Читать книгу The Green Archer онлайн

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"He killed a child," nodded the other, "a child I dimly remember having seen. Whether he or one of his hirelings was immediately responsible I do not know. He hates children. I wonder if you took my wire seriously, the one in which I asked you whether Bellamy was interested in babies? It was a joke—a grim and perhaps a foolish joke. I sent it on the impulse of the moment. Abe Bellamy! He would sooner take his last dollar and cast it into the sea than give the filings of it to help a child!"

"Can't you tell me what he did—was it in America?"

"In America many years ago," said Wood. "I'm afraid that I have already said too much. Sooner or later I shall have proof. I have had two men working on the slight clues I have been able to furnish, and they have been working for years, one in London, one in America."

"He was in trouble with a children's protection society in America?"

"I know; but that had nothing to do with the case I am referring to. There was another case in New York city. He nearly killed an office-boy; threw him down a flight of stone stairs. Yes, I have Mr. Bellamy's public record at my finger-tips. It is his private record that I am seeking. The man is a born brute. It isn't only children that he has beaten. It cost him five thousand dollars to stop a case for assault brought by his valet. He hasn't had a valet since."