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Page 3
"I didn't mean to say--"
"Let me give you a word of advice. Never try to get a detective to do
anything for you unless you are willing to tell him all you know and
all you suspect. It is generally hard enough to solve an enigma
without having other mysteries attached to it."
The young man lowered his face and looked confused for a moment.
"Then I will tell you everything," he said. "You may take notes if you
wish."
"It is not necessary, since I have a good memory."
"The Langmores lived just on the outskirts of the town, on the road
leading to Sidham, which is several miles distance."
"I have a general idea of the location."
"The house is a fine, old-fashioned stone mansion, setting well back
from the road, and surrounded by a well-kept lawn and numerous trees
and bushes. At the rear of the garden is a small stream, which flows
into the river a mile and a half below."
"Is the place surrounded by a fence?"
"On two sides only. In the front there is a hedge and in the rear the
little stream forms the boundary of the property."
"I understand."
"At the time of the tragedy there were four persons in the house, so
far as known--Mr. and Mrs. Langmore, Mr. Langmore's daughter, Margaret,
and a servant, Mary Billings."
"Wait a moment. You said Mr. Langmore's daughter. Was she not Mrs.
Langmore's daughter also?"
"No. You see Mr. Langmore was a widower when he married the present
Mrs. Langmore, who was a widow. There are two sets of children."
"I understand. When did the tragedy occur?"
"At some time between eleven and twelve in the morning. During that
time Margaret Langmore was in her room writing several letters, and was
practicing on the piano in the parlor. The house is a large one, with
sixteen rooms and several hallways and stairs."
"Where was the servant?"
"In the kitchen and out to the barn. There are two other girls, but
one is in the hospital sick and the other was to town on an errand."
"Where were Mr. and Mrs. Langmore?"
"The daughter thought her stepmother had gone out to visit a neighbor,
as she had said something about doing so earlier in the morning. Mr.
Langmore had gone to the bank in town at nine o'clock and Margaret saw
him come home about half-past ten or eleven."
"What was she doing at the time?"
"Practicing on the piano. She heard her father go directly to his
library, which is situated across the hallway from the parlor. She
heard the door shut, and then went on with her practicing."
"Did she hear anything in the library?"
"She thinks she heard something, but is not sure. She was practicing a
very difficult piece by Wagner--"
"And it was loud enough to drown out every other sound."
"That's it. When the clock struck twelve she stopped practicing to
learn if lunch was ready. She also wanted to speak to her father, and
so crossed the hallway and opened the library door." The young man's
voice began to tremble a little. "She found her father stretched
lifeless in an armchair."
"How had he been killed?"
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