Newspapers / Jackson County Journal (Sylva, … / Nov. 5, 1931, edition 1 / Page 3
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MARY ROBERTS RINEHART COPY?tO*7?n;/ y MABV 0Qfi?Ors V/NtHART f t FOURTH INSTALMENT StXQTSU . (?W trik iu ttmy), Ifc, ?U?. # Mn. Dm*, Htrktn fcfa jfrer A Mc*. a xl Dr. 3p?rfy. frl?MB aai Tgirifhbors, trc w dn Mint oi fcaMlag *t?Wy need ox*. At ok ?f iJH-ia, Mn Dm*. ? u koauw, varN? tb? y ^rraM by urnxfactadi? ?rrmofhjf a irprit ?y*lk tcancc with Miaa JtrMjr, a friem4 ?f th Sherry aad Ml a profaaataaal, u the 4?tlML M tb? &r?t littmf tha medium tella lh? iattila of a aittrdar as it ta occurring Later ibu nifkt Sparry Uamt tlut a nciytibor. .v-tfcor Wclla. m kea* afcot Biyatrrioaalv. fnknaoa h? rpaa.^o Uf \V?tl? raaidmrc ,,<uf tiry fio'l C?nRf?adoa of tKfc Mrfiun'a ?avvuat Mn. W?Qa tcQa thta bcr bttafcaotl zhtf himaeif in a fit ot dtfrouoa *OW CO ON WITH THE STORY Believing then that something migltt puc>sibly be bidden ther?, f made an kftvestifatkm, and could tee some small otyectf lying there. Sperry brought se * stick from the dressing-room, Aiul with ita aid succeeded in bringing ?ut the two articles which were ip ?;romental in starting us on our brief adventurous career* a?'private* in-: srsligutors. One was a leather razor itrop. old and stiff from disu#e, and rh? other a wet bath sponge, now atoned with blood to a yellowish tr'wa. She is lying, Sperry." I said. "He if.; Mimewheee else, a tyl she dragged ijih: ui where he was Jbuud.'' 'But?why?" I don't know," I said impatiently. "Kr <m some place where a man would br unlikely to kill himself, 1 daresay. Nu one ever killed hitmelf, for in ?uv,ce. in an op n hallway. Or stopped snaving to do it." "We havf only Miss Jeremv's word i,y that," he said, sullenly. Tonfojmd it. H'-race, don't let's bring in that ?uff't we can help it." We * *red at each other, with the uri'pM.4 the s|?>nge between us. Sud denly he Turned on his heel and went back into !hc room, and a moment lawr he c?Hrd me, quietly. "You're r ght." Ik said. "The poor drill was .'Having. tie had it half 4m:t. Come, and look." Ha: I did not go. There wan v c?'?:e i>f water in the bathroom, and / took a drink from it. ? My hands w erf shaking. When I turned around 1 found Sptnrv in the hall, examin>" Hf carpet with his flash light, and w an^J tlien st<n>ping to ruq his band f over the flo.>r. l "Nothing here," he said in a low tone, when l.had joiued him. "At least I haven't found anything." How much o' Sherry's proceeding with the carpel the governed lud seen I do not know. I glanced up and she was t'<r*re, on the staircase to the third floor, watching us. She came, down the stairs, a lean young Frenchwoman in a dark dress ing gown, and Sperry suggested that the should hike an opiate, line seiztu at the idea, tout Sperry did not go town at once for his professional bag. \ "You were; bot here when it oc tu; ed, Mademoiselle?" he inquired. No, lioctor. 1 had been out for a She clasped her hands. "When I came back "Was he still on thg floor oithe dresiiiig-rooqi when you came in?" But yes. Of course. She was alone. Sitt omild not lif^h^m." ''i jet," Sperr* aaid thoughtfully. "So, I dare-say sh4.couldn't. Was the rerolm on the floor also?" 'Yes, doctor. I myself picked H sp." To Sperry the showed, I observed, ? slight deference, hut when she glanced at me, aa she did after each reply, I thought her expression slight ly altered. At the tifce this puxxled but it was eaplalntid when Sperry ?Urted down the stair#.'' "Monsieur is of the police?" A* uked, with a Frenchwoman's timid ftipect lor the conatatmlary. 1 hesitated before I answered. I ud a truthful man, and I hate un necessary lying. But I a|k obosiderm tton of the circunutanoee^ "I am making a few investigations," lio'dber. "You say Mrs^wdts was ?l"W iu thp house, except tor tjfr htaa bafxj?" ' *' "The children." Mr. Wells wat shaving, 1 before, the - er ? impulse overtook ftlHi ?" j~ There way ?yo doabt m w Jpe^ rar pHe. "Shaving? I think pdC "What mm of rztor did M. ordin arily use?" *? i: safety raior alwavt. At Uast I ?^e never #een any other* arcAnd." "1 here is a case of okMaahbned raiors in the bathroom." y he glanced toward the room and] *hru(fj?ed her shoulders. "Poss&ly he u-ed -.ilters. I have not seen altj*" "It was you, I suppose, who cleaned afterwards." "(!?*ne<l up ?" "Vlu wIk> washed up the stains?" "Stains? Oh, no, monsieur, Noth ? >f the sort has yet been done." 1 felt that she was telling the truth, *< !ar as she knew it. and I then ??sk' d ;ik^it the revolver. "IV vMi know whetf Mr. WeUj kei*! his revolver(> "W'hrp i first came it was in the ?'rawer M rhat taSle I suggested that V ;>lace<! Se^nd the children'i " ?'h I uut know where it w?r 'Dd vou recall how you left the 'frontdoor when you went out? I mean*' was it locked?" "Ntk The servants were out, and I kneii^ there would be no one to ad mit m<. I left it unfastened." But U was evident that she had broken k rule of the house by doing ?o, for ^he added: "1 am afraid to use the servants' entrance. It is dark there," \ "The lciv is ail ways hung on the nail when ihey^are out?" "Yes. 1^ any one of them is out it is left there. There is only one key. The family'i is out a great deal, and it saves bringing some one down from the servants' rooms at the top of the was when wc were going out, and after Hawkins had opened the front door for us. It hid been freezing hard, and Sperry, who has a bad ankle, looked about for a walking stick. He found one, and I saw Haw kins take a swift step- forward, and then stop, witn no expression what ever in his face. "This will answer, Hawkins." "Yes, sir," said Hawkins impas sively. And if 1 realize that Sperry was nervosa that night, T also realize that he was fighting a battle quite his own, and with its personal problems. "She's got to quit this sort of thing," he said savagely ?id apropos pp^ li '/ * *** i ?" ?:?<?.{.?? Sperry was on the floor, esanunir" :n? carpet with hi* flas'ili?.<t._ j house. But I think mv knowledge of the [key lxi the red her. for srnnc reasi'ti. ! Af!?l a? I read over my ?|iiestion$. cer tainly they indicated a suspicion that the situation was less simple than It appeared. She slyot a quick glance at me. "Did you examine the revo.'ter when you picktd it up:" "f. monsieur? Theti hrr fears, whatever ihev were,' got the best fit her "1 know not'tin? lu t wint I fell you. I was om I can prove fh:?f that is ?n f wen* to a pharmacy; the clerk will remember. I know, monsieur, he will tell you , thai l useu ur- ic?cphoue tnefe." 1 toid her tuat it v\ould uot be nec essary tor her to go i o ttie pnarmacy, | and she muttered something about the j dmdreA and went up the stairs. W hen, Spcrry came back with the opiate she w-s itowbere in sight, and he was con siderably annoyed. "She knows something," 1 told him. "She is frightened." .. Sperry eyed me with a hali frown. ''aow see here, Horace," he said, "suppose we had come in here, without the thought of that seance behind us i' We'd have accepted thf thing as it appears to be, wouldn't we: There J i may be a dozen explanations for tha'' | sponge, and for the razor strop. Whit in heaven's name has a razor it-op to do with it anyhow ? One bullet was fired, and the revolver has one empty chamber. It may not be the custom to stop shaving in order to commit suicide, but that's no argument thai it can't be done, and as to :h? key? how do I know that my own back door key isn't hong outside on a nail sometimes ?" "We might look again tor; thai hole in the ceiling." "I won't do k. Miss Jeremy has read of something oi that sort, or heard j?f it, and storsd it in her sub conscious mind." But he glanced up at the ceiling nevertheless, and ? axmeat later had drawn up a chair and. f tepped onto it, and Idid the same thing. We pre sented, 1 imagine, rather a strange pic ture, and I know that the presence of the rigid figure on the oouch gave me a sort of ghoulish feeling. The house was an old one, and in the center of the high ceiling a plas ter ornament surrounded the chande lier. Our search gradtally centered on this ornament, but tbje cnairs were low and our loof-distance examination revealed nothing. It mi gt that time, too, that we heard tome one in the lower hall, and we had only a moment to oat oar chairs in place before the butler came in. He showed no sur prise, bot stood looking at the body on the couch, his thin face working. "I met the detectives outside, doc tor," he said "It's a terrible thin;, sir, a terrible thin*." "I'd keep the other servants out of this room. Hawkins." "Yes, sir " He went over to the sheet, lifted the edge slowly, and then replaced it. and tip-toed to ihp door. "The others are no' ?ack yet. I'll admit them, and get them up quietly. How i? Mrs. Wells?" Sleeping." Sperry said briefly, and HkWkins went out. I realize now that Sperrv was?I am sure he will forgive this?in a state of nerves that night. For ex ample, he returned only an impatient | Y'knee to my doubt as to whether 'Hawkins had really only just returned md he quite missed something down slfrirs which I later proved to have an important bearing on the case. This i of rs we walked a'-, s;. "I', s hard ? ier. ;nnl besides " i "Yo<v* ".Sie couidr.': have learn--ci al <o-.it it." In* - i'd. f i!lnu i:i*f his ?n*.n ;r:::! <">: tln:ug!:.. "My cti brought her from her home to the hou.-e-d-ior. SV was brought in to i:s at r.nce But dw't }ou >re that if there are otlvr J? k-I ?Hr >'i)t-1 to prnv.- her statements set -?Hf, die's as iimovcii! as a ehiid. hiit tak* HerVrf, f.ir ristanre Do \r?ii o'- he'll Iivlievi" >!>e Iia.J no oiit'ide inform;.! i<n "flu: it ivi? hv**v?-;m? while we wore Mi.'.t in ti:.* draw:iy-n??ui." "So Elinor claims. But it there Was anyinmg to hide, it would have taken time. An hour or so, perhaps. You can see ho iv Herbert vwuikt jump on that." 1 said irritably to him. "I intend to go home, u is 1:30 in the morning." ' But as it happened, 1 did not go into my house when i reached ^fk. I was wide awake, and I perceived, on looking up at my wife's windows, that the lights were out. As it is her custom to wait up for me on those rare occasions when I spend an eve ring away from home, 1 surmised that she was comfortably asleep, and made j my way to the pharmacy to which the [ WeMses' governess had referred. The night-clerk was in the prcscrip |tion-room behind the shop. He had jiixed himself comfortably on two chairs, with an old table-cover over his knee and a hal t'-empty bottle oi sarsaparilla on a wooden box beside him. He did not waken until I'spoke to him. "Surry to rouse you, Jim," I said. He flung off the cover and jumped up, upsetting the bottle, which trickled a stale stream to the floor. "Oh. that's all right, Mr. Johnson. I wasn't Asleep, anyhow." I let that go, and went at once to the object of our visit. Yes, he re membered the governess, knew her. as a matter of fact. Tne Wellses bought a good many things there. Asked is to'her telephoning, he thought it vu about nine o'clock, maybe earl ier. But questioned as to what she had telephoned about, he drew himself up. "Oh,, see here," he said. "I can't very well tell'you that, can I? This business has got ethics, all sorts of etmcs. He enlarged on that. The secrets of th? city, he maintained loftily, were in the hands of the pharmacies. It wa? a tryst that they kept "Every trouble from dope to drink, and then ?orne," he .boasted. When I told him that Arthur Wells was dead his jaw dropped, hut there was no more argument in him. He knew very well the number the gov erness had called. "She's done it several times," lie said. "I'll be frank with you. I got curicr after the third evening, and called it myself. You know the trick. I found out it was the Ellingham house, up State Street." "What was the nature of the con versations?" "Oh, she was .very careful. It's an open phone and.any one could hear her. Once she said somebody was not to come. Another time she Just said. 'This is Suzanne Gautier. 9:30. please.' " "And tonight?" "That the family was going oat? not to call." TO BE CONTINUED Special Offer Thursday and Friday Jackson County Journal A Year tor a Dollar THE LEADER'S UNLOADING Just a FewJDays More! 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Jackson County Journal (Sylva, N.C.)
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Nov. 5, 1931, edition 1
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