OCR Text |
Show One RED HOUSE Jpcv MYSTERYJF RICO IX RERffj TODAY. A raroivar shot waa heard two mlaataa i aftr. I ROBRR.T ABI.KTT ar-d-wtl bmthar af I MARK AULRTT, tha bchlar proprietor of I Tha Jt4 Hnua. haa raturnad from I) la 1 yaara abaanca in Australia and baaa uahr, into Mark's of flea. ANTONY Ull.L.IN'lHAM, cantlamAa ad- venturer and frlad of BILL RRVlLRLKr. ana of Mark's KBaats, arrived at that momrnl ta find at ATT I'AI.KY, Mark companion, poand-tna; poand-tna; en tha lrkd door of tha o(ru and uianliis admlttnnce. Th two mm on-trrod on-trrod the oftka throush a window and on tha floor found tha body of Robert with a bullet thruufh tha brad. Mark was not la be founu. Pultra Inspector Btrrh believes that Mark has murdered his brother, whose vialt he in-ttrtpaied in-ttrtpaied mith annoyance, but there axa severs! sev-ers! points Which iruuM Anthony's suspicions. sus-picions. Cay ley Jnvltea him tn remain ovrr Hi lniueat ani Antony In forma Hill Beverley Bever-ley thai "thtnea ara srulna; ta happen hera OO OS WITH THK BTOBY. Cayley was walklnr across the lawn toward tham, a big-, heavy-shouldered man. with ono of thoae strong, cleanshaven, clean-shaven, ugly faces which can never quit b railed plain. Cay ley nodded aa he ram to them, and stood there fur a moment. j "Wo can make room for you," aald. Bill, getting up. i1 "(V ion't bother, thanks, I Justl but T can't aay that I hara. Ho turootf to Bill. "Have you "Good Lord, no. - I should never worry about a thing like that." "I'm auro you wouldn't." laughed Antony. "WelL wo can have a I when wo go In. If the other key are . outside, then this one waa probably prob-ably outside, too, and. In that caee well. It makeo it more Interesting.' I Cay ley said nothing. BUI chewed la piece of graea, and then said, "Doe It make much difference? "It makes It more hard to under stand what happened In there. Take your accidental theory and sea where) you get to. No Instinctive turning of the key now. Is there? He's got to open the door to get It, and opening open-ing the door means showing his head to anybody In the hatl his cousin, for instance, whom he left thero two minutes min-utes ago. Is a man In Mark's state of mind, frlgghtened to death lest ho should bo found with tho body, going to do anything so foolhardy as that?" "He neadn't have been afraid of ma, said Cay ley. "Then why didn't ho call for yon? He knew you were about. Tou could have advised him; Heaven knows ho wanted advice. But tho whole theory of Mark's escape la that he was afraid of you and of everybody also,- "that naturally thy've rather loat their heart. In tha Mlchen, and dinner won't ba till half-paat eight. lo Juat aa you . Ilka .bout dreaalng, of rourae." Having Mid what ha wanted to aay, Cayley remained there Utile awkwardly, awk-wardly, aa if not aura whether to go or to otay. Antony wondered whether he wanted to talk about the after-noon'a after-noon'a happenlnga, or whether It waa th. one aubject ho wlahed to avoid. To break th. allenr. h. asked carelessly care-lessly If the Inspector had gone. Cayley nodded. Then Irs aald abruptly, ab-ruptly, "He'a getting a warrant for Mark'a erreet.' Kill made a suitably sympathetic noise, and Antony aald with a ahrug of the ahouldera, "Well, he waa bound to do that, wasn't he? It doesn't mean anything. They naturally want to get hold of your couain. Innocent or guilty." "Which do ynu think he Is, Mr. Glll-ingham?" Glll-ingham?" aald Cayley, looking at him steadily. "Mark? It's absurd," aald Bill lm- pettnuisli . ' "BlU'a loyal, you see. Mr. Cayley." "And you owe no loyalty to anyone concerned ?' "Kxactly. Ho perhaps X might b. too frank." Bill had dropped down on the grasa, and Cayley took his place on the seat, and sat there heavily, hia elbows on hia Vneea at. the ground. . : "I want you to be quite frank," he aald at laat. "Naturally 1 am prejudiced , where Mark la. concerned. ro 1 want j "Tell mo some-thing abopt Mark," eaid Antony auddooly- "Tea. I expect youre right, aald Bill, thoughtfully. "Unleoa ho took the key In with him. and locked tho door at once." . "Kxactly. But In that case you hava to build up a new theory entirely.' "Tou mean that It makes It aeem more deliberate?' Tes; that, certainly. lM It aleo aeema to make Mark out an absolute Idiot. Juat suppose for a moment that, for urgent re aeon a which neither in ii" w iiuw ill J utiiriiirM ill iitci you who hava no prejudices either way." "Vour suggestion?" -My theory that. If Mark killed his brother, It was purely accidental as told the Inspector." Bill looked up with Interest. "You mean that Robert dlu the holdup hold-up business," he said, "and thero waa a bit of a atruggle and the revolver went off, and then Mark lost his head and bolted? That sort of idea?" "Kxactly." "Werl, that seems all right." He turned to Antony. "There's nothing wrong wltb that. In there? Its the most natural explanation to anyone who knowa Mark." Antony pulled at hia pipe. "1 bui) pose It la" he aald slowly. "But there's ono thing that worries me rather." -What's that?" Bill and Cayley asked the question simultaneously. , "Tho key." "The key?' said Bill. Cayldy lifted hia head and looked1 at Antony. "What about the key?" he aaked. "Well, there may be nothing In It; I Juat wondered. 8uppoao Hubert was killed aa you any, and auppose Mark loat hia head and thought of nothing I but getting away before anyone could I aee him. Weil, very likely he'd lock 1 the door and put tho key in ma pocket, lied do It without thinking, Jut to gain momenta flra." . ."'W4 "tea, that's 'what 1 suggest." "Yea, that'a all right if the key la there. But suppoee it Isn't there?" The ouggestion. made as if it were already an Jl-stablished fact, atartled them both. What do you mean?" aald Cayley. "Well. It's Just a question of where people happen to keep their keys. You, go up to your beorooni and perhaps i you like to lock your door In case any- boy cornea wandering in when you ve j only got one aock and a pair of bracea of you know anything about, ha had wlahed to get rid of his brother. "Would he have done It like that? Juat killed him and then run away? Why, that'a i practically suicide. No. If you really wanted to remove an undesirable brother, you would do It a little bit more cleverly than that." Cayley had been el lent, apparently i thinking over this new Idea- With this eyes still on tha ground, ba aald now: "I hold to my opinion that It waa purely accidental, and that Mark loat his head and ran away." "But what about tho key? asked Bill. v-woa I "We don't know yet that tho keys I were outaide. "Oh. well, of course. If they ara In-. In-. side, then your original theory Is prob- ably the correct one. Having often seen them outside, I Juat wondered that's all." "Even If the key was outside. wont on Cayley stubbornly, "I at III think It might have been accidental. Ho might have taken It In with him, knowing that the Interview would be an on-pleasant on-pleasant one, and not wishing to bo interrupted." in-terrupted." "But. he had Just told you ta stand by in case he wanted you; ao why should he lock you out? Besides. I should think that If a man were going go-ing to -have an unpleasant Interview with a threatening rela tu.ru.. the -last e- v thing ho would do would be to bar- rlcade himself in with him. Ho would -want to open all tha doors and aay, ' Get out of It! Cayley was allent. but hla mouth looked ohsefhate. Antony gave a little apologetic laugh and atood up. A "Well, come on. Bill." he aald: "we ought to be stepping." Ha held out a hand and pulled his frfend up. Then, turning to Cayley. he went on. "You must forgive mo If I hava let my ' thoughts run on rather. - "That's all right. Mr. GUllna-ham I' on. well, that a natural enough. But downatalra people don't lock themselves them-selves In. It's really never done at ail. BUI. for instance, has never lockea himself into the dining-room ln order to be slone with the sherry. On the other hand, all women, aad particularly particular-ly servants, have a horror of burglars. And if a burglar geta In by the window win-dow they like to limit hla activities tn thst particular-room. Ho they keep the keya on the outsioe of the doore and lock the doors when they go to bed." He knocked the ashes out of his pi!e. and added, "At lest, my motner always used to." "It'ou mean," aald Bill excitedly, "that the key waa on the outside of the door when Mark went Into the room " "Well. I was Just wonderinu." "Have you noticed the thrr rooms the blllard-ruom, and library, and ao on?" Bald Cayley. "I'v. only Jiiet thought about It while I've been sitting out here. Tou live here haven't you ever noticed them?" Cayley sat considering, with bis head on one aide. "It seem, rather absurd, you know, ' aald Cayley, standing up, too. "Ton say that you're going up to th Itut j now about your bag?" Cayley nodded and turned to go Into tha house. Antony took hold of Bill's arm and walked off with him In th. oppo.lt. direction. CHAPTER VII , They walked In silence for a little, lit-tle, until they had left th. houa. and , gardena well behind them. "Tell me eomethlng about Mark," aaid Antony, auddenly.-"What auddenly.-"What eort of thing?" "Well, never mind about his being your hoet. or about your being a per-, per-, feet gentleman, or anything like that. jCut out th. Manner, for Men, and tell ! me what you think of Mark, and how 'you lik. .laying with him and how many rowe your little houa. party has had this week, snd bow you get om ! with Cayley. and all th. reat of It," . j Bill looked at him eagerly. "I say are you being tb. complete I detective?" 7 I "'"".u1 w""1 Professlon,- , smiled the other. "What, fun! I mean," h. corrected himself apolocetlcally, "one oughtn't to tar that, when ther.'a a man dead In the houae. and one's host " Ha broke off a little uncertainly ' Mark.""7" "'d An,onJr- "Carry on. (Continued tn Our Nan tasus) ' |