|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 88
"I suppose not." There was a brief pause. "Mr. Ostrello, if you wish to
speak to me, I am at your disposal for the next hour."
"Thank you." The young commercial traveler cleared his throat. "You
are--I mean, I believe you know the relationship between Miss Bernard and
myself?"
"She has told me something about that."
"She tells me you are her closest friend--that you have really been a
father to her since her own parent died. And she tells me that you are
one of the greatest detectives in the world. I wish I had known that
when we first met--I should have engaged you to clear up the mystery of
this sad affair."
The young man paused again. Evidently it was hard work for him to get
directly at the subject on hand. Adam Adams remained silent.
"I did not imagine that I--well, that I would be connected with this
great crime. I mean, that anybody would suspect that I had done the
deed. It is a fearful thought! That I would kill my own mother! I know
such things have been done, but they must have been done by beasts, not
men. I know I should have spoken of the visit that very morning to my
mother."
"Then you admit that you called at the house?"
"Yes."
"You were dressed in a gray suit and wore a slouch hat, and you entered
by the back way?"
"How did you learn all that?" cried the young commercial traveler in
astonishment.
"Never mind. In coming away you slipped and fell, and your hat dropped
off."
Tom Ostrello nodded. "I understand that somebody must have noticed me
after all. I came in by the back way because I missed the train for
Sidham, and took that which stops only at Chester. It is a short cut
through the woods from Chester Station to the Langmore place. When I
came away I had just time enough to catch another train at Chester, and I
was very anxious to get back to the city, for I had an important
engagement with one of my customers."
"I understand. Proceed, please."
"I came to the house for two reasons. In the first place, as perhaps you
know, my brother, Dick, is a spendthrift, and works occasionally only.
He got into a scrape in Los Angeles, and telegraphed me to help him out
financially. It was an old plea, but I thought if I left him to himself
my mother would not forgive me. I did not have money enough to help him
by myself, for my capital was tied up in such a fashion that I could not
get at it. More than that, I had in my possession two one hundred dollar
bills, which my mother had gotten from Mr. Langmore, and both of these
were counterfeits."
"One of those bills you had tried to pass at a theatre, eh?"
"Ha! You know that, too! Then you have been following me up?"
"The United States Government has been trying to follow up those bills
for several years."
"I came to the house and saw my mother. Mr. Langmore had gone to the
bank. There had been a family row, but that was not all of the trouble.
Mr. Langmore was strangely excited, so my mother said, and had declared
he was going to have somebody arrested, before the week was out."
"On account of the counterfeits?"
"Either that, or on account of a patent. She said he had sent off
several letters and was also going to telegraph to somebody. She said he
had asked her to give back the hundred dollar bills, and had been much
disturbed when she told him that I had them. She took the bills back and
gave me good money for them, and also gave me two hundred dollars more,
to forward to my brother Dick, which I did, adding a hundred of my own."
"Did your mother tell you anything more about the counterfeits?"
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|