Category: Crime, Thrillers and Mystery
He had taken off his surplice in the vestry after evening service, and now stood motionless against the old rood-screen gazing into the cavernous darkness of the empty Norman church.
He had taken off his surplice in the vestry after evening service, and now stood motionless against the old rood-screen gazing into the cavernous darkness of the empty Norman ch...
2. CHAPTER TWO.The light evening meal which the rector always took on Sunday evening had been placed upon the table by old Mrs Bentley, who, after lighting the gas, had retired to her part of...
3. CHAPTER THREE.So sudden had it all been that for some moments he did not realise the tragic truth. Then, in a flash, he became horrified. The girl's piteous appeal made it only too plain that...
4. CHAPTER FOUR.The light was fading, and already old Mrs Bentley had carried the lamp into Mr Homfray's study and lit it, prior to bringing him his simple cup of tea, for at tea-time he only d...
5. CHAPTER FIVE."Hush! You infernal idiot! What did I tell you? What the deuce are you doing?" cried the man, tearing the telephone from the woman's hand and throwing over a switch upon the rol...
6. CHAPTER SIX.Three days after Roddy Homfray had regained consciousness Doctor Maynard, on visiting him, declared that though his mental condition was not yet quite satisfactory, he was well...
7. CHAPTER SEVEN."Yes. Neither Denton nor the doctor at Pangbourne can make out the nature of the drug that was given to me. It seems to have upset the balance of my brain altogether. But I reco...
8. CHAPTER EIGHT.Over the steps which led from the pavement in Park Lane to the front door of Mr Sandys' huge white mansion an awning had been erected. The people who went by upon the motor-buse...
9. CHAPTER NINE.Gordon Gray, wearing a grey Austrian velour hat and heavy brown motor-coat, turned the car from the Great North Road into the drive which led to the front of Willowden, and alig...
10. CHAPTER TEN."I am very pleased indeed to meet your son, Mr Homfray," said the grey-bearded man in his well-worn dinner-jacket as he grasped Roddy's hand in the handsome hall of Farncombe To...
11. CHAPTER ELEVEN.In an instant Roddy recovered himself. He saw that if he repeated the story of finding the girl in Welling Wood he would not be believed. And if Mr Sandys did not believe the st...
12. CHAPTER TWELVE.At the Rectory Roddy sat in his own wireless-room until far into the night, fitting a complete wireless receiving-set into a small cigar-box. The one he had fitted into a tin to...
13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN."Do you think so? I don't," replied a lean, well-dressed, rather striking-looking man of middle-age, who held in his hand a steel gimlet, nearly two feet in length, such as is u...
14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN."Don't be a silly fool, Lily. I only want to play a practical joke on your master. I knew him a long time ago, and it will greatly surprise him. No harm will be done, I assure y...
15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN.Cells! Mr Richard Allen had already had a taste of those--on more than one occasion--both in England and abroad. It was, after all, very humiliating to one of his high caste in...
16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN.It had been all summer--endless, cloudless summer in England, from the time of the violets to the now ripening corn. And there was no foreboding of storm or winter in the air th...
17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.They recognised the stranger as a person who had once kept observation upon them in London two years before, and now saw to their dismay that their headquarters had been discove...
18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.On the day that Arthur Porter, under the guise of a doctor from Philadelphia, had visited Edna Manners at quaint old Bayeux, Roddy Homfray had, since early morning, been in his...
19. CHAPTER NINETEEN."No doubt. But your father has had a weak heart for years. I've attended him for it, so there will be no need for an inquest. Indeed, only a week ago I warned him that any undue...
20. CHAPTER TWENTY.Next morning Roddy was compelled to leave Haslemere by the early train, and having met Barclay at Waterloo station, they drove in a taxi to the Ritz, where in a luxurious suite...
21. CHAPTER TWENTY ONE."No, nothing, Hughes," he replied in an unusual voice. "But leave word that when Miss Elma comes in I wish to see her here at once. She's at Lady Whitchurch's dance, but she oug...
22. CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.Next day the news of the sudden death of Sir Charles Hornton at his country house in Suffolk caused a great sensation in the City. But as the truth was never guessed, the greate...
23. CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.That morning Gordon Gray, dapper and well-dressed as ever, had scanned the papers and read the report of the inquiry into the death of Sir Charles Hornton. The coroner's jury ha...
24. CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.On that evening when Roddy was told that neither Mr Sandys nor Elma was at home both father and daughter were, as a matter of fact, seated together in the library. Mr Sandys had...
25. CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.For Elma the world held no future. Though surrounded by every luxury in that magnificent Park Lane mansion, the millionaire home that was the most notable in all London's modern...
26. CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.Having spent nearly an hour on the Hog's Back, experimenting with his new wireless receiving-set, he packed it up, descended the hill to the station, and was on the platform whe...
27. CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.When Roddy again became conscious of his surroundings he found himself lying in a corner of the place, so weak that he was scarcely able to move his arms. His head was throbbing...
28. CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.The day was a Saturday, and Elma's wedding to Mr Rex Rutherford was fixed for the following Friday. It was to take place at Little Farncombe Church. Rutherford had insisted upon...
29. CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.The world of Little Farncombe was agog, for though great secrecy had been preserved it became rumoured that Miss Elma Sandys was to be married to a rich American financier, Mr R...