Page:Burton Stevenson--The marathon mystery.djvu/261

Rh “At last Tremaine is ready—or perhaps his lack of money forces him to act. He writes a note to Mrs. Delroy, telling her that he’s alive and wishes to share in her prosperity. He demands that she meet him in these rooms, asking for Thompson—that leaves him free from suspicion should she show the note to her husband and should he attempt to have the writer arrested for blackmail. But she isn’t so sensible. Perhaps she disregards his first note; perhaps she’s unable to decide what to do. She has, of course, been thrown into a panic. He writes again; in despair, she seeks the advice of her sister, and Miss Croydon, who is by far the stronger of the two, offers to come here herself, see the man, and find out what he proposes to do.

“Tremaine has secured Thompson’s key, given him some money, and sent him out to get drunk. But for Jimmy the Dude, he would have stayed away—probably in the lock-up—but Jimmy brings him home. Tremaine has to make the best of it, since there isn’t time to get Thompson out of the way again. Anyway, he’s so dead-drunk, that Tremaine anticipates no interference from him. He shuts him in the bedroom, and sits down to wait for Miss Croydon.

“She arrives promptly, despite the rain, and we can imagine that the dialogue which followed was not of a milk-and-water kind—both of them are full of fire, and they made the sparks fly.

“Thompson is aroused by the voices, or perhaps wakes naturally—comes into the outer room and interferes. He is still half-drunk; perhaps he threatens Tremaine. At any rate, Tremaine picks up the iron pipe and knocks him down; then, in a sudden black