Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square: A MysteryFarjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
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Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square: A Mystery
Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
Detective and mystery stories; London (England) -- Fiction
She follows the servant, and steps into the shadow of a cluster of
trees.
* * * * *
What connection is there between that gay scene in Bournemouth and
this more sombre scene in Samuel Boyd's house in Catchpole Square,
where, an hour after midnight, Dick moves in search of the body of
Abel Death? The invisible links are in the air. Will they ever be
brought to light and united to form another chain in the mystery?
Dick's search has lasted two hours, and has been conducted with care
and patience. It is not alone traces of Abel Death he seeks for; he
searches for anything in the shape of incriminating evidence against
Reginald, his intention being to take possession of it, and by-and-by,
perhaps, destroy it. That by so doing he will be committing a
felonious act and frustrating the course of justice does not trouble
him. He is working for Florence.
The first room he lingers in is that in which Samuel Boyd lies. No
change there. The bed is still occupied by that silent, awful figure,
cold and dead. Incapable of aught for good or evil as it is, it
exercises a powerful influence over him. He dreads to approach it, and
it draws him to its side. He steals from the room, shuddering, and,
closing the door, breathes more freely at the barrier between them;
but ever and anon, for some time afterwards, he casts a startled look
over his shoulder, as though expecting to see a phantom standing
there.
The ghostly moon shines through the windows which are unshuttered, and
knowing now, from what Inspector Robson said, that an intermittent
watch is being kept upon the house, he dare not in those rooms carry a
light. In the rooms with shuttered windows he risks a lighted candle,
but holds it close to the floor and moves it warily from spot to spot,
and shades it with his hand, in order to lessen the chance of its
glimmer being seen from without. This makes his task more difficult,
and there are moments when he almost regrets having undertaken it.
The wax figure of the Chinaman is still in its chair, holding in its
hand the stick of the reign of Charles the Second. The chair is
old-fashioned, too, having a grandmother's hood to it, so that the
Chinaman sits, as it were, in a cosy alcove, only those standing in
front of the figure being able to obtain a full view of its face.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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