The Stowmarket Mystery

nd an

Table of

were in a whirl, and the confusion was so great that he w

ntly strained almost to breaking point, and it was th

well suited to each other by temperament and mutual sympathies, whilst their means were ample enough to pe

ve happened to divid

Southerner could be guilty of such deliberate rascality, such ineffable folly,

ella, miserable and disillusioned, buried alive in a country place-for such must existence in Beechcroft mean to a man of his inclinations-had discovered a startling

yet to suspect Capella of the young baronet's murder. Were he guilty of that ghastly crime, his motive must

rom public ken in the vagaries of criminals, but he had never yet met a

of his wife after securing the reversion of her vast property to himself, and of falling in love with Helen-all in the same breath. This species of crimina

Capella and his wife quarrel in the first in

Capella would receive him.

ons that if either you or Mr. David called you wer

he servant led him up the magnificent oak stairc

ptions. The barrister, when he reached th

Brett," was the stiff

am going to Mrs.

re. James, remain outside until Mr. Brett r

people to talk in the way they deemed best suited to their own interests. Without any expost

oor, and placed hims

, fixing his dark eyes, blazing w

your opinion would probably

ill he meet me on the Continent and settle our q

quar

t, may still be deemed a man of honour in some respects. He treated me

oduced a cigarette and lit it, adding greatly to

aid at last, "

alian would have broken out into a torrent of

t of achieving its object. Capella was r

p to the use of unworthy taunts and even criminal innuendos, lose such control of your passion as to lay sacrilegious hands upon Helen Layton, and yet you resent the well-merited punishment administered to yo

ot yet answered my que

othing would give hi

e this matter? I can

police to you, thus possibly

do you

d Sir Alan Hume-Frazer. Until that end is achieved, I will take good care that you

oved to Brett's threats and insults. He gave that snarli

eir best to hang the man who was responsible for his cousin's

es

rejected the fair alternative on his behalf. Caramba!

was 'responsible for his cousin's death'? Is that

was a pity he had cultivated that trick. It spoil

!" he

otman

to your mistress. I

sent, James,

oor hidden by a silk curtain. Mrs. Capella rose to receive her vis

id when Brett was seated near to her

s with Mi

y, I prefer to tal

is impulsive in some respects, thou

im this morning principally on account of his likeness to Alan. But you are his friend, Mr. Brett, and I

two young people are devoted to each othe

you tell

you wished to b

a criminal's designs as well as you can read a

The barrister leaned forward, his hand

seen your hus

emotion but he thought he detect

e exclaimed, "why

this morning between him and David Hume. Your husband wished me to arrange a due

loodshed!" she

l guarantee so much, at any rate. But your husband is a somewhat curi

face. She could no longer bear the

the most miserable woman in England to-

ble, Mrs. Capella?"

g to my own folly. Are you sure that D

es

ding take place. Let them leave Beech

s character is cleared from

ts. David was declared 'Not guilty.' Surely that will suffice! No g

Sir Alan Hume-Frazer?' they would say 'David Hume.' The other half would shake their heads in dubiety, and prefer not to be on visiting terms with David Hume and his wife. No; your brother was killed in a particularly foul way. He died

sentence seemed to

e murmured, and the words appear

stress you unduly. Can you not refer me to your solicitors, for

o deal with the

nally. Why did you quarrel with your broth

ful. I loved a Bohemian existence combined with absurd luxury, or rather, a wildly useless expenditure of money. No one who knows m

other person interested in what I may term the resu

s, but it is clear that the curtailment of my rate of living from ￡15,000 to

living at th

t annoyed Alan was the fact that I

ment with him besides these mon

perienced in some respects, treated life as a tiresome joke. But none of my friends

," he said

as profoundly thankful that David Hume had come back to claim the hand of Helen Layton, the woman who had been the unwilling object of Capella's waywar

spected of murdering her brother. Why, then, had husband and wife drif

ry Mr. Capella?" a

before the Mayor, and regis

een long a

Covent Garden Theatre, the

ett's turn to

his surprise at the turn taken by the conv

d to believe that Giov

nder control. It warned him, threw him back i

is, as yet, only twenty-four hours old so far as I am concerned. I am se

ress Ball that New Year's Eve. I invited nine guests. One of them, an attaché at the Italian Embassy, brought Giovanni and introduced him to me. We were toget

arrister's task required the unsparing use of the probe. H

, disagreed so soon after your marriage? You were formed by P

scarlet under th

erns-either my brother's death-or David's innocence. It is personal-b

impulse. He was moved now by a profound pity

vidently touched her. "May I ask one more question, and I have done with a most

aid. "Indee