THE THIRD MAN.

Putaruru Press, Volume IX, Issue 417, 26 November 1931, Page 3

THE THIRD MAN.

SERIAL- STORY.

By

C. K. THOMPSON.

(Copyright.)

CHAPTER IV. “Round the front, quick 1” bellowed the inspector, as he reached the sill and Green darted off without replying'. When Bassington glared through the curtains he saw that the door was now closed. He tried the window, found it unlocked, and swung it open. The sight that met his eyes staggered him. Lying on the floor in grotesque positions were his brother and another man. in the hand of the stranger was the knife he had seen in the mysterious hand at the door, but that did not attract his attention. An involuntary cry of horror rose to his lips as he stared down at the body of Mr. Justice Bassington. It was lying in a great pool of blood and the head was cleanly severed from the body! Detective-Inspector Bassington was one of the most efficient officers in the C.I.D. and next in line for Superintendent. He had risen from the rank of uniformed constable by sheer merit, and not a little of his success had been due to his ability to deal with the unusual situation. But, as he stood in that luxurious study; confronted by the bodies of two dead men and one of them his brother —men who had met their death by horrible violence’—he felt weak. For minutes his faculties refused to work. Blindly he felt for a chair and sank into it, to be aroused from something akin to stupor by Green, who arrived via the open window fully five minutes later. • Green took in the scene with one comprehensive look. He did not understand it in the least and shuddered violently as his eye rested on the Thing on the floor, which, ten minutes earlier, had been a living man. The body of the Judge lay a few paces from the big clock in the corner, the severed head lying a few feet to the right. The second body was sprawled nearby, the hand grasping the huge knife outflung, the blade of ; the weapon resting on the floor in the j centre of the pool of blood. j “This is what 1 caU a hell of a mess,” muttered the sergeant, as he | wiped his forehead with the back of | his hand. He crossed to where the j inspector was still sitting and shook j him by the shoulder. “Got to do something, Inspector,” he said, apologetically. Bassington left the chair, went to the desk and seized the telephone. He was the efficient policeman again. “Better rouse the servants. Green,” he said, as he replaced the receiver. “I’ll give this turn-out a preliminary once-over.” When the sergeant had left the room, he first turned to the body of the unknown man. A glance at the twisted face told him that the man was a stranger to him. With an effort he rolled the body over and then received a shock. Half of the right side of the face was missing I The ear and right cheek had apparently been laid open, and when the man had been turned on his back, that portion had fallen awaj from the head! Bassington preferred to wait for the arrival of the doctor and the help from headquarters before he proceeded any further. He crossed the room and locked the window and went outside, locking the study door behind him. In the passage he met Green ushering before him a terrified main and a startled chaffeur.

“Go, Milly, and arouse Miss Ayesha, but do not tell her what has happened,” said Bassington, quietly. The maid burst into a fit of weeping, but departed. The inspector told the chaffeur •to hang around, and then drew Green aside.

“I don’t profess to know how this happened," he said, “but there was a third man in it—there must have been I You saw nothing when you went round the front?” Green shook his head dully. “How they got into the house without our seeing them beats me,” he confessed. “There’s going to be hell to pay over this night’s work.” “With you and I, Green, figuring prominently,” added the inspector, grimly. “Poor Horace,” he went on, bitterly, “done in under our very eyes. Good Lord 1 We’ll have to do some pretty tall thinking to get out of this issue.” The discussion was interrupted by the arrival of the Government Medical Officer, who brought with him no less a person than Superintendent Perry. After a brief greeting, the four men entered the study, where the doctor began his examination. The policemen watched him in silence, but the examination did not last long. “This knife," he said, indicating the murderous weapon with his foot. “Know what it is?” “Never struck anything like it before,” said Bassington, with a shake of the head. “Well, I have,” retorted the medical man. “It’s one of those sweet things the Indian troops used on the Turks in the war.”

“A kukri? The Gurkha’s favourite plaything?” “You’ve said it. Capable of chopping a man’s head off all right. You haven’t got far to go to find the thing that did this guillotine act.” “You think . . .” began Green, but the doctor broke in briskly.

| “No I don’t,” he said. “Your job. | Go to it,” and with a nod he was gone. In the hall he passed a girl in a dress-ing-gown, but did not give her a second look. Ayesha looked after him with fear-stricken eyes and then rushed to the library. Bassington met her in the doorway and motioned her back, closing the door behind him. j “Oh, Uncle Bill,” she gasped out, “what is it?" “Your father has met with an accident,’’ he said, gravely. “An accident?” she repeated. “But I don’t understand. Why are you here at this time of the night, and who was that man who just went out? Let me go into the study.” Gently he took her by the arm and half led, half dragged, her to a seat. “Better not, dear. I may as well tell you, Ayesha, your father is dead. He has been murdered." She recoiled as if she had been struck. Her hands went to her face in horror and. she gave a little scream. Bassington quickly but gently took her in his arms and she clung to him. Suddenly she burst out into a fit of convulsive sobbing and he let her cry on his shoulder. His own face was careworn. In half an hour he had aged ten years. Under his eyes, practically, his own brother had been foully murdered. “My dear,” he said, at last, “will you do your old uncle a favour and go back to your room. I was a fool t“ have wakened you. Here, Milly, take Miss Ayesha to her room and remain there with her,” he added, as he caught sight of the terrifled-looking servant standing nearby. The girl clung to him as if loth to go, but he gently disengaged her embrace and then, with the assistance of the maid, he led her to her room. At

the door he kissed her gently, and, as it closed behind her shaking figure, he furtively wiped a tear from his own creased cheek. Then, squaring his shoulders and with a grim look in his eyes, he returned to the study. Superintendent Perry nodded slightly as he came in. “We’ve made arrangements to have the body taken to the morgue,” hr mentioned. “It is not a nice sight.” He referred to the late Judge. Tinother body was of secondary consideration for the moment. "Nothing further can be done hore. I’ll leave a couple of plain-clothes men to see that nothing is touched, and we'll go back to headquarters,” said Perry. He had brought two men with him and these were given their instructions. Then, with Bassington and Green, the Superintendent departed. At headquarters a preliminary conference was held. This lasted until nearly four o’clock and then broke up. As Perry bade the others good morning, his tones were grim.

“There’ll be a conference at ten and you can expect some fireworks. In the meantime the main thing is to keep this out of the papers.” The Commissioner himself presided over that conference. There were, in addition to Perry, Bassington and Green, several other high officials, and the keynote of the affair was deep gravity. A .Judge of the Supreme Court had been murdered under the very eyes of two police officers. The thing promised to develop into the sensation of the State. Of the Commonwealth, come to that. Bassington had not the slightest doubt that he would be suspended, or at the very least superseded in the case. ’Green felt positively unhappy and ill at ease as he waited for the Commissioner to speak. “Your report in full detail,” lie said. The Inspector detailed exactly what had occurred from the moment he had left headquarters early on the previous night until he had left the Judge’s residence with Green and the Superintendent. The Commissioner heard him out without comment and then looked, at Green. The detective-sergeant

The grey-haired Chief of the New South Wales Police was a man of few words. ; In front of him on the I able lay the reports of the three officers, put in writing immediately on their return to headquarters earlier in the morning. He was already familiar with the contents of these reports and did not refer to them. Instead, he turned to Bassington and nodded curtly. The Commissioner was speaking again. “Gentlemen, we are all aware of the attitude adopted by the late Judge towards the Police. While that is entirely beside the point as far as our investigation of his murder is concerned, there is this in it to remember: He did not want our protection. In fact, he would have raised an awful row had he known that he was guarded. He would take no heed of warnings and did not assist us in the slightest. “Bassington and Green did their best and I am convinced of it. Remember, gentlemen, the late Judge was a brother of the Inspector, and it is quite

then detailed his movements, which almost coincided with those of the inspector. “Now, Superintendent,” said the Chief, shortly. Perry's report was short and to the point and, after he had finished speaking, the Commissioner remained silent for several seconds, evidently sunk in deep thought. “Gentlemen,” he said at last, “there is not time to indulge in petty recriminations or to blame this man for that, or that man for this.” He looked at Bassington and Green, who coloured slightly. “The magnitude of this .crime, while it shocks us all as members of Lhe public, 'is one that, if not immediately cleared up, will shake the Force to the very root of its being." “Before I say anything further,” hr went on, “I want this fact clearly understood—l do not in’ any way blame either Detective-Inspector Bassington or Detective-Sergeant Green for what has occurred.” He paused and began to drum the table with his finger-tips. Bassington intercepted a look of relief from Green, but did not heed it.

unlikely that Bassington would have been guilty of a dereliction of duty, that being so.” ~ J „ , “I have the fullest confidence in sj both officers,” said the. Commissioner, gruffly, and threw a quick glance around the room as if to invite dissent. If he did, he was disappointed. “Am I to understand from that. Chief, that this case will not be taken out of my hands?” demanded Bassington, eagerly. “All I want is a chance o get at the man who murdered Horace and . . . .” The Commissioner interrupted him. “It was in my mind, Inspector,” be said, “to supersede yoij. Not,” he went on, hastily, “that I have lost confidence in you, but you would have such an incentive to hunt down a murderer that perhaps your rigid sense of justice might suffer.” Bassington looked hurt. “I do not think so, sir,” he said, stiffly.

(To be Continued.)