Master Tales of Mystery, Volume 3

Master Tales of Mystery, Volume
3

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Title: Master Tales of Mystery, Volume 3
Author: Collected and Arranged by Francis J. Reynolds
Release Date: April 8, 2004 [EBook #11949]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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MASTER TALES of MYSTERY
COLLECTED AND ARRANGED BY FRANCIS J. REYNOLDS
VOLUME III

CONTENTS
ARTHUR B. REEVE THE POISONED PEN THE INVISIBLE RAT
THE SILENT BULLET THE DEADLY TUBS THE BLACK HAND
THE STEEL DOOR
PAUL L. FORD GREAT K. & A. TRAIN ROBBERY
MAX PEMBERTON THE RISEN DEAD
GEO.B. McCUTCHEON COWARDICE COURT
BURTON E. STEVENSON THE CASE OF MRS. MAGNUS
JOSEPH ERNEST THE EPISODE or THE BLACK CASQUETTE
MARJORIE L.C. PICKTHALL CHEAP

The Poisoned Pen
BY ARTHUR B. REEVE
I
Kennedy's suit-case was lying open on the bed, and he was literally
throwing things into it from his chiffonier, as I entered after a hurried
trip up-town from the Star office in response to an urgent message from
him.
"Come, Walter," he cried, hastily stuffing in a package of clean laundry
without taking off the wrapping-paper, "I've got your suit-case out.
Pack up whatever you can in five minutes. We must take the six o'clock
train for Danbridge."
I did not wait to hear any more. The mere mention of the name of the
quaint and quiet little Connecticut town was sufficient. For Danbridge
was on everybody's lips at that time. It was the scene of the now
famous Danbridge poisoning case--a brutal case in which the pretty
little actress, Vera Lytton, had been the victim.
"I've been retained by Senator Adrian Willard," he called from his
room, as I was busy packing in mine. "The Willard family believe that
that young Dr. Dixon is the victim of a conspiracy--or at least Alma
Willard does, which comes to the same thing, and--well, the senator
called me up on long-distance and offered me anything I would name
in reason to take the case. Are you ready? Come on, then. We've simply
got to make that train."
As we settled ourselves in the smoking-compartment of the Pullman,
which for some reason or other we had to ourselves, Kennedy spoke
again for the first time since our frantic dash across the city to catch the

train.
"Now let us see, Walter," he began. "We've both read a good deal about
this case in the papers. Let's try to get our knowledge in an orderly
shape before we tackle the actual case itself."
"Ever been in Danbridge?" I asked.
"Never," he replied. "What sort of place is it?"
"Mighty interesting," I answered; "a combination of old New England
and new, of ancestors and factories, of wealth and poverty, and above
all it is interesting for its colony of New-Yorkers--what shall I call
it?--a literary-artistic-musical combination, I guess."
"Yes," he resumed. "I thought as much. Vera Lytton belonged to the
colony. A very talented girl, too--you remember her in 'The Taming of
the New Woman' last season? Well, to get back to the facts as we know
them at present.
"Here is a girl with a brilliant future on the stage discovered by her
friend, Mrs. Boncour, in convulsions--practically insensible--with a
bottle of headache-powder and a jar of ammonia on her dressing-table.
Mrs. Boncour sends the maid for the nearest doctor, who happens to be
a Dr. Waterworth. Meanwhile she tries to restore Miss Lytton, but with
no result. She smells the ammonia and then just tastes the
headache-powder, a very foolish thing to do, for by the time Dr.
Waterworth arrives he has two patients."
"No," I corrected, "only one, for Miss Lytton was dead when he arrived,
according to his latest statement."
"Very well, then--one. He arrives, Mrs. Boncour is ill, the maid knows
nothing at all about it, and Vera Lytton is dead. He, too, smells the
ammonia, tastes the headache-powder--just the merest trace--and then
he has two patients, one of them himself. We must see him, for his
experience must have been appalling. How he ever did it I can't
imagine, but he saved both himself and Mrs. Boncour from
poisoning--cyanide, the papers say, but of course we can't accept that
until we see. It seems to me, Walter, that lately the papers have made
the rule in murder cases: When in doubt, call it