Show II I J III IIII I 1 T rl I p Tim C 1 ov I SYNOPSIS Lawrence Blakeley lawyer yer goes to I PIttsburg with the notes In the Bronson case to get the Ule deposition o or of I John millionaire In n the latter's home he Is attracted b by a picture of ot a n aYoung ayoung I young girl whom the millionaire millionaire- explains is his lila granddaughter A lady requests Blakeley to buy her hel a Pullman ticket He Hees gives es her lower eleven cleven and Tind retains lower ten teru He Tie finds a n drunken man In lower ten and retires In lower nine He Ho awakens awa awa- kens In lower seven and finds his clothes clothes' I and bag missing The Tue man In lower ten tenIs tenIs tenis is found murdered Circumstantial evidence evi den dence defoe points to both Blakeley and the thc unknown man who had e exchanged clothes with him becomes Interested In a n girl In blue The train Is wrecked Blakeley Is rescued from the burning car ear carby carby earby by the girl in blue His Ills arm is broken They go o to the tIle Carter place for break break- fast The girl proves to be Alison AUson West his partners partner's sweetheart Her peculiar actions mystify the lawyer She drops her gold bag and Blakeley puts It In his pocket Blakeley returns home He finds find that he Is und under r surveillance Moving pictures of the train taken Just before the wreck reveal to Blakeley a a. man leaping from the train with his stolen grip Blakeley learns that a a. man juan named Sullivan Sul Sul- livan leaped from the train near Mand M- M II 1 and sprained his ankle He stayed some sometime sometime sometime time at the Carter plat place Vh While 11 e making inquiries at Carters Carter's Blakeley finds Alison All Ali Allson Allson son and kisses h her r. r Mrs Sirs Conway the woman for whom Blakeley bought the Pullman ticket tries to make a bargain with him for the forged notes not knowIng knowIng know- know Ing tug that missing An amateur detective thinks he has 1153 found S Sullivan CHAPTER Co Continued I I sat at for a few minutes thinking It over ver But nut what did he mean by sayIng sayIng say say- Ing he hadn't seen the the- notes for ten days And why is Bronson mal making ing the overtures I I think he was l lying ing H Hotchkiss reflected Bronson hasn't reached his figure Its a big lilg ad advance vance Mr Hotchkiss and I appreciate te what you rou have done more than I can tell you I I 1 said And now if it you can locate any of ofray my ray property in this fellows fellow's room well we'll send him up for larceny and at I least have him where we can get at him Im I'm going to lo Cresson to-morrow to I Ito to try to trace him hima a a little from there But Ill I'll be he back back in in a couple of d days drs s 's sand and well we'll begin to gather in these scattered threads Hotchkiss r rubbed his ha hands ds together er delightedly it he said s what we want to do Mr III Blakeley Well We'll gather up the threads ourselves If we let the police In too soon they'll tangle It up again Im I'm not vindictive by nature but when a fellow like Sullivan Sul Sul- Sullivan livan not only commits a murder but goes to all sorts of trouble to put the burden of guilt en an innocent man mauT man mau- J T say say hunt him bim down sir e dG that Sullivan did it Who else Z He looked over his glasses s at me mc with the air of a man whose mental mentaL attitude altitude is unassailable Well listen to this I Isaid said Then I told old him at length of my encounter encounter en en- counter with Bronson Dronson in the restaurant restaurant rant of the bargain b-argain proposed by Mrs 1 Conway and finall finally of McKnights McKnight's new theory But although ho he was impressed impressed im im- im pressed he be was vas far from convinced Its a very v vivId piece of imagination tion he said but while It fits the evidence as far as it goes it does doesn't t go far enough How about the stains in lower seven the dirk and the wallet H Haven't vent we even got motive In that telegram n from Crom Bronson Yes I 1 admitted but that bit of chain chain- oh Tie he j said tIJU b tH yAu yourself lt Sullivan wore glasses with a n chain Our not finding them does docs not prove they did not exist And there I made an error half balt confidences are always mistakes I could not tell of the broken chain In Alison West's gold purse It was one o'clock when Hotchkiss finally left We Ve had by that time arranged arranged arranged ar ar- ar- ar ranged a definite course of action action- Hotchkiss I to search Sullivans Sullivan's rooms and If possible find evidence to have him held for Cor larceny arceny while I went to Cresson Strangely enough however however when I entered the train the following m morning morn mOrn- rn- rn lug ing Hotchkiss was already there He- He had bought a new notebook and was sharpening a fresh pencil I changed my plans plans- you see be he said bustling his newspaper aside aside- for Cor me mc Its no discredit to your intelligence Intelligence Intelli intelli- gence Mr 1 Blakeley but you OU lack the professional eye the analytical mind You legal gentlemen call caU a spade a n. spade although it may be a shovel A primrose by the rivers river's brim A Y yellow primrose was to him And nothing more I quoted as the train pulled out CHAPTER A A. A Night rIght at atthe th the Laurels I 1 slept most of th the wa way to to Cresson to the disgust of or the little HUle detective Finally h he struck up an acquaintance with a kindly faced old priest on his hIts way home to his convent school armed with a n roll of dance music and surreptitious surreptitious sur sur- bundles that looked like boxes of candy From scraps of conversation con- con I gleaned that th there re had been mysterious occurrences at tho the ending ending In the theft of or what he reverend father called vaguely vaguely- a quantity 4 of or I dropped asleep Bleep at that point and when I roused a few moments later the conversation I had bad progressed Hotchkiss d id a dla dla- tram ram on an envelope With this window bolted anti and that l ri 1 L- L c 72 one inaccessible and if as you say the theer garments er er garments were In a tub here at X then as you hold bold the key to the theother theother other door I dobr-I I think you said the- the convent convent convent con con- vent vent- dog did not raise any dIst distUrbance disturbance disturb distUrb- rb- rb ance Pardon a personal question but do you ever walk in your sleep The priest looked bewildered Ill urn tell you what to do Hotchkiss said cheerfully leaning loaning forward lookaround lookaround look lookaround around a little yourself before you call callIn callIn callin In the police is a queer thing Its It's a question whether we are arc most ourselves sleeping or waking Ever think of that Live a saintly life all day prayers and matins and all that and the subconscious mind hikes you out of bed at night to steal S Subliminal theft theft- so so to speak B Better examine the roof root I dozed again When I wakened Hotchkiss sat alone and tb the priest I from a corner was staring at him dazedly over his breviary It w was s s raining when we reached Cresson r tf wind-driven wind rain rain that that had forced the agent at the news stand to td close himself in and that beat back from Crom the rails in parallel lines hines of white spray pray As he went up the main street Hotchkiss was cheerfully oblivious oblivious oblivious ous of the weather of the threatening dusk cluck of pf our generally draggled condi condi- tion My draggled condition I should say for he be improved e every ery moment moment- his eyes ees brighter blighter his r ruddy face rud- rud his collar newer and glossier Sometime Sometime- when it does not encircle the ritte mans man's neck I shall test that collar with a x maich t tI I was growing glowing steadily more tore more depress depressed depressed de de- de- de press pressed d I loathed my errand and its necessity I had always held that a a aman aman man who played the SP spy on a woman came ame forward rubbing his hands followed followed followed fol fol- fol- fol lowed by a thin man in overalls Mr 11 1 Peck says he Ito began this began this is Mr lr Peck of Peck Peck says Peek says that the place we are looking for is about seven miles mUes from th j town Its It's clearing clearing clearing clear clear- ing isn't it It Is not I returned savagely 1 And we dont don't want a runabout Mr Mr Peck What we require Is an hermetically hermet hermet- sealed diving suit I suppose there Isn't a machine to be had 1 Mr Peck gazed at me in silence machine to him meant other things than mo mo- mo- mo tors Automobile I supplemented His face cleared None but private affairs 1 can give yo you a good buggy with a rubber apron Mike is the doctors doctor's horse hors in I am still uncertain as to whether the rawboned roan we took out that night ov over r the mountains was the doctors doctor's doctors doctor's doc doe tors tor's horse or not 1 If It was the doctor doctor doc doc- tor may be a good doctor bu but he doesn't know lenow anything about a a. horse And furth furthermore r ore I hope he ho didn't need the beast that miserable evening While le they harnessed the horse borse Hotchkiss told me what he be had bad learned Six Curtises in the town and vIcinity vicinity vi vI- emiLy he said Sort of family name around here One of them Is telegraph Is-telegraph operator at the tho station Person Perso we weare weare weare are looking for is was Is-was-a was a wealthy widow with a brother named brother named Sullivan Sullivan Sulli van Both Doth suppo supposed ed to have bave been killed on the FlIe Flier Her 1 brother I repeated stupidly You see fee Hotchkiss went on three people in fn one party took the train here that night Miss 1 West Mrs Curtis and Sullivan The two women had the drawing room S Sullivan had had- lower seven What we want to find out Is just who these people were where they came from If Bronson knew them and how Miss 1 West became became became be be- came entangled with them She may have married Sullivan for one thing I fell into gloom after that The Theroan Theroan Theroan roan was led led unwillingly into the weather Hotchkiss and nd I eclipsed behind behind be be- hind bind the b blanket The liveryman stood In the doorway and called dir directions to us You cant can't miss it il he finished Got the tho name over the gate anyhow anyhow The rhe Laurels Tho The Tho servants are still there leastways we didn't bring them I down He even took a step into the I rain as Hotchkiss picked up the lines If youre you're ing gAng to settle the estate I i c- c j A 9 fr- fr 4 1 C I I i I 1 e l i I Another Mile Mil e Saw Saw Us if Possible M ore Despondent was beneath contempt Then I admit I was vms afraid of what I might learn For a time however this promised to tobe tobe be bea a negligible quantity The streets of the straggling little mountain town had been clean washed of or humanity by the downpour Windows and end doors were inhospitably shut and from around an occasional drawn shade came narrow strips of light that merely merely merely mere mere- mere mere- ly emphasized our gloom When Hot Hotchkiss' Hotchkiss Hotchkiss' Hotchkiss Hotch Hotch- h- h kiss' kiss umbrella turned inside out I stopped d. d I dont don't know where you are going I snarled and I dont don't care But Im I'm going to get under cover inside of ten seconds S Im I'm not amphibious I ducked into the next shelter sheller which happened to be the yawning yarning entrance entrance entrance en en- trance to a livery s stable and sh shook ok myself dog dug fashion Hotchkiss Hotchkis's wiped his collar with his handkerchief It emerged gleaming and unwilled This will do as well vell as any place he be said raising his voice above the rattle of or orth th the rain Got to make a be be- ginning I sat down on the usual ch chair ir wIthout without without with with- out a back just inside the door and stared out at the darkening street The whole affair had bad an air alt of unreality unreal unreal- ity Now that I was there I doubted the necessity or the value of or the Jour jour- ney I was wet and uncomfortable Around me with Cresson Crosson as a center stretched an Irregular circumference of mountain with possibly a ten mile radius and In n It I w was s to find the residence residence residence res res- of a woman whose first name I did not know and a man who so far had been a IS 1 purely u ely chimerical per per- son Hotchkiss S had penetrated the steaming steam steam- ing lug Interior of the cave and now new his voice oice punctuated by the tho occa occasional lonal thud of or horses' horses hoofs came to m mO Something light will do he was saying A 1 runabout perhaps He Me he bawled dont forget torget U us Peck Peck Peck Feck A half bushel of name and a bushel of or service Hotchkiss could not drive Born a clerk he guided the roan much as ashe ashe he W would auld uld drive a n bad pen And the theroan theroan theroan roan spattered through puddles and splashed ink mud Ink mud that is is until until I Iwas Iwas Iwas was in a frenz frenzy of or Irritation What are we going t to sa say when we get there I 1 asked after atter I had finally taken the reins In my one useful hand Get out there at midnight and tell th the servants we have bave come to ask a few questions about the tle f family ft's lits an Idiotic trip anh anyhow w I wish I had stayed at home home- The roan fell just then and we had to crawl out and help him up By Dy the time we had partly him our matches were gone and tile the small bicycle lamp on the buggy was wavering wavering wa wa- vering only too certainly Wo We were covered with mud panting with exertion exertion exer exer- tion and even even Hotchkiss showed a disposition dis position to be surly The rain which had lessened for a time came camo on again the lightning flashes es doing more than anything else to reveal l our Isolated position Another mile saw us If possible more despondent The water In our clothes had had time to penetrate the theroan theroan theroan roan hull haa sprained his shoulder and anddreW anddrew anddrew drew us wong alone In a serIes of or convulsive Jerks And then through the rain- rain spattered window of or tile the blanket I saw a light It was a small light rather yellow and It lasted perhaps 30 10 seconds seconds- Hotchkiss missed it I t and was inclined to dou doubt t me But Dut In a couple of oC minutes the roan hobbled to the side of the tho road and stopped anc anti and I made madO out a break brenk in the pines and an arched gate It was a small gate too narrow for forthe tho the buggy I pulled the horse Into as much shelter as possible under the tho I trees tend we Wt g got t out iEs tied the tho beast and we left him bim here head I down against the driving rain drooping drooping droop droop- ing and dejected Then we wp went toward the house bouse It was a long walk wall The path bent and twisted and now and then we wo lo lost l It It- We Te were climbing as we went Oddly Oddly- there were no lights ahead although although al al- al though it was only t en n o'clock not o'clock-not not later H kept a little ahead of me knocking Into trees now now and then but but- finding the path in half hall the time 1 I should have taken Once asI asI as asI I felt my way around a tree in the blackness I put my hand unexpectedly unexpected unexpected- ly on hi his shoulder and nd felt a shudder go down my back What do you expect me to do ho he protested when I remonstrated Hang Hangout out a red lantern What was that Listen We Ve both stood peering Into the gloom The sharp patter of the rain on leaves had ceased and from Just ahead there came back to us ua the the- stealthy padding of feet in wet soil My Iy hand closed oi on Hotchkiss' Hotchkiss shoulder shoulder der and we listened together warily The steps were close by unmistakable able The next flash of lightning showed nothing moving the house was in full view now dark |