Front matter
Reading edition
THE MYSTERY STORIES OF
J. S. FLETCHER
“Mr. Fletcher is a master of plot, and he never goes beyond the bounds of reason in its procedure and development. He, moreover, can write the English language as a vital means to the end both of narrative and description, and he never fails to show that he is its master. It is therefore a pleasure to read his stories, not merely for their entertaining qualities, but also for the agreeable appeal of their manner and their style.”
—Boston Evening Transcript
THE MIDDLE TEMPLE MURDER [1918] THE TALLEYRAND MAXIM [1920] THE PARADISE MYSTERY [1920] DEAD MEN’S MONEY [1920] THE ORANGE YELLOW DIAMOND [1921] THE CHESTERMARKE INSTINCT [1921] THE BOROUGH TREASURER [1921] THE HERAPATH PROPERTY [1921] SCARHAVEN KEEP [1922] THE RAYNER-SLADE AMALGAMATION [1922] RAVENSDENE COURT [1922] THE MIDDLE OF THINGS [1922] THE LOST MR. LINTHWAITE [1923] EXTERIOR TO THE EVIDENCE [1923] THE MARKENMORE MYSTERY [1923] THE WOLVES AND THE LAMB [In Preparation] THE KING VERSUS WARGRAVE [In Preparation]
NEW YORK: ALFRED • A • KNOPF
THE MARKENMORE MYSTERY
BY
J. S. FLETCHER
NEW YORK
ALFRED • A • KNOPF
MCMXXIII
COPYRIGHT, 1923. BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC.
Published September. 1923
Set up, electrotyped, and printed by the Vail-Ballou Co., Binghamton, N. Y. Paper furnished by W. F. Etherington & Co., New York. Bound by H. Wolff Estate, New York.
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
I Two Wanderers Return
II The Butler's Pantry
III Grey Dawn
IV Markenmore Hollow
V Denounced
VI The Coroner Sits
VII Mrs. Braxfield Supports
VIII The Incriminating Letter
IX The Midnight Meeting
X The Ring and the Pipe
XI First Steps
XII The Dower House
XIII William Pegge
XIV Gone
XV Was It Robbery?
XVI Family Matters
XVII Too Late
XVIII Deep Lane
XIX Under Pressure
XX Village Gossip
XXI Arrest
XXII Mrs. Braxfield's Move
XXIII The Professorial Theory
XXIV The Man Who Could Guess
XXV The Devil's Grip
CHAPTER I