The Lock and Key Library: The most interesting stories of all nations: American
General
The Lock and Key Library: The most interesting stories of all nations: American
Detective and mystery stories; Short stories, American
The evidence was all in and the People rested. It had been shown
that Nina San Croix had resided for many years in the house in
which the prisoner was arrested; that she had lived by herself,
with no other companion than an old negro servant; that her past
was unknown, and that she received no visitors, save the Mexican
sailor, who came to her house at long intervals. Nothing whatever
was shown tending to explain who the prisoner was or whence he had
come. It was shown that on Tuesday preceding the killing the
Archbishop had received a communication from Nina San Croix, in
which she said she desired to make a statement of the greatest
import, and asking for an audience. To this the Archbishop replied
that he would willingly grant her a hearing if she would come to
him at eleven o’clock on Friday morning. Two policemen testified
that about eight o’clock on the night of Thursday they had noticed
the prisoner slip into the gate of Nina San Croix’s residence and
go down to the side of the house, where he was admitted; that his
appearance and seeming haste had attracted their attention; that
they had concluded that it was some clandestine amour, and out of
curiosity had both slipped down to the house and endeavored to find
a position from which they could see into the room, but were unable
to do so, and were about to go back to the street when they heard a
woman’s voice cry out in, great anger: “I know that you love her
and that you want to get rid of me, but you shall not do it! You
murdered him, but you shall not murder me! I have all the evidence
to convict you of murdering him! The Archbishop will have it to-
morrow! They shall hang you! Do you hear me? They shall hang you
for this murder!” that thereupon one of the policemen proposed that
they should break into the house and see what was wrong, but the
other had urged that it was only the usual lovers’ quarrel and if
they should interfere they would find nothing upon which a charge
could be based and would only be laughed at by the chief; that they
had waited and listened for a time, but hearing nothing further had
gone back to the street and contented themselves with keeping a
strict watch on the house.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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