England -- Fiction; Mystery fiction; Trials (Murder) -- Fiction
To learn the truth, he thought it advisable to call at "The Wigwam"
and interrogate Dido. With the evidence of Jaggard to go on, the
major felt satisfied that he could by threatening her with arrest,
force her into confessing the whole nefarious plot. Who had thieved
the devil-stick? Who had slain Maurice? Who had stolen the body?
Undoubtedly, Etwald was the villain who was guilty of all three
crimes, and the evidence of Dido would be sufficient to convict him of
the deeds.
"Yes," said Jen to himself that night, as he retired to bed, "to-day I
have learned sufficient to implicate Etwald; to-morrow I shall be able
to convict him. Dido must confess or go to prison."
Angered by the selfish way in which David had acted, Jen did not
communicate his discoveries to the young man. During the night he took
counsel with himself, and the next morning he acted upon the plans
which he had formed. These were, to see Dido and force the truth from
her, to send Battersea to Deanminster to fetch both Arkel and Dr.
Etwald to "Ashantee," and finally to communicate his discoveries to
the inspector and get him to arrest Etwald. Once in prison, and the
doctor, intimidated by a fear of death at the hands of justice, might
confess his crimes, and his reasons for committing them. This
straightforward course was the only one to pursue.
After breakfast, therefore, the major wrote two notes. One for Arkel,
asking him to be at "Ashantee" by noon, as the writer had important
matters to discuss; the other for Etwald, requesting him to call and
see Jaggard, who, added Jen, significantly in the letter, had
recovered his senses. Having thus prepared his trap for the doctor to
walk into, Jen delivered the letters to Battersea, with instructions
to set off at once for Deanminster. The tramp, anxious to keep in
favor with Jen for cupboard reasons, lost no time in departing, and
when the major had seen him safely out of the gates, he took his way
toward "The Wigwam" for the all-important interview with Dido.
Before his departure he had left a message for David, who had not made
his appearance at breakfast, requesting the young man to be in the
library at noon.
"If I can force the truth out of Dido," thought Jen, strolling slowly
along in the hot sunshine, "I may get the better of Etwald. Then, when
David sees that the doctor is in the trap, and in danger of arrest for
murder, he may relate what he knows. Though upon my word," considered
the major, frowning, "I don't see what information he can possibly add
to what I have obtained from Jaggard, or what I am likely to wring
from the unwilling lips of Dido. Etwald is the guilty person. David
can tell me no more than that."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account