Clue of the Twisted Candle

andhaggard, sat on the sofa with his wife by his side. Immediateauthority as represented by a village constable was on du

He had describedhis interview with the money-le

the letter!"

Lexman

ou from a great deal of unpleasantness, my poor oldchap. Tell me what happene

he station side and there I foundVassalaro waiting. I was rather ashamed of myself at meeting himat all under these conditions, but I was very keen on his notcoming to the house for I was afraid it would upset Grace. Whatm

aordinarymanner as though he was lashing himself up into a fury which hedidn't feel. I promised him a substantial amount on account, buthe grew worse and worse and then, suddenly, befo

membered this warning," the other proceeded, "and I thoughtit worth while trying it out to see if it had any effect upon thelittle

y his side. Icould tell he was dangerously wounded, and indeed I knew at thatmoment that nothing would save him. My pistol had been pointed inthe region of his heart . . . .

guish what he said. I went straight to the villageand told the constable and had

moving thisbody, and you took everything which was lying about in theimmediate ate vicinity'?""Yes, sir," re

n shook

revolver, sir, excep

in his pocket and pulled

it fr

the place wherethis man was killed and bring me the revolver which you willdiscover. You'll probably find it in a di

t with threats. It is not the practice ofthe average money lender to go after his clients with a loadedrevolver. Another peculiar thing is that if he wished toblackmail you, that is to say, bring you into contempt in the eyesof your friends, why did he choose to meet you in a dark andunfrequented road, and not in your house where the m

ed itand was unlocking the steel drawer in which he had place

look of surpri

asked the dete

, - he looked round asthough to measure t

pon the front of the dr

and Lexman turned the key

aze offlame. It died down immediately and left only a lit

ything inside," s

ght. Inthe bottom was no more than a few crumpled white ash

" said T.

hedeadly peril in which his friend was standing. Here was on

you delayed putting the letter inthe drawer another five minutes, you would have seen it burnbefore your eyes. As it was, it was smouldering before you hadturned t

ter, the village constable returned to reportthat in spite of his most careful searc

an was lodged in Lewes gaol

ansus from London to B

him in th

han most of the people in my department, andthat's not saying much.""I am very grateful

inates. It is only bythe adoption of some such method that the decencies of the publiclife can be observed. N

ht it with him, I cannot say. Anyhow I doubtvery much whether Mr. Lexman will get a jury to accept hisversion. Our only chance is to find the Greek's revolver - Idon't think there's any very great chance, but

to tell you," shesaid, as she led the way int

ern Mr. Kara, I

ked at hi

brink of a flippant claim of omniscience, butrealizing in tim

ss a lot," andthat was as near to the truth as you

n without

s which I will give you, I am dreadfullyafraid of him."She described without reserve the meet

know this?"

ok her he

"Oh, how I wish I had!"She wrung her ha

your husband's financial position withyou!""Never.""How did John Lexman happen t

at Babbacombe on a summerholiday - which wa

musthave been there before; at any rate they knew one another

ing for John!" sh

shook

this business and you would only give yourhusband a great deal of pain. I'll do the best I can."He held out his hand and she grasped it and some

ndhad already been searched very carefully. The two roads crossedalmost at right angles and at the corner of the cross thus formed,the hedges were broken, admitting to a field which had evidentlybeen used as a pasture by an adjoining dairy farm. Some roughattempt had been made to close the gap with barbed wire, but itwas possible to step over the drooping strands with l

ly, and stooping down he picke

ook it in

spotwhere it had been found by jamming his walking stick i

aid T. X., afterhalf an hour's further search. He

eason unknown was interested in what took placebetween the two men and he wanted to watch unobserved. Isn't itlikely that if he, as I think, ins

ther of the other hedges,with less chance

X. gr

u. Always remember that, Mansus. That there was oneoccasion in your life

t-at-able from another direction. Obviously he couldn'tcome down the road and climb in without attracting the attentionof the Greek who was waiting for Mr. Lexman. We may suppose thereis a gate farther alo

ould keep hiscigar alight until the very last moment.

te which led on to the roadabout a hundred yards further on. Within a dozen yards of thatgate, T. X. foun

road again and this they followed until they reached another crossroad that to the left inclining southward to the new EastbourneRoad and that to the westward

"he counted, "one, two, three, four, five, six, allow three foreach cigarette on a boisterous night like last night, that makesthree cigarettes. Here is a cigarette end, Mansus, Gold Flakebrand," he said, as he examined it carefully, "and a Gold Flakebrand smokes for twelve minutes in

main road. After that itwas hopeless to search because rain had fallen in the night and inthe early hours of

dogan Square and arrest the c

arge!" asked Ma

thought fit to take in thepursuance o

boat will have left Dover and will havelanded him at Boulogne, but if by any luck you get him, keep himbusy until I get back."T. X. himself was a busy man that day, and it was not until nightwas falling that he again turned to Beston Tracey to find atelegram waiting for him. He opened it and read,"Chauffeur's name, Goole. For