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18 - Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers · Unnatural Death

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  Speaker 1: Chapter eighteen of Unnatural Death by Dorothy says this LibriVox
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  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. The London Lawyer's story,
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  Speaker 1: I who am given to novel reading. How often have
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  Speaker 1: I gone out with the doctor when this stranger has
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  Speaker 1: summoned him to visit the unknown patient in the lonely house.
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  Speaker 1: This strange adventure may lead, in a later chapter to
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  Speaker 1: the revealing of a mysterious crime the londoner. I think,
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  Speaker 1: said mister Trigg, that it was on the fifteenth or
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  Speaker 1: sixteenth of June nineteen twenty five, that a lady called
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  Speaker 1: to ask almost exactly the same question that you have done,
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  Speaker 1: only that she represented herself as inquiring on behalf of
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  Speaker 1: a friend whose name she did not mention. Yes, I
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  Speaker 1: think I can describe her pretty well. She was tall
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  Speaker 1: and handsome, with a very clear skin, dark hair, and
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  Speaker 1: blue eyes, an attractive girl. I remember that she had
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  Speaker 1: very fine brows, rather straight, and not much color in
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  Speaker 1: her face. And she was dressed in something summary but
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  Speaker 1: very neat. I should think it would be called an
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  Speaker 1: embroidered linen dress. I am not an expert on those things,
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  Speaker 1: and a shady white hat of Panama straw. Your recollections
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  Speaker 1: seem very clear, said Parker. It is I have rather
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  Speaker 1: a good memory. Besides, I saw her on other occasions,
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  Speaker 1: as you shall hear. At this first visit, she told me,
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  Speaker 1: much as you did, that she was only temporarily in
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  Speaker 1: town and had been casually recommended to me. I told
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  Speaker 1: her that I should not like to answer her question
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  Speaker 1: off hand. The Act, you may remember, had only recently
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  Speaker 1: passed its final reading, and I was by no means
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  Speaker 1: up in it. Besides from just skimming through it, I
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  Speaker 1: had convinced myself that various important questions were bound to
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  Speaker 1: crop up. I told the lady, miss Grant was the
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  Speaker 1: name she gave, by the way, that I should like
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  Speaker 1: to take counsel's opinion before giving her any advice, and
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  Speaker 1: asked if she could call again the following day. She
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  Speaker 1: said she could, rose and thanked me, offering me her
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  Speaker 1: hand in taking it. I happened to notice rather an
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  Speaker 1: odd scar running across the backs of all the fingers,
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  Speaker 1: rather as though a chisel or something had slipped at
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  Speaker 1: some time. I noticed it quite idly, of course, but
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  Speaker 1: it was lucky for me I did Miss Grant duly
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  Speaker 1: turned up the next day. I had looked up a
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  Speaker 1: very learned friend in the interval and gave her the
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  Speaker 1: same opinion that I gave you just now. She looked
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  Speaker 1: rather concerned about it, in fact, almost more annoyed than concerned.
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  Speaker 1: It seems rather unfair. She said that people's money should
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  Speaker 1: go away to the crown like that. After all, a
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  Speaker 1: great niece is a quite near relation. Really, I replied
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  Speaker 1: that provided the great niece could call witnesses to prove
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  Speaker 1: that the deceased had always had the intention of leaving
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  Speaker 1: her the money, the Crown would in all probability allot
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  Speaker 1: the estate or a suitable proportion of it, in accordance
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  Speaker 1: with the wishes of the deceased. It would, however, lie
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  Speaker 1: entirely within the discretion of the court to do so
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  Speaker 1: or not, And of course, if there had been any
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  Speaker 1: quarrel or dispute about the matter at any time, the
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  Speaker 1: judge might take an unfavorable view of the great niece's application.
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  Speaker 1: In any case, I added, I don't know that the
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  Speaker 1: great niece is excluded under the Act. I only understand
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  Speaker 1: that she may be. In any case. There are still
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  Speaker 1: six months before the Act comes into force, and many
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  Speaker 1: things may happen before that. You mean that Auntie may die,
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  Speaker 1: she said, But she's not really dangerously ill, only mental,
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  Speaker 1: as nurse calls it. Anyhow, she went away. Then after
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  Speaker 1: paying my fee, and I noticed that the friend's great
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  Speaker 1: aunt had suddenly become aunty, and decided that my client
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  Speaker 1: felt a certain personal interest in the matter. I found
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  Speaker 1: see she had said, Parker, when did you see her? Again?
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  Speaker 1: Oddly enough, I ran across her. In the following December,
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  Speaker 1: I was having a quick and early dinner in Soho
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  Speaker 1: before going on to a show. The little place I
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  Speaker 1: usually patronized was very full, and I had to sit
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  Speaker 1: at a table where a woman was already seated. As
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  Speaker 1: I muttered the usual formula about was anybody sitting there?
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  Speaker 1: She looked up and I promptly recognized my client. Why
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  Speaker 1: how do you do, miss Grant, I said, I beg
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  Speaker 1: your pardon, She replied, rather stiffly. I think you are mistaken.
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  Speaker 1: I beg your pardon, said I stiffer. Still. My name
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  Speaker 1: is Trigg and you came to consult me in Bedford
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  Speaker 1: Row last June. But if I am intruding, I apologize
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  Speaker 1: and withdraw. She smiled and said, I'm sorry I did
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  Speaker 1: not recognize you. For the moment I obtained permission to
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  Speaker 1: sit at her table. By way of starting a conversation,
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  Speaker 1: I asked whether she had taken any further advice in
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  Speaker 1: the matter of the inheritance. She said no, she had
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  Speaker 1: been quite content with what I had told her. Still
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  Speaker 1: to make conversation, I inquired whether the great aunt had
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  Speaker 1: made a will after all. She replied rather briefly that
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  Speaker 1: it had not been necessary. The old lady had died.
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  Speaker 1: I noticed that she was dressed in black, and was
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  Speaker 1: confirmed in my opinion that she herself was the grand
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  Speaker 1: niece's concerned. We talked for some time, Inspector, and I
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  Speaker 1: will not conceal from you that I found Miss Grant
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  Speaker 1: a very interesting personality. She had an almost masculine understanding.
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  Speaker 1: I may say I am not the sort of a
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  Speaker 1: man who prefers women to be brainless. No, I am
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  Speaker 1: rather a modern type in that respect. If ever I
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  Speaker 1: was to take a wife, Inspector, I should wish her
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  Speaker 1: to be an intelligent companion. Parker said mister Trigg's attitude
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  Speaker 1: did him great credit. He also made the mental observation
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  Speaker 1: that mister Trigg would probably not object to marrying a
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  Speaker 1: young woman who had inherited money and was unencumbered with relations.
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  Speaker 1: It is rare went on mister Trigg to find a
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  Speaker 1: woman with a legal mind. Miss Grant was unusual in
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  Speaker 1: that respect. She took a great interest in some case
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  Speaker 1: or other that was prominent in the newspapers at the time.
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  Speaker 1: I forget now what it was, and asked me some
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  Speaker 1: remarkably sensible and intelligent questions. I must say that I
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  Speaker 1: quite enjoyed our content. Before dinner was over, we had
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  Speaker 1: got on to more personal topics, in the course of
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  Speaker 1: which I happened to mention that I lived in Golders Green.
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  Speaker 1: Did she give you her own address? She said she
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  Speaker 1: was staying at the Peveril Hotel in Bloomsbury, and that
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  Speaker 1: she was looking for a house in town. I said
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  Speaker 1: that I might possibly hear of something out Hampstead Way,
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  Speaker 1: and offered my professional services in case she should require them.
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  Speaker 1: After dinner, I accompanied her back to the hotel and
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  Speaker 1: bade her good bye in the lounge. She was really
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  Speaker 1: staying there then, apparently. However, about a fortnight later, I
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  Speaker 1: happened to hear of a house in Golder's Green that
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  Speaker 1: had fallen vacant. Suddenly it belonged as a matter of
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  Speaker 1: fact to a client of mine. In pursuance of my promise,
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  Speaker 1: I wrote to missus Grant at the Peverrel. Receiving no reply,
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  Speaker 1: I made inquiries there and found that she had left
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  Speaker 1: the hotel the day after our meeting, leaving no address
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  Speaker 1: in the hotel register. She had merely given her address
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  Speaker 1: as Manchester. I was somewhat disappointed, but thought no more
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  Speaker 1: about the matter. About a month later, on January twenty sixth,
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  Speaker 1: to be exact, I was sitting at home reading a
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  Speaker 1: book preparatory to retiring to bed. I should say, I
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  Speaker 1: occupy a flat, or rather maizonette, in a small house
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  Speaker 1: which has been divided to make two establishments. The people
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  Speaker 1: on the ground floor were away at that time, so
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  Speaker 1: that I was quite alone in the house. My housekeeper
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  Speaker 1: only comes in by the day. The telephone rang. I
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  Speaker 1: noticed the time. It was a quarter to eleven. I
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  Speaker 1: answered it, and a woman's voice spoke begged me to
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  Speaker 1: come instantly to a certain house on Hampstead Heath to
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  Speaker 1: make a will for someone who was at the point
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  Speaker 1: of death. Did you recognize the voice? No, it sounded
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  Speaker 1: like a servant's voice. At any rate, it had a
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  Speaker 1: strong Cockney accent. I asked whether tomorrow would not be
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  Speaker 1: time enough, but the voice urged me to hurry or
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  Speaker 1: it might be too late. Rather annoyed, I put my
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  Speaker 1: things on and went out. It was a most unpleasant night,
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  Speaker 1: cold and foggy. I was lucky enough to find a
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  Speaker 1: taxi on the nearest rank. We drove to the address,
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  Speaker 1: which we had great difficulty in finding as everything was
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  Speaker 1: pitch black. It turned out to be a small house
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  Speaker 1: in a very isolated position on the heath. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: there was no proper approach to it. I left the
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  Speaker 1: taxi on the road about a couple of hundred yards off,
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  Speaker 1: and asked the man to wait for me, as I
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  Speaker 1: was very doubtful of ever finding another taxi in that
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  Speaker 1: spot at that time of night. He grumbled a good deal,
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  Speaker 1: but consented to wait if I promised not to be
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  Speaker 1: very long. I made my way to the house. At
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  Speaker 1: first I thought it was quite dark, but presently I
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  Speaker 1: saw a faint glimmer in a ground room. I rang
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  Speaker 1: the bell, no answer, though I could hear it trilling loudly.
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  Speaker 1: I rang again and knocked, still no answer. It was
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  Speaker 1: bitterly cold. I struck a match to be sure I
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  Speaker 1: had come to the right house, And then I noticed
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  Speaker 1: that the front door was ajar. I thought that perhaps
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  Speaker 1: the servant who had called me was so much occupied
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  Speaker 1: with her sick mistress as to be able to leave
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  Speaker 1: her to come to the door. Thinking that in any
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  Speaker 1: case I might be of assistance to her, I pushed
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  Speaker 1: the door open and went in. The hall was perfectly dark,
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  Speaker 1: and I bumped against an umbrella stand in entering. I
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  Speaker 1: thought I heard a faint voice calling or moaning, and
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  Speaker 1: when my eyes had become accustomed to the darkness, I
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  Speaker 1: stumbled forward and saw a dim light coming from a
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  Speaker 1: door on the left. Was that the room which you
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  Speaker 1: had seen illuminated from outside, I think, so I called out,
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  Speaker 1: May I come in? And a very low, weak voice
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  Speaker 1: replied yes please. I pushed the door open and entered
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  Speaker 1: a room furnished as a sitting room. In one corner
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  Speaker 1: there was a couch on which some bedclothes appeared to
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  Speaker 1: have been hurriedly thrown to enable it to be used
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  Speaker 1: as a bed. On the couch lay a woman all alone.
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  Speaker 1: I could only dimly make her out. There was no
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  Speaker 1: light in the room except a small oil lamp with
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  Speaker 1: a green shade so tilted as to keep the light
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  Speaker 1: from the sick woman's eyes. There was a fire in
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  Speaker 1: the grate, but it had burnt low. I could see, however,
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  Speaker 1: that the woman's head and face were swathed in white bandages.
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  Speaker 1: I put out my hand and felt for the electric switch,
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  Speaker 1: but she called out, no light, please, it hurts me.
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  Speaker 1: How did she see you put your hand to the switch, well,
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  Speaker 1: said mister Trigg, that was an odd thing. She didn't speak,
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  Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, till I had actually clicked
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  Speaker 1: the switch down. But nothing happened. The light didn't come on. Really, no,
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  Speaker 1: I suppose that the bulb had been taken away or
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  Speaker 1: had gone foot. I said nothing and came up to
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  Speaker 1: the bed. She said, in a sort of half whisper,
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  Speaker 1: is that the lawyer? I said yes, and asked what
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  Speaker 1: I could do for her. She said, I've had a
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  Speaker 1: terrible accident. I can't live. I want to make my
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  Speaker 1: will quickly. I asked whether there was nobody with her. Yes, yes,
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  Speaker 1: she said, in a hurried way. My servant will be
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  Speaker 1: back in a moment. She has gone to look for
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  Speaker 1: a doctor. But I said, couldn't she have rung up?
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  Speaker 1: You are not fit to be left alone. We couldn't
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  Speaker 1: get through to one. She replied, It's all right, she
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  Speaker 1: will be here soon. Don't waste time. I must make
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  Speaker 1: my will. She spoke in a dreadful, gasping way, and
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  Speaker 1: I felt that the best thing would be to do
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  Speaker 1: what she wanted for fear of agitating her. I drew
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  Speaker 1: a chair to the table where the lamp was, got
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  Speaker 1: out my fountain pen and a printed will form with
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  Speaker 1: which I had provided myself, and expressed myself ready to
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  Speaker 1: receive her instructions before beginning. She asked me to give
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  Speaker 1: her a little brandy and water from a decanter which
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  Speaker 1: stood on the table. I did so, and she took
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  Speaker 1: a small sip, which seemed to revive her. I placed
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  Speaker 1: the glass near her hand, and, at her suggestion, mixed
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  Speaker 1: another glass for myself. I was very glad of it, for,
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  Speaker 1: as I said, it was a beast of a night
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  Speaker 1: and the room was cold. I looked round for some
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  Speaker 1: extra coals to put on the fire, but could see none.
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  Speaker 1: That said, Parker is extremely interesting and suggestive. I thought
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  Speaker 1: it queer at the time, but the whole thing was
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  Speaker 1: queer anyway. I then said I was ready to begin.
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  Speaker 1: She said you may think I am a little mad
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  Speaker 1: because my head has been so hurt, But I am
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  Speaker 1: quite sane. But he shan't have a penny of the money.
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  Speaker 1: I asked her if someone had attacked her. She replied,
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  Speaker 1: my husband. He thinks he has killed me. But I
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  Speaker 1: am going to live long enough to will the money away.
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  Speaker 1: She then said that her name was missus Marion Meade,
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  Speaker 1: and proceeded to make a will leaving her estate, which
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  Speaker 1: amounted to about ten thousand pounds among various legates, including
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  Speaker 1: a daughter and three or four sisters. It was rather
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  Speaker 1: a complicated will, as it included various devices for tying
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  Speaker 1: up the daughter's money in a trust so as to
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  Speaker 1: prevent her from ever handing over any of it to
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  Speaker 1: the father. Did you make a note of the names
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  Speaker 1: and addresses of the people involved? I did, but as
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  Speaker 1: you will see later on, I could make no use
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  Speaker 1: of them. The testatrix was certainly clear headed enough about
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  Speaker 1: the provisions of the will, though she seemed terribly weak,
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  Speaker 1: and her voice never rose above a whisper after that
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  Speaker 1: one time, when she had called to me not to
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  Speaker 1: turn on the light. At length, I finished my notes
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  Speaker 1: of the will and started to draft it out on
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  Speaker 1: the proper form. There were no signs of the servant's return,
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  Speaker 1: and I began to become really anxious. Also, the extreme
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  Speaker 1: cold or something else, added to the fact that it
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  Speaker 1: was now long past my bedtime, was making me appallingly sleepy.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: I poured out another stiff little dose of the brandy
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  Speaker 1: to warm me up, and went on writing out the will.
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  Speaker 1: When I had finished, I said, how about signing this.
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  Speaker 1: We need another witness to make it legal. She said,
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  Speaker 1: my servant must be here in a minute or two.
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  Speaker 1: I can't think what has happened to her. I expect
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  Speaker 1: she has missed her way in the fog. I said, however,
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  Speaker 1: I will wait a little longer. I can't go and
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  Speaker 1: leave you like this. She thanked me feebly, and we
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: sat for some time in silence. As time went on,
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  Speaker 1: I began to feel the situation to be increasingly uncanny.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: The sick woman breathed heavily and moaned from time to time.
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  Speaker 1: The desire for sleep overpowered me more and more. I
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: could not understand it. Presently, it occurred to me stupefied,
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  Speaker 1: though I felt that the most sensible thing would be
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  Speaker 1: to get the taxi man if he was still there
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  Speaker 1: to come in and witness the will with me, and
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  Speaker 1: then to go myself to find a doctor. I sat sleepily,
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  Speaker 1: revolving this in my mind and trying to summon energy
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  Speaker 1: to speak. I felt as though a great weight of
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  Speaker 1: inertia was pressing down upon me. Exertion of any kind
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  Speaker 1: seemed almost beyond my powers. Suddenly something happened which brought
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  Speaker 1: me back to myself. Missus Mead turned a little over
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  Speaker 1: upon the couch and peered at me intently, as it
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: seemed in the lamp light. To support herself, she put
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  Speaker 1: both her hands on the edge of the table. I noticed,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: with a vague sense of something unexpected, that the left
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: hand bore no wedding ring. And then I noticed something else.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Across the back of the fingers of the right hand
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  Speaker 1: went a curious scar, as though a chisel or some
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: such thing had slipped and cut them. Parker sat upright
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  Speaker 1: in his chair. Yes, said mister Trigg, that interests you.
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  Speaker 1: It startled me, or rather startled isn't quite the word.
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  Speaker 1: In my oppressed state. It affected me like some kind
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  Speaker 1: of nightmare. I struggled upright in my chair, and the
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  Speaker 1: woman sank back upon her pillows. At that moment there
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: came a violent ring at the bell. The servant no,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: thank Heaven, it was my taxi driver, who had become
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: tired of waiting. I thought. I don't quite know what
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: I thought, but I was alarmed. I gave some kind
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: of shout or groan, and the man came straight in.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Happily I had left the door open, as I had
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  Speaker 1: found it. I pulled myself together sufficiently to ask him
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  Speaker 1: to witness the will. I must have looked queer and
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: spoken in a strange way, for I remember how he
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: looked from me to the brandy bottle. However, he signed
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: the paper after Missus Mead, who wrote her name in
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: a weak, straggling hand as she lay on her back.
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  Speaker 1: What next, governor asked the man when this was done.
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  Speaker 1: I was feeling dreadfully ill by now. I could only say,
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  Speaker 1: take me home. He looked at missus Meade and then
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  Speaker 1: at me, and said, ain't there nobody else to see
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  Speaker 1: to the lady, sir, I said, fetch a doctor, but
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  Speaker 1: take me home first. I stumbled out of the house
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: on his arm. I heard him muttering something about its
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: being a rum start. I don't remember the drive home
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  Speaker 1: when I came back to life. I was in my
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  Speaker 1: own bed and one of the local doctors was standing
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  Speaker 1: over me. I am afraid this story is getting very
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: long and tedious. To cut matters short. It seems the
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: taxi driver, who was a very decent, intelligent fellow, had
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  Speaker 1: found me completely insensible at the end of the drive.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't know who I was, but he hunted in
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  Speaker 1: my pocket and found my visiting card and my latch key.
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  Speaker 1: He took me home, got me upstairs, and deciding that
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: if I was drunk, I was a worse drunk than
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  Speaker 1: he had ever encountered in his experience, Hugh mainly went
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  Speaker 1: round and fetched a doctor. The doctor's opinion was that
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  Speaker 1: I had been heavily drugged with varinal or something of
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: that kind. Fortunately, if the idea was to murder me,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: the dose had been very much underestimated. We went into
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: the matter thoroughly, and the upshot was that I must
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  Speaker 1: have taken about thirty grains of the stuff. It appears
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: that it is a difficult drug to trace by analysis,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: but that was the conclusion. The doctor came to. Looking
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: at the matter all round, Undoubtedly the brandy had been doped.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Of course, we went round to look at the house.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: Next day, it was all shut up, and the local
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: milkman informed us that the occupiers had been away for
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: a week and were not expected home for another ten days.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: We got into communication with them, but they appeared to
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: be perfectly genuine ordinary people, and they declared they knew
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: nothing whatever about it. They were accustomed to go away
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: every so often, just shutting the house and not bothering
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: about a caretaker or anything. The man came along at once,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: naturally to investigate matters, but couldn't find that anything had
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: been stolen or disturbed, except that a pair of sheets
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: and some pillows showed signs of use, and a scuttle
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: of coal had been used in the sitting room. The
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: coal cellar, which also contained the electric meter, had been
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: left locked and the meter turned off before the family left.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: They apparently had a few grains of sense, which accounts
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: for the chilly darkness of the house when I entered it.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: The visitor had apparently slipped back the catch of the
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: pantry window one of the usual Jim Crack affairs with
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: a knife or something, and had brought her own lamp,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: siphon and brandy daring, but not really difficult. No missus
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: Mead or Miss Grant was to be heard of anywhere,
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: As I needn't tell you, the tenants of the house
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: were not keen to start expensive inquiries. After all, they'd
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: lost nothing but a shilling's worth of coals, and on
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: consideration and seeing that I hadn't actually been murdered or anything,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: I thought it best to let the matter slide. It
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: was a most unpleasant venture, I'm sure it was. Did
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: you ever hear from Miss Grant again? Why? Yes, she
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: rang me up twice, once after three months, and again
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: only a fortnight ago, asking for an appointment. You may
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: think me cowardly, mister Parker, but each time I put
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: her off, I didn't quite know what might happen. As
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: a matter of fact, the opinion I formed in my
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: own mind was that I had been entrapped into that
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: house with the idea of making me spend the night
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: there and afterwards blackmailing me. That was the only explanation
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: I could think of which would account for the sleeping draft.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: I thought discretion was the better part of valor, and
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: gave my clerks and my housekeeper instructions that if Miss
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: Grant should call at any time, I was out and
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: not expected back. Hum. Do you suppose she knew you
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: had recognized a scar on her hand? I'm sure she didn't,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Otherwise she would hardly have made advances to meet me
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: in her own name again. No, I think you are
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: right well, mister Trigg. I am much obliged to you
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: for this information, which may turn out to be very valuable.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: And if Miss Grant should ring you up again, where
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: did she call from? By the way, from call boxes
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: each time? I know that because the operator always tells
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: one when the call is from a public box. I
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: didn't have the calls traced. No, of course not. Well,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: if she does it again, will you please make an
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: appointment with her and then let me know about it
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: at once? A call to Scotland Yard will always find me.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Mister Trigg promised that he would do this, and Parker
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: took his leave. And now we know, thought Parker as
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: he returned home that somebody, an odd, unscrupulous somebody was
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: making inquiries about great nieces in nineteen twenty five. A
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: word to Miss Clemson, I fancy is indicated just to
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: find out whether Mary Whittaker has a scar on her
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: right hand, or whether I've got to hunt up any
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: more solicitors. The hot streets seemed less oppressively oven like
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: than before. In fact, Parker was so cheered by his
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: interview that he actually bestowed a cigarette card upon the
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: next urchin who accosted him. End of Chapter eighteen s