" THE STORY OF OUR LIVES FROM YEAR TO YEAE.'—SHAKHSPEAKE. ALL THE TEAR ROUND. A WEEKLY JOURNAL. CONDUCTED BY CHARLES DICKENS. WITH M-HICH IS INCORPORATED HOUSEHOLD WORDS. [I°- 485.] SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 1868. [PKICE 2rf. On forcing the door of the room, tbe de­ THE MOONSTONE. ceased gentleman was discovered, dead, with Bl THB AniHOB or " TpK WOUAH IS WBITB," &C &C. the pillow of the bed over his face. The medical man who examined him, being iuformed of this SECOND PEBIOD. THE DISCOVERT OF THE circumstance, considered the post-mortem ap­ TRUTH. (1848—1849.) pearances as being perfectly cohipatible with murder by smothering—that is to say, with SIXTH NAIRRATIVE. murder committed by some person, or persons, Contributed by Sergeant Cuff. pressing the pillow over the nose aud mouth of I. the deceased, until death resulted from conges­ DOBKISG, Surrey, July 30tii, 1849. To tion of the lungs. Franklin Blake, Esq. Sir.—I beg to apolodse Next, as to the motive for the crime. for the delay that has occurred in the produc­ A small box, with a sealed paper torn off tion of the Report with which I enp;aged to from it rthe paper containing an inscription) fnmish you. I have waited to make it a com­ was founa open, and empty, ou a table in the plete Report; and I have been met, here and room. Mr. Luker has lumself personally iden- there, ^by obstacles which it was only possible tiQed the box, the seal, and the inscription. He to remove by some little expenditure of patience has declared that the box did actually contain and time. the diamond, called the Moonstone; aud he The object which I proposed to myself has has admitted having given the box (thus sealed now, I hope, been attained. You will find, in up) to Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite (then concealed these pages, answers to the greater part—if not under a disguise), on the afternoon of the all—of tlie questions, concerning the late Mr. twenty-sixth of June last. The fair inference Godfrey Ablewhite,which occurred to your mind from all this is, that the stealing of the Moon­ when I last had the honour of seeing you. stone was the motive of the crime. I propose to tell you—in. the first place—• Next, as to the manner in which the crime what is known of the manner in which your was committed. cousin met iiis death ; appending to the state­ On examination of the room (which is only ment such inferences and conclusions as we seven feet high), a trap-door in the ceiling, are justified (according to my opinion) in draw­ leading out on to the roof of the house, was ing from the facts. discovered open. The short ladder, used for I shall then endeavour—in the second place obtaining access to the trap-door (and kept —to put you in possession of such discoveries under the bed), was found placed at the open­ as I have made, respecting the proceedings of ing, so as to enable any person, or persons, in Mr. Godfrey Ablewiiite, before, during, and the room, to leave it agam easily. In the trap­ after the time, when you and he met as guests door itself was found a scjuare aperture cut in at the late Lady Verinder's country house. the wood, apparently with some exceedingly sharp instrument, just behiud the bolt which n. fastened the door on the iuner_ side. In this way, any person from the outside could have As to yotir cousin's death, then, first. drawn back the bolt, and opened the door, and It appears to me to be established, beyond have dropped (or have been noiselessly lowered any reasonable doubt, that he was killed (while by an accomplice) into the room—its height, as he was asleep, or immediately on his waking) by already observed, being only seven feet. That being smothered with a pillow from his bed— some person, or persons, must have got admis­ that the persons guilty of murdering liim are sion in this way, appears evident from the fact the three Indians—and that the object con­ of the aperture being there. As to the manner templated (and achieved) by the crime, was to in which he (or they) obtained access to the obtain possession of the diamond, called The roof of the tavern, it is to be remarked that the Moonstone. third house, lower down in the street, was The facts from which this conclusion is empty, and under repair—that a long ladder drawn, are derived partly from an examination was left by the workmen, leading from the of the room at the tavern; and partly from the pavement to the top of the house—and that, evidence obtained at the Coroner's Inquest. 485 194 [Angii.itS, IhOS.] ALL THE YEAR ROUND. [Conducted by on reluruing to their work, on the morning of I have only to add, Ihat the verdict at the the 27tli, the men fouud the plank which tiicy Coroner's Inquest was Wilful Murder agamst had lied to the ladder, to prevent auy one from some person, or persons, unknown. Mr.'Able- usiug it in their absence, removed, and lying on while's family have offered a reward, and no Ihc ground. As to the possibility of asceiiding efTorfc Jias been left untried to discover the by this ladder, glassing over the roofs of the guilty persons. The man dressed like a mechanio houses, i)a5.sin,i( back, and descending again, un­ has eluded all inquiries. The Indians have been observed—it is discovered, on the evidence of traced. As to the prospect, of ultimately cap­ the night policcnifin, that he ouly passes through turing these last, I shall have a word to say to Shore Lane twi^e in an houi', when out on his you on that head, wheu 1 reach the end of the beat. The It'stiniouy of the inhabitants also present Report. declares, lli:it Short; Lane, after midnight, is In the mean while, having now written all one of the qiii'.'les). and loneliest streets in that is needful on the subject of Mr. Godfrey London. Here ag;dn, therefore, it seems fair Ablewhite's death, I may pass next to the to infer that—wilh ordinary caution, aud pre­ narrative of his proceedings before, during, aud sence of niiud—any man, or meu, might have after the time, when you and he met; at the ascended by the ladder, aud might have de­ late Lady Verinder's house. scended again, unobserved, Oucc on the roof of the tavern, it has been proved, by experi- Uient, fhat a man uiight eut through Ihe trap­ "With regard to the subject now in hand, I door, while lying down on it, aud that in such a may state, at the outset, that Mr. Godfrey Able- position, the para|)L't iu front of the house would white's life had two sides to it. conceal him from the view of any one passing Tiie side turned up to the public view, pre­ iu the street. sented the spectacle of a geutleman, possessed Lastly, as to the pnrson, or persons, by whom of considerable reputation as a speaker at the crime was committed. charilable meetings, and endowed with, ad- It is known (1) tliat the Indians had an inte­ ministiative abilities, which he placed at the rest in possessing Ihcmselves of the Bianiond. disposal of various Benevolent Societies, mostly (2) It is at least jirobable that the man looking of the female sort. The side kept hidden, like an Indian, whoju Octavius Guy saw at from the general notice, exhibited this same the window of the cab, sjieakiug to the man gentleman in the totally different character of dressed like a mechauic, was one of the three a man of pleasure, with a villa iu the suburbs Hindoo con^]urators. (3) It is certain that which was not taken in his own name, and with this same man diessed like a mechanic, was a lady in the villa, who was not taken in his own seen keeping Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite in view, name, either. all through the evening of the 26th, and was My investigations in the villa have shown me found iu the Ijedroom (before Mr. Ablewhite several due pictures and statues; farnitura was shown into it) under circumslanccs which tastefully selected, and admirably made; and a lead to the suspicion that he was examining the conservatory of the rarest flowers, the match room. (4) A morsel of torn gold thread was of which it would not be easy to find in all picked up in the bedroom, which persons expert Loudon. My investigation of the lady has re­ in such matters, declare to be of Lidian manu­ sulted in the discovery of jewels which are facture, and to be a species of gold thread not worthy to take rank with the flowers, and of knowu in England. (5) Oa the morning of the carriages and horses which have (deservedly). 27tli, three men, answering to the description produced a sensation in the Park, among persons' of the three Indians, \Yere observed in Lower well qualified to judge of the build of tue one, Thames Street, were traced to the Tower and the breed of the others. AVharf, aud were seen lo leave London by the AU this is, so fai-, common enough. Tlie villa, steamer bound fur lioLterdam. and the lady aro such familiar objects in Loidcni.