Read "The House of Mammon" by Fred M. White online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Public curiosity had been aroused, naturally enough, by the mysterious attack on John Sairson. It was one of the crimes that instinctively appeals to the popular imagination, and a great deal had been made of it in the press. There was a small army of "special correspondents" in the village with a free hand, and it was necessary, therefore, to keep the excitement going. As was only to be expected, Lady Laurisdale came in for her share of attention at the hands of the reporters. They had all sorts of ingenious excuses for calling at the Castle, until the whole thing began to get on her ladyship's nerves. She wrote to Major Renton, Chief Constable for the county, asking his advice. A day or two later Renton arrived to counsel her in person.
"I thought I'd drop in to see you," he said. "May I beg a mouthful of lunch? I don't know how we are to get to the bottom of the affair till Sairson is in a position to speak for himself."