Crossword Mystery Read Free Page A

no comment, but shivered slightly and sat quiet and still; nor was it now of set purpose that Bobby allowed that deadly cheroot of his to lie forgotten on the table. Not till this silence had lasted two or three minutes did Major Markham continue his story.
    â€œThe verdict was ‘accidentally drowned,’” he went on then. “On the evidence given, no other was possible. When Mr. Winterton and his brother, Archibald Winterton – they were twins, by the way – retired from business, they settled at Suffby, George buying the house, Fairview, on the west shore of Suffby Cove and Archibald building one for himself across the Cove, at the southern extremity of Suffby Point. They lived in good style; had done well as stockbrokers, I understand. Suffby was chiefly Archibald’s choice; he was fond of the sea, loved swimming, fishing, sailing. Every morning very early, he used to go down to a little beach near his home for a swim before breakfast. Bathing is perfectly safe in the Cove and quite safe off the Point, provided you don’t go too far out, when, at the turn of the tide, there’s a strong current runs down the coast. Archibald knew all that quite well, of course, and had the reputation of being a prudent as well as a strong swimmer. Two months ago he went for his usual swim, and never came back. Three weeks later his body was found by fishermen twenty miles down the coast.”
    The Major paused, and Bobby asked:
    â€œThere were no marks of violence on the body?”
    â€œWell, after three weeks in the water...” Major Markham answered. “Still, the doctors were all agreed that death had been caused by drowning, and that the injuries to the body had almost certainly been caused after death. Probably he had swum out too far; got caught in the current or had an attack of cramp. Impossible to say what really happened, but the jury returned the only verdict possible. There’s one difficulty. The tide didn’t turn that morning, and therefore the current wouldn’t begin to run strongly, till more than an hour after he must have entered the water; in fact, not till some time after the alarm had been given and he had been missed. He had probably gone down for his swim earlier than usual on account of the state of the tide. He used to do that, apparently; he would go either earlier or later than his usual time, according to how the current would be running; he used to note the tides carefully every day.”
    â€œSometimes it is the most careful man who makes the worst slip,” observed Mitchell, “like the story of the man who was always careful to wash his cherries before eating them, but one day forgot and drank the water he had rinsed them in, and so caught cholera and died. Besides, anything might account for it – cramp or heart failure or anything like that.”
    â€œBoth the brothers were exceptionally big, strong men, extremely healthy,” the Major observed. “Still, the jury took the view that something like that must have happened. I certainly agreed with them. Also, there seems no reason why anyone should have wished to murder him.”
    â€œDoes Mr. George Winterton give any reason for suspecting foul play?” Bobby asked.
    â€˜â€˜Nothing you can lay hold of,” answered the Major, a little hesitatingly. “I admit he impressed me. I was inclined not to take him very seriously at first. But he meant it. He believes it all right enough. Then he looked at me and said: ‘I’ll be the next, very likely.’ Well, he meant that, too. But he wouldn’t give any explanation. He seemed to me – well, resigned, if you know what I mean. I asked him if he suspected anyone, and he said he didn’t. He kept on talking about what a strong, experienced swimmer his brother was, and how careful. When there was any real risk, he never went far outside the Cove. I put it to him there was no way any foul play could have