s passed between them, and some little presents,
amongst which was a beaded chain carrying a locket, and in this he was
fool enough to put his portrait and the inscription, 'Edith, from
Harold.'
"Later on Miss Grant, who had a rather good voice, went on the stage, in
the comic opera line, and, in consequence, her habits and associates
changed somewhat; and, as Harold had meanwhile become engaged, he was
naturally anxious to get his letters back, and especially to exchange
the locket for some less compromising gift. The letters she eventually
sent him, but refused absolutely to part with the locket.
"Now, for the last month Harold has been staying at Halbury, making
sketching excursions into the surrounding country, and yesterday
morning he took the train to Shinglehurst, the third station from here,
and the one before Woldhurst.
"On the platform here he met Miss Grant, who had come down from London,
and was going on to Worthing. They entered the branch train together,
having a first-class compartment to themselves. It seems she was wearing
his locket at the time, and he made another appeal to her to make an
exchange, which she refused, as before. The discussion appears to have
become rather heated and angry on both sides, for the guard and a porter
at Munsden both noticed that they seemed to be quarrelling; but the
upshot of the affair was that the lady snapped the chain, and tossed it
together with the locket to my brother, and they parted quite amiably at
Shinglehurst, where Harold got out. He was then carrying his full
sketching kit, including a large holland umbrella, the lower joint of
which is an ash staff fitted with a powerful steel spike for driving
into the ground.
"It was about half-past ten when he got out at Shinglehurst; by eleven
he had reached his pitch and got to work, and he painted steadily for
three hours. Then he packed up his traps, and was just starting on his
way back to the station, when he was met by the police and arrested.
"And now, observe the accumulation of circumstantial evidence against
him. He was the last person seen in company with the murdered woman--for
no one seems to have seen her after they left Munsden; he appeared to be
quarrelling with her when she was last seen alive, he had a reason for
possibly wishing for her death, he was provided with an implement--a
spiked staff--capable of inflicting the injury which caused her death,
and, when he was searched, there was foun
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