Page:Waylaid by Wireless - Balmer - 1909.djvu/170

Rh away without being seen. And when caught, he had not halted at violence—perhaps even murder—to save himself.

The deep-stained marks of a struggle over the rugs and furnishings told their undeniable story—they and the disappearance of the victim.

Moreover, the signs were plain which showed where a body—whether living or dead no one might say—had been dragged out the window to the lawn and across that to the narrow little side street. So half the Plymouth police scoured the city for the victim; and the other half searched for the assailant.

Young Preston wondered, for an instant, why the police had not arrested him at once and why he was not then on his way to the jail.

But the News explained it clearly to him.

"This shocking outrage may at least, we hope," its account concluded, "serve the purpose of putting our police upon the proper track of the criminal at last. Obviously, it 148