Fergus Hume

Name: The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3
Author: Fergus Hume

The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3 (1925)

Summary

“The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3”, published in 1925, is a work by Fergus Hume. It explores elements such as Trant, Aileen and Danby.

Quotes from The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3 (Fergus Hume)

Fergus Hume, The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3 (1925)

“ Publicly, Trant had the reputation of being a just and honourable officer, strict in his dealings with the criminal fraternity; privately, he possessed the common sense, arising from long experience, to know that there is a soul of good in all things evil. And that soul he was always looking for, so as to temper justice with mercy. Edith Danby was more fortunate than she knew, to have so reasonable a man in charge of such a baffling and suspicious case. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Fergus Hume, The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3 (1925)

“ CHAPTER III FACING THE WORST Noonday brought a motor-car from Tarhaven, which decanted Detective-Inspector Trant, two of his underlings and the Divisional-surgeon, at the gates of the cottage. Already the ill-news—travelling proverbially fast—was known in Fryfeld, and a gradually-increasing stream of excited villagers surged eagerly along the curved road towards the scene of the tragedy. Men and women, also children, morbidly curious, invaded the grounds of the solitary dwelling, to stare fearfully at its grim walls of grey stone, and pointed roof of sombre slates. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Fergus Hume, The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3 (1925)

“ White Nights, as the French call them, are unknown to me.”
“Naturally!” agreed Trant, cordially. “Youthful health and an untroubled conscience banish insomnia. I understand then, that you heard nothing?”
“Nothing! It never occurred to me to lie awake, expecting to hear anything.”
“Yet this cottage is very isolated, and the countryside is disturbed by the aftermath of the war. A burglar might have——”
Aileen laughed and shrugged her pretty shoulders. “Miss Danby and I have lived here for twelve months, in perfect peace and quietness.” ”

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Source: Wikisource

Fergus Hume, The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3 (1925)

“ Before the girl could assent to this tentative opinion, the older woman roused herself from a state of apparent indifference, to ask an abrupt question vehemently. “Are you sure that it is a case of murder?”
“It certainly looks very much like it,” responded the officer, dryly.
“Why not a case of suicide?”
“Setting aside the difficulty of tattooing an unpleasant name on one’s own forehead, why should a man bent upon suicide do such a silly thing?” Then, as Edith simply answered with a shrug of her shoulders, Trant continued: “Did Dr. Slanton ever suggest to you that he would commit suicide?” ”

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Source: Wikisource

Fergus Hume, The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3 (1925)

“ You smoke opium, and the doctor, now examining the body, says that the man was drugged with opium.”
Aileen uttered a cry of terror. Every moment Edith was being entangled more and more in the nets of the Law: but she tried to defend her friend. “It’s impossible that—that Miss Danby should have—should have——”
“Should have drugged Dr. Slanton and then tattooed the name ‘Cain’ on his forehead,” finished Trant, emphatically. “Why should it be impossible? But if it is impossible as you suggest, I ask Miss Danby to explain away the impossibility. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Fergus Hume, The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3 (1925)

“ His face generally wore a severe expression, the result of official self-control; but his light blue eyes beamed occasionally with kindly glances, and when he smiled, his whole being was transformed into the semblance of a benign deity, prone to mercy. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Fergus Hume, The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3 (1925)

“ At the door he halted again. “Who is the owner of this cottage?”
“Squire Richard Hustings, who lives in the old Manor House at the end of Fryfeld, beyond the church. He’s a lawyer, sir, and goes daily to Town.”
“Is he intimate with his tenants?”
“Not with Miss Danby, sir, I think,” replied the constable, doubtfully, “he comes occasionally to the cottage. I rather think, sir, that he admires Miss More.”
Trant nodded. “He’s a young man then.”
“Twenty-eight, or thereabouts, sir. Was a captain during the war and got the D.S.O. Everyone about here loves him.”
“And he loves Miss Aileen More. ”

Fergus Hume

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Quotes from The Whispering Lane — Chapter 3 (Fergus Hume)

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