The Poisoned Pen | Page 7

us consider the dead woman. The question that arises here is,
Was she murdered or did she commit suicide? I think you will discover
the answer as I proceed. Miss Lytton, as you know, was, two years ago,
Mrs. Burgess Thurston. The Thurstons had temperament, and
temperament is quite often the highway to the divorce court. It was so
in this case. Mrs. Thurston discovered that her husband was paying
much attention to other women. She sued for divorce in New York, and
he accepted service in the South, where he happened to be. At least it
was so testified by Mrs. Thurston's lawyer.
"Now here comes the remarkable feature of the case. The law firm of
Kerr & Kimmel, I find, not long ago began to investigate the=20
legality of this divorce. Before a notary Thurston made an affidavit that
he had never been served by the lawyer for Miss Lytton, as she was
now known. Her lawyer is dead, but his representative in the South
who served the papers is alive. He was brought to New York and
asserted squarely that he had served the papers properly.
"Here is where the shrewdness of Mose Kimmel, the shyster lawyer,
came in. He arranged to have the Southern attorney identify the man he
had served the papers on. For this purpose he was engaged in
conversation with one of his own clerks when the lawyer was due to
appear. Kimmel appeared to act confused, as if he had been caught
napping. The Southern lawyer, who had seen Thurston only once, fell
squarely into the trap and identified the clerk as Thurston. There were
plenty of witnesses to it, and it was point number two for the great
Mose Kimmel. Papers were drawn up to set aside the divorce decree.

"In the meantime, Miss Lytton, or Mrs. Thurston, had become
acquainted with a young doctor in a New York hospital, and had
become engaged to him. It matters not that the engagement was later
broken. The fact remains that if the divorce were set aside an action
would lie against Dr. Dixon for alienating Mrs. Thurston's affections,
and a grave scandal would result. I need not add that in this quiet little
town of Danbridge the most could be made of such a suit."
Kennedy was unfolding a piece=20of paper. As he laid it down, Leland,
who was sitting next to me, exclaimed under his breath:
"My God, he's going to let the prosecutor know about that letter. Can't
you stop him?"
It was too late. Kennedy had already begun to read Vera's letter. It was
damning to Dixon, added to the other note found in the ammonia-jar.
When he had finished reading, you could almost hear the hearts
throbbing in the room. A scowl overspread Senator Willard's features.
Alma Willard was pale and staring wildly at Kennedy. Halsey Post,
ever solicitous for her, handed her a glass of water from the table. Dr.
Waterworth had forgotten his pain in his intense attention, and Mrs.
Boncour seemed stunned with astonishment. The prosecuting attorney
was eagerly taking notes.
"In some way," pursued Kennedy in an even voice, "this letter was
either overlooked in the original correspondence of Dr. Dixon or it was
added to it later. I shall come back to that presently. My next point is
that Dr. Dixon says he received a letter from Thurston on the day the
artist visited the Boncour bungalow. It asked about a certain headache
compound, and his reply was brief and, as nearly as I can find out, read,
'This compound will not cure your headache except at the expense of
reducing heart action dangerously.'
"Next comes the tragedy. On the evening of the day that Thurston=20
eft, after presumably telling Miss Lytton about what Kerr & Kimmel
had discovered, Miss Lytton is found dying with a bottle containing
cyanide and sublimate beside her. You are all familiar with the

circumstances and with the note discovered in the jar of ammonia. Now,
if the prosecutor will be so kind as to let me see that note - thank you,
sir. This is the identical note. You have all heard the various theories of
the jar and have read the note. Here it is in plain, cold black and white -
in Dr. Dixon's own handwriting, as you know, and reads: 'This will
cure your headache. Dr. Dixon.'"
Alma Willard seemed as one paralysed. Was Kennedy, who had been
engaged by her father to defend her fianc=82, about to convict him?
Before we draw the final conclusion," continued Kennedy gravely,
"there are one or two points I wish to elaborate. Walter, will you open
that door into the main hall?"
I did so, and two policemen stepped in with a prisoner. It was Thurston,
but changed almost