Produced by Bruce Albrecht, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE BOROUGH TREASURER BY J. S. FLETCHER AUTHOR OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE MURDER, THE PARADISE MYSTERY, ETC. GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS NEW YORK Made in the United States of America COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC. Published July, 1921 Second Printing, November, 1921 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONTENTS I BLACKMAIL, 1 II CRIME--AND SUCCESS, 11 III MURDER, 21 IV THE PINE WOOD, 31 V THE CORD, 41 VI THE MAYOR, 52 VII NIGHT WORK, 61 VIII RETAINED FOR THE DEFENCE, 71 IX ANTECEDENTS, 82 X THE HOLE IN THE THATCH, 91 XI CHRISTOPHER PETT, 101 XII PARENTAL ANXIETY, 111 XIII THE ANONYMOUS LETTER, 121 XIV THE SHEET OF FIGURES, 131 XV ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER, 141 XVI THE LONELY MOOR, 149 XVII THE MEDICAL OPINION, 159 XVIII THE SCRAP BOOK, 171 XIX A TALL MAN IN GREY CLOTHES, 181 XX AT BAY, 191 XXI THE INTERRUPTED FLIGHT, 203 XXII THE HAND IN THE DARKNESS, 211 XXIII COMFORTABLE CAPTIVITY, 221 XXIV STRICT BUSINESS LINES, 231 XXV NO FURTHER EVIDENCE, 242 XXVI THE VIRTUES OF SUSPICION, 251 XXVII MR. WRAYTHWAITE OF WRAYE, 260 XXVIII PAGES FROM THE PAST, 269 XXIX WITHOUT THOUGHT OF CONSEQUENCES, 277 XXX COTHERSTONE, 283 XXXI THE BARRISTER'S FEE, 302 THE BOROUGH TREASURER CHAPTER I BLACKMAIL Half way along the north side of the main street of Highmarket an ancient stone gateway, imposing enough to suggest that it was originally the entrance to some castellated mansion or manor house, gave access to a square yard, flanked about by equally ancient buildings. What those buildings had been used for in other days was not obvious to the casual and careless observer, but to the least observant their present use was obvious enough. Here were piles of timber from Norway; there were stacks of slate from Wales; here was marble from Aberdeen, and there cement from Portland: the old chambers of the grey buildings were filled to overflowing with all the things that go towards making a house--ironwork, zinc, lead, tiles, great coils of piping, stores of domestic appliances. And on a shining brass plate, set into the wall, just within the gateway, were deeply engraven the words: _Mallalieu and Cotherstone, Builders and Contractors_.