The crooked crossDutton, Charles J. (Charles Judson)
General
The crooked cross
Dutton, Charles J. (Charles Judson)
Bartley, John (Fictitious character) -- Fiction; Detective and mystery stories; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction
Carter dropped on his knees and made a hasty examination. In a second
he turned and pointed with his finger at the dark stain upon the white
shirt. Then as he straightened up we saw something else—something we
had overlooked. It was a sheet of paper. Evidently it had fallen off
the body, though perhaps it had been placed by its side. A piece of
bond paper with but five letters—large letters, evidently written with
a hurried hand, the beginning of an incompleted word:
—ANANI—
There had been little conversation, for we were too upset by what we
had found. But the piece of paper puzzled us. That Warren had been
stabbed there was no doubt; but what the paper meant we could not
tell. The letters seemed to mean nothing, and we were not sure that
they had anything to do with the crime. For a moment we puzzled over
it, and then my eyes wandered again to the still figure upon the
floor. As I glanced at it, I gave a sudden start and dropped to my
knees for a closer look. And then—then, after one glance, I gave a
startled cry.
For there upon the forehead of the murdered man were two faint
lines—lines now swollen and red. Not very long lines, nor for that
matter very noticeable, but lines which I could not understand. There
upon the forehead of the famous scientist were two faint lines cut
into the skin. A cross—the lines of which had just been made. Cut
faintly, I judged, with a knife. A cross—the lines now red and
swollen, and a crooked cross at that.
Chapter III
The Broken Bookcase
At my cry of astonishment Carter and Ranville had turned in surprise.
I simply pointed to the forehead of the murdered man, and they bent
forward for a closer look. I saw a startled expression sweep over the
Englishman's face, and he slowly shook his head. It was Carter who
broke the silence, speaking to no one in particular.
“Do you think that was made by the murderer?”
“There is not the slightest doubt of it,” was Ranville's quick retort.
“That man has not been dead over two hours, and the cut itself is not
any older.”
I cast a hurried glance at the grewsome lines of the red cross and
gave a little shiver as I asked:
“But what under heavens can it mean; why should there be a mutilation
of that kind?”
Carter simply shook his head, and it was the Scotland Yard Inspector
who replied:
“We do not know, of course. I have seen a good many murdered people in
my time, but as a rule the murderer had never marked his victim. Once
in a while you will run into a murder which was committed by a
woman—committed in a fit of frenzy. Sometimes in such a case they mark
up their victims. But of course we know nothing of this crime. What
the motive was we do not know. How he was killed is rather easy to
understand—a long thin knife or dagger.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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