The Mansion of Mystery Part 19

"What else?"

"Thin Oi heard the front dure slam."

"Did you see anybody come in or go out?"

"Sure, an' Oi did not."

"What time was this, as near as you can remember?"

"Atwixt tin an' eliven o'clock."

"Did you hear anything after the slamming of the front door?"

"Oi did not, fer Oi wint down to the barn directly afterwards."

"How long did you remain down at the barn?"

"Till Miss Margaret came scr'amin' from the house. She cries, 'Mary, oh Mary! Me father! Me father!' an' staggers around loike she was goin' to fall, an' Oi run up to her an' hild her up, poor dear." And the servant girl shot a sympathetic glance in Margaret's direction.

"Ahem! Now--er--you remained in the barn until you heard her cry out.

Did you hear or see anything from the barn while you were down there?"

"Well, to tell the truth, sur, Oi didn't notice anythin' at the toime, bein' that interested in me pet chickens, sur. Ye see, Pat Callahan gave me three foine Leghorns, an'--"

"Never mind the Leghorns. If you saw or heard anything, what was it?"

"'Twas something Oi was afther hearin', sur. Oi think somebody ran past the barn, aisy loike."

"You didn't see anybody?"

"No, sur. As Oi said before, thim Leghorns that Pat Callahan gave me--"

"We'll--ahem! drop the Leghorns. After you heard the strange noise how long was it before you heard Miss Langmore scream?"

"Perhaps quarter av an hour, sur. Oi didn't look to the clock."

"And she fainted in your arms?"

"Not exactly that, sur. She scr'ams, 'Me father! me father! Mary, he is murdered! Go to the library!' An' thin she wint over in me arms loike a stone, poor dear, poor dear!" And the domestic began to weep afresh.

"What did you do then?"

"Sure, phat could Oi do? Oi scr'amed fer hilp as loud as Oi could, an'

thin Mrs. Bardon an' her son, Alfred, the docthor, came over."

"What happened next?"

"We all wint in the house, an' there we found poor Mr. Langmore dead in the library, in his chair. The doctor thought he moight be aloive yit an' had his mother an' me run upstairs fer some medicine from the medicine closet. In the upper hall we kim on Mrs. Langmore's body, also dead, an' I got that scared Oi turned an' flew down the back stairs an' out av the house loike the divil was afther me!"

There was a general laugh throughout the courtroom, at which the coroner rapped loudly on the desk.

"Silence. Such--ahem! conduct at an inquest is not to be allowed. If this happens again I shall clear the courtroom."

"Thet's right, Jack, make 'em behave themselves," came from the old farmer in front. "This is serious business, this is."

"What was done with the body of Mrs. Langmore?" continued the coroner to the servant girl.

"The docther said to lave it till you came."

"Mrs. Langmore was quite dead?"

"Yis. Hivin rest her sowl!"

"And Mr. Langmore?"

"Sure an' the docther could do nothin' fer the poor mon. It made the docther sick to work over the corpse an' he soon had to give it up."

"Now, tell me, how do you think the two were killed?"

"Oi dunno. The docther ought to tell that--sure an' he has the eddication, an' Oi haven't."

"There were no marks of violence?"

"Phat?"

"The victims had not been struck down?"

"Oi dunno as to that, sur--better axed the docther."

"Hum!" Coroner Busby mused for a moment. "How long have you lived with the Langmore family?"

"Iver since Mr. Langmore married his sicond woife."

"How many of the family lived at home?"

"The first year there was the mister and missus an' Miss Jennie an'

Miss Margaret. But Miss Jennie married an' moved away--she's travelin'

now, they tell me."

"Then Miss Margaret was the only child home?"

"Yis, sur."

"Didn't Mrs. Langmore have two sons?"

"Yis, but they niver lived there. One av thim used to come an' see her now an' thin, an' that's all."

"Was Miss Margaret on good terms with Mrs. Langmore?"