington smiled grimly. " I shall get tho better of a liar," ho replied, " but perhaps not with my fists. You were at the inquest, weren't you ? " " Yes."

" And you heard Starling state on oath that he had never met tho lato Lord Courtland—had never seen him until that terrible affair at the Middle Bridge? " " Yes, Jack, and I believo him." " Well, he knows Lord Courtland quite well.. I've just heard that, and I camo round to tell you."' "Thank you," said Letty drily; "it was kind of you. But I'm afraid I shall believe Dick rather than your inform* ant." "My informant is Sir Roger Elmer, one of Courtland's executors." "Old Elmer? Father's friend?" " Yes—and our friend when we were kids. He's been going through the papers at Grimthorpe—the letters and so on that have to be destroyed. Ho has come across references to Sir Richard Starling in Lord Courtland's diary—to several meetings between the two tho last time Starling was in South Africa, and that was just before he went up count ry. Letty was silent. Her confidence was shaken. The hand of the doad man w-as on Dick Starling. The mere fact that he had committed perjury on a matter of importance would help to draw tho act more tightly about him. " Old Elmer," Harrington continued, "is one of the kindest of' men. Of course, he ought to have taken the diaries and the letters to the police—at once—" " The letters ?" queried Letty. " You didn't say anything about letters." " Didn't I ? Well, there are letters written by Starling to Lord Courtland. Nothing definite in them, except—well, enough to show that the two men wero on bad terms with each other. Starling called Lord Courtland ' a cad,' anil trusted to ' get even with him some day.' Nothing definite, but almost enough to hang Starling—now. They wero in tho secret drawer of a bureau, and that was how the police came to miss them." Letty's face was white as chalk, but there was no fear in her eyes. "Sir Roger?" she said slowly. "He is one of the kindest of men." " Yes. He brought tho diaries and letters to me. Ho was quito upset about it. ' I can't hand 'em over to the

police,' he said, ' and I can't burn 'em. This Starling is a friend of yours and your sister's. God forbid I should judge him, or do anything to put a ropo round his neck." " A weak hut kindly old man," said Letty gently. "So he gave you the diary and the letters, Jack?" "He is going to give them to mo. He wants to get rid of the responsibility." " And that will be 011 your shoulders now ?" " Yes." . " You are sure Sir Roger will give them to you—the diary and the letters?" " > r es, my dear child. And you can

(Coptiiigiit.)

tell Starling that I have them, and that if ho does not leave the country within a fortnight from to-day, I'll place them in the hands of the police-" "That'll get you into trouble, won't it—with the police ? And that nice old man, Sir Rogor Elmer ? What'll the police say to nirn when they know that he kept this information from them?" Harrington stroked his square chin. " H'm!" he said. " Yes, perhaps you're right. I'd better not get into troublo. I'll sec Elmer to-morrow. I came here to warn you. And there's something else 1 want you to know." "Oh, I think you have told mo enough," sho said wearily. " Can't you think of anything but poor Dick Starling—" It's you I m thinking of. You'll remember that one of tho reasons why it seemed incredible that Starling should have mac],o tho Pennants certain of their inheritance was that Starling himself was a rich man, and did not presumably care whether Molly Pennant had money or not. Well, it seems that is not only very poor, but heavily in debt. The estates his father left him arc mortgaged up to their full value, and ho raised large sums out of his own pocket to finance that last expedition. You'd better know this, I think, for if you marry him, you will probably have to keep him." Letty looked at her brother for a few moments without speaking. Then sho said, "Do you know, Jack, I'm more sorry for you than I am for Dick. \ou seem to 4 have completely changed. I'm afraid tho sorceress has already got to work."

He walked toward tho door of the halffurnished room.

" You aro my sister," he said, turning with his fingers on tho handle, " and I promised the guv'nor I'd look after you until you were married. And I'm going to do it. God alone knows whether this chap Starling is guilty of this horrible crime, but I know that, innocent or guilty, ho is not the man to rnako you happy. He has not even tho money to keep a wife, and ho has already treated you abominably." Harrington loft the room, and Letty, standing by the window, watched him walk away down the street. Squareshouldered, and resolute, and firm of tread he was—a pal to bo trusted —an enemy to bo feared. She was very fond of her brother,, and this was tho most cruel thing that had ever happened to her —his hatred of the man she loved. For a few minutes she stood by tho window. Then suddenly she roused herself to action. She ran upstairs to her bedroom, powdered her face, put on her smartest hat, and carrying a warm coat over her arm, went out to look for a taxi-cab. When she found it, she told tho man to drive to Grimthorpe. She know, that old Sir Roger Elmer had taken up his residence at Grimthorpe for a few days, while he was carrying out the instructions in the will of tho late Lord Courtland.

CHAPTER XI. Grimthorpe had been built in the sixteenth century, and was the finest Tudor house to be found in East Sussex. Its twisted chimneys of cut and moulded brick, its great bay windows of 64 lights, each containing a shield of arms, its gatehouse with two tall castellated towers and the big oriel window between them were well known to all students of archi tecture. It was a perfect house, set in the midst of smooth green lawns surrounded with a wall of trees.

Letty knew it well, for once a week in tho summer it was open to the public, and for a shilling one could see most of the gardens and part of the house. But she nad never visited it alone, and never seen it without its swarm of trippers. " It ain't the day for seein' over Grimthorpe," the driver had said to her, when she had engaged the cab, and when she had answered, "No, of course not," he had looked at her rather curiously. Perhaps he had known her by sight, and ho had been quick to connect her with her brother and Sir Richard Starling. She pulled down the long iron .handle of the bell, and a minute elapsed before th door was opned to her by the old butler.

" I do not know if Sir Roger will see anyone to-day, miss," lie said, " but 1 will take in your card." He showed her into the hall—a very fine apartment with the magnificent bay window that rose twenty feet and nearly to the Ceiling. In spite of its great size, it was usually a very comfortable room, but now • nearly ail "the best pieces of furniture were covered with white sheets and tho oak panelling was dusty and in need of a polish. Laity had heard that only the old butler and his wife and two maids were left in the house. For five minutes no one appeared, and then a door opened and Sir Roger approached. Ho was a handsome, well-pre-served man of over seventy, with waxed grey moustache and an elegant little Imperial. Almost the last of the Victorian daudies, he was pleasant to look upon in an ago when most old men had red sunburnt faces and wore ill-iitting " plus fours.'*

" My dear child," he said, raising her hand u little, and bowing over it. " How like your poor dear mother you are. You will have some teaj of course. Whero shall we have it ? Outside on tho terrace ? No, there are a dozen wasps* nests round the terrace. In this hall ? No again, for I dislike the ghosts of furniture. I would suggest the library, whero I work on week-days, and where—this afternoon —yes, I fell asleep, my dear child—and 0110 does not always look' very bright after fcleep. I hope you didn't mind waiting while I brushed my hair, and made myself presontable." Letty" laughed. After her interview with her brother, this seemed like coming into a rnoro pleasant and a saner world. But she knew that sho had a diflkult task before her.

Directlv the door of the library was closed, sne came to the point at once. " My brother has just been to see me." she said in a low voice, " and he tells mo—" She paused as she saw Sir Roger Elmer put his fingers to his lips. And then she noticed that they were not alone in tho long book-lined room. At the far end, seated at a desk with his back to them, and facing a tall window, a man was writing, and was apparently so absorbed in his work that he had not heard them enter the room.

" I want to seo you alone," whispered Letty, catching hold of Elmer's arm, "it is most important I should seo you alono." Sir Roger nodded. " That's all right," he said. " It's.only the detective chap." "Mr. Furnace?" queried Letty, in a low voice of horror, and she slipped out of the room again. " My dear cliild," said Sir Roger. "He won't hurt you. He's a good sort and a gentleman." Sho trembled. She folt that her nerves wero giving way. If Furnaco had seen her—even if Furnace were to hear that sho had called at the house, ho would say to himself, " Hello, what's all this about?" and he would find an answer to tho question. And besides, Furnaco go ing through the papers of the murdered man! Oh, what a fool she had been. She ought to linve known that the police would examine everything—that there is no privacy about the affairs of a man who lias been killed by one of his fellow men.

" The diary," she whispered, " the letters—Sir Richard Starling's letters—you have them—or have they fallen into Furnace's hands—l must know—l—oh, look here, Sir linger—can't we have tea together alone—oh. it doesn't matter about the tea." Sir Roger Elmer smiled and, picking up a grey, tall hat that was lying on the top of an old oak chest, he said, " We will take a walk in the gardens. 1 should likr* to show you the view from tlie sum-mer-house. Wo will make tea there for ourselves." They toiled up through a wood, and reached a spacious building that was more like a cottage than a summer-house. Sir Roger unlocked a door. " A placo of

refuge," he said, as Letty entered a large low room with windows that looked out over a tremendous vista of.hill and marsh and soa. " I corne up hero when I want to lie alone." , , He closed the door behind her and sho exclaimed, "I want that diary, Sir Roger—those letters. I must have them. You must not give them to Jack. lou must give them to nre. Do you understand ?—To me/' "To you, my dear young lady? But why should I givo them to you? "So that I can destroy them, bir The old .man smiled. " .Well, at anv rate, you are frank," ho replied. suppose your brother has told you—- " Yes, yes, Sir Roger. And it is unfair—to load tho dice against an innocent m " The law is the best judge of that, my dear. I must hand this diary and the letters over to the police. " To Mr. Furnace-

" Well, yes—l suppose so. , " But you were going to give them t< j Ja " k lio intended to make proper use of ! them, my dear; he did not intend to prevent 1..C r,0,„ n,»rry. ing Dick, Sir Roger. He wanted those letters as a weapon to use ;; You must give them to inc. y<u l quite well .Dick did not kill 01 ' d Coull- - , ~, "Do I know that: , , " Yes, of course. \ou vc known Jack and myself since wo were kids JacK L an idiot-you know that-an obstinate fool. And I—well, you know that. I m not likely to marry a murderer, don t vou? You must give the letters mo. Sir Roger. Do you understand' T °"T'm"afraid it is my duty to give them to tho police, my dear. I should ge into terrible trouble it it were know that I had kept back this very impcu ant evidence—of course I couldn t decide that at once. The diary and letters arc here locked awayJn that old bureau, where 1 found them." .• " Jack told me you were going to give them to him." . "I'd thought of it, but I vc change.! mv mind—and I've found something else that I must certainly give to Mr. I'urnace. Would you like to see itJ" " Yes—yes," i»ho cnci! ea S erl ySir Roger Elmer unlocked the flap of the old mahogany bureau, lowered it, and searching among the pigeon-holes at the back, touched a spring and opened a long shallow secret drawer cut out of the thickness of the wood. From this he took a thin bundle of letters, a slim, moroccobound diary, and something narrow and glittering—something that Letty could not have given a name to until Sir Roger had placed it in her hand. Then she saw that it was a dagger or paper-knife, apparei ply similar to the one found near tho sceue ol the crime; its sheath of worn leather had silver liiigreo mounts. >( "A very curious coincidence, she saici. "It is so very like the one iShe paused, unable to complete the sentence. "It is exactly like the one that killed my poor friend," bir Roger replied, ihe oilier is m the hands of tlie police, but 1 have a photograph of it. Beautiful work. is it not?" . , Letty Harrington drew out the blade from its sheath, and noticed that there was an inscription cut in the steel: "To David Pennant, Lord Courtland, from Richard Starling—lest we forget. Letty dropped the dagger with a cry ot horror. She still held Hi© sheath in her hand as she exclaimed: this mean? Where did you find it?" Sir Roger Elmer did not answer her question. He stooped and picked up the dagger from the floor. His was flushed and he breathed heavily. Stooping was not good for him nor was walking up a hill—nor was excitement of any sort. .. . , , "Only this morning, he gasped, bad job I'm afraid—mind if 1 sit down?—" and ho sank heavily into a chair and stared at the inscription on the blade. His lips were blue, and Letty cried out:

"You're ill. You ought never to have climbed up here—is there any brandy i

"Window," he said in a low _ voice, "open window —stuffy in here I m all right my dear." She Hung open all the windows, and the door. Sir Roger said that he felt quito well. - , , . "Queer job," he added, "these daggers, perhaps made in .Birmingham by the dozen—sent out to some place to be sold as native curios—yes, that inscription —very unfortunate —very, very un ' He swaved and Letty caught hold of his arm. "You must sit down," she said, "you must not excito yourself or worry any more about this." Ho sank into a chair. "You—you are in lovo with this fellow, ' ho faltered. "You—you want to help him —tako the things, mv child—do what you like with them- —I—-your —father —old, old friend of mine—l ' v Ho collapsed suddenly, slipping sulewavs against the arm of the easy chair. His right arm and head hung over the side of the chair. Letty, who was a strong, athletic young woman, raised him up, searched a cupboard for brandy, found a small flask of some spirit, and would have held it to his lips if she had not remembered just in time that this might choke an unconscious man to death. She propped him np in the chair with pillows, and then, catching sight of the silver sheath on the floor, she remembered her own affairs—the affairs of Sir Richard Starling that she had made her own. She picked up the sheath, put it back with the diary and tlio letters in the secret drawer, closed the drawer and, locking tho flap of the bureau, placed the key in her vanity bag. She would havb to go for assistance if Sir Roger did not recover consciousness very soon. She dared not take the things; her bag was not big enough to hold them, and even if it had beeu, it might be searched by that clever Mr. Furnace. He must already be wondering what she was doing at Grimthorpe and where she had gone with Sir Roger. A faint groan camo from the old man's lips, and she saw that his eyes were open. She gave him a little brandy and he coughed. Then ho closed his eyes again, and his head fell forward on his chost.

"Hollo," said a man's voice, "what's up?" Letty looked round and saw Furnace standing in tho doorway. Sho was glad to see him, though sho feared him above all other men in the world. "Fainted," sho said quietly. "Came round tor a minute and 1 gave him some brandy, l'hen ho went off again." Furnace picked the old man up in his arms, and laid him on a sofa near tho window. "Ought not to have walked up this hill," ho said, placing his fingers on Sir Roger's wrist. "What the devil did he want to bring you up hero for ?" "Show mo the view," Letty answered. "We walked quite slowly. But all this has been too much, for him—all the excitement and worry. Ho ought not to have undertaken the job." "Old friend of yours ?" "Yes, and of my father's." "Run down to the house and telephone for a doctor—and tell him. to look bharp, that's a good girl." Letty ran down to the house, rang up an Eastbourne doctor who promised to come out at once, and hurried back up the,hill to the summer, house. She found Furnace sitting by Sir Roger's sido. "Coming at once," she gasped. "Has he—— ?" "No—.Miss Harrington, I'm afraid that " "Oh, can we do nothing—nothing?" she cried. "Verv little," he answered gently, "and I'm rather afraid—nothing." (To lie continued on Saturday next. 1

The sergeant was taking tho recruits squad. "For the last time," ho shouted, "1 ask you the simple question: What is a fortification 9 " The recruits stood fast to a man—no one answered. The N. 0.0. strode up to the most intelligent-looking man and bawled: "Tell me what is a fortification ?" Like a shot out of a gun camo the answer: "Two identifications, sergeant."