A Dreadful Murder Read Online Free PDF

woman inventing stories if it suits her.’
    Taylor scanned the names that he’d finally prised out of Mary Stewart. They weren’t the ones he’d wanted. She’d thrown a fainting fit when he suggested that Caroline might have come across her killer through her charity work. And rather than give him a list of suspects, she’d offered some worthy ladies who were ‘bound’ to know more than she did.
    ‘Then let’s hope Mrs Luard’s other friends are more sensible,’ he said, tucking the page into his coat pocket. ‘We won’t get very far if they all stay silent for fear of being killed themselves.’
    * * *
    The
Kent Messenger
– late edition,
Tuesday, 25 August 1908:
    Brutal Slaying of a Kent Lady
    The shooting of Mrs Caroline Luard has excited public concern. Law-abiding citizens are asking how a lady of Kent could have been murdered in broad daylight.
    The mystery surrounding the death continues. Mrs Luard was taking an afternoon stroll through the woodland around Frankfield Park when she was attacked. But police are puzzled as to why a thief thought she had anything worth stealing.
    While robbery still appears to be the most likely motive, a Kent detective has told our reporter that minds remain open on whether the murder was planned. Mrs Luard may have been followed or her killer may have known in advance which route she intended to take home.
    An inquest will be heard tomorrow at Major-General Luard’s house in Ightham.

Chapter Six
    Warde checked his watch and offered the Scotland Yard detectives a pint of beer and a sandwich. They were standing outside Sevenoaks station and he pointed to the Farmer’s Inn, which was across the road. ‘It’s as good a place as any,’ he told them. ‘They have rooms if you don’t want to return to London tonight.’
    All three men were tired. They had met the gunsmith – Edwin Churchill – off the five o’clock train and had spent the last two hours watching him study the used bullets recovered from Caroline Luard’s brain. His methods were slow because he repeated every action several times. When he wasn’t staring down the lens of his microscope, he was using pincers and tiny rulers on different parts of the crushed metal casings.
    He also spent a long time looking at the wounds in Caroline Luard’s skull. He pointed out flecks of soot on her skin, which had been caused by flames in the barrel of the gun when the bullets had been fired.
    His conclusion – stated with absolute confidence – was that she had been shot by a .32 revolver at a distance of a few inches.
    ‘The man clearly knows what he’s talking about,’ said Warde as he led Taylor and Philpott into the saloon bar.
    Taylor pulled out a chair at an empty table and sat down. ‘He claims it’s only a matter of time before he’ll be able to prove which guns fire which bullets. It seems barrels are like fingerprints. No two are the same.’
    Warde lowered himself wearily onto another chair. ‘It’s a pity he can’t do it now. It would help at the inquest if he could say that none of Charles’s weapons were used.’
    ‘It depends what calibre of bullets they fire. If the barrel widths are less than .32, they can certainly be ruled out.’ Taylor broke off while a waitress took their order. ‘Which doesn’t mean there wasn’t a fourth revolver that Luard hasn’t told you about.’
    The Chief Constable sighed. ‘Do you still see him as a suspect?’
    ‘Not at the moment.’ Taylor took out a tobacco pouch and started to roll a cigarette. ‘But my mind will change very quickly if we find any evidence that his marriage wasn’t as perfect as he wants us to think.’
    * * *
    Seven miles away at the George & Dragon in Ightham, late editions of the local newspaper were being passed from hand to hand. No one was surprised that Kent police were keeping an open mind about Mrs Luard’s murder.
    Few of the regulars at the George & Dragon had any liking for Major-General Luard. One or two had