Show Telegram Fiction V I Murder at the Mocking House I By Walter Vatter Brown C CHAPTER 51 So this man hounded you asked Harper Followed you back to the city and forced you OU to continue the affair He made you ou meet him in inthis inthis this his empty empt house house in in this thi room Then Thenie he ie is the one who put the notes in that hat sand urn on the hearth Yes How did you ou know that she as asked ed surprised be surprised how many perSons persons per per- sons in this house knew about those secret notes But wh why did cUd this man buy a disguise so to that he would look like ike Mr Dufresne We have traced that hat purchase back in October Aline Croyden shuddered He turned Into a beast a maniac once he had me in irs his clutches I think at first he got the disguise to avoid detection should he be seen here but later it pleased cd him to strut up and down dressed In Pierres Pierre's clothes sneering and nd cursing at our money and social position I saw that his madness would brin bring ruin and disgrace disgrace dis dis- dis grace anyway once this house was oc oc- again Reveals Plan Plato She squared Der ner shoulders I 1 was desperate It was too much to pa pay for or my folly I saw plainly that it was vas simply a question of his death or r my ray rum ruin ruin- the words trailed off of Into nto significant silence Was he blackmailing you ou Oh if it it had only been a question of ot money but money but hed he'd only laugh at me rae when I tried to buy him off oU I began begano to o plan It had to be carried out here herein heren in n this house He would meet me nowhere else He made me give him hima a key for the side door He kept his address a secret He would call me up from pay stations arid and tell me to look for the note in inthe inthe the he urn I built up my plan tested every detail went through every mo- mo Uon ion a thousand times The first time there here is snow on the ground I 1 swore to o myself he hc should die Did this thu H. H D. D write those threatening threat threat- enin ening letters to Mr Dufresne Harper Har per interrupted I dont don't know I 1 hadn't heard about them hem until after after it it would have been like ike him his idea of oC a joke I put of off the next meeting until the night of or my ray husbands husband's concert I knew it would be cas easy to slip away then you ou nervous afraid when the he time came Mrs Croyden shook her head Everything was arranged rehearsed I had hod no need to think just act When It t got dark enough enouch I 1 slipped out of our house and came over here to put up the rope Then I 1 went down down- town with my hi bandIt band It was nearly eight o'clock when I drove back back- backI I 1 left my car two blocks block away I t tested the rope by i reaching caching the he howl house that thaL way It worked per Oh so you oU came by way of the rope I 1 hadn't thought of that Aline Croyden He was waiting in this room We quarreled again I 1 think he enjoyed tho those e scenes It It was then that I 1 pounded angrily on the table standing opposite him down the length of or it He went on calling me ugly names so st I raised my say gun jun and shot him I was amazed at athow athow athow how C easy it had been Second Murder First I wanted to be sure no one heard icard the shot I looked looked and and there was a policeman just turning in iii at atthe atthe atthe the gate gatet The next thing I 1 knew I was standing with the front door open telling the policeman that I had shot shota shola a burglar He seemed to recognize me and came in without the least si sign of suspicion What brought him to the house Harper questioned He said he ho had seen sparks coming com ing sag from front the chimney and knowing that the family was away came to investigate He had not heard the shot I had been stirring up the logs in m the fireplace ce to make a 1 better light In the room The detective a pardonable pride in the accuracy of or his previous deductions about Officer Hamill's movements and motives on that fatal fata night It ll wasn't until the policeman was actually standing here looking at nt the body that I realized what an error I had made that made that I couldn't possibly explain any of the details my own presence the seated sealed body the disguise dis guise the two liquor glasses anything All this time I had been holding the tile gun He made a n step toward me and I fired fired twice That is the horror o of it she burst out Harper nodded understandingly understanding That is true of oC every crime The victim rides you OU harder in death than he did in jn life JUe What hat did you do then I sat tat down and forced myself to tobe tobe tobe be calm It seemed hours but I suppose suppose sup sup- pose it was waz really relly only for tor a I few min usia- utes Then I began to consider how to make it look as though the two men h had d killed each other Their position position po po- one at each end of the table gave me the Idea I didn't see how any anyone one would be able to contradict the evidence or even suspect their separate deaths I thought bought I 1 had covered up every trace of my presence Then comes a tiny thing hing like the marks of or my ring to spoil it all When the police got here the front I door was banging Harper prompted Did you leave it that way Yes when I 1 was ready to go 3 I opened It and dropped the bolt I thought bought the bodies would be discovered discover ed quickly and my alibi would hold good You got awa away saCe safely b by going back backover backover backover over the rope carrying this mans man's things with You went back baek to Orpheus Hall HaU to listen husbands husband's bus hus bands band's concert Is that correct Yes I was late and I stayed in inthe inthe the he ladies' ladies lounge until the first number number num num- ber was over then I went vent to my scat There were lots lois of latecomers so 50 no one paid any attention to me Illogical Point At what point did Joseph Donaghy Donaghy Don Don- aghy enter Into the picture The lines about Mrs Croyden's mouth deepened Extortion and blackmail she stated slated crisply He Hc had lad become ome suspicious that something secret was going coing on in this hOl house He watched and waited until he finally caught a glimpse o of us The disguise misled him into thinking that I was meeting Mr Dufresne You had to buy his silence then Yesterday he came to me and demanded demanded de de- de the money I 1 gave him all I had in my purse He was insolent and demanded that I got get more and bring it to him last night In desperation des des- I promised promised and and I kept my promise she concluded grimly For a few moments momento there was dead silence then a racking sob and the woman overcome by the flood load ol of memory stood swaying With a D dull thud hud the hidden gun cun slid down inside the he coat bounced as it struck then lay flat lIat and still on the rug Mrs Croyden caught her breath with an audible gasp but thc detec- detec tive ive made no rio move to spring for the woman Instead he looked soberly at the woman Now I 1 understand he ie announced rising slowly You never ne meant to run awa away As Mrs Croyden made a quick but bul belated movement toward the gun he le kicked it across the floor Dont touch that he warned He backed toward oward the wall and pressed the ser service cr- cr vice butten What are you doing Aline Allne Croyden Croyden Croy Croy- den cried and he noted the tenseness the tightly coiled physical mechanism ism of her bod body Harper came over and stood facin facing her That was an interesting recital Mrs Croyden but you haven't tooled fooled me one bit You had no intention o of fleeing in spite of your words and your gun You wanted to confess You wanted to be arrested for or these murders What do you mean she slam starn wide That was a fine story you ou told but it was not tho the truth She star stared d at h him m. m stricken dumb There was a n discreet rap at the door Keeping one eye ee on that figure of despair Harper turned the tho key in the lock and opened the door part parl sva way An Andrews get Detective Lafferty LaUerty at the garnge garage and tell teU him to come here as quickly as he can canS The detective closed the door again Mrs Croyden held her place Only her eyes moved following his move move- ments I did it she repeated Ill Il swear to it You cant can't prove that I didn't do it m Harper looked at her steadily quite true Mrs Croyden I If f you swear to it Ill I'll have trouble provIng proving provo Ing otherwise But I 1 know you didn't do the actual killing kUling Those marks markson on the table were not made on the thc night o of the murder because that ring was not in this room then nor the wearer of the ring Ive I've had a suspicion sus that someone was coming into this room in my absence and looking lookin over the evidence as it accumulated When you Ou Included those ring marks in your story I knew you were no not the actual murderer I Copyright 1934 by Walter C. C Brown I To be continued |