“This was about eighteen months ago, when apparently Chetney tired of
the Princess, and suddenly went off to shoot and explore in Central
Africa. No word came from him, except that twice he was reported as
having died of fever in the jungle, and finally two traders reached
the coast who said they had seen his body. This was accepted by all
as conclusive, and young Arthur was recognized as the heir to the Edam
millions. On the strength of this supposition he at once began to borrow
enormous sums from the money lenders. This is of great importance, as
the police believe it was these debts which drove him to the murder of
his brother. Yesterday, as you know, Lord Chetney suddenly returned from
the grave, and it was the fact that for two years he had been considered
as dead which lent such importance to his return and which gave rise
to those columns of detail concerning him which appeared in all the
afternoon papers. But, obviously, during his absence he had not tired of
the Princess Zichy, for we know that a few hours after he reached London
he sought her out. His brother, who had also learned of his reappearance
through the papers, probably suspected which would be the house he would
first visit, and followed him there, arriving, so the Russian servant
tells us, while the two were at coffee in the drawing-room. The
Princess, then, we also learn from the servant, withdrew to the
dining-room, leaving the brothers together. What happened one can only
guess.
“Lord Arthur knew now that when it was discovered he was no longer the
heir, the money-lenders would come down upon him. The police believe
that he at once sought out his brother to beg for money to cover the
post-obits, but that, considering the sum he needed was several hundreds
of thousands of pounds, Chetney refused to give it him. No one knew
that Arthur had gone to seek out his brother. They were alone. It is
possible, then, that in a passion of disappointment, and crazed with
the disgrace which he saw before him, young Arthur made himself the heir
beyond further question. The death of his brother would have availed
nothing if the woman remained alive. It is then possible that he crossed
the hall, and with the same weapon which made him Lord Edam’s heir
destroyed the solitary witness to the murder. The only other person
who could have seen it was sleeping in a drunken stupor, to which fact
undoubtedly he owed his life. And yet,” concluded the Naval Attache,
leaning forward and marking each word with his finger, “Lord Arthur
blundered fatally. In his haste he left the door of the house open, so
giving access to the first passer-by, and he forgot that when he entered
it he had handed his card to the servant. That piece of paper may yet
send him to the gallows. In the mean time he has disappeared completely,
and somewhere, in one of the millions of streets of this great capital,
in a locked and empty house, lies the body of his brother, and of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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