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Show C HOUSE if 'I MYSTEBYdppg (Continued Prom Our Ijasi Issue) There was a Ruddon snigger from a nervous gentleman In the crowd at the baok of the room, and th I coroner put on his Rifles and stared Aternly in the direction from which it came. The nervous gentleman hastily decided that tho time had com to do up his bootlace. Tbe coroner put down his glasses and continued "Did anybody comn out of the heniso while you WPre coming up the drive?" "No." "Thank you. Mr. Glllingham " Ho was followed by Inspector Birch Tho Inspector, realising that this was his afternoon, and that the oyos of the world were upon him, produced a plan of the noun.. and explained the situation of the different differ-ent rooms. The plan was then hunded to the Jury. Inspector Birch. so he told the world, had arrived at the Red House at 442 p m on the afternoon In question He hnrl been received by Mr Matthew Cayley, who had made ja short Statement to him. ;ind he had then procoded to examine the laeene of the crime The French Windows hnd been forced from outside The door leading lead-ing Into the hall was locked he had I Searched the room thoroughly and , hud found no trace ,,f 11 key In the jbedroom leading out of the offl . he had found an open window There were no marks on the window, but it was a low onn, nd. u tie found from experiment, o,ulte easy to step out of without touching It with the boots A fow yards outside the window a r.hrubbery began There were no recent footmarks outside the window-, but tho ground was In a verj hard condition owing to the absence of rain in the shrubbery, however, he found several twigs on thl ground, recentl l.rokeri off, together to-gether wth other evidence that some l.od., had heen lnrvlng it . w in through. He had questioned everybody connected con-nected with tho estate, and none of them had been into the ihrubben recently. By forcing a way through the shrubbery It was possible foi person to make a detour of the h0Ufl and get to the Stanton end of the park without ever being in sight of the house Itself. Ho had made Inquiries about the deceased Deceased had left for1 Australia some ilfteen years ago. owing to some financial trouble, at J home. Deceased was not well spoken of In tho village from whl. h j he and his brother had come Deceased De-ceased and his brother had nev r been on good terms, and the fact, that Mark Ableit hud come Into j money had been a cause of great bitterness between them. It wasi shortly after this that Robert had I left for Australia. He had made Inquiries at Stanton station. It had ben market-day at t Stanton and the station had been I more full of arrivals than usual. Nobody had particularly noticed the (arrival of Robert Ablett; there had 1 I been a good many passengers by the 2:10 train that afternoon, the train' I by which Rol.'-i-. had undsubti dly I come from London A witness, how-j how-j ever, would state that he noticed a man resembling Mark Ablett at the station at 3 63 that afternoon. and this man caught the 3 65 up train to town There was a pond In the grounds of the lied House. He had dragged this, but without resuU , . . Antony listened to him carelessly, thinking his own thought all the time. Medical evidence followed, but th re was nuthlng to be got from' that. He felt so close to the truth, at any moment something might ! give his brain the one little hint I which It wanted Inspector Birch was Just pursuing tho ordinary. Whatever else this rise was, It was' not ordinary. There was something' uncanny about It. Antony went on with his thoughts I ; The coroner was summing up. Tho jury, ho said, had now heard all the 1 evidence. The medical evidence I would probably suilsfy them that ! Robert Ablett had died from the effects of a bullet-wound In the I head Who had fired that bullet? j If Robert Ablett had fired It himself, no doubt they would bring In a verdict ver-dict of suicide, but if this had been so, where was the revolver which I had fired It, and what had become of i Mark Ablett? If thoy disbelieved In this possibility possi-bility of suicide, what remained'' Accidental Ac-cidental death, Justifiable homirlcl'V and murder Could tho deceased 'have beon killed accidentally? it ( was possible, but then would Mark Ablett have run away? Tho evidence that he had riui away from the scene of tho crlnioi was strong. His cousin had seen him go Into the room. tho servant Elsie Wood had heard him quari'. lihg with his brother In tho room, the door had been locked from the; .Inside, and there were signs that out-I 1 sldo the open window someone had ' I nunhed liln w, u vprv roccnlln 'through the shrubbery. Who. If null Mark? They would have then to consider Whether he would have run away If' he had been guiltless of his brother's I death. Xo doubt Innocent people lost their heads sometimes, It was; possible that if It were proved after-1 1 ward that Mark Ablett had thot his brother. It ml?ht also be proved that he was Justified In so doing ' land, that when he ran away from l his brother's corpse he had really i nothing to fear at the hands of ti., law. Mark Ablett guilty of murder It would not prejudice his trial in j any way if and when he was apprehended. ap-prehended. , . The Jury would connlrlr tholr vr)lit They considered It They announced an-nounced that the deceased Ipad d.-d as the result of a bullet-wound, and that tho bullot hao boon fired by hla brother Mark Ablett Bill turned round to Antony at his side. But Antony was gone Across' the room ho saw Andrew Amos and! Parsons going out of tho door together to-gether with Antonv between them. CHAPTER XIX The inquest had been held at the "Lamb" at Stanton: at Stanton Robert Rob-ert Ablett was to be burled the next day Bill waited about outside for his friend, wondering where he had gone. Thon, realizing that Cayley would be coming out to his car directly, and that a farewell talk with Cayley would be a little embarrassing, he wandered round to the yard at the back of tho Inn, lit a cigarette, and stood surveying a torn and weather-beaten weather-beaten poster on the stable wall, "Orand Theatrical Enter" it announced, an-nounced, to take place on Wednesday, Wednes-day, Dftcom." Bill smllod to himself as he lodked at it, for tho part of Joe. a k tua-clous tua-clous postman, had been played by "William B. Beverl," as the rem-nanta rem-nanta of the poster still maintained, and h had been much less lodnaciotis than th author had Intended, having hav-ing forffottn hi words romputclv, ' When did this happen 1 lie a.sked. but it had all been great fun. 1 , "Sorry to keep you wilting," sail the voice Of Antony behind him. "My old frt nds Amos and Parsons Insisted In-sisted on giving me a drink." He slipped his hand Into the crook of Bill's arm, and smile. 1 happily at him "Why were you so keen about them7" asked mil (l little resentfully I couldn't think where on earth you had got to." Antony didn't say anything lie was staring at the poster. "When did this happen"" he asked "What?" Antony waved to the poster. "Oh, that" Tast Christmas. It was rather fun." Antony begun to laugh to himself. "Were you good?" "Rotten I don't profess to be an I actor." "Mark good ?" "Oh, rather. He loves It." I "Rev. Henry Stutters Mr. Matthew Mat-thew Pay" read Antony. "Was that lour friend Cayley?" "Yes." "Any good "Well, much better than I expected expect-ed He wasn't keen, but Mark mado hirn." "Mlsa Norris wasn't playing. I see." "My dear Tony, she's a professional Of course she wasn't " "I'm a fool, a damned fool." Antonv An-tonv announced solemnly. 'And his breath, as he led Bill away from the poster, and out of the yard into tho road "And a damned foot Even nw " He broke off and thon asked suddenly. ' Did Mark ever have much trouble with his teeth ?" "He went to a dentist , good deal But what on earth ' Lntony laughed a third tlni" What luck!" ho chuckled ' But how do you know?" "We go to the same man; M"k recommended him to tn Cartw.ight, In Wlmpole street." "Cartwrlght In Wlmpole street." repeated re-peated Antony thoughtfully "Yes, I can remember that. Cartwrlght In 1 Wlmpolo street. Did Cayley go to him too, by any chance?" "I expect so. Oh, yes, I know he ( did. But what on eartn--" "What was Mark's general health; like'' Did he seo a doctor much?" "Hardly at all, I should think. He: did a lot of early morning exercises 1 which were supposed .0 make hlin brlplit and cheerful .1' 1 r. a k ' : 1:0 They didn't do that, but th'- seemed seem-ed to keep him pretty fit. Tony. I W Ish you'd " Antony held if) a hanJ and hushed! him Into sib nee, 'One last question," he said. "Was 1 Mark fond of swimming'" N'o. he hated it ! don't believe I AS OOUld swim. Tony, are you mad, I or am I" Or Is this a new vramo?" Antony squeezed his arm "Dear old Bill," he said "It's game What a gimV And the an-swer an-swer Is Cartwrlght In vVtmpoli street." They walked In silence for half a mile or so along the road to ood-1 ood-1 ham. Bill tried two or thrco times I to get his frlcndto talk, tony hai only grunted In J was just going to make anal tempt, when Antony came to den stop and turned to m lously "I wonder if you'd do J for me. he said, looklnr at hi some doubt. i "What sort of thing''" "Well, it's really daahed Im It s Just th- one thins I wis BUI was suddenly end again. "I say. have you really fas out"" j Antony nodded. "At least I'm very nean Bill There's just one thlarf now it means your golna j Stanton Well, we haven't ci It won't take you lonr. mind?" "My dear Holmes, I am i serlce." ' Continued in Our Next U 00 . COMPLEXION, 4 l '. ..lie v. ho dislike the si soap on the skin often flnl almond meal or cornmeal til more soothing and clea.nslnsj use these meals after an aM of soap to counteract the t)3 prnram e caused by soap. . |