The Strange Schemes of Randolph MasonPost, Melville Davisson
General
The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason
Post, Melville Davisson
American fiction -- 19th century; Detective and mystery stories, American; Legal 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 his 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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