The Middle of ThingsFletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith)
General
The Middle of Things
Fletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith)
Detective and mystery stories
He was half-minded to tell Mr. Pawle there and then of his secret
dealings with Methley that day, but on reflection he decided that he
would keep the matter to himself. Viner had an idea which he had not
communicated even to Methley. It had struck him that the mysterious
_deux ex machina_ who was certainly at the back of all this business
might not improbably be so anxious about his schemes that he would,
unknown and unsuspected, attend the magistrates' court. Would Hyde, his
wits sharpened by danger, be able to spot him as the muffled man of
Lonsdale Passage?
CHAPTER XXII
ON REMAND
When Langton Hyde was brought up before the magistrate next morning, the
court was crowded to its utmost limits; and Viner, looking round him from
his seat near the solicitors' table saw that most of the people
interested in the case were present. Mr. Carless was whispering with Mr.
Pawle; Lord Ellingham had a seat close by; in the front of the public
gallery Miss Penkridge, grim and alert, was in charge of the timid and
shrinking sisters of the unfortunate prisoner. There, too, were Mr.
Armitstead and Mr. Isidore Rosenbaum, and Mr. Perkwite, all evidently
very much alive to certain possibilities. But Viner looked in vain for
either Methley or Woodlesford or their mysterious client; they were
certainly not present when Hyde was put into the dock, and Viner began to
wonder if the events of the previous day had warned Mr. Cave and those
behind him to avoid publicity.
Instructed by Viner, who was determined to spare neither effort nor
money to clear his old schoolmate, Felpham had engaged the services
of one of the most brilliant criminal barristers of the day, Mr.
Millington-Bywater, on behalf of his client; and he and Viner had sat up
half the night with him, instructing him in the various mysteries and
ramifications of the case. A big, heavy-faced, shrewd-eyed man, Mr.
Millington-Bywater made no sign, and to all outward appearance showed no
very great interest while the counsel who now appeared on behalf of the
police, completed his case against the prisoner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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