The Illustrious PrinceOppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
General
The Illustrious Prince
Oppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
Detective and mystery stories; Princes -- Fiction
Then he broke off in the middle of his sentence. A cold shiver was
creeping through his veins. He, too, began to stare; he felt the color
leaving his own cheeks. With an effort he turned to the attendant.
“Pull down the blinds,” he ordered, in a voice which he should never
have recognized as his own. “Quick! Now turn out those porters, and tell
the inspector to stop anyone from coming into the car.”
The attendant, who was shaking like a leaf, obeyed. The station-master
turned away and drew a long breath. He himself was conscious of a
sense of nausea, a giddiness which was almost overmastering. This was
a terrible thing to face without a second’s warning. He had not the
slightest doubt but that the man who was seated at the table was dead!
At such an hour there were only a few people upon the platform, and
two stalwart station policemen easily kept back the loiterers whose
curiosity had been excited by the arrival of the special. A third took
up his position with his back to the entrance of the saloon, and allowed
no one to enter it till the return of the station-master, who had gone
for a doctor. The little crowd was completely mystified. No one had
the slightest idea of what had happened. The attendant was besieged by
questions, but he was sitting on the step of the car, in the shadow of
a policeman, with his head buried in his hands, and he did not once look
up. Some of the more adventurous tried to peer through the windows at
the lower end of the saloon. Others rushed off to interview the guard.
In a very few minutes, however, the station-master reappeared upon the
scene, accompanied by the doctor. The little crowd stood on one side and
the two men stepped into the car.
The doctor proceeded at once with his examination. Mr. Hamilton Fynes,
this mysterious person who had succeeded, indeed, in making a record
journey, was leaning back in the corner of his seat, his arms folded,
his head drooping a little, but his eyes still fixed in that unseeing
stare. His body yielded itself unnaturally to the touch. For the main
truth the doctor needed scarcely a glance at him.
“Is he dead?” the station-master asked.
“Stone-dead!” was the brief answer.
“Good God!” the station-master muttered. “Good God!”
The doctor had thrown his handkerchief over the dead man’s face. He was
standing now looking at him thoughtfully.
“Did he die in his sleep, I wonder?” the station-master asked. “It must
have been horribly sudden! Was it heart disease?”
The doctor did not reply for a moment. He seemed to be thinking out some
problem.
“The body had better be removed to the station mortuary,” he said at
last. “Then, if I were you, I should have the saloon shunted on to a
siding and left absolutely untouched. You had better place two of your
station police in charge while you telephone to Scotland Yard.”
“To Scotland Yard?” the station-master exclaimed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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