THE Twelfth Crime

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 116, 22 June 1914, Page 11

THE Twelfth Crime

A Mystery of Modern London j By SETGN CROSS Author of The Stolen Governess,'' " Queen of the Ballet," "The Mill GriH's Secret," etc.

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' "PRINCIPAL characters. OLIVE BOYD, ward of Petga- Holgate, a retired contractor, who lives at Ghapham. DAVID M,' EWAN, proprietor of a curio

As he turned to look at the room liis gaze fell on the little iron camp bedstead in the corner. He started back with an exelataation of siirprise. The bed was empty, and, as the undisturbed coverings showed, had not been slept in. ' *' Why, he ain't been to bed at all! " exclaimed Martha from the doorway. ' ■ That 's certain,'' replied Goring, in a tone of relief, for he had dreaded he knew not what when ! he entered the chamber. "Wfcat other room is he likely to have used?"

:>• shop. FRANK GORING, M'Ewan's assistant, who i falls d«eply in love with Olive Boyd. PHILLIP WHEELER, reporter on the • "Evening Record,'*' with a-reputation for "smelling out" sensations.

CHAPTER 11. (continued)

THE MAEK ON THE WALL. hi,s surprise the woman did not (Stop, oil reaching the first landing, but cdiitipued up the linoleum-covered stairs uniii she arrived at the third and top floor. There she turned and pointed to a door.

"None," was the startling reply. "There's no other bedroom but mine; all the others are empty." Frank was struck by the comfortless appearance of the place. The furniture consisted only of the camp bedstead, a chest of drawers, and a washstand, while the floor, save for a piece of tattered carpet by the bed, was bare. "Looli here," he said, suddenly, "Mr M'Ewen must be downstairs somewhere. »

"'That's the master's room," she said,. in a horse whisper. ' Despite himself Frank was conscious of 'an eerie feeling as he stood on the Jittjle narrow landing. Everything seemed so stilly so unnaturally still. He knocked on the panels gently, and bent to listen for a reply. But none came. He knocked again, this time much louder. Still no sound from the room.

"Well, if he is, he'd dead," replied the woman, grimly. "We've made enough noise to waken a churchyard," And her teeth chattered, despite her efforts to speak lightly. She started to descend the stairs, and Frank was about to follow her when he saw something which made his heart leap madly. Involuntarily he gave a cry of horror.

At last; getting nervously impatient, he hammered on the door with both fists and called the old man by naijie. All Vf&B. silent within-. J.f.l think I'd better try and prise the door open,'' he said, turning to Martha, wlto stood a little on one side, her face twitching with fear, her breath coming in hdar&e, rattling gaspsi Feebly ; she noclded .Her liead, and Frank, setting hie Shoulders against the panel, pressed with all his strength. . 'At first the door resisted his efforts, but. after two otf three attempts one of the panels cracked, and a few more blows served to split it from top to bottom'. With a final heave the young fellow forced hot only the panel but the lqps; ? and all but fell sprawling into the room as the door burst open. •For a moment both hesitated before entering. Then, fearful what they might see; they peered'cautiously through the opening. The heavy Venetian blind was orawn,. however, and this made the room so dark that it was impossible to difttinguiSih anything beyond the shadowy outline of the bed in the far"cor ; ner. . .v i •

There, on the wall near the fireplace, was the flat imprint of a hand—in blood!

CHAPTER 111. A GRlk SPECTACLE

Goring's first thought was to get the woman away; fortunately she had not heard him cry out. "Come on," he said hurriedly, almost pushing her down; " it's no use our wasting any more time. 1 'll call in a. policeman at once. " "There's one at the corner, opposite the letter-box,'' stammered Martha, as she reached the foot of the stairs. " You can see— —-"

But Frank was already out of the shop and running towards the constable on point duty a few yards away. ■ "I say, officer," he "will you slip across to shop?'' "Anything wrong, sir?" asked the man, in the leisurely m&nner peculiar to officials. i

With a strange sensation of expected dread' Frank nerved himself to enter. He croßsd to the window and pulled up the blind, letting in a flood of daylight..

"I'm afraid' bo," replied Goring.

"The boss didn't turn up this morning, and as we .could get no reply we burst in his bedroom door.'' Frank was somewhat incoherent in his excitement.

look. He returned with a small crowbar which was kept for opening packing cases, and in a few seconds the door swung on its' hinges. It was with something approaching awe that the young fellow and the housekeeper followed the constable into the room. As they did so an extraordinary spectacle met their ga/.e. The place was furnished as a bedroom in astyle that was almost luxurious. But the amazing thing was that it appeared to be used regularly, not merely by a man,' but by a woman also. Everything was spotlessly clean, and the bed might have been made that very morning. The ; ewer on the washstand was filled with clean water, which, from the entire absence of dust on the surface, had only recently been drawn from the tap. ; "This beats all," muttered the constable, for once moved out of his usual calm. "The old man jiiuSt have

"Yes, sir?" queried the constable stolidly. " Well/ '• came the impatient reply, "he wasn't there. His bed hadn't even been slept in. And on the wall was the mark of a hand in blood."

" Then it looks as if something was wrong,'' observed the policeman sagely. '' But that there old M 'Ewan always were a queer cove. "

' As they entered the shop Martha came forward, white with apprehension, and would have broken out into a voluble description of her feai-s and forebodings, but the officer stopped her with a slow wave of his hand.

"Where 'ave you looked?" he asked of Frank.

'' Only in his bedroom. We —I thought "Then if you ain't searched the 'ouse through, we'd better start now," broke in the man, and he turned towards the door leading to the basement. '' But won't you come upstairs and see the —the thing I told you about?" nsked Frank.

■"lf he wasn't there when you looked, young feller, he ain't likely to be there now. And as to what you saw—well, we can examine that afterwards." And he disappeared down the cellar steps. Goring followed, with Martha clone on his heels. The woman was in a state of sheer terror, and obviously determined not to be left alone for a single moment. With his first glance round the place, Frank decided that M'Ewan was hot to bp found there, but the constable insisted on making a thorough search. At the end of five minutes, however, he admitted that the missing man must be look for elsewhere.

As they ascended to the first floor a horrible smell assailed their nostrils — a smell that recalled to Frank an incident which had happened once when he was '' roughing it" in Canada. A timber wolf had sprung on the camp one night when everything was quiet. But one man, at least, was awake, and as the creature rose a shot rang out, and it fell into the roaring camp fire, where the flames consumed it.

For a brief moment Frank and the officer looked at one another, each recognising the odour of burning flesh, then Martha rushed into the kitchen. '' Lor! I've forgotten the bacon! '' she exclaimed, snatching at a fryingpan 011 the range. When Frank saw the smoking, blackened rashers he laughed foolishly; for in that instant a horrible fear had assailed him that they were to find the old Curio dealer 's body in a charred condition.

"You'll get no breakfast this morning, missus,," remarked the officer, as he turned towards another room.

4 ' And you won't. .find master in there,'' retorted-Martha convincingly. "He ain't used that room,, do my certain knowledge, since his wife died.

"His wife!" exclaimed Frank.' "But I never knew he had been married."

" Well, he was, for he told me so liim self. That Was their bedroom."

"Got the"key?''* demanded the constable, . who had .been .trying to opep the door in, vain.. '' Then we 'll have to break in." And Goring was dispatched to the shop to obtain some sort of a lever to force the

He stopped, for, on looking closer at this bed, he saw that the linen was yellow with age, and could not possibly have been slept in for many, years. A chest of drawers* opened at random, proved to be full of feminine underwear, neatly folded, but also*discoloured with age. A peep into the wardrobe revealed a number of dresses of a bygone period hanging on the pegs. Here, laid bare before their eyes, was the hidden romance of the old curio dealer. They, in common with his neighbours, had looked upon liim as a man utterly devoid of sentiment; yet he had kept clean and as doubtless his wife Would have done, the room which was sacred to their married life.

Even the stolid and prosaic policeman was touched at the unutterable pathos of this picture of cherished memories, and left the chamber without a word. While he set to work with the crowbar on the door opposite, which also was locked, Frank drew the other to, gently, almost reverently. Here, he told himself, was a love that was almost divine —such love as he hoped Would some day be his. Meanwhile the constable had succeeded in forcing an entrance to the second room. The place was in darkness, but as Goring peered over the man's shoulder he could just distinguish the shadowy outlines of a table quid the faint glimmer reflected from some glasses which stood upon it. Although the door was wide open, they none of them pressed forward as before. A subtly unpleasant smell pervaded tlie atmosphere,' and as Frank stood on the threshold he was conscious of an overwhelming yet litterly unaccountable sensation of dread. Something intangible, indefinable', incomprehensible, seemed to sWeep out, of the shadows and enfold hini iti a'elaiiiniy embrace. Even the polic'eman hesitated, while Martha clung to the wall for support, her teeth chattering audibly. ■

With an obvious effort the constable recovered his composure and stepped forward into the gloom. Walking' cautiously so as not to stumble oyer anything, he crossed to the window and pulled up the blind with a rattle. , As the daylight flooded in Goring saw that this was the dining-room. On a table in the centre were two wineglasses —one still half-full—a. decanter of red wine, and an open Bible. He had barely time to note this when a piercingshriek, terrifying iu its intensity, rang

out behind him, and Martha toppled forward limply.

In that same moment Frank himself staggered against the doorpost, for he," too, had caught sight of a shapeless, inert mass that lay in the shadow of the table. And he kne,w> f ,.ti}iftt«uit.. ( 'was /a human body. . < ! -i tU ■■ ' Slowly the constable JK§nfcja>*d knelt; down beside it, ; and syojUtDg fellow watched him with wide r sta.ring eyes as he raised the head, all,dallied in blood, and disclosed the face o£ 'the : old curio dealer. ~ i • :

For what seemed .an eternity to tJie watcher in the doorway ,h? ; .held it thus ■, then let it fall gently bftek.c > "Dead," he remarked, atelv. "Murdered." (To be continued to-morrow.)