Page:Chipperfield--Unseen Hands.djvu/40

28 cidence in the two tragedies, or accidents, or whatever you choose to call them.

"No one had mentioned it; but I gather that the cripple, Randall, made some sort of outburst about it at the dinner-table last evening, and that sort of brought the matter to a head in Lorne's mind. Anyway, when I arrived a little later for a conference with him he told me of his suspicion that those so-called accidents might have been devilishly planned.

"He couldn't suggest anyone who might be guilty, nor a motive, and I laughed at him; but while we were talking something occurred that seems to put solid fact behind his wild theory."

He told of the fall of the picture and Gene's escape, and the young sergeant listened with the keenest attention.

"You are sure about those wires being hacked apart?" he inquired when the attorney had finished. "The portrait has been hanging there for years, you say? Couldn't they have worn through?"

"Impossible. The strands hadn't parted from age; their tips were bright where they had been severed. I want you to come up and have a look at them for yourself; but first let me tell you of a further affair this morning, which to my mind leaves no doubt that someone, either inside the house or with a confederate there, is trying deliberately to exterminate the whole family! That sounds ridiculous, I know, in these days and right here in the heart of the city; but I have seen what I believe to be the evidence of it with my own eyes."

He proceeded to describe the events of the night and