Part 19 (1/2)

”You say you had another business; what was it?”

”Publicity writer for the Golden State Land Co. of Los Angeles.”

”They own large mineral spring holdings in our neighboring county on the south, do they not?”

”Yes.”

”And how long had you been interested with them at the time of this interview at the Kenwick home?”

”About six months, I think.”

”Did Mr. Kenwick know of this other business interest?”

”Certainly. That is one thing that led to his choosing me as his agent.

He knew that I was permanently located in southern California and that I had established myself with a reputable company. It was a guarantee of permanence--and character.”

”One moment longer, Mr. Glover, before you go on. Was the elder Mr.

Kenwick aware of the fact that while you were in his employ you never visited Rest Hollow but once?”

”I did visit Rest Hollow. I went there every month to see that the place was properly kept up and the attendant on duty. But I always went at night. I held my interviews with Dr. Marstan alone.”

”Go on.”

The narrative skipped now to the following November when the witness told of having received a communication from Dr. Marstan informing him that, owing to a mechanical accident, Roger Kenwick had recovered his sanity; that he, the physician, had carefully tested him and was fully convinced of this. It had been impossible just at that time for Glover himself to go to Mont-Mer as he was ill. And before he had had time to send more than a brief note in reply, the attendant wrote again saying that his former patient was bitterly opposed to having his brother know of his recovery, and had threatened him, the doctor, if he betrayed the news. Kenwick, he said, wished to use his present position to get more money out of his brother for some investment that he was then planning, for he knew that in case his recovery were known, it would be a long time before the court would grant him the control of his property, and his father's will had provided that he was not to inherit his half of the estate until he should have reached the age of twenty-five.

The witness had not thought it expedient to notify Dr. Marstan of the elder Kenwick's death, so that he could not report this to the patient.

They had evidently had hot words upon the subject of the disclosure of the patient's condition, Marstan being highly scrupulous and not being willing to retain his position as keeper when it was merely nominal, an arrangement upon which the young man himself insisted.

In order to prevent the patient from carrying out some sinister threat, Marstan had locked his charge into the house and gone into town probably to consult a lawyer upon the proper course for him to pursue. This much he could surmise from a half-written letter which the witness himself had found on the evening that he returned to Mont-Mer.

”And that was the state of things when you arrived at Rest Hollow on the evening of November 21?” Dayton asked.

”That was the state of things.”

”Describe the condition of the house and grounds on the evening of the tragedy.”

The witness did so, with the same unhurried attention to detail.

”And when you came upon the body of the dead man under the dining-room window, why did you conclude that it was your former charge, Roger Kenwick?”

”Every circ.u.mstance seemed to point to it. And I found upon the body possessions that seemed unmistakable evidence.”

”Describe those possessions.”

”A wrist-watch with the initials R.K. upon the inside; a silver match-case with the one initial K.; a linen handkerchief with that initial.”

”But you said, did you not, in the early part of your testimony, that the patient's personal possessions had been taken from him when he became incompetent?”

”They had. But all of his things were in Doctor Marstan's possession.

They were in his apartments, and any normal person could easily have found them, and naturally Kenwick would have demanded them.”