So it was done. At the inquest the whole story was told, both by Joan and Ellery and by Superintendent Wilson. The papers the next day were full of it, and full, too, of compliments both to the professionals and to the amateurs on the skill shown in unravelling the mystery. But that same day came a parliamentary crisis. The old Prime Minister resigned, and a new one—in the name of conservatism and tranquillity—took his place. Parliament was dissolved, and the drums beat and beacons flared in anticipation of an “appeal to the people.” In a few days, the Brooklyn mystery was forgotten, except by those directly concerned and by a few specialists in the records of crime.
Joan and Ellery, of course, are married, and quite disgustingly rich, now that Sir Vernon is dead. They live at Liskeard House when they are in town, and Ellery is managing director of the Brooklyn Corporation. He has made many attempts to get Marian to return to the stage; and perhaps he will yet succeed. For he has just written a play in which, she agrees, the leading part was made for her. Family matters keep Joan rather busy at present; but her first play, produced a year ago by the Brooklyn Corporation, was a great success. She is thinking of collaborating with her husband in another, with a strong detective interest.
Ellery summed up the situation the other day, when he and Joan were talking over the days of the great Brooklyn mystery. “Well, my dear, it was sad about poor old George, but you must agree that the other two were really a good riddance.” And, although one of them had been in a way her suitor, I think Joan did agree. But all she said was “Poor Marian!”
The End
Transcriber’s Note
The Brooklyn Murders was originally published in England in 1923 by Collins. This transcription was made from the text of the US edition published in 1924 by Thomas Seltzer, Inc. However, the following changes have been made to correct what are believed to be unambiguous printer’s errors.
- Two missing quotation marks have been inserted.
- “interupted” has been changed to “interrupted” (Ch. XI).
- “followng” has been changed to “following” (Ch. XII).
- “But’s there’s” has been changed to “But there’s” (Ch. XIX).
- “a few minutes, time” has been changed to “a few minutes’ time” (Ch. XXII).
- “intrudng” has been changed to “intruding” (Ch. XXIX).
- “hankerchief” has been changed to “handkerchief” (Ch. XXXVI).
- “convicition” has been changed to “conviction” (Ch. XXXVII).
Additionally, in the original text of Chapter XXIV, the column headings in the list of suspects were only repeated once per page (i.e., a resumption of the list appearing lower on the same page would omit the column headings). For this transcription, the column headings are included with each resumption.