Soames laid down the paper, and, walking across to
the bar, ordered a second glass of whisky. With
this he returned to the table and began more calmly
to re-read the paragraph. From it he passed to
the other news. He noted that little publicity
was given to the Palace Mansions affair, from which
he judged that public interest in the matter was already
growing cold. A short summary appeared on the
front page, and this he eagerly devoured. It
read as follows:—
PALACE MANSIONS MYSTERY
The police are following up an important clue to the
murderer of Mrs. Vernon, and it is significant in
this connection that a man answering to the description
of Soames was apprehended at Olton (Birmingham) late
last night. (See Page 6). The police are very
reticent in regard to the new information which they
hold, but it is evident that at last they are confident
of establishing a case. Mr. Henry Leroux, the
famous novelist, in whose flat the mysterious outrage
took place, is suffering from a nervous breakdown,
but is reported to be progressing favorably by Dr.
Cumberly, who is attending him. Dr. Cumberly,
it will be remembered, was with Mr. Leroux, and Mr.
John Exel, M. P., at the time that the murder was
discovered. The executors of the late Mr. Horace
Vernon are faced with extraordinary difficulties in
administering the will of the deceased, owing to the
tragic coincidence of his wife’s murder within
twenty-four hours of his own demise.
Public curiosity respecting the nursing home in Gillingham
Street, with its electric baths and other modern appliances,
has by no means diminished, and groups of curious
spectators regularly gather outside the former establishment
of Nurse Proctor, and apparently derive some form
of entertainment from staring at the windows and questioning
the constable on duty. The fact that Mrs. Vernon
undoubtedly came from this establishment on the night
of the crime, and that the proprietors of the nursing
home fled immediately, leaving absolutely no clue behind
them, complicates the mystery which Scotland Yard
is engaged in unraveling.
It is generally believed that the woman, Proctor,
and her associates had actually no connection with
the crime, and that realizing that the inquiry might
turn in their direction, they decamped. The obvious
inference, of course, is that the nursing home was
conducted on lines which would not bear official scrutiny.
The flight of the butler, Soames, presents a totally
different aspect, and in this direction the police
are very active.
Soames searched the remainder of the paper scrupulously,
but failed to find any further reference to the case.
The second Scottish stimulant had served somewhat
to restore his failing courage; he congratulated himself
upon taking the only move which could have saved him
from arrest; he perceived that he owed his immunity
entirely to the protective wings of Mr. King.
He trembled to think that his fate might indeed have
been that of the man arrested at Olton; for, without
money and without friends, he would have become, ere
this, just such an outcast and natural object of suspicion.
Copyrights
The Yellow Claw from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
