lid. They wheeled the body to Starvel, and carrying it upstairs, left

it on Roper’s bed.

All this time Philpot had carried out his part of the affair so wholeheartedly that any suspicion that might have lurked in Roper’s mind as to his companion’s good faith had been completely dispelled. But Philpot had been only biding his time until his dupe had given him all the assistance that he required with his own even more hideous plan.

As they turned to set fire to the house Philpot moved rapidly behind his victim and suddenly with all his strength struck him in the back with a large knife which he had secreted in his pocket. Roper, stabbed to the heart, fell and died in a few seconds.

There were now in that sinister house the bodies of no less than four murdered persons—Giles, Averill and the two Ropers. But of these only three must be found. Philpot had foreseen the difficulty and quickly and methodically he proceeded to meet it. One of the four bodies must be buried, so that no suspicion of untoward or unusual events might afterwards be aroused, and no investigation as to the identity of the fourth victim might lead to the truth. He chose that of Giles for two reasons. First, it was the lightest, and second, if identification of any of them should prove possible, it would obviously be safer to have those of Averill and the Ropers found. The interment accomplished, he transferred Roper’s portion of the money to his own despatch case, set the house on fire and returned unseen to Thirsby.

Philpot was pretty certain that no suspicion would fall on him, but to safeguard himself still further he adopted yet another subterfuge. Some months before the crime he began deliberately to lose money by betting. When the crime was committed he was known to be in low water, and he was careful afterwards to continue gambling, even to the extent of ruining his ostensible career and going through the bankruptcy courts. In this way he hoped to dispel any suggestion that he had recently come into money, and give a reasonable excuse for quitting Thirsby.

From what French had told him, Philpot realised that the numbers of some of the stolen notes were known, and French’s announcement at the inquest he did not fully believe, fearing a trap. His ready money was, however, by this time exhausted, and he set to work to devise means not only to obtain more, but also to transfer a nest-egg to Brazil, to which country it had all along been his intention to emigrate.

The arrangements for this journey he had carried out with the same careful regard to detail which had characterised his other actions. Hidden in the cashbox with Averill’s money French found a passport made out for Brazil in the name of Arthur Lisle Whitman, with a photograph of Philpot, viséed and complete and—a forgery. The way in which this had been done showed the man’s extraordinary ingenuity once again. He had obtained in the ordinary way a passport for himself for holidaying in France. Roper’s passport with its Brazilian _visé_ he had searched for and stolen before setting fire to the house. Of these two he had built up a new one, using certain pages from each. From his own book he took the description of himself, his stamped photograph and the vacant pages at the back. On certain blank pages from Roper’s he forged both the printing and writing where he could not suitably alter his own, as well as obtaining a model of the Brazilian _visé_, which he also forged.

The wretched criminal’s last move, the meeting with French at Waverley, was on his part a throw of the dice. On receipt of the wire to Whitman through the Edinburgh tobacconist he half-suspected a trap, and of course the plan became apparent when French’s letter to himself arrived. He saw, however, that he was either quite safe or irretrievably lost. If French had no inkling of the truth it was evident that he must keep the appointment and continue to play his game. On the other hand, if French knew, nothing could save him, and he would make an end of things for all concerned with his Mills’ bomb.

To bring this tale of the Starvel Hollow Tragedy to a close it remains only to be said that after a dramatic trial Herbert Philpot paid for his crimes with his life, while to turn to a happier side of the picture, Pierce Whymper and Ruth Averill were united in the bonds of holy matrimony where both found the happiness which at one time had seemed likely to be denied them.

Transcriber’s Notes

This transcription follows the text of the edition published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1927 (by arrangement with Harper & Brothers). However, the following alterations have been made to correct what are believed to be unambiguous errors in the text:

* “be would consult” to “he would consult” (Ch. VI); * “the man” to “The man” (Ch. IX); * “arroused” to “aroused” (Ch. X); * “oxyacetlene” to “oxyacetylene” (Ch. XVI).