“So that is the reason?” said the Home Secretary with a suspicion of mockery in his tones.
“The sole reason.”
Even as he spoke a deeper roar than ever penetrated the study. The crowd had again started cheering. Impatient as the watchers were, they felt that no news was good news. The longer the interview accorded by the Home Secretary to the chairman of the Defense Committee, the greater the hope his obduracy was melting. The idol of the people would be saved, and “Grodman” and “Tom Mortlake” were mingled in the exultant plaudits.
“Templeton,” said the Minister, “have you got down every word of Mr. Grodman’s confession?”
“Every word, sir.”
“Then bring in the cable you received just as Mr. Grodman entered the house.”
Templeton went back into the outer room and brought back the cablegram that had been lying on the Minister’s writing-table when Grodman came in. The Home Secretary silently handed it to his visitor. It was from the Chief of Police of Melbourne, announcing that Jessie Dymond had just arrived in that city in a sailing vessel, ignorant of all that had occurred, and had been immediately dispatched back to England, having made a statement entirely corroborating the theory of the defense.
“Pending further inquiries into this,” said the Home Secretary, not without appreciation of the grim humor of the situation as he glanced at Grodman’s ashen cheeks, “I have reprieved the prisoner. Mr. Templeton was about to dispatch the messenger to the governor of Newgate as you entered this room. Mr. Wimp’s card-castle would have tumbled to pieces without your assistance. Your still undiscoverable crime would have shaken his reputation as you intended.”
A sudden explosion shook the room and blent with the cheers of the populace. Grodman had shot himself—very scientifically—in the heart. He fell at the Home Secretary’s feet, stone dead.
Some of the workingmen who had been standing waiting by the shafts of the hansom helped to bear the stretcher.
Colophon
The Big Bow Mystery
was published in 1892 by
Israel Zangwill.
This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
by
Brian Raiter,
and is based on a transcription produced in 2009 by
David Edwards, Mary Meehan, and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team
for
Project Gutenberg
and on digital scans from the
HathiTrust Digital Library.
The cover page is adapted from
Street in Quimper, Brittany, Nocturnal View,
a painting completed in 1874 by
Oscar Kleineh.
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League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
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