ed before the several witnesses on the night of the awful
murder.

"When the coroner and jury were seated, the first piece of information
which the police placed before them was the astounding statement that
Mr. Timothy Beddingfield's whereabouts had not been ascertained, though
it was confidently expected that he had not gone far and could easily be
traced. There was a witness present who, the police thought, might throw
some light as to the lawyer's probable destination, for obviously he had
left Birmingham directly after his interview with the deceased.

"This witness was Mrs. Higgins, who was Mr. Beddingfield's housekeeper.
She stated that her master was in the constant habit--especially
latterly--of going up to London on business. He usually left by a late
evening train on those occasions, and mostly was only absent thirty-six
hours. He kept a portmanteau always ready packed for the purpose, for he
often left at a few moments' notice. Mrs. Higgins added that her master
stayed at the Great Western Hotel in London, for it was there that she
was instructed to wire if anything urgent required his presence back in
Birmingham.

"'On the night of the 14th,' she continued, 'at nine o'clock or
thereabouts, a messenger came to the door with the master's card, and
said that he was instructed to fetch Mr. Beddingfield's portmanteau, and
then to meet him at the station in time to catch the 9.35 p.m. up train.
I gave him the portmanteau, of course, as he had brought the card, and
I had no idea there could be anything wrong; but since then I have heard
nothing of my master, and I don't know when he will return.'

"Questioned by the coroner, she added that Mr. Beddingfield had never
stayed away quite so long without having his letters forwarded to him.
There was a large pile waiting for him now; she had written to the Great
Western Hotel, London, asking what she should do about the letters, but
had received no reply. She did not know the messenger by sight who had
called for the portmanteau. Once or twice before Mr. Beddingfield had
sent for his things in that manner when he had been dining out.

"Mr. Beddingfield certainly wore his Inverness cape over his dress
clothes when he went out at about six o'clock in the afternoon. He also
wore a Glengarry cap.

"The messenger had so far not yet been found, and from this
point--namely, the sending for the portmanteau--all traces of Mr.
Timothy Beddingfield seem to have been lost. W