Detective and mystery stories; Fiction; Love stories
"Yes, we probed for it and got it out. It had passed directly through
the heart, and lodged in the muscles of the back. There can be no
question that it came from this revolver."
"Whose revolver is it?" I asked.
"Presumably Miss Kingdon's. We've not been able to find any evidence on
that point. It wasn't bought here in Elizabeth. You see it's a foreign
make."
I could decipher upon the barrel the letters "C & I, Paris." Godfrey
examined it with eyes which were gleaming strangely. I watched him with
a curious sinking of the heart, but he handed it back to the coroner
without comment.
"Anything else?" he asked. "No trace of the watch?"
"No," and Haynes shook his head.
"How is Miss Kingdon?"
"A little quieter, but still delirious. She won't be able to testify
to-morrow. We've got a trained nurse for her--the doctor thinks she'd
better not be moved for a day or two."
"And no light as to the identity of the victim?"
"Not the slightest. I've found a cabman who saw him get off the 10.30
train from New York on the morning of the tenth. Then he went into a
drugstore near the depot, and asked to look at a directory, afterwards
asking the way to North Broad Street. He probably spoke to no one else
till he stopped to ask Clemley where the Kingdons lived."
"He'd never been here before, then."
"Evidently not. And he didn't know the Kingdons' address until he got
here."
"No," agreed Godfrey; "no. Well, you've evidently done everything that
could be done, Mr. Haynes. Perhaps something more will come out at the
inquest. It opens at ten o'clock, doesn't it?"
"Yes; here are your subpoenas," and he handed us each a paper.
"Very well," said Godfrey. "We'll be present, of course. Where will it
be held?"
"I thought it best to hold it right here," answered Haynes, "I want the
jury to be on the scene."
"But won't it disturb Miss Kingdon?"
"Not at all. There's a large front room which will answer nicely--and
I'll have the police keep everybody out who hasn't some business there.
Here's the room," and he opened a door and led the way into the room
beyond.
It was the one into which Miss Kingdon had shown me on the morning of my
memorable interview with her, and involuntarily my eyes sought the
portrait on the wall opposite the front windows. It was still there--as
alluring, astonishing, compelling as ever. Indeed, as I gazed at it now,
it seemed even more striking than it had when I saw it first.
"Look at that," I said, turning to Godfrey, but there was no need for me
to call his attention to the portrait. He had already seen it, and was
gazing at it in rapt admiration.
"Whose is it?" he demanded, at last. "Who painted it?"
I pointed to the name scrawled in the corner.
"'Ruth Endicott,'" he read slowly. "Well, and who was she?"
"That's her portrait," I said. "Does it remind you of any one?"
He looked at it for a moment in silence; then he shook his head.
"No, I can't say that it does. But who was Ruth Endicott?"
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