The Woman in BlackBentley, E. C. (Edmund Clerihew)
General
The Woman in Black
Bentley, E. C. (Edmund Clerihew)
Detective and mystery stories; Trent, Philip (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
My Dear Molloy: This is in case I don't find you at your office. I
have found out who killed Manderson, as this despatch will show.
That was my problem; yours is to decide what use to make of it. It
definitely charges an unsuspected person with having a hand in the
crime, and practically accuses him of being the murderer, so I
don't suppose you will publish it before his arrest, and I believe
it is illegal to do so afterwards until he has been tried and found
guilty. You may decide to publish it then; and you may find it
possible to make some use or other before then of the facts I have
given. That is your affair. Meanwhile, will you communicate with
Scotland Yard, and let them see what I have written? I have done
with the Manderson mystery, and I wish to God I had never touched
it. Here follows my despatch.
P. T.
I begin this, my third and probably my final despatch to the _Record_
upon the Manderson murder, with conflicting feelings. I have a strong
sense of relief, because in my two previous despatches I was obliged, in
the interests of justice, to withhold facts ascertained by me which
would, if published then, have put a certain person upon his guard and
possibly have led to his escape; for he is a man of no common boldness
and resource. Those facts I shall now set forth. But I have, I confess,
no liking for the story of treachery and perverted cleverness which I
have to tell. It leaves an evil taste in the mouth, a savor of something
revolting in the deeper puzzle of motive underlying the puzzle of the
crime itself, which I believe I have solved.
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