Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square: A MysteryFarjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
General
Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square: A Mystery
Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
Detective and mystery stories; London (England) -- Fiction
Mr. Marlow: "I will pass over the incident. The presumption is that
the man was either the murderer or an accomplice. Now, how does the
prisoner, Reginald Boyd, stand in relation to what took place on that
night? We have his own statement that he left his father's house and
was in his lodgings by midnight, and if he could produce a witness or
witnesses to confirm his statement, and to prove that he did not leave
his lodgings again during the night, it would effectually dispose of
the peril in which he stands in regard to the resemblance between him
and the man whom Dr. Pye saw. But such a witness has not been, and I
venture to say will not be, produced, and we have only his bare word
to fall back upon. Remember that he had a latchkey, and could let
himself into the house without the knowledge of the inmate. We may
take it for granted that Samuel Boyd, before he retired to bed,
chained and bolted the street door, and in these circumstances the
latchkey would be useless.
"I come now to the other prisoner, Richard Remington. No suspicion was
entertained of his complicity in the crime, and there was no evidence
connecting him with it until Monday night of this week. When Reginald
Boyd was arrested Richard Remington was acting as his cousin's
attorney, and on that very day he was seen posting up bills of large
rewards, as stated therein, for the discovery of the murderer and Mr.
Abel Death. On the face of it this simultaneous posting up of the two
bills would go some way to directly associate Mr. Abel Death with the
murder. I do not say that this was the intention, but it is open to
that construction. If such an intention existed the design was artful
and wicked, and Richard Remington's personal participation in the
bill-posting--bill-sticking not being his trade--is open to another
construction, that it was done for the purpose of averting suspicion
from himself. On the following day, Friday, a notice appeared on the
street door of the house in Catchpole Square, which stated that
Richard Remington was absent on business, and that all communications
for him were to be left at a certain address. Inquiry was made for him
at that address by a witness who will be called, and nothing could be
learned about him. I mention this incidentally, as indicating that he
wished it to be supposed he was living at that address. If this were
so, for what reason did he make it public, when he was not to be found
there? Saturday, Sunday, and the daylight of Monday, passed without
anything being heard of him; but late that night an incident of a very
startling nature occurred, in which he was the principal actor.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account