The Brooklyn murdersCole, G. D. H. (George Douglas Howard)
General
The Brooklyn murders
Cole, G. D. H. (George Douglas Howard)
Detective and mystery stories; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction; Police -- Great Britain -- Fiction
“Well, you know, Mr. Woodman, the _prima facie_ evidence in both cases
seemed to point to a quite impossible conclusion. In each case, what
evidence there was went to show that the two men had murdered each
other. This could not be true of both; but we have so far no evidence
to show whether it ought to be disbelieved in both cases, or only in
one. That is where further particulars may prove so important.”
“I will tell you all I can.”
“Let us begin with Mr. Prinsep. Was he in any trouble that you know
of?”
The lawyer hesitated. “Well,” he said at length, “it is a private
matter, and I am sure it can have no bearing on the case. But you had
better have all the facts. There had been some trouble—about a woman,
a girl who is acting in a small part at the Piccadilly Theatre.”
“Her name?”
“Charis Lang. Prinsep had been, well, I believe somewhat intimate with
her, and she had formed the opinion that he had promised to marry her.
He came to see me about it. He denied that he had made any such
promise, and said he was anxious to get the matter honourably settled.
I wrote to the woman and asked her to meet me; but she refused—said it
was not a lawyer’s business, but entirely a private question between
her and Mr. Prinsep. I showed him her letter, and he was very much
worried. He informed me that Mrs. George Brooklyn—she used to be
leading lady at the Piccadilly—had known the girl in her professional
days, and I approached her and told her a part of the story. She took,
I must say, the girl’s side, and said she was sure a promise of
marriage had been made. She wanted to take the matter up; but George
Brooklyn objected to his wife being mixed up in it, and undertook to
see Miss Lang himself. He was to have done so two nights ago—the night
of the murders—and then to have gone back to tell Prinsep what had
happened. I have no means of knowing whether he actually did so.”
“This is very important. Can you give me Miss Lang’s address?”
“I have it here. Somewhere in Hammersmith. Yes, 3 Algernon Terrace.
But she is at the theatre every evening, and you could probably find
her there.”
“I must certainly arrange to see her. Can you tell me anything further
about the young woman? For instance, is she—well—respectable?”
“I have told you all I know. Mrs. George might know more.”
“Thank you. Now, is there anything else you know about Mr. Prinsep
that might have a bearing on his death?”
“Nothing.”
“Had he any financial troubles?”
“None, I am sure. He had a large salary from the Brooklyn Trust,
besides a considerable personal income, and he always lived well
within his means.”
“Had he any enemies?”
Again the lawyer paused before answering. Finally, “No,” he replied,
“no _enemies_.”
The inspector took the cue.
“But there were some people you know of with whom he was not on the
best of terms?” he asked.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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