The Solution of a Mystery

J. S. Fletcher

Description

A man is charged with murder and his life is threatened with death if he does not confess. But he causes bewilderment by choosing not to speak. What's behind it? Is he guilty?

Sujets

• Fiction
• Mystery
• Detective
• Traditional

Informations

• Publié par: Rare Treasure Editions
• Date de parution: 08 novembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781774643716
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Solution of a Mystery
by J. S. Fletcher

First published in 1932
This edition published by Rare Treasures
Victoria, BC Canada with branch offices in the Czech Republic and Germany
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THE SOLUTION OF A MYSTERY


by J. S. Fletcher

PREFATORY NOTE BY THE EDITOR
There recently died, at his country seat, WrennePark, near Ullathwaite, in Yorkshire, Mr PhilipWynyard Wrenne, a gentleman greatly respected inthe county for his character, his abilities, and his devotionto the public service. Mr Wrenne—as aneighteenth-century writer would have said—was aman of parts. Born into the world of a good oldfamily, endowed from childhood with more thanample means, educated at Eton and at King’s College,Cambridge, where he proceeded to his master’sdegree at an unusually early age, he entered uponlife with every advantage. He was a sound classicalscholar and edited and translated a well-known editionof Horace. His real bent, however, was towardsarchæology and antiquarianism: a great collector ofold books and old furniture, he left behind him oneof the finest private libraries in England and a gatheringof Elizabethan and Caroline chairs, tables, andpresses which probably has never been equalled invariety and value. But he had other interests. Placedon the Commission of the Peace while still a youngman, he became a model and indefatigable magistrate,and for over thirty years presided over thelocal bench, and for half that time was chairman ofQuarter Sessions. He also filled other importantpublic offices in the county, of which he was a DeputyLieutenant.
During Mr Wrenne’s time as chairman of theUllathwaite magistrates an extraordinary case ofmurder occurred in the town. A man named RogerMaidment, employed as a collector of rents, was mysteriouslymurdered and robbed one night when returningfrom his collecting round. Suspicion fell ona young man of a somewhat wild character, RichardRadford, whose father, a highly respectable solicitor,was at the time Mayor of Ullathwaite. Richard Radfordwas arrested, and after various appearancesbefore the local bench was duly committed to theGrandminster Assizes for trial. In due course hewas tried, and, though the circumstantial evidenceagainst him was undoubtedly strong, he was acquitted,and the mystery of Maidment’s murder remainedunsolved. It was felt by every one in theneighbourhood that the truth in this matter hadnever been approached, and no one was more inquisitiveabout it than Mr Wrenne. Some time afterthe trial Mr Wrenne privately induced three peopleto set down in writing their impressions of the caseand to deposit their statements with him. One ofthese persons was the Superintendent of Police atUllathwaite. Another was the solicitor for the defence.The third was the foreman of the jury whichacquitted Richard Radford. And some years later,when all the principal persons concerned were dead,Mr Wrenne persuaded Richard Radford himself tocomplete the dossier by writing his story—in whichlay the solution of the mystery.
On the death of Mr Wrenne these four manuscripts,duly authenticated and sealed, were foundamong his papers, and, in consequence of a directionin his will, were handed over to me by his executors,with instructions to make them public. AsRichard Radford, like all the other actors in thedrama, is now dead, and the telling of the truth asregards the murder of Roger Maidment can do noharm to anyone, these accounts of what happened,written from four different standpoints, may now begiven to the world.
J. S. FLETCHER
Falklands, Dorking
MEMORANDUM BY MR WRENNE

prefixed to the four authenticated documents referred to in the foregoing editorial note
The four papers herein enclosed, relative to themurder of Roger Maidment, at Ullathwaite,in October 1899, were obtained by me on the followingdates: 1. Statement of Charles Henderson, Superintendent of Police at Ullathwaite July 1900 2. Statement of Ernest Henry Wilsborough, Solicitor, of Ullathwaite August 1900 3. Statement of Septimus Nettleton, foreman of the jury at Grandminster Assizes at the trial of Richard Radford October 1900 4. Statement of Richard Radford January 1925
I am firmly convinced, having made a close studyof all the facts, that the statement of Richard Radfordembodies the absolute truth as regards themurder of Roger Maidment.
P. W. WRENNE
Wrenne Park, Ullathwaite,
December 1925

I

ACCORDING TO THE PROSECUTION ( Statement of Charles Henderson, Superintendent of Police, Ullathwaite )
At the request of Mr Philip Wynyard Wrenne,chairman of the West Riding magistrates atUllathwaite, and as Superintendent of the West RidingConstabulary in that district, I proceed to writeout, to the best of my ability, all that I know asregards the arrest and trial of Richard Radford,charged with the murder of Roger Maidment atHagsdene Wood, on the outskirts of Ullathwaite, onthe night of October 17, 1899. I shall endeavourto suppress any personal opinion of my own as regardsthis matter and shall confine myself to the barefacts of the case as they were presented to me in myofficial capacity. And here I had better explain a certainpoint in order to make things clear. Ullathwaite,as a borough, has its own borough police and magistrates;they deal with crimes and offences occurringwithin the borough. Hagsdene Wood, however, isoutside the borough boundary; hence the Maidmentaffair came within the jurisdiction of the county policeand justices and became my duty to investigate.
Ullathwaite is a small market-town in the purelyagricultural part of the West Riding of Yorkshire.Its population in 1891 was a little over 4000. Excepton market, fair, and auction days it is a slow-going,sleepy place. Being so small everybody—ofany consequence—is well known; I mean, everybodyis, so to speak, known to everybody else. Societyfollows the usual lines of English division. In andround about the town there is a small percentage ofthe upper class. There is a larger one of the middleclass, subdivided into the various sections of professionalfolk, clergy, doctors, lawyers, bankers, better-classtradesmen and people engaged in commerce;beneath these comes the always more numerous classof workers in one or other line of labour. It is safe torepeat, however—and it is pertinent to what I shallhave to say in this statement—that in Ullathwaite,whatever his rank or class, almost every man is wellknown to the rest of his fellow-townsmen. Thosefamiliar with English country-town life will knowwhat I mean when I say that the local newspaper, the Ullathwaite Advertiser , prints nothing but purelylocal news, and that its editor would regard the productionof a monster gooseberry or abnormal vegetable-marrowby John Smith, market gardener, asbeing of vastly more importance to his readers thanan eruption of Vesuvius or a revolution in Brazil.
Being an unmarried man, I live in lodgings, insteadof having a house of my own. I lodge with MrsMarriner, at Oak Cottage, a little way outside thetown, on its western border and beyond the boroughboundary. I have there three excellent rooms: twositting-rooms, one of which I use as an office, anda bedroom which has a private bathroom attached toit. About half-past seven o’clock on the morning ofOctober 18, 1899, I was in this bathroom whenMrs Marriner’s servant-maid, Esther Thorp, cameknocking at the door, calling my name.
‘Mr Henderson, Mr Henderson!’ she cried.‘There’s a man downstairs, sir, says he must seeyou at once!’
‘Who is he?’ I called. ‘What name?’
‘I think it’s Mr Wrenne’s gamekeeper, sir,’ sheanswered. ‘But I don’t know his name. He says hemust see you immediate!’
‘Tell him I’ll be there in five minutes,’ I said.
I got out of my bath, had a rub down, and gotinto some clothes and a dressing-gown. I knew MrWrenne’s gamekeeper well enough, a man namedSevidge, and I guessed that if, or as, he wanted methere had been some scrap between him and poachersduring the night. But when I went downstairs andsaw him standing in Mrs Marriner’s kitchen Iknew that there was something more serious thanthat.
‘What is it, Sevidge?’ I asked.
He glanced round to make sure that we werealone. Then he came close.
‘It’s murder, Mr Henderson!’ he said in a lowvoice. ‘Do you know that young fellow Maidment—RogerMaidment?’
‘The rent-collector?’ I replied. ‘Yes!’
‘He’s lying there in Hagsdene Wood—dead,’ hewent on. ‘I found him just now, as I was on my wayto Wrenne Park. Been lying there all night fromthe look of him—clothes wet through, and so on.’
‘What makes you think it’s murder?’ I asked.
‘Ah!’ he answered. ‘No doubt of it. There’s awound on his left temple—but you’ll see for yourself.And—his pockets are all turned inside out.Murdered—and robbed!’
‘Anybody else know?’ I inquired.
‘Not that I’m aware of,’ he replied. ‘I found himby accident—and came straight back to you.’
‘Very well,’ I said. ‘Now do something for me,Sevidge. The nearest of my men is Walshaw——’
‘I know where he lives,’ he said.
‘Run down to him, then,’ I continued. ‘Tell himto get two or three other men and to see Dr Simpson,and bring them all as quickly as possible toHagsdene Wood. Then come back here and I’ll goalong with you.’
He was an obliging fellow, Sevidge, and he hastenedaway there and then, while I hurried upstairsto finish dressing. While I dressed, I reflected onwhat I knew of Roger Maidment. He was a youngfellow of, perhaps, five-and-twenty years of age, who,having been a