The New TenantOppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
General
The New Tenant
Oppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
Detective and mystery stories
The case against the prisoner was, he said, still altogether incomplete,
and he had only one witness, whose evidence, however, he felt sure,
would be such as to justify their sending the matter to be decided
before a judicial tribunal. No doubt they all remembered the painful
circumstances of Sir Geoffrey Kynaston's death, and the mystery with
which it was surrounded. That death took place within a stone's throw of
the cottage where the prisoner was then living, under an assumed name,
and more than three miles away from any other dwelling place or refuge
of any sort. He reminded them of the speedy search that had been made,
and its extraordinary non-success. Under those circumstances a certain
amount of suspicion naturally attached itself to the prisoner, and a
search warrant was duly applied for, and duly carried out. At that time
nothing suspicious was discovered, owing in some measure, he was bound
to say, to the scrupulous delicacy with which the magistrate who had
signed it--looking toward Mr. Thurwell--had insisted upon its being
carried out. Subsequently, however, and acting upon later information,
Detective Robson of Scotland Yard was appointed to look into the case,
and the result of his investigation was the issuing of the warrant under
which the prisoner stood charged with the murder of Sir Geoffrey
Kynaston. Their worships would hear the evidence of Detective Robson,
who was now present.
Detective Robson stepped forward, and was sworn. On the 15th of June
last, he said, he searched the prisoner's cottage on the Thurwell Court
estate. He there found in the secret recess of a cabinet, which had
apparently not been opened for some time, a dagger, produced, in a case
evidently intended to hold two, and which was an exact facsimile of the
one, also produced, with which the murder was committed. He found also a
towel, produced, which was stained with blood, and several letters. With
regard to the towel, he here added, that in one corner of the room was
fixed a small basin, and on the floor just beneath, covered over by a
carpet, and bearing several signs of attempted obliteration, was a large
blood stain. The woman who had cleaned the cottage prior to Mr.
Maddison's occupation, was in court, and would swear that the stain in
question was not there at that time. He mentioned these details first,
he went on to say, but the more important part of his evidence had
reference to these letters, and his subsequent action with regard to
them. He would call attention to one of them, he remarked, producing it,
and allow the bench to draw their own conclusions. He would read it to
them, and they could then examine it for themselves.
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