The Chestermarke InstinctFletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith)
General
The Chestermarke Instinct
Fletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith)
Detective and mystery stories
"'Livesey's evidence, in brief, was as follows: At nine o'clock last
Saturday evening, he was walking home from Scarnham to Ellersdeane by a
track which crosses the Hollow, and cuts into the high road between the
town and the village at a point near the Warren, an isolated house which
is the private residence of Mr. Gabriel Chestermarke, banker, of
Scarnham. As he reached this point, he saw Mr. John Horbury, whom he
knew very well by sight, accompanied by a stranger, come out of the
Hollow by another path, cross the high road, and walk down the lane
which leads to the Warren. They were talking very earnestly, but Mr.
Horbury saw him and said good-night in answer to his own greeting. There
was a strong moonlight at the time, and he saw the stranger's face
clearly. He was quite sure that the stranger was the dead man whose body
had just been shown to him at the mortuary.
"'Questioned further, Livesey positively adhered to all his statements.
He was certain of the time; certain of the identity of the two
gentlemen. He knew Mr. Horbury very well indeed; had known him for many
years; Mr. Horbury had often talked to him when they met in the fields
and lanes of the neighbourhood. He had no doubt at all that the dead man
he had seen in the mortuary was the gentleman who was with Mr. Horbury
on Saturday night. He had noticed him particularly as the two gentlemen
passed him, and had wondered who he was. The moon was very bright that
night: he saw Mr. Hollis quite plainly: he would have known him again at
any time. He was positive that the two gentlemen entered the lane which
led to Mr. Gabriel Chestermarke's house. They were evidently making a
direct line for it when he first saw them, and they crossed the high
road straight to its entrance. That lane led nowhere else than to the
Warren--it was locally called the lane, but it was really a sort of
carriage-drive to Mr. Chestermarke's front door, and there was a gate at
the high-road entrance to it. He saw Mr. Horbury and his companion enter
that gate; he heard it clash behind them.
"'Questioned by Mr. Polke, superintendent of police at Scarnham, Livesey
said that when he first saw the two gentlemen they were coming from the
direction of Ellersdeane Tower. There was a path right across the
Hollow, from a point in front of the Warren, to the Tower, and thence to
the woods on the Scarnham side. That was the path the two gentlemen were
on. He was absolutely certain about the time, for two reasons. Just
before he saw Mr. Horbury and his companion, he heard the clock at
Scarnham Parish Church strike nine, and after they had passed him he had
gone on to the Green Archer public-house, and had noticed that it was
ten minutes past nine when he entered. Further questioned, he said he
saw no one else on the Hollow but the two gentlemen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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