PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS
PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE [I. Miss Lucy Carrington] 7 [II. A Clash of Tongues] 21 [III. The Tragedy] 36 [IV. A Paper Snake] 49 [V. A Man’s Glove] 61 [VI. A Neighbor’s Call] 75 [VII. The Inquest] 90 [VIII. Anita’s Story] 104 [IX. Further Testimony] 117 [X. Bizarre Clues] 130 [XI. Fleming Stone] 144 [XII. Estelle’s Story] 156 [XIII. Bates, the Burglar] 169 [XIV. Who Gave the Poison] 182 [XV. Pauline’s Purchase] 195 [XVI. The Two Girls] 210 [XVII. The Overheard Conversation] 222 [XVIII. Fled!] 235 [XIX. Letters from the Fugitive] 251 [XX. In the Boudoir] 261 [XXI. Fleming Stone’s Theory] 274 [XXII. Pauline in Cairo] 289 [XXIII. Two Wills] 302 [XXIV. Confession] 314
THE CURVED BLADES
I
MISS LUCY CARRINGTON
“Garden Steps” was one of the show-places of Merivale Park, Long Island. In summer it was an enchanting spot, and the dazzling white marble steps which led to the sunken gardens justified their right to give the place its name. Other stone steps gave on terraces and flower banks, others still led to the Italian landscape gardens, and a few rustic steps of a wooden stile transported one to an old-fashioned garden, whose larkspur and Canterbury bells were the finest of their sort.
The house seemed an integral part of this setting. Its wide verandahs, or more often loggias, were so lavishly furnished with flowering plants, its windows so boxed with them, that the whole effect was that of a marvellously well-planned horticultural exhibition.
But all this was of the summer. In winter—for it was an all-round-the-year home—only the varied and extraordinary collection of evergreens shared with the steps the honor of making picturesque and beautiful the view from the house windows.
And now, in January, one of the all too seldom enjoyed white snow storms had glorified the whole estate. Wind-swept drifts half hid, half disclosed the curving marble balustrades, and turned the steps to snowy fairyland flights.
And, for it was night, a cold, dear, perfect winter night, a supercilious moon looked down, a little haughtily and condescended to illumine the scene in stunning, if a bit theatric, fashion.