The Hangman's Knot by Arthur Gask — Read

"Of course, " said the Chief Commissioner of Police when the following Thursday morning Larose was discussing things with him in Scotland Yard, "we are not dealing with ordinary criminals here, and, from the very first, we suspected the motives behind these killings to be ones of revenge. Then, as they went on, long before we heard the story of Cynthia Cramm, we were certain of it. All the parties concerned, except that Samuel Wiggins of Leigh-on-Sea were, or had been public men, and in positions to excite enmity in unbalanced minds, particularly so Sir John Lorraine, as an ex-judge of the Criminal Courts. Apart from that, too, where opportunity had occurred, there had been no robbery from the person after any of the murders had been done."

"The series of crimes may have began with acts of private vengeance," commented Larose, "but now its manifestations seem to be merging into a general expression of hatred against the community." He spoke very thoughtfully. "That means, surely, that the assassins at one time or other have suffered public humiliation, that they have been socially ostracised, or maybe, even undergone terms of imprisonment with the entire approval of every one."