He remained in the
rooms to see that nothing is disturbed until you arrive."
"That was wise of him," said Thorndyke. "But now tell us exactly what
has occurred."
"I will," said Mr. Curtis. "The murdered man was my brother-in-law,
Alfred Hartridge, and I am sorry to say he was--well, he was a bad man.
It grieves me to speak of him thus--_de mortuis_, you know--but, still,
we must deal with the facts, even though they be painful."
"Undoubtedly," agreed Thorndyke.
"I have had a great deal of very unpleasant correspondence with
him--Marchmont will tell you about that--and yesterday I left a note for
him, asking for an interview, to settle the business, naming eight
o'clock this morning as the hour, because I had to leave town before
noon. He replied, in a very singular letter, that he would see me at
that hour, and Mr. Marchmont very kindly consented to accompany me.
Accordingly, we went to his chambers together this morning, arriving
punctually at eight o'clock. We rang the bell several times, and knocked
loudly at the door, but as there was no response, we went down and
spoke to the hall-porter.
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