THE Twelfth Crime

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 125, 2 July 1914, Page 2

THE Twelfth Crime

• : •; • ; •; • i; \ .... _ ... A Mystery of Modern London

By SETGN CROSS ************* Author of " The Stolen Governess," " Queenof the BalJet," Vtte.Mill Girl's Secret," etc.

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PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS. OLIVE BOYD,, ward of Peter Holgate, a rei ' tired contractor*linear at Chapham. DAVID JdL'EWAN, proprietor of a curio shop. M'Ewan: is discovered brutally . . murdered ijr his ;*oop».;; 'i FRANK GORING, M'Ewan's assistant, who. falls deeply in love with Olive Boyd. , He, discover? 01-a, cypher M'Ewan's housekeeper"'has',a son; 'and ' thatTreversh'■'%> '•that' itful. ; £HIIiI4P WHEELER,. r, reporter .on the . "Evening Bieciprd, ' wjth. a reputation for "smellirigr out" sensations. The journalist I discovers ii wothin's lace hand.i i:..- Icerohief behind ■ * 'Baddha in the old . man's, shop. ; . The handkerchief was . warked "O Boyd,'' .Whpelor discovers i " ' ' from M'Ewan'e old housekeeper, Martha Pa;ttinsonV 'that both- OliVe Boyd and tTreversh had yisited M'Ewan previous to the murder. ! fREVERSH, a saturnine individual, a friend of Olive, whom Wheeler detects peering out of the side door in M'Ewan's shop. He hopes to marry Olive. : CHAPTER Xlt. (continued). . WHERE TREVERSH WENT. Wheeler did not reply. He puffed away at his cigarette, and gazed meditatively' at the ceiling. ' 1 Why did Martha invite you to tea?" he asked> suddenly. " Well, at first. I thought it was bei cause 1 she felt lonely; But she began asking-"whether''the police had made any discoveries among M'Ewan's papers;'! began to look 'for' another reason." 1 " • : - ! '- v '• : ! 'i" You 1 "were® 't far out,, Frank,'' replied 'his' chliiii earnestly. M l'm beginning to see a gleam' of' daylight now." J ' And hei related how, On the night fol.i Itfvrilig the ivrard&y bad seen 1 Martha €dme-out of ; M'EWah bouse •#ith ' v - • i "It seisms tb me/' he more to himsblf than to'Goririgy the pair df ' theM aye' in 'a, "Mufc 1 'fuiik : concerning 1 ! thb' 'bid 1 fbllbw's' prfaatfe They fea'r the police may 1 'discover Something iihiong' tliem ri which ' either Martha or her son/ or both.: Hence ' the l woman's, "sfecret visit to 'the house 1 artd her -enqumes'of you, " he concluded, 1 glancing tij) at Frank with • smile 'ou'his lips. "That may thotigh ~l ; 'don't quite eee '' began the other. "My dear chap, the inference is ob:,vious< Martha a,r>d. .he? , delightful son ~(fcrerr^Cro.oks. A'What can : we, do?'' asked Frank, eonlident that the journalist had already formulated some plan. "Watch the pair of them."

- Goring rose to his feet, took! a couple Of turns up and down the room, and then stopped abruptly. "Phil," he said gravely, "we've got to do more than that.'' , , "What is it?" . i "Save Olive from, becoming..'.wife of that scoundrel. " , It was the first timp Goring; had ever spoken of Olive in this way. ( . Hitherto his, very love for the girl Jhad miade him self-conscious and recent'in all connected with her. His remark was a revelation to Wheeler, though he 1 ha^; long suspected the truth. , , . '/ ; "You love her?" asketi'the journalist j quietly. . . , ,; '' I would give my life for her'.'' 11 So would I.'' . ' | The two men looked at , each other, steadily and without flinching. In ; that fraction of time each had learned more of the other than he had ever known before, and with that knowledge came a new and wonderful understanding.' The 1 passing pang of mutual bitterness, had sealed for ever the bond of friendship between them. Suddenly, and with characteristic impulsiveness, Goring held out his hand. Wheeler gripped it in his own, and so for a second or more they remained, hand clasped in hand. And each kiiew that, come what might, the, other'was his staunch and faithful friend. I . "And now," went on the journalist,, in his usual drawling tone; i" We njust put our personal feelings im the background for the present. When ;we have saved Olive from Treversh, 'she; can choose between it if she wished to do so. Is that agreed?" : "It is," answered Goring "Very well, the nefcst! thing is: tb :get on the trail of this; man and prove, if : possible, that he really is a '^rook.' We shall then have a strong weapon' in ,o,ur hands,- and one that We'll use to the best advantage." 1 ( , "Good!" :■■<:■■■) "Hut, first of all," wept on the journalist, '' I must tell yoii j all I've ,foiun<L out in connection both \yith Treversh and murder generally, fbi' in Martha we seem to have a strong link between' him Thereupon : Wheeler 'told his; "friend about the strahge shadoW draijia he had witnessed outside Holgatehouse; his discovery of the finger-prints Which showed that M'Ewan's murderer! was beyond doubt, the Same nlan who; had carried out the Bond Street robbery; and various other details he had hitherto kept to himself. It was nearly daylight]

when he Jiad finished,; and Goring rose to go,' . , " To-morrow—or, rather, to-day—we 'll commence investigations together,'' he concluded, '' Good night,, old man.'' , "Goojl night, Phil.'.' That morning,.after a late breakfast, Goring,led .the way . to-the housp he had seen, Treversh enter after his meeting with Martha,. .The street, which, stood at right angles, to .the main road 011 the south side of the Common, consisted of modern semi-detached villa of a more or less prosperous appearance. The one presuniatily. by Treversh,; and which was named., differed only from its neighbours in that it was wholly detached; for the rest it might have been the residence of a respectable business man, . instead of, as Wheeler. and Goring ,f p,lt convinced, an unmitigated scoundrel.. , , . They -.hoyerpd about the vicinity for some time. .It was not till one o'clock that they werp rewarded bya sight of Treversh. , C?pe opt of the house,/ accompanied py : \a small fox terrier, and strolled across to,^e /; {Position. Nothing suspicious ibiOwever j he met no one, and appeared to have no other object than the taking ; pf air. BventuaHylje returnecljionip, " Well,'', said .Goring,, when they had seen him disappear inside the house, "this is a.proper s.ell.'.' . _/f/I replied the journalist, thouglitfully. man who dawdles . abqut.,all , day generally has .work,...to.'he has a private .said "Wheelfer. ' 'By. Jove,. Phjl, you 're right! I'd never ha\;e ( thought, of that," replied spring. ■; .' 'lt.'s^pretty certain he . won't come out again before dark, a.nd I'm.getting hungry;" went on the Pressman. "Still as it's not wise to lose sight of him, I think we'd better go to lunch separately. " This plan, was .duly carried out, but even when both Were, again at their post, there was still no sign of Treversh. Darkness hdd fallen, 1 and Goring was beginning to 1 get desperately tired of this monotonous-watching, when they saw the front door open and a man came out.

At first they hardly recognised Tre- ( though he passed close by them. He 'm-jis. >a thick reefer jacket, cparse. serge trousers,, and a black silk hfuulkerchief i round his , neck, while a cloth cap pulled well over his eyes added) still further to his disguise. " Now,'' Wheeler, '.' we 're going to learn something, if we're .lucky." ;

At the end of . the road. Treversh jumped on, to, : , a . traincar . bound for Waterlpo, the , t>yp; amateur detectives folJowing, st\ijfc, but going inside, where they. see, all w : ho,. got out. Their man alighted, at the , Elephant and .Castle, 31 nil, th,ey. .ti;a'Ciked[ ,h4ni through various weari .streqts ppd alleys until he finally ..disappeared, inside, a small public-house 'of; unsa>:Qury appearance in : the htuirt ,pf the. borq\igh. M What's ,:thq next; movq?" asked Frank., ,"Ai;e . we, ,tp jwait till he CpmeS. OVlt

-Whepler ; , answer, but, fe'ell .^iSi/pock, eti,, took, out a false moustache an,d,/4^'tl^'.alfixed it to his vpper lip. Then he slipped off his colJar > and ; wound » handkerchief 'round neck, stnd''stood before his friend, looking almost as perfect a. ' ka »-4&e ■ 'riian they Were shadowing. . • ' " Heavens, Phil! I ' have known you in that get-up,'-' ejaculated

Goring, with unconcealed admiration. '' I bought the, moustache and handkerchief in case, I. should want them, " replied the journalist. "It was a good thing I "did,? ; , , "What's.your plan,

"I'm 1 going into the pub,, In tjh? meantime,. you ; hang ; about here keep your eyes on the doors in case the" beggar slips out without my- noticing him. I , won 't be longer than I can help." .. , . Cocking his. bowler hat over-his ear , in swagger fashion, Wheeler slouched towards the taproom and disappeared inside. To his astonishment Treversh was to either in the public or the so-called private bar; for ; the two were only separated by a partition which an ordinary man could look ojver by v standing on tip-toe. ; There appeared to; be no bar parlour, and the journalist refrained from inquiring, in case, his curiosity should arouse suspicion l . So, having ordered a drink, he • sat down, hoping thftt chance might put him. on the right scent again. Various customers entered and left the houpe.. After a while onemanoame in, nodded to the barman, and went through a small side door-which Wheeler had not hitherto noticed, People contiued to come in and out, ,and about ten minutes later a couple of men entered, and they, liks ,the first man, nod-, ded to the barman, and passed through the mvsterious door. •.

"Funny," reflected the journalist. "Where do they go, I wonder?" He, was still ppndering the questien, when a fourth, man entered. At onc,e Wheler recognised him. He was a wellr known forger, who had only recently been liberated from prison. To the Pressman, however, the interesting point about him was that he did as the others, and disappeared through the door, taking no notice of the customers sprawling about the bar. This incident and the fact that three men had previously entered and passed through, gave the jeurnalist an inspiration. Treversh, ho doubt, whs somewhere on the other side of that door, and Wheeler decided that he also must get through. How could he manage it without the barman seeing him?

The problem was solved in a sudden and unexpected manner. For some minutes a loud-voiced: 1 and angry discussion had been going on between: two men in the : next ' compartment, and abruptly they commenced to fight,- Instantly all eyes were turned upon them, those in the other bar craning their heads over the partition . .to watch the '' fun. •' ' At the same' time the barman hurried forward, jumped over the counter, &nd' proceeded ~ |o. ; tlirow out the two cbnibata'ntsj willingly assisted by several more -sober customers. • ,

This gave Wheeler his' chance, and; he opened the door iuvd slipped through unnoticed. ■ ■ ■'' ■

To his surprise 'he found himself in a small yard ■in on all sides by houses, and. littered- with crate, empty barrels, and other rubbish.: . It : was pitch dark, and Wheeler, groping about., barked - his .-shins. ...-several times by stumbling; over half-seen obstacles, while trying to .find some other Outlet. ' i Suddenly he* saw the door leading into the bar open, ainb the-figure of a man appealed for a fraction of a second silhouetted against, the light within. As Phil dropped ulown behind a-crate, he wondered if he had been discovered, for the fellow was making directly towards him. '

The journalist braced himself for the

Struggle, regretful that he had : not his: revolver. He was just about, to spring out, having resolved to be, r th.e, aittackGE, when, to his astonishixient,, the man halted and • fumbled about oh the wall. Wheeler heard' a a Pd felt a blast, of: warm air,: and then f the. stranger disappeared. j 9, few minutes the l Pressman remained in his hiding place, ready' for any emergency. But as the nioments ;by, : and. nothing:happened, he, decided he- had, not been- observed, Hpd, rose slowly to "-his feet.' Stepping carefully, he reached th© :place where he had seen the man disappear: There was a door.! . !i '

1 Shaking with excitement, yet watchful and cautious aa ever, Phil groped for the lAteh raised it. Again he! felt the rush of warm air against, his face a&. hq) crossed the; .threshold and pushed' tQ behind hini. ; Be jtyas now:,standing in: a 4 dark ; and r arrow, passage, at the far end of which a glimpge of reflected light shpwed thft, conwiencment • of a flight of; stone steps leading to some underground: cellar., , Without: a moment 's hesitation, : he !, that he,.must see who was in that, hidden, room, and ho crept noiselessly forward.: - , After-. /Responding some: twelves or £o»rs?exi stepjs t&e journalist found self on a small, landing. The light from ibelpw, wa? mueh "brighter here, and lie C.O?ild: heai* ypices.aml smell the ,ree-k of tobacco smoke. Step by step he inoved forward till he reached, the bend. I . There he stppped abruptly,. amazed at the sight whjich met his eyes; ■ ■ (To. be'continued to-morrow.) :