Semanticate

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@@ -83,11 +83,11 @@
 			<p>“My dear sir, I know what it is to run out of spirit. And I suppose there is no place in the whole of France where you might go farther without finding any than this very district. You are on pleasure bent, I presume?”</p>
 			<p>Merriman shook his head.</p>
 			<p>“Unfortunately, no,” he replied. “I’m travelling for my firm, Edwards &amp; Merriman, Wine Merchants of London. I’m Merriman, Seymour Merriman, and I’m going round the exporters with whom we deal.”</p>
-			<p>“A pleasant way to do it, <abbr>Mr.</abbr> Merriman. My name is Coburn. You see I am trying to change the face of the country here?”</p>
+			<p>“A pleasant way to do it, <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Mr.</abbr> Merriman. My name is Coburn. You see I am trying to change the face of the country here?”</p>
 			<p>“Yes, Miss”⁠—Merriman hesitated for a moment and looked at the girl⁠—“Miss Coburn told me what you were doing. A splendid notion, I think.”</p>
 			<p>“Yes, I think we are going to make it pay very well. I suppose you’re not making a long stay?”</p>
 			<p>“Two days in Bordeaux, sir, then I’m off east to Avignon.”</p>
-			<p>“Do you know, I rather envy you. One gets tired of these tree trunks and the noise of the saws. Ah, there is your petrol.” A workman had appeared with a red can of Shell. “Well, <abbr>Mr.</abbr> Merriman, a pleasant journey to you. You will excuse my not going farther with you, but I am really supposed to be busy.” He turned to his daughter with a smile. “You, Madeleine, can see <abbr>Mr.</abbr> Merriman to the road?”</p>
+			<p>“Do you know, I rather envy you. One gets tired of these tree trunks and the noise of the saws. Ah, there is your petrol.” A workman had appeared with a red can of Shell. “Well, <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Mr.</abbr> Merriman, a pleasant journey to you. You will excuse my not going farther with you, but I am really supposed to be busy.” He turned to his daughter with a smile. “You, Madeleine, can see <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Mr.</abbr> Merriman to the road?”</p>
 			<p>He shook hands, declined Merriman’s request to be allowed to pay for the petrol and, cutting short the other’s thanks with a wave of his arm, turned back to the shed.</p>
 			<p>The two young people strolled slowly back across the clearing, the girl evidently disposed to make the most of the unwonted companionship, and Merriman no less ready to prolong so delightful an interview. But in spite of the pleasure of their conversation, he could not banish from his mind the little incident which had taken place, and he determined to ask a discreet question or two about it.</p>
 			<p>“I say,” he said, during a pause in their talk, “I’m afraid I upset your lorry man somehow. Did you notice the way he looked at me?”</p>

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 			<p>He swore under his breath, then, calling the news to his wife, he slipped on his waterproof and left the house. The long spell of fine weather had at last broken, and the evening was unpleasant, indeed unusually inclement for mid-September. All day the wind had been gusty and boisterous, and now a fine drizzle of rain had set in, which was driven in sheets against the grimy buildings and whirled in eddies round the street corners. Willis walked quickly along the shining pavements, and in a few minutes reached his destination. His chief was waiting for him.</p>
 			<p>“Ah, Willis,” the great man greeted him, “I’m glad you weren’t out. A case has been reported which I want you to take over; a suspected murder; man found dead in a taxi at King’s Cross.”</p>
 			<p>“Yes, sir,” Willis answered unemotionally. “Any details forward?”</p>
-			<p>“None, except that the man is dead and that they’re holding the taxi at the station. I have asked <abbr>Dr.</abbr> Horton to come round, and you had both better get over there as quickly as possible.”</p>
+			<p>“None, except that the man is dead and that they’re holding the taxi at the station. I have asked <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Dr.</abbr> Horton to come round, and you had both better get over there as quickly as possible.”</p>
 			<p>“Yes, sir,” Willis replied again, and quickly left the room.</p>
 			<p>His preparations were simple. He had only to arrange for a couple of plain clothes men and a photographer with a flashlight apparatus to accompany him, and to bring from his room a handbag containing his notebook and a few other necessary articles. He met the police doctor in the corridor and, the others being already in waiting, the five men immediately left the great building and took a car to the station.</p>
-			<p>“What’s the case, inspector, do you know?” <abbr>Dr.</abbr> Horton inquired as they slipped deftly through the traffic.</p>
+			<p>“What’s the case, inspector, do you know?” <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Dr.</abbr> Horton inquired as they slipped deftly through the traffic.</p>
 			<p>“The Chief said suspected murder; man found dead in a taxi at King’s Cross. He had no details.”</p>
 			<p>“How was it done?”</p>
 			<p>“Don’t know, sir. Chief didn’t say.”</p>
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 			<p>“Shot? Anything known of the murderer?”</p>
 			<p>“Not much, I’m afraid, sir. He got clear away in Tottenham Court Road, as far as I can understand it. But you’ll hear what the driver has to say.”</p>
 			<p>Again the Inspector nodded, as he stepped up to the vehicle.</p>
-			<p>“Here’s <abbr>Dr.</abbr> Newman,” the sergeant continued, indicating an exceedingly dapper and well-groomed little man with medico written all over him. “He was the nearest medical man we could get.”</p>
+			<p>“Here’s <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Dr.</abbr> Newman,” the sergeant continued, indicating an exceedingly dapper and well-groomed little man with medico written all over him. “He was the nearest medical man we could get.”</p>
 			<p>Willis turned courteously to the other.</p>
 			<p>“An unpleasant evening to be called out, doctor,” he remarked. “The man’s dead, I understand? Was he dead when you arrived?”</p>
 			<p>“Yes, but only a very little time. The body was quite warm.”</p>
@@ -82,20 +82,20 @@
 			<p>He folded it and set it aside for further examination, turning back to the body. Under his direction it was lifted out, placed on an ambulance stretcher provided by the railwaymen, and taken to a disused office close by. There the clothes were removed and, while the doctors busied themselves with the remains, Willis went through the pockets and arranged their contents on one of the desks.</p>
 			<p>The clothes themselves revealed but little information. The waterproof and shoes, it is true, bore the makers’ labels, but both these articles were the ready-made products of large firms, and inquiry at their premises would be unlikely to lead to any result. None of the garments bore any name or identifiable mark.</p>
 			<p>Willis then occupied himself the contents of the pockets. Besides the gold watch and chain, bunch of keys, knife, cigarette case, loose coins and other small objects which a man such as the deceased might reasonably be expected to carry, there were two to which the inspector turned with some hope of help.</p>
-			<p>The first was a folded sheet of paper which proved to be a receipted hotel bill. It showed that a <abbr>Mr.</abbr> Coburn and another had stayed in the Peveril Hotel in Russell Square during the previous four days. When Willis saw it he gave a grunt of satisfaction. It would doubtless offer a ready means to learn the identity of the deceased, as well possibly as of the other, in whom Willis was already even more interested. Moreover, so good a clue must be worked without delay. He called over the second plain clothes man.</p>
+			<p>The first was a folded sheet of paper which proved to be a receipted hotel bill. It showed that a <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Mr.</abbr> Coburn and another had stayed in the Peveril Hotel in Russell Square during the previous four days. When Willis saw it he gave a grunt of satisfaction. It would doubtless offer a ready means to learn the identity of the deceased, as well possibly as of the other, in whom Willis was already even more interested. Moreover, so good a clue must be worked without delay. He called over the second plain clothes man.</p>
 			<p>“Take this bill to the Peveril, Matthews,” he ordered. “Find out if the dead man is this Coburn, and if possible get on the track of his companion. If I don’t get anything better here I shall follow you round, but keep the Yard advised of your movements in any case.”</p>
-			<p>Before the man left Willis examined the second object. It was a pocketbook, but it proved rather disappointing. It contained two five pound Bank of England notes, nine one pound and three ten shilling Treasury notes, the return half of a third-class railway ticket from Hull to King’s Cross, a Great Northern cloakroom ticket, a few visiting cards inscribed “<abbr>Mr.</abbr> Francis Coburn,” and lastly, the photograph by Cramer of Regent Sweet of a pretty girl of about twenty.</p>
-			<p>Willis mentally noted the three possible clues these articles seemed to suggest; inquiries in Hull, the discovery of the girl through <abbr>Messrs.</abbr> Cramer, and third and most important, luggage or a parcel in some Great Northern cloakroom, which on recovery might afford him help. The presence of the money also seemed important, as this showed that the motive for the murder had not been robbery.</p>
+			<p>Before the man left Willis examined the second object. It was a pocketbook, but it proved rather disappointing. It contained two five pound Bank of England notes, nine one pound and three ten shilling Treasury notes, the return half of a third-class railway ticket from Hull to King’s Cross, a Great Northern cloakroom ticket, a few visiting cards inscribed “<abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Mr.</abbr> Francis Coburn,” and lastly, the photograph by Cramer of Regent Sweet of a pretty girl of about twenty.</p>
+			<p>Willis mentally noted the three possible clues these articles seemed to suggest; inquiries in Hull, the discovery of the girl through <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Messrs.</abbr> Cramer, and third and most important, luggage or a parcel in some Great Northern cloakroom, which on recovery might afford him help. The presence of the money also seemed important, as this showed that the motive for the murder had not been robbery.</p>
 			<p>Having made a parcel of the clothes for transport to the Yard, reduced to writing the statements of the driver and of the porter who had made the discovery, and arranged with the doctors as to the disposal of the body, Willis closed and locked the taxi, and sent it in charge of a constable to Scotland Yard. Then with the cloakroom ticket he went round to see if he could find the office which had issued it.</p>
 			<p>The rooms were all shut for the night, but an official from the stationmaster’s office went round with him, and after a brief search they found the article for which the ticket was a voucher. It was a small suitcase, locked, and Willis brought it away with him, intending to open it at his leisure.</p>
 			<p>His work at the station being by this time complete, he returned to the Yard, carrying the suitcase. There, though it was growing late, he forced the lock, and sat down to examine the contents. But from them he received no help. The bag contained just the articles which a man in middle-class circumstances would naturally carry on a week or a fortnight’s trip⁠—a suit of clothes, clean linen, toilet appliances, and suchlike. Nowhere could Willis find anything of interest.</p>
 			<p>Telephone messages, meanwhile, had come in from the two plain clothes men. Jones reported that he had interviewed all the constables who had been on point duty at the places in question, but without result. Nor could any of the staffs of the neighbouring hotels or restaurants assist him.</p>
-			<p>The call from the Peveril conveyed slightly more information. The manageress, so Matthews said, had been most courteous and had sent for several members of her staff in the hope that some of them might be able to answer his questions. But the sum total of the knowledge he had gained was not great. In the first place, it was evident that the deceased was <abbr>Mr.</abbr> Coburn himself. It appeared that he was accompanied by a Miss Coburn, whom the manageress believed to be his daughter. He had been heard addressing her as Madeleine. The two had arrived in time for dinner five days previously, registering “<abbr epub:type="z3998:given-name">F.</abbr> Coburn and Miss Coburn,” and had left about eleven on the morning of the murder. On each of the four days of their stay they had been out a good deal, but they had left and returned at different hours, and, therefore, appeared not to have spent their time together. They seemed, however, on very affectionate terms. No address had been left to which letters might be forwarded, and it was not known where the two visitors had intended to go when they left. Neither the manageress nor any of the staff had seen anyone resembling the tall man.</p>
-			<p>Inspector Willis was considerably disappointed by the news. He had hoped that <abbr>Mr.</abbr> Coburn’s fellow-guest would have been the murderer, and that he would have left some trace from which his identity could have been ascertained. However, the daughter’s information would no doubt be valuable, and his next care must be to find her and learn her story.</p>
+			<p>The call from the Peveril conveyed slightly more information. The manageress, so Matthews said, had been most courteous and had sent for several members of her staff in the hope that some of them might be able to answer his questions. But the sum total of the knowledge he had gained was not great. In the first place, it was evident that the deceased was <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Mr.</abbr> Coburn himself. It appeared that he was accompanied by a Miss Coburn, whom the manageress believed to be his daughter. He had been heard addressing her as Madeleine. The two had arrived in time for dinner five days previously, registering “<abbr epub:type="z3998:given-name">F.</abbr> Coburn and Miss Coburn,” and had left about eleven on the morning of the murder. On each of the four days of their stay they had been out a good deal, but they had left and returned at different hours, and, therefore, appeared not to have spent their time together. They seemed, however, on very affectionate terms. No address had been left to which letters might be forwarded, and it was not known where the two visitors had intended to go when they left. Neither the manageress nor any of the staff had seen anyone resembling the tall man.</p>
+			<p>Inspector Willis was considerably disappointed by the news. He had hoped that <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Mr.</abbr> Coburn’s fellow-guest would have been the murderer, and that he would have left some trace from which his identity could have been ascertained. However, the daughter’s information would no doubt be valuable, and his next care must be to find her and learn her story.</p>
 			<p>She might of course save him the trouble by herself coming forward. She would be almost certain to see an account of the murder in the papers, and even if not, her father’s disappearance would inevitably lead her to communicate with the police.</p>
 			<p>But Willis could not depend on this. She might, for example, have left the previous day on a voyage, and a considerable time might elapse before she learned of the tragedy. No; he would have to trace her as if she herself were the assassin.</p>
 			<p>He looked at his watch and was surprised to learn that it was after one o’clock. Nothing more could be done that night, and with a sigh of relief he turned his steps homewards.</p>
-			<p>Next morning he was back at the Yard by eight o’clock. His first care was to reexamine the taxi by daylight for some mark or article left by its recent occupants. He was extraordinarily thorough and painstaking, scrutinizing every inch of the floor and cushions, and trying the door handles and window straps for finger marks, but without success. He went over once again the clothes the dead man was wearing as well as those in the suitcase, took prints from the dead man’s fingers, and began to get things in order for the inquest. Next, he saw <abbr>Dr.</abbr> Horton, and learned that <abbr>Mr.</abbr> Coburn had been killed by a bullet from an exceedingly small automatic pistol, one evidently selected to make the minimum of noise and flash, and from which a long carry was not required.</p>
+			<p>Next morning he was back at the Yard by eight o’clock. His first care was to reexamine the taxi by daylight for some mark or article left by its recent occupants. He was extraordinarily thorough and painstaking, scrutinizing every inch of the floor and cushions, and trying the door handles and window straps for finger marks, but without success. He went over once again the clothes the dead man was wearing as well as those in the suitcase, took prints from the dead man’s fingers, and began to get things in order for the inquest. Next, he saw <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Dr.</abbr> Horton, and learned that <abbr epub:type="z3998:name-title">Mr.</abbr> Coburn had been killed by a bullet from an exceedingly small automatic pistol, one evidently selected to make the minimum of noise and flash, and from which a long carry was not required.</p>
 			<p>When the details were complete he thought it would not be too early to call at the Peveril and begin the search for Miss Coburn. He therefore sent for a taxi, and a few minutes later was seated in the office of the manageress. She repeated what Matthews had already told him, and he personally interviewed the various servants with whom the Coburns had come in contact. He also searched the rooms they had occupied, examined with a mirror the blotting paper on a table at which the young lady had been seen to write, and interrogated an elderly lady visitor with whom she had made acquaintance.</p>
 			<p>But he learned nothing. The girl had vanished completely, and he could see no way in which he might be able to trace her.</p>
 			<p>He sat down in the lounge and gave himself up to thought. And then suddenly an idea flashed into his mind. He started, sat for a moment rigid, then gave a little gasp.</p>