Show j The After House By MARY RINEHART Copyright 1923 by The McClure Newspaper Syndicate I. I I I II I I I I I II IIII II Continued from yesterday Did you ever eyer give the key to anyone No sir sire Did It ever ever leave you until taken Not It was wali away When was that On Saturday morning August 22 shortly be before foro dawn v Tell what h happened nO T d I was knocked down do from behind behind behind be be- hind while I Ivas was vas standing at the tho port forward corner comer of the after house The key was taken from me while I was unconscious Did you OU ever aver see the white object object ob oh- that has haa been spoken of ot y b byI bythe by bythe I the crew I No r sir I searched the deck one ne night when Adams the lookout raised an alarm We Ve found not nothing except except except- Go on He Tie threw down a marlinspike at t something moving in the bow The s spike disappeared We could not find it although we could see where It had struck the deck Afterwards I we found a a. marlinspike hanging over the ships ship's side by a lanyard It might have been the one wo looked for 10 Explain lanyard A cord cord cord-a a sort x sort rope f rope It could not have hive fallen over the side and hung there It was fastened with a blackwell hitch S Show us what you mean I On cross cross' examination atlon by Singletons Singleton's Singletons Singleton's Single Single- tons ton's attorney Burns was forced to relate the incident of jt be before before be- be fore tore his injury that injury that Mrs Johns had asked to see the ax and ho he had shown it to her He lie maintained stoutly that she hart had f not been bee near the bunk and that the ax was there when he locked the door Adams called testified to seeing a curious misty white object on the forecastle head It had seemed to come over the bow The marln- marln spike he threw trew had had no lan Ian yard Mrs Turner and Miss Lee escaped with a light examination Their evidence evidence evidence evi evi- dence amounted to little and was practically the same They had re retired retired retired re- re tired early and did not rouse until I called them They remained in their rooms most of ot the time after that and were busy caring for tor Mr Turner who had been ill Mrs Turner was good enough to say that I I had made them as safe and andas andas andas as comfortable as possible The number of witnesses to be examined and the searching grilling to which most of them were SUbjected subjected sub SUb- would have dragged the case caso caseto caseto to interminable length had it not been for the attitude of the Judges who discouraged quibbling and showed a desire to reach the truth with the least possible delay de One of ot the Judges showed the wide and unbiased attitude of ot the court by bya a a. little speech s after an especially venomous contest Gentlemen he said we are at attemptIng attempting attempting at- at tempting to get to a solution of this thing We Ve are trying one man It is true but in a certain sense we weare weare weare are trying every member of the crew cew every person who was on onboard onboard onboard board the ship the night of ot the crime We Va have a n. curious situation The murderer is before us either In the prisoners prisoner's dock or among the witnesses Let us get at the truth without bickering A A CLEVER WITNESS Mrs Johns was called following following follow ing Miss Lee I watched her carefully carefully carefully care care- fully on the stand I had never fathomed Mrs Johns or her attitude attitude attitude atti atti- tude toward the rest of the party I had thought at the beginning of ot the cruise that Vail Vall and she were Incipient lovers But she had tal taken en his death with a calmness that was close to indifference There was something strange and Inexplicable In her championship of Turner Tur Tur- ner and ner-and and It remains inexplicable even now I have nave wondered since since- was she in love with Turner or was she only a fiery partisan I wonder She testified with an Insolent coolness coolness coolness cool cool- ness that clearly irritated the prosecution prose prose- cution cution thi thinking king over oyer her replies re refusing refusing ye- ye fusing to recall certain things and eyeing the Jury with long slanting slanting slanting slant slant- ing glances that set them accordIng according according accord accord- ing to their type either wriggling or ogling The first questions were the usual ones Then Do you recall the night of the list of July Can you be more specific I refer to the night when Captain Captain Cap Cap- tain thin Richardson found the prisoner in th the room chart-room and ordered himon himon him himon on deck I recall that yes es Where were you ou during the tho quarrel I 1 was behind Mr Vail Vall Tell us about it please It was ic an ordinary brawl The captain knocked the mate down Did you hear the tho mate threaten the captain No Xo He lie went on deck mutter- mutter Ing I did not hear hear- what was said After the crimes what did you OU do We established a line dead-line at I the foot of t te ie forward companion The other was locked Was Vas there a guard at the top of the companion I Yes but we trusted no one one I Where ere is Mr Ir Turner Ill In his cabin How flow ill Very He was delirious Did you allow anyone da down dawn n At first Leslie a sort of cabin cabin cabin- boy and steward deck who seemed to know something of medicine Afterward we would not allow him either Why We Ve did not trust him This Leslie why Leslie why had you asked him to sleep In the storeroom T was r was afraid Will Vill you explain why you were afraid Fear is difficult to explain Isn't It If one knows know's why one Is afraid afraid one one er er- er generally a bit subtle Im I'm afraid You were afraid then wIth without ut knowing why Yes Had you a r revolver volver on board Yes 4 Whose revolver was was kept on on the cabin table Mine lIne I always carI carry one Always Yes Then Then h have ve you one with you ou now Yes When hen you asked the sailor Burns to let you ou see ee the axe what did you give as a reason The Tho truth truth curIosity curiosity Then having seen the axe where did you go Below Please explain the Incident of ot the thol two articles Mr Goldstein show showed to to tho the Jury yesterday the shirt a waistcoat That was very simple Mr Tur Tuf Turner Turner ner had been very ill I spilled a bowl of broth over the garments that were shown and rubbed them out In the bathroom They were hung in the cabin used by Mr Val Valto Valto Vail to dry and I forgot them when wo we were packing The rIse attorney for tor the defense examined cross-examined her What color were the stains you speak of Darkish red Darkish red Darkish red What sort of ot broth did you you spill spin m childish Isn't It I dont don't recall You recall Its color It was beef broth Mrs 1 Johns on the night yo you visited the forward house anI and viewed the tho axe did you TOU ou visit i again The Tho axe or the forward house 3 The house She made one of ot her long Ions pauses Finally Yes 4 0 When Between 3 and 4 Who went with you OU 7 I went alone Why Wily did you go beyond the lin line that was railed off oft for tor your safety Sharply Because I r wished to toT I was able to take care of ot myself Why did you ou visit the forward house I was nervous and could n sleep I thought no one safe wh t the axe was on the ship Did you OU see the body of Burns Burn the sailor lying on the deck at th that t time He lIe might have been there I dl di j not see him Are you saying that you went t to the forward house to throw the ax ax's overboard Yes Yes it If I could get In Did you OU know why the axe was being kept Because the murders had bee beer committed with It Had you heard of ot any fingerprints fingerprints fingerprints finger finger- prints on the handle No Did It occur to you that you ou won were Interfering with justice In disposing of tho the axe Do you OU mean Justice or orThey la Ian They are not the same Tell us about your visit to th forward house It was between 2 and 3 3 I r me meno meno mel no one I had a bunch of kg ke I from th the trunks and from four tour door in hi the after house Miss Lee knes kne knevI I intended to try to get rid of th axe I did not need my keys 1 Th Tb door was open wIde open wide open I It went In and and and- Here for the first time Mr Johns John's composure forsook her Sh turned white and her maid passe passed passe up to her a silver smelling salts bottle What at happened when you wen In It was dark I stood Just Then Then something something rushed past rn In and out of the door a a. something I dont don't know what what what-a a woman thought at first in white If the room was dark how coW could you tell toIl it was white There was a faint light lIght to see that There was no noise noise Just a I sort of swishing sound What did you do then I waited a a. moment and hurried hurrie back to the after house Was Vas the axe gone then I do not know Did you see the axe at th time No Did you OU touch it If 7 I r have never touched It at tha ha thai hatime time or before She could not be shaken in hI he testimony and was excused Sh She Slie had borne box her grilling exceeding well and In spite of her there was a a. ring of sincerity abou about n the testimony that gave It weigh Continued tomorrow |