"NO HONOUR—"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22172, 27 July 1935, Page 13 (Supplement)

"NO HONOUR—"

By COLIN HOPE Author of " The House ta the Way," etc.

CHAPTER XIV. —(Continued) Crooker was non-committal. "I don't know Of course, I haven't seen the blotter, and the/e isn't much to go on. .All the same, it seems funny to me that you should be able to get a whole letter from a blotter. I could understand it if y° u got just the tail end, or any one part of the letter, but as it is, "it secms to mo t0 be decidedly fishy 11 "Fishy! Yes, I think that about gums it "p. In fact, we might even sar 1 red-herringy.' Perhaps I had better explain why I did not tell you about it before." << Well, I could bear to hear about jt." Crooker was aggrieved. " Don't, bo too hard on me. I found the blotter when wo first examined Sandy man's room, and after I had deciphered it, things began to look a little black for Dr."Drake." "A little too black, 1 should think," Crooker muttered. "Yes. that,is how it struck me. We had just heard from Nash about the doctor's quarrel with his uncle, and then wo found that letter. The case looked altogether too easy. "I spent more than an hour next dav experimenting with a very fiee peii and several different kinds of blotting paper, but I couldn't get anything like so clear an image as I found on Sandyman's paper. " Next I had the blotter examined by an expert, and in his opinion the words of the letter have been carefully impressed on the blotter a line or two at a time. Further, he found a faint pencil mark that seems to have been ijsed as a lay mark, or gauge, so that the letter could be laved on in the correct position each time. it certainly seemed that somebody had a definite grudge against the doctor, or else was trying to divert suspicion toward him, and naturally I kept quiet in the hope' that the mysterious somebody would make another move." "'And they did?" " Yes. This time I have found the actual fetter. It was lying en one of the borders at the side of the path up to Sandyman's house. Here it is. What do you make of it?" Vinser passed to Crooker the letter and had the blotting paper brought for his inspection. Crooker did not waste much time on cither letter or blotter. "Never saw anything so clumsy; anybody with half an eye could see that the blotter impression was not from that letter. Somebody does not rate the intelligence of the local police very high. Why did you produce the blotter at the inquest? Surely you are not treating it seriously ?" " No, of course not, but there is no reason why I should not pretend to be taken in' by it. I am afraid Dr. Drake spent an uncomfortable time at the inquest, and probably is not feeling any too good now, but in the circumstances that cannot be helped. " I know that neither of these clues is genuine, but I haven't the faintest idea who has prepared them for me, and I am not likely to find out if I ignore them. I produced the blotter at the inquest in the hope of making the criminal just a "little bolder. Perhaps ■when he thinks he has really bamboozled me he will get so bold that he will make the mistake I am waiting for him to make. Don't you think I am taking the right line?" " Yes, I think you are. But I am wondering if he has not already made the mistake you are waiting for." " Enlighten me. What have I missed?" " No, I shall not tell you yet. I am not sure that I read things aright. Unfortunately, my new idea doesn't fit in with my other theory at all, and at present I could prove to you, by circumstantial evidence —pretty stvong circumstantial evidence —that four different people had a hand in the murdering of Mr. Frederick Sandyman." " Carry on. I shall not miss a word you utter. My suspeots now number three only." ■*- * " The three being Henderson, Rees and Nash, of course." •< " Yes. The trouble with all of them, unfortunately, is that I cannot trace a motive. Henderson and Rees are on my list principally because of their masquerade at 'The Green Man.' I have no doubt tnev were responsible for that business, and ad for Nash, he seems to have been very attached to Sandyman, but he had ample opportunity to drug the old man and kill him; and the fact that there were no finger-prints on the glass rather makes me suspect him."

"Then you did notice that!" "Yes. The murderer wore gloves, so there was no need for him to wipe the glass. , Sandyman's and Nash's fingerprints had every right to be on that glass, but they were not. _lt 6eemed that Nash had got the wind up, or else somebody else thought it as well to erase his fingerprints from the glass, just to be on the safe side." Crooker lost a little of his assurance. u I owe you an apology," he said. "I did not think you had noticed that. I did, as Boon as Jameson said the glass had been wiped. I don't think Nash wiped that glass himself, but somebody else probably did "it with the idea of protecting him, and that seems to show that Nash is in'it somewhere, doesn't it?" The publisher did nofc tell Vinser the name of the fourth suspect, instead he sard:. .■

" I suggest that you give Me/isrs. Henderson <ind Pees a littlo_ attention. Find out exactly what thoir business is. As I told you before, I think you will find that Sandyman, Henderson and Pees were more or less partners in crime. Rees' business in London, Henderson's writing, and Sandvman's brewing seem to me more or less cloaks for their actual and important work as rogues."

" Yes, and judging by what Jameson found, it seems that they mado a very good thing out of it," the inspector ■aid.

Then tho policeman jumped up suddenly.

" Jameson. I had forgotten him. Where can he have got to?" " Oh, he's all right. Perhaps he has gone a very long way round bo that shall not be seen. Surely you don't expect anything to happen to him m^ broad daylight.?" I suppose not, but J don't like it. He should have been here by now." 'inser went into the outer office, and Ben t a constable to see if the sergeant was in sight, but he was unable to settle down again, and after fuming about the office for some minutes, he seized his hat. I'm going to find him," he threw over his shoulder as ho marie for the door. " Are you coming?" Crookcr went.

There was no necessity for thorn to look for the sergeant, for hardly had they left tho station buildings when there burst into sight a villager, who Waved his arms urgently and called loudly for the police. He saw Vinser and the sight of the uniform seemed to spur him to further efforts, although it did not help to make him coherent.

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" All blood," he cried. " Blood al over him."

" Blood all over who?" Vinser asked sharply and ungrammatically. The man was trembling with fright or from shock. He seemed to find it difficult to speak at all. " He's —up — there. It's awful," was all they could get from him, and so, without ceremony, the inspector seized him firmly. " Take us there," he commanded, " and get a move on." Then, to Crooker: "Better run back to the station, and tell them to send a couple of constables with the hand ambulance, and a doctor. Unless 1 miss my guess, Jameson has been hurt." CHAPTER XV vinser's ruse Crooker delivered the message, then hurried after the pair, and after the little crowd that had been attracted by the man's shouts. The way led along a quiet country lane that ran almost parallel to the village main road. It was very seldom used, except bv a few land workers, and was, in fact, usually overgrown with grass and weeds. As Crooker rounded a bend in the lane he came on a small knot of people who regarded with rustic awe the figure of a man that lay in a crumpled heap almost in the centre of the lane. Vinser was already bending over the man—it was Sergeant Jameson—and when Crooker came up the policeman was anxiously searching for some sign of life.

Jameson's head lay in a small pool of blood, and blood was still oozing slowly from a fearful gash just above the left temple. A constable hurried up, and with commendable promptitude immediatelv cleared a space around the central figures. A doctor followed, and while he bent to the injured man, Vinser turned to Crooker.

"He's still breathing—but only just, he said. " He has had a terrible crack, somebody has moved fast. You have noticed that the hag has gone, I suppose." " Yes, we don't have to look far for motive thia time. Is that the customary 'blunt instrument'?" He indicated with his toe a thick stick that lay beside the sergeant. " Yes, and I'll bet you any sum you like to name that there isn't a single print on it. By heaven, we don't seem to have much luck on this job. " I don't mind admitting that this has hit rne a bit hard. Jameson was a good policeman, and a good man. We have worked together on more cases than I can remember. I feel that I am responsible. I sent him this way with the bag—though God knows I thought it was safe enough. I never dreamed that they would attempt anything like this in broad daylight. I didn't even think that anybody knew about the money—or at least knew that we had found it. ,: '

" I don't think you can blame yourself." Crooker's voice was almost soft with sympathy. " Jameson was doing a policeman's job. The fact that ho would be attacked was not to be foreseen. I'm as much concerned about his hurt as you are, of course, but at the same time I am hoping that we shall benefit by this. W T e should be able to find out if any or all of our suspects had alibis. Can't you get on to it straight away, before anybody has a chance to think of any nice convincing stories?"

Before the inspector could answer the doctor had risen.

" I think he'll do," he said to Vinser. " He's had a bad knock—might have killed anybody but a thick-headed policeman. He'll be off duty for a while. Handle him carefully, and take him to the hospital. I'll be there as soon as you are." Vinser saw his subordinate comfortable, and then returned to the scene of the attack. Crooker was sitting on the bank, and he had, during the inspector's absence, procured a flask of tea, and was enjoying himself hugely.

" If it had rained recently you might have found a footprint or two," ho said. " A* it is you will have to be

satisfied with this." He drew the inspector's attention to a small piece of cloth that had been caught on a bramble. There vrere no signs that a struggle had taken place, but this was by no means conclusive evidence, for the ground was almost as hard as concrete. The only othor thing of interest was tho weapon itself, and although tho inspector did not expect to learn anything from it, lie wrapped it carefully, and carried it gingerly back to the police station.

Here h«i received a pleasant surprise, for as soon as he had tested the handle of the bludgeon for fingerprints ho gazed with joy and amazement at the beautifully clear images that appeared. Crooker did not seem greatly surprised. " It scums that our friend was in rather a hurry this time," he said. " He had no time to think of gloves. He wanted to get the money." " Kven so I should have thought he would hare been sufficiently careful to have wiped the weapon or to have used a handkerchief when he held it. It is a nice little help for us, of courso, but I cannot understand it. It seems so absolutely careless —especially after the clever way ho has hidden his trackß since he killed Sandyman." (To be continued daily)