The Master Detective: Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher QuarlesBrebner, Percy James
General
The Master Detective: Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher Quarles
Brebner, Percy James
Detective and mystery stories
"Don't be so dogmatic," returned Quarles sharply. "A corpse has been
stolen; can you suggest any use a corpse can be put to if it is not to
serve some anatomical or medical purpose? Remember, Wigan, that mentally
and materially there is always a tendency to move in a circle. What has
been will be again--altered according to environment--but practically the
same. Always start with the assumption that a similar case has happened
before. Our difficulties would be much greater if Solomon had been wrong,
and there were constantly new things under the sun. Undoubtedly there are
some interesting points in this case. Have you arrived at a theory?"
"No, at least only a very vague one. Sir Arthur seems certain that his
father had no enemies, and my theory would require an enemy; some one
who, having failed to injure him in life, had found an opportunity of
wreaking vengeance on the dead clay by preventing the body having
Christian burial."
"That is a very interesting idea, Wigan; go on."
"I daresay you remember that the Rusholm baronetcy caused some excitement
about twenty years ago. The papers have recalled it in connection with
Sir Grenville's death. Sir John Rusholm--the baronet at that time--was a
very old man, and during the two years before his death several relations
died. He had no son living, so the heir was a nephew, the son of a much
younger brother who had gone to Australia and died there. This nephew had
not been heard of for a long time, and as soon as he became the heir, Sir
John advertised for him in the Australian papers. There was no answer,
and the Yorkshire Rusholms, who are poor, expected to inherit. Then at
the very time when Sir John was on his death-bed news came of the nephew.
He had been in India for some years, had proposed there, had married and
had a son. There had been so many lives between him and the title that he
had thought nothing about it until a chance acquaintance had shown him
the advertisement in an old Australian paper. He wrote that he was
starting for England at once, but Sir John was dead when he arrived. That
is how Sir Grenville came into the property."
"Was his claim disputed?" asked Zena.
"Oh, no, there was no question about it. He had family papers which only
the nephew could possibly have, and you may depend the Yorkshire Rusholms
would have found a flaw in the title if they could. Their disappointment
must have been great, and if I could discover that Sir Grenville had an
enemy amongst them--some relation he had refused to help, for instance--I
should want to know all about him."
"Yours is a very interesting idea," said Quarles. "Do you happen to know
who Lady Rusholm was?"
"The daughter of a tea planter in Ceylon. Her social success here has
been very great, as you know."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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