Detective and mystery stories; England -- Fiction; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction
"And with regard to the assassin. We are inclined to think he is a
man--and that man who spoke to the policeman at eleven o'clock. It
might be, that gaining admittance by his latch-key with the woman, he
killed her almost immediately he entered, and then watched his chance
of escape. That he entered the house with the woman appears clear. We
stated above that it is impossible to say if the woman entered the
house alone. By this we mean that the man may have come earlier, and
may have admitted her before nine o'clock. The poor creature walked
into a death-trap. Taking her to the White Room, he lured her to sit
down at the piano, which would give him an opportunity of standing
behind her to stab her unawares. Then when she was dead, he probably
looked out of the window to see how he could escape. Fear evidently
kept him within till nearly eleven o'clock. Then he saw the policeman
passing, and then he sang the song to make the man believe a woman was
singing. Afterwards, when he had lulled any suspicions the policeman
may have entertained, he came out and escaped in the manner described.
This is our theory. The singer is described by Mulligan--a remarkably
intelligent officer--as having a deep contralto voice; so it is
probable the assassin sang in falsetto. That the man killed the woman
and thus escaped, we are sure; for only he having the latch-key could
have admitted her, and only he could have a reason to lure her into
the house. What that reason may be, must remain for ever a mystery."
So far the _Daily Budget_ with its gimcrack theory. A rival newspaper
promptly set to work to pick holes in the case as presented by the
paper. This rival journal, the _Star of Morning_, commented as
follows:
"Our respected contemporary goes too fast. Evidence was given
clearly by Mulligan that the song was being sung while the presumed
assassin--in the _Daily Budget's_ opinion--was in conversation with
him at the gate. Therefore the young man with the pointed beard could
not have sung 'Kathleen Mavourneen' in falsetto. The theory is
amusing, but it won't hold water. Our belief is quite different, and
we think more real.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account