The Secret of the League: The Story of a Social WarBramah, Ernest
Science
The Secret of the League: The Story of a Social War
Bramah, Ernest
Dystopias -- Fiction; Great Britain -- Politics and government -- Fiction; Social classes -- Fiction
There was a knock at the door. It explained the attitude of the four men
in the room and their scattered conversation. They had been awaiting
some one.
He came into the room and saluted, a powerfully-built man with "uniform"
branded on every limb, although he wore plain clothes then.
"Detective-Inspector Moeletter?" said B.
"Yes, sir," said the inspector, and stood at attention.
"You have the warrant?" continued B.
Moeletter produced it, and passed it in for inspection. It was made out
on the preceding day, signed by the Stipendiary Magistrate of Stafford,
and it connected George Salt with Leslie Garnet by the link of Murder.
"When you applied for this warrant," said B., looking hard at the
inspector, "you considered that you had sufficient evidence to support
it?"
Moeletter looked puzzled for a moment, as though the question was one
that he did not quite follow in that form. For a moment he seemed to be
on the verge of making an explanation; then he thought better of it, and
simply replied: "Yes, sir."
"At all events," continued B. hastily, "you have enough evidence to
justify a remand? What are the points?"
"We have abundant evidence that Salt was in the neighbourhood about the
time of the tragedy; that fact can scarcely be contested. Coming nearer,
an old man, who had been hedging until the storm drove him under a high
bank, saw a gentleman enter Garnet's cottage about half-past five.
Without any leading he described this man accurately as Salt, and picked
out his photograph from among a dozen others. About an hour later, two
boys, who were bird-nesting near Stourton Hill church, heard a shot.
They looked through the hedge into the graveyard and saw one man lying
apparently dead on the ground, and another bending over him as though he
might be going through his pockets. Being frightened, they ran away and
told no one of it for some time, as boys would. Of course, sir, that's
more than six months ago now, but the description they give tallies, and
I think that we may claim a strong presumption of identity taking into
consideration the established time of Salt's arrival at Thornley."
"That is all?" said B.
"As regards identity," replied the inspector. "On general grounds we
shall show that for some time before his death Garnet had been selling
shares and securities which he held, and that although he lived frugally
no money was found in the remains of his house or on his person, and no
trace of a banking account or other investment can be discovered. Then
we allege that 'George Salt' is not the man's right name, although we
have not been able to follow that up yet. He is generally understood to
have been a sailor recently, and the revolver found beside the body was
of a naval pattern. I should add that the medical evidence at the
inquest was to the effect that the wound might have been self-inflicted,
but that the angle was unusual."
B. returned the warrant to the inspector.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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