The Chief looked up quickly.
"Ah, he's all right then! Good."
"And, sir," Matthews added, "Scotland Yard telephoned to say that
the doctor is with Miss Mackwayte now."
Desmond started up.
"Is Miss Mackwayte ill?" he exclaimed.
The Chief answered slowly, as Matthew s withdrew: "Mr. Mackwayte
was found murdered at his house early this morning!"
CHAPTER IV. MAJOR OKEWOOD ENCOUNTERS A NEW TYPE
There is a sinister ring about the word "murder," which reacts
upon even the most hardened sensibility. Edgar Allan Poe, who was
a master of the suggestive use of words, realized this when he
called the greatest detective story ever written "The Murders in
the Rue Morgue." From the very beginning of the war, Desmond had
seen death in all its forms but that word "murdered," spoken with
slow emphasis in the quiet room, gave him an ugly chill feeling
round the heart that he had never experienced on the battlefield.
"Murdered!" Desmond repeated dully and sat down. He felt stunned.
He was not thinking of the gentle old man cruelly done to death
or of the pretty Barbara prostrate with grief. He was overawed by
the curious fatality that had plucked him from the horrors of
Flanders only to plunge him into a tragedy at home.
"Yes," said the Chief bluntly, "by a burglar apparently--the
house was ransacked!"
"Chief," he broke out, "you must explain.
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