When,
however, they went to arrest him, he laughed in the faces of the
detectives, placed something swiftly in his mouth and swallowed it
before they could prevent him--then ten minutes later he fell dead. He
knew what terrible revelations must be made if we gave evidence against
him, and he therefore preferred death by his own hand to that following
a judicial sentence.
Chater, although one of the most expert jewel thieves in Europe, had
never been actually guilty of any graver offense, and when we heard that
he was in San Francisco, where he had opened a small bar and was trying
to live honestly, we resolved to allow him to remain there. Indeed, Jack
wrote to him about nine months ago warning him never to set foot on
English soil again on pain of arrest.
Olinto Santini has recently opened a small restaurant in Western Road,
Brighton, and is, I believe, doing very well.
And ourselves! Well, what can I really tell you? Mere words fail to tell
you of the completeness of our happiness.
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