Tragedy on the Line by John Rhode

Author:John Rhode
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
Published: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The plan concerted by Hanslet and Quillan developed without a hitch. The assistant commissioner, on receiving the application of the Tawminster police, immediately sent for Hanslet and detailed him for duty. “I suppose you’ll go down to Upton Bishops, or whatever the name of the place is, at once?” he asked.

“Not immediately, sir,” replied Hanslet. “There are one or two inquiries I should like to make in London first.”

“Well, please yourself. I expect you and the local superintendent have already fixed the affair up between yourselves. I only hope that you won’t find that your friend Doctor Priestley has discovered a mare’s nest.”

Hanslet left the Yard, and walked by way of the Embankment and the Temple to Chancery Lane. His destination was Lincoln’s Inn, where, as he had learned from the directory, the offices of Messrs. Hoddinott, Shore and Hoddinott were situated. He found them without difficulty, and sent in his card, with a request for an interview with the senior partner. After a few minutes’ waiting in a gloomy room, he was shown into the presence of Mr. Hoddinott himself.

“Sit down, superintendent,” said the latter courteously. “A very pleasant morning for the time of year, is it not? So refreshing after the dull weather we have had lately. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

“I have been asked to make certain inquiries on behalf of the Tawminster police,” replied Hanslet. “According to my information a client of yours, a certain Mr. Wickenden, has recently died in that neighbourhood, and his will is alleged to have disappeared. In view of the fact that it may possibly have been stolen, I have been asked to visit you and obtain further particulars.”

“Stolen, eh I” exclaimed Mr. Hoddinott. “What put that into your head, superintendent?”

“I am merely acting under the instructions of the police on the spot. But, as to the origin of the suggestion of theft, it seems to me that when a valuable document has disappeared, the question of its having been stolen must necessarily arise. Now, sir, so far as I understand it, the position is this. Mr. Wickenden is known to have made a will some years ago, which was in your custody until the evening of January 12th, when you handed it over to Wickenden personally. This we may call the first will. On the following day, the 13th, Mr. Wickenden is believed to have made a second will, the provisions of which, so far as is known, he divulged to nobody. He was found dead on the morning of the 14th, and neither will has yet been discovered.”

“Your statement of the facts appears to be correct,” observed Mr. Hoddinott cautiously. “My client was in some respects of a very secretive nature. He did not consult me upon the drafting of the first will, and I should therefore not be surprised if he had executed a second without seeking my advice. Indeed, from certain expressions he used on the evening of the twelfth, when

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