The Brooklyn Murders

by

G. D. H. Cole

New York

Thomas Seltzer

1924

Contents

I[A Family Celebration]
II[Sir Vernon’s Will]
III[Murder]
IV[What Joan Found in the Garden]
V[Plain as a Pikestaff]
VI[A Pause for Reflection]
VII[The Case Against Walter Brooklyn]
VIII[A Review of the Case]
IX[Walter Brooklyn’s Explanation]
X[Charis Lang]
XI[Joan Takes Up the Case]
XII[Robert Ellery]
XIII[An Arrest]
XIV[Mainly a Love Scene]
XV[To and Fro]
XVI[A Link in the Chain]
XVII[The Lovely Lady]
XVIII[The Case for the Defence]
XIX[The Police Have Their Doubts]
XX[Superintendent Wilson Thinks It Out]
XXI[Don Quixote]
XXII[“The Spaniard” Does His Bit]
XXIII[Walter Brooklyn Goes Free]
XXIV[A Fresh Start]
XXV[Raising the Wind]
XXVI[Two Men Strike a Bargain]
XXVII[Robert Ellery’s Idea]
XXVIII[The Superintendent’s Theory]
XXIX[The Lie of the Land]
XXX[A Letter and Its Consequences]
XXXI[A Button in a Bag]
XXXII[Sir John Bunnery]
XXXIII[On the Tiles]
XXXIV[The Stable-Yard]
XXXV[An Order for Bulbs]
XXXVI[An Afternoon Call]
XXXVII[A Happy Ending]

Chapter I.
A Family Celebration

At seventy Sir Vernon Brooklyn was still the outstanding figure in the theatrical world. It was, indeed, ten years since he had made his farewell appearance on the stage; and with a consistency rare among the members of his profession, he had persisted in making his first farewell also his last. He had also for some time past resigned to younger men the actual direction of his vast theatrical enterprises, which included five great West End theatres and a steady stream of touring companies in the provinces and overseas. Both as actor and as manager, he was wont to say, his work was over; but as Chairman of the Brooklyn Dramatic Corporation, which conducted all its work under his name, he was almost as much as ever in the eye of the public.