The Filigree Ball: Being a full and true account of the solution of the mystery concerning the Jeffrey-Moore affairGreen, Anna Katharine
General
The Filigree Ball: Being a full and true account of the solution of the mystery concerning the Jeffrey-Moore affair
Green, Anna Katharine
Detective and mystery stories
8. That in acknowledging this she had emphatically denied having
associated the firing of this shot with any idea of harm to her sister;
yet was known to have gone from this house in a condition of mind so
serious that she failed to recollect the places she visited or the
streets she passed through till she found herself again in her sister’s
house face to face with an officer.
9. That her first greeting of this officer was a shriek, betraying a
knowledge of his errand before he had given utterance to a word.
10. That the candles found in the Moore house were similar to those
bought by Mr. Jeffrey and afterward delivered at his kitchen door.
11. That she was the only member of the household besides the cook who
was in the kitchen at the time, and that it was immediately after her
departure from the room that the package containing the candles had
been missed.
12. That opportunities of coming to an understanding with Mr. Jeffrey
after his wife’s death had not been lacking and it was not until after
such opportunities had occurred that any serious inquiry into this
matter had been begun by the police. To which must be added, not in way
of proof but as an important factor in the case, that her manner, never
open, was such throughout her whole public examination as to make it
evident to all that only half of what had occurred in the Jeffreys’
house since the wedding had been given out by her or by the man for
whose release from a disappointing matrimonial entanglement she was
supposed to have worked; this, though the suspicion hanging over them
both called for the utmost candor.
Verily, a serious list; and opposed to this I had as yet little to
offer but my own belief in her innocence and the fact, but little dwelt
on and yet not without its value, that the money which had come to Mr.
Jeffrey, and the home which had been given her, had both been forfeited
by Mrs. Jeffrey’s death.
As I mused and mused over this impromptu synopsis, in my vain attempt
to reach some fresh clue to a proper understanding of the
inconsistencies in Miss Tuttle’s conduct by means of my theory of her
strong but mistaken devotion to Mr. Jeffrey, a light suddenly broke
upon me from an entirely unexpected quarter. It was a faint one, but
any glimmer was welcome. Remembering a remark made by Mr. Jeffrey in
his examination, that Mrs. Jeffrey had not been the same since crossing
the fatal doorstep of the Moore house, I asked myself if we had paid
enough attention to the mental condition and conduct of the bride prior
to the alarm which threw a pall of horror over her marriage; and caught
by the idea, I sought for a fuller account of the events of that day
than had hitherto been supplied by newspaper or witness.
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