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Show MRe circularstaircaseI BCI "f t'-SB'. ohapteexvil r!,M A Hint of Scaudai (JNfcyiiip the gist of whnt happened Il?iiK5n(luest' T liaVo ny one excuso '& Tt'SBicail to the render the events of kofcLSJKht of Arnold Armstrong's mur-of mur-of ttoSHtanv things had occurred which 'UtNBaot 'brought out at, tho inquest. kBjn)d tilings wore lold thero thnt Tijyr fKcn to me. Altogether, it was a fw . By affair, and the six men in Lho 'itt,Wr v' constituted the coroner's "-iKvcro evidently tho merest pup-lttiui pup-lttiui the hands of that all-powerful in iBwan. the coroner, i. iZBtrude and 1 sat well hack, with -Bka'ilE down. Tliere was a number vpfplo I knew; Barbara FiUhugh, in I wmrRRan mourning sho always L'p 'Rinto black on the slightest provo-" provo-" K - because it was becoming and Barvis, the man who had come Xiom the Greeuwood club tho night . mL .murder. Mr. Horton was there, baking impatient as tho. iuquest u"t alive to every particle of ' VWc. From a corner MV. .Johnson patching the proceedings .intently. 4B(r Stewart was caljed first.. His , wjko was told briefly, and amounted On the Sunday morning pre-f-at a quarter before five, ho had Railed to the telephone. Tho nics-Krns nics-Krns from a Mr. Jurvis, who asked BBpjIb-'CODic at ouctf "lo'Suunysidc, as BHbfld been an accident there, and flKrnold Armstrong had been shot. Kid dressed hastily; gathered' ly Kinstniniotits, -and driven lo Sunny - ins mot by Mr. .laryis, who took oticc to rhc east wing. There, ho had fallen, was the body of Armstrong. There was" no need nstrumcnts: tlic man .was dead, rer to tho. coroner Js question hotly had not. been moved, save it over. It lay at the foot of cula r staircase. Yes, be bc-iloath bc-iloath had been instantaneous. y was still somewhat warm and ibrtis had not set in.- Jt oc-Into oc-Into in cases of sudden death, believed the probability of sui-rjht sui-rjht be eliminated; the" wounds ive been self-inflicted, but with r, and thero had been no wcap-Ioclor's wcap-Ioclor's examinalion was over, icsilated and cleared his throat. Coroner," he said, "at the risk ng up valuable- time, 1 would speak of an incident ,that may not throw some light on this mliencc was alert Jit once, home is in Knglcwoort. two oiu Casanova,'' the. doctor be-in be-in tho absence of Junctor. Walk-unber Walk-unber of Casanova people have nstilliug me. A month ago ks. to be exnet a woman whom never seen came to my office, in deep mourning and kepi her in, and she brought for exam-a exam-a child, a boy of six. The little vns ill; it looked like typhoid, mother was frantic. She want- permit to admit the youngster to Children's hospital in town here, Ilk jb I am a meuihor of the staff, and III tve her one." The incident would ''escaped me. but for a ciirious psissl r. Two days before Mr. Armstrong i shot, T was sent for to go to the idfiSi try club: some one had been struck a golf-ball that had gone wild. It - - (late whn 1 left I was on foot. 4 pout a mile from he club, on the Bburg road, T met two people. They (disputing violently, and T had no A tally in recognizing MrJ Armstrong. .AKtvninnn, beyond doubt, was the one SBfthnd consulted me about tho BP 5 this hint of scandal. Mrs. Ogden WW. kttgli sal up very straight, dainie-IW dainie-IW Y"'HS Poking slightly skeptical, and W. ,i coroner made a liote. ' .- Tho Children's hospital, you sav, ' or?" he askrd. Vcs, But the child, who was"on-1 was"on-1 as Lnrian Wallace, was taken ..-."3 D-Y '"other two weeks ago.. 1 v'.-'-i' vtjicd to trace them and failed." .i i at once I remembered the tele-li& tele-li& ' Sfnt 10 i'O'iise bv some one signed i V -presumably IWtor Walker. .Ulfea? ') this veiled woman be the Nina . Pptoii of the message? Rut it alV-f tonly idle speculation. T had no iJff'B f finding out. and the inquest was m " ceding. jfciL'i p report of the coroner's physician lJsI' t nxt. The post morten ox'nminn-B-n" -showed that (lie biillM had entered yfoi chest in the fourth left intercostal and had takMi an oblique course SHE? award and bade ward, pier ing both fJi t?nr' lungs. The left lung V; vC?; 1 1150'1' ;ln(1 Ulr! Point of r.V I hnll had been found in the muscles )f""f DQback to Ihc left, of tho spinal col-m col-m J " v-''is improbable that such a j Bd had been self-inflicnHl. and its ....' 3c downward course )iointeil to the (MC9 I'hat the shot had been fired from i -a' lher words, as the iniir-riT0 iniir-riT0 V "lnn hn been found dead at 11? of a s ai i-ciaHC, it was probable WV, i? fi'iot had been fired by somo - ; tnghcr up on the stairs. Thero were ; paries of powder. Tlie bullet, n 'ftSJf S'-oinht caliber, had been found in ' Pad man's clothing, and was shown iff .mry. ,f iL,,nrvis was called next, but his Wi lny amounted to liltlc. Ho had rW B"n'n,onp.l by' telephone to Runny-jj Runny-jj y.and had come over at once with Steward and INfr. Winlhrop. at tjics-I tjics-I out of town. They had been ad-rt." ad-rt." t "IP housekoe))cr, and had . ?'i the body Iving at (lie foot of tho . rcase. He had made .a search . for Ryi ,faPn. but there was none around. : i ilCr "lrV fln01' t,,C 0!lSt '"S ofW i " ""fastened and was open 'AvS ijiad been growing more and more VI? '0s. When tJin coroner called Mr. :'M Bailoy. the room was filJed with :f5iif,0,1 excitement, r. Jamieson tw toward and spoke a few words to nm ?orn,npr who nodded. Then llalsev UH-j filled. f,rv- Tinms," (ho horo'ner said. Vd' 5'o tell under what circumstances XV Uhw Mr. Arnold Armstrong the M Llnp iieii?" mi SFa- ,nm first ai Country i H'llscy said quietly. Ho was er.P'i'i'i but vorv composed. "I $m f.f'1 'here willi niv automobile for jjWJ !'ne. 2ir. Armstrong bad been WTi "g cards. When 1 saw him there. j.ti S"nK coming out of tho card-room, k J?fi tn Mr. John Bailey." jfil! J no nature of the discussion was UK- Noable?" ijl50-v I'csitated. jMk j11'": were lmvinc dispute," he $sSf ' 1 a3'0,, -AIr- I'filny to leave the j, f come to Sunnysido $M "'t it a fact, rr. Innes, that you il?J i' Kailt'y nwuv from tho club- r.l S V'-'c-'"iso you were afraid there 3JJ 'o bo ljlows?" tM '6 All,laL'on was unpleasant," Hal- MB j t hat thno had von any suspicion "IB Tiadern's banlc hail been ' Br I'iahx'currcd next I" , .!.'.r' Bailey and I talked in the bilhard-room until two-thirtv." And Mr. Arnold Armstrong came there, wh. c you were talking?' les. Ho came about hall'-nast two The sijenco in the room was intense, face am,oson s J'C9 Iievcr Jcft Halsoy's orrald"yU tCl1 "S th n,itur.c of his "Ho brought a telegram that had come to tho club for Mr. Bailey." "He was sober?" ior i?erfcctl-v' at that. time.. Not carl- ''Was not his apparent friendliness a cliaugc frotifMiiB former attitude?" ,.rcs- J 'I'd not understand it." ' a , lon diil ,le slnyf" About five minutes Then he left, by Hie east, entrance." "What occurred then?" "Wo talked for a few minutes, discussing dis-cussing a plan Mr. Bailey had in mind, then J. wont to tho-stables, where 1 Icent my oar, and got it out " . .. 'caving- Mr. Dailcy' alone in the billiard-room?" llalsev hesitated. : "My sister was there." Mrs. Ogden Fit;:hugh had tbo courage cour-age to turn and eye Gertrude 'throuch her lorgnon. rt "And then?." "I took tho car along the lower road, nor, to disturb the household. Mr. Bniloy came down across the lawn, through the hedge, and got into the car on the road." "Then von know notlmie- nf MV. Arm. strong's movements after he left (he house?" "Nothing. T read of his'dcat.h Monday Mon-day evening for the first time." "Mr. Bailey did not see him, on his way across tlic lawn?" "1 think not. Tf he had seen him he would have spoken of it." "Thank you. That is all. Miss Gertrude Innes." Gortrndo's replies were fully as concise con-cise as Halsey'fi. Mrs, Fiuhugh subjected sub-jected her to . a .close inspection, commencing com-mencing with her hat and ending with her shoes. I flatter myself she found nothing wrong with either her gown or lier manner, but poor Gertrude's testimony tes-timony was the reverse of comforting. Sho had been summoned, sho. said, by her brother, after Mr. Armstrong, hn'd gone. She had waited in tho billiard-room billiard-room with Mr. Bailev, until the automobile auto-mobile had been reaJy. Then she had locked the door at the foot of iho staircase, stair-case, and, taking a lamp, had accompanied accom-panied Mr. Bailey to the main entrance of the house, and had watched him cross the lawn. Instead of going al once to her room, she had gone back to tho billiard-room for sometliing' which had been left there. The card-room card-room and billiard-room wero in darkness. dark-ness. She. had groped around, found the article she was looking for, and was on the point of returning to her room, when she had heard some one fumbling at the lock at the east outer door. Sho had thought it was probubl- her brother, broth-er, and hud been about to go to the door, when she heard it open. Almost, immediately there was a snot, and she had run p'anic-slrickcn through the drawing room a.nd had roused the house. "You heard no other sound?" the coroner asked. "There was no one with r. Armstrong when he entered ?" "Tt was perfectly dark. There was no voices and I heard nothing. There was just the opening of I lie door, the shot," and the sound of somebody .fiilling." , . i- "Then, when you 'went through the drawing-room and upstairs to alarm tlic household, the criminal, whoever he was, could have escaped bv the east door?" , "Yes." "Thank voii. That, will do." ' I Hatter myself that the coroner cot little enough out of mo. I saw Mr. Jamieson smiling to himself, .and the coroner gave nie up. after a fimo. I admitted 1 had found the body, sa.id I had not known who it was until Mr. Jarvis told me. and ended by looking up at Barbara Filzhugh and saying thai in renting the house I had not expected to be involved in any family scandal. At which sho .tunned purple. The verdict - was that Arnold Armstrong Arm-strong had met bis death at the hands of a person or persons unknown, and wo all prepared to leave. Barbara Fitzhugh flounced our without waiting to speak lo me. but "Mr. Uarton came up, as I knew he would. ; "You have decided lo give up the house, T hope, Miss Innes,' he said. "Mrs. Armstrong has wired me again." "I am not going tn give it up,',' 1 maintained, "until 1 understand some things that are puzzling me. Tho day thaM ho-murderer is discovered, 1 will leave.'.' .. , , "Then, nidging by what I have heard, you will be back in the city very soon." he said. And T knew that he suspected the discredited cashier of the Traders' bank. Mr. Jamieson came up to me as J 'a-; about to leave t lie coroner 's office. "How is vour patient?" ho asked with his odd 'little smile. 1SJ have no patient," I replied, startled. . , . "J will put it in a different way, then. How is Miss Armstrong?" i 5IPsi,o is .doing very well, " J stammered. ' ' "Good." cheerfully. "And our ghost? II is.laid?" "Mr. .Jamieson." J said suddenly. "I wish von would do one tiling; 1 wish you would come to Siinnvside and spend' a few davs there. The ghost is not laid. I want you to spend ono night at least watching the circular staircase. The murder of Arnold Armstrong Arm-strong was a beginning, "t an. end." He looked Kcrious. "Perhaps I can do it." ho said. "I have been doing something else, but well. T will come out tonight." We were vorv silent during tho trip back to Sunnvsi'de. T watched Gertrude closelv and 'somewhal sadly. To me thorn' was one glaring flaw in her story, and it scorned to si and out for cvofv one to see. Arnold Armstrong had 'had no kev. and yet she said she had locked the cast door. Uo must have been admitted from within the house: over and over I repealed it lo myself. That night, ns gent I v as J could. 1 told Louise the story of hor .stepbrother's .stepbroth-er's death. She sat inkier big. pillow-tilled pillow-tilled chair, and hoard me- through without interruption. It was eleaif l hat she war Allocked beyond words. If I Intl hoped lo learn anyl.hii)' from her ON-pn-'ssion. 1 had failed. Sho was as much in t he dark as we wero. CHAPTER XVITL A Hole in the Wall. Mv taking the delective out to Rnn-nyVulo Rnn-nyVulo raised an unexpected storm of protest from Gertrude and Halsey. I wns not prepared for il, and I scarcely knew how to account for il. To mo Mr, Jamieson was far less formidable under niv eves where I knew what he was doing ihan he was ofT in the city, (wi-t ing cin.unifinui'os and niiithui to suit himself and learning what he wished to know, about events at Sunnyside, in some occult way. 1 was glad enough lo have lum th'erc, when excitements began to come thick and fast. A now element was about to enter into affairs: Moudav, or Tuesday at the latest, would find Doctor Walker back in his green and while house in the. village, and Louise's attitude to him in tho immdeinto future would signify JTalsey's happiness or wretchedness, as it might turn out. Thon, too, tho return re-turn of hor mother would mean, of course, that she would have to leave us, and J had become grcatlv attached to her. From the day Mr. Jamieson came to vMinnysido, there -was a subtle change in Gertrude's manner to mo. It was elusive, difficult to analyze, but it was thero. Sho was no longer frank with mo. although 1 think hor affection never wavered. At the time I laid the change to the fact that I had forbidden all communication with John Bailey, and had refused to acknowledge miy engagement between tho two. Gertrude spent much of her time wandering through the grounds; or taking long cross-con n.try walks ITalsev . plavcd golf at the Country club day after day, and after Louise left, as she did tho following week, Mr. Uaniie'son and T were much together,. Ho played a fair game of cribbage, but .he cheated at solitaire. ; The night the 'detective arrived. Saturday, Sat-urday, 1. had a talk with him. 1 told him of the experience Louise Armstrong Arm-strong had had the night before, on tho circular staircase, .mil nliont tho man who had so frightened Hosie on jhe drive. T saw that he thought the information .was important, and to my suggestion that we put an additional lock on the east wing door he opposed a strong negative. "I think it probable," ho said, "thnt our visitor will be back again, and the thing lo do is to lcavo things exactly as they are, to avoid rousing silspicioii. Then I can watch for at least a part of each night and probably Mr. Innes will help us out. I would say as little to Thomas as possible. Tho old man knows more than lie is willing to admit." ad-mit." ' r I suggested 'that Alex, tho gardener, would probably bo willing to help, and Mr. Jamieson undertook to make the arrangement. For ono night, liowver, Mr. Jamicsoh preferred to watch alone. Apparently nothing occurred. The detective de-tective sat in absoluto darkness on lho lower stop of lho stairs, dozing, ho said afterwards, now and thon. Nothing coiild pass him in oither direction, direc-tion, and the door in the .morning remained re-mained ns securely fastened as it had been tho night before. And .yet ono of the mosl inexplicable occurrences of the whole affair took place that verv nighl. Liddy.cnmc lo my room on Sunday morning'with a face as long as .the moral law. Sho laid dut rny things as usual, but. .1 missed her customary garrulousness. T was jiot regaled witn the now cook's extravagance as to eggs, ami she even forboro to mention "that Jamieson," 'on whose arrival she had looked with silent disfavor. "What's the mntlpr, Liddv?" I asked at last. "Didn't vou sleep last night?"- "No. ma'am." she said stifflv. "Did you have two cups of coffee at your dinner?" T inquired. "No, ma'am," indignantly.. I sat up and almost upset my hot water I always take a cup of hot water wa-ter with a ninc'h of salt, before I got up. It toues the stomach. "Liddy Allen,"'; said, ""stop combing comb-ing that switch and toll mo what is wrong with you. ' ' Liddy heaved a sigh. "Girl and woman," she said, "t've been with you twenty-five years. Miss Ivachcl. tli rough good temper and bad " the idea! and what I have taken from her in the wnv of sulks! "but -I guess I can't stand it an' long-or. long-or. My trunk's packed." "Who packed it?" 1 asked, expecting expect-ing from hor tone to be told she had wakened to find it done by some ghostly hand. "T did; Miss Kachel you won't be-liove be-liove nie when J tell you this house 1c haunted. Who was it fell down the clothes chute? Who was il scared Miss Louise almost into her grave?" "I'm doing my bst to find out." 1 said. "What in the world are you driving driv-ing at ?" She drew a long breath. "There is a hole, in the truuk-room wall, dug out since last night. It's big enough to put your -head in. and the plnsler's all over the place." "Nonsense!" I said. "Plaster is always al-ways falling." But Liddy clenched thnt. "Just asl5Alex." sho said. "When ho put the new cook's trunk there Inst night the wall was ns smooth as this. This morning it's due oul, and there's plaster on the. cook's trunk. Miss Rachel, yon can get a dozen detectives and put one on every stair in the house, and you'll never catch anything. Thero's some things you can't handcuff." hand-cuff." Liddy was right. As soon ns T could. I wont, up to the Irunk-room, which was directly over my bedroom. Tho plan, of the upper story of the house was like that on the second floor, in the main. One end, however, over the cast wing, had been loft only roughly finished, fin-ished, tho intention having been to convert con-vert it into a ball-room at some future time. The maids' rooms, trunk-room, and various store-rooms, including a large airy linon rooin, opened from a long corridor, like that on tho second floor.. And in tho trunk-room, as Liddv Lid-dv had said, was a fresh break in lho plaster. Not only in tho plaster, but through the lathing, the aperture extended. I reached into the opening, and three feet away, perhaps. I could touch the bricks of the partition wall, l-'or some reason, the architect, in building the house, had left n space I hero that Htruck me, even in the surprise of the discovery, dis-covery, as an excellent, place for a conflagration con-flagration to gain headway. "You aro sure lho hole was not here yesterday?" 1 asked Liddy, whose expression ex-pression "was a mixture of satisfaction and alarm. In answer sho pointed lo the new cook's trunk that necessary adjunct of the migratory domestic. The top was covered with fine white plaster, as was the floor. Hut there won: no large pieces of mortar lying around no bits of lathing. When I mentioned this to' Liddy sho merely raised hor eyebrows. lioing quite confident thai the gap waa of unholy origin, she did not concern herself with such trifles as a ' bit of mortar and lath. No doubt they were even then heaped neatly on n gravestone in the Casanova church-vard!- i I brought Mr. 'Jamieson up lo soo the hole in the wall, dircclly after break1 fast. His expression was very odd when he looked at it, and the first thing ho did was to trv to discover what object, if any, such a holo could have. Ho got a piece of candle, and by enlarging en-larging tho aperture a little was able to examine wnat lay beyond. The result re-sult was nil. The trunk-room, although heatod by steam hent. like the rest of tho house, boasted of a fireplace and mantel as well. The opening had been made between tho fluo :fnl the outor wall of tho house. Thero wns revealed, however, on inspection, only tho brick of the chimney on one side and the outer wall of tho house on the other; in depth the space extended only to tho flooring. The breach had been made about four feet from the floor, and inside in-side were all .the missing bits of plaster. plas-ter. It had boon a mcthodicul ghost. It was very much of a disappointment. disappoint-ment. I had expected a secret room, at the very least, and I think even Mr. Jamieson had fancied ho might at last have a clue to tlic mystery. There was evidently nothing more to bo discovered: discov-ered: Liddy reported that, eve'lhing was serene among the servants, and that nono of them had been disturbed by the noise. The maddening thing, however, was that the nightly visitor )iad evident)' more than ono way of gaining access to tho house, and we made arrangements lo redoublo our vigilance as to windows and doors that night. JIalsey was inclined to pooh-pooh the wholo affair. He said a break in the plaster might have occurred months ago and gone unnoticed, and that, the dust had probably been slirrcd up the day before. After all, we had to let il go at that, but wo put in an uncomfortable Sunday. Gortrudo went to church, and llalsev took a long walk in the morning. morn-ing. "Louise was able to sit up, and she allowed Halsey and Liddy to assist her downstairs lato in the afternoon. Tho oast veranda was shady, green with vines and palms, cheerful with cushions and lounging chairs. We put Louise in a si earner chair, and sho sal there passively, pas-sively, enough, her hands clasped in her lap. Wo wero very silent. JIalsey sat on (he rail willi a pipe, openly watching Louise, as she looked broodingly across tho valley to the hills. Thero was something baffling in the girl's eyes; and gradual! Halsey 's boyish features lost tJieir glow. at "soeing" her about again, and settled into jriin linos. lie was like his father just then. Wo sat until late afternoon, ITalscy growing moro and more moody. Short-ly Short-ly before six. he got up and went into tho house, and in a few minutes ho came out. and called me lo tho tele phone, ft was Anna Whitcomb, in town', and she kept' me for' twenty inin- utcs, tcllinj? nic the childreu had had tho measles, and how Madame Sweeny had botched hor now pown. Whon I finished, Liddv was behind mo, her mouth a thin lino" "I wish you would try to look cheerful, cheer-ful, Liddy," I moaned, "vour ueo would sour milk." But Liddv seldom replied to mv tribes. She folded her lips a little tighter. ' "He called hor up," sho said oracu-larlv, oracu-larlv, "lib called her up, and askod her to 1'oep you at tho .telephone, so he could talk to Miss Louise. A thankless child is sharper than a serpent's tooth." "Nonsense!" I said bruskly. "I might havo known enough to leave them. Itfs a . long timo ainco you and, . Mi I wero , in. love, 'Liddj, and wo -for- f . W j Liddy sniffed; " ' ' ' "l- H':V 'tH "No man ever made a fool of mo," !;'' she replied virtuously.' r, 4 "Well, something did,'' I retorted. . W. 'j Continued 'Next Sunday ffl |