Roland Yorke: A Sequel to "The Channings"Wood, Henry, Mrs.
General
Roland Yorke: A Sequel to "The Channings"
Wood, Henry, Mrs.
Detective and mystery stories; English fiction -- 19th century
And that was all that could be got out of Miss Whiffin. Binns'
opinion, that the number of letters given to Arthur had been four, was
in a degree borne out: for that was just the number they had been able
to trace as having been written to him. Three of them were notes from
people in London, making appointments for Arthur to call on them the
next day; the fourth (the one spoken of by Binns as having arrived
just before Arthur himself) was known to be from Mr. Galloway, that
gentleman having despatched it by the day-mail from Helstonleigh.
What could have taken Arthur out again? That was the point to be, if
possible, solved. Unless it could be, neither the police nor anybody
else had the smallest clue as to the quarter their inquiries should be
directed to. Had he quitted London again (which seemed highly
improbable), then the railway stations must be visited for news of
him: had he but strolled out for a walk, it must be the streets.
One of the three notes mentioned came from a firm of proctors in
Parliament Street. It contained these words from the senior partner,
who was an old friend of Mr. Galloway's:--"If it were convenient for
you to call on me the evening of your arrival in town, I should be
glad, as I wish to see you myself, and I am leaving home the following
morning for a week. I shall remain at the office until nine at night,
on the chance that you may come."
That Arthur, on reading the note, might have hastened to make a call
in Parliament Street, was more than probable.--He knew London fairly
well, having been up on two previous occasions for Mr. Galloway.--But
Arthur never made his appearance there. Though of course that did not
prove that he did not set out with the intention of going. Another
feasible conjecture, started by Roland Yorke, was, that he might have
forgotten some trifling article or other amidst his previous
purchases, and gone out again to get it. Allowing that one or other of
these suppositions was correct, it did not explain the mystery of his
subsequent disappearance.
What became of him? If, according to this theory, he walked, or ran,
up Norfolk Street to the Strand, and turned to the right or the left,
or bore on across the road in pursuance of his purposed way, wherever
that might be, how far did he go on that day? Where had his steps
halted? at what point had he turned aside? How, and where, and in what
manner had he disappeared? It was in truth a strange mystery, and none
was able to answer the questions. A thousand times a day Roland
declared he had been murdered--but that assertion was not looked upon
as a satisfactory answer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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