Show ie WEDDING MARCH MURDER XII XII-Conti XII 22 klin a er In his ind attempted 10 o dl thaw an It dur struggle You wiped It clean D I prints I-prints too and then thought hg Franklins Franklin's own o thumb mark Weapon Yon pres pressed ed It Into the Ins fn's hind then flung It Into the rf the garden In the rear reu tat ht you left the way y you ou had you couldn t go Into the cause you had not had time Wor for the wedding You were tweeds So you cros crossed ed the i hd waited In your ctr Clr until t crIme was discovered ave already told us what you vou After taking Callis Shipley JI t returned to the church You had bad been murdered J I ct yourself you first said that shad told you We knew she now 1 now Franklin was dead un was vas ImplIcated In the affair u saw you were ere trapped you ou I J giggle rIggle out of it ft and the gIrl help elp you I dont don't know It ie dye worked if It had not been fight r lI Rylie stared t the detective You You keep heep sack ack to that What about liP giant me to tell you eli eh Kil Kile e never ne wavered from the race You You were wele suddenly to escape the man who wing you last night eren t pause tou ou had something to t bear belr watching ere ere afraId there was some Franklin i Franl lIn s apartment that II you with the crime t an opportunity to do It be IEse we were ere watching ou ouI I fed ed you were ere under su suspicion your anxiety and andI andall fall I all the more eager to de deI deLae Lae If It were ere In the I fe It I tt nIght you made up your to walt wait any longer You do de the e and take with Ith Fletcher And Andt t you did You had a lucky n Pletcher went out for a ours But you couldn't find eat ent after there and decided ad kept hept It at his office no now what you were lt 11 find out Probably some at connected this ShIpley e case Or perhaps It con or even young Spears wIth At any rate that's where i us both Its It's too toot toot t have ha more confidence In R bad I Id d ha hae ha tie e been with him land and he would be here rIght lilt lift time Ill I'll play phy his hunch per r Is a ne nett t tIme scowled led I don dont t un una a ow you caught him so corn com d balance He was armed w tv or other you ou did And which followed you 1 rim m out of the wIndow But 7 used to glance significantly I bandages not not before he hean hean II an awful struggle He left t was waged In the dark Js been able to tell me that s ail thought that even If Cardle Cardl- Cardl ie e would be unable un to idea Iden 12 a ut nt circumstantial evidence it L f my bo boy just as surely as gas gan et e eer er could e our detective the slip use you ou couldn't afford to when you went to Frank Frank- nt and office You knocked ough the window but not ad left his mark on you t story w on t get you any any- ody edy I Iedy replied the boy soberly rove there really was as an 1 ave witnesses seg but I can pro reeked car That should tron trong circumstantial evil evi- evi l u call It IL fled thoughtfully The eh What time was this thirty or perhaps a aC ae e C on a gravel road about m m Westport you gOl go What did you d you get back to to town ton n LS s It then The sergeant with f staccato T tined I guess it was this it lead cad that did It ej eye e gently gentl I I ow ion I was as out It ItS S ark I remember The 1 I turned and I had been I dIdn t realize at first n unconscious Then I watch It was war nine worried me because I Ito Ito to meet some one at ate ate f e last thing I remembered d cadent I had had plenty plent a farmhouse up tIle the road mile mile I could see the limped up there and C Ip I telephoned West West- Westre re and got a car Then me was It Ithen when hen you reached e w e exactly It must have haven n o'clock Not ot much muth f i nt smiled smiled-a slow un ii of smile In n thel e ef f mIrth Pretty Cle clever er ap It wont won't ont work ork It Va s i und and four o'clock when n or the country countr About Abou t- t you lot lost the man SS h hb o b by MONTE BARRETT 1933 by tho Dobbs Merrill Co Cow w NU was following you The accident oc occurred occurred rl ne four hours later within thirty miles mlIs or of the spot where here you were last seen It didn t take four hours to trap tn el thIrty not miles at the rate you were ere going here SS here were ere you all that tIme what were ere Sou ou doing n Rylie lie hesitated I was just going for a ride I wasn t goIng an any w here hereIn herein In particular You You said sou ou hind nn an appoIntment at nine WIth whom horn Thu That t t ha have e anything all to do with the case the young man replied slowly I I merely mentioned It to fix the time or of the aCCident You II 11 ha have hae e to let me be the judg- judg judge or of what's important now the sergeant Who were you ou go goIng lag Ing to meet and where here The young man remained silent All right declared Kilday I 11 tell you Your engagement was to go goto goto to Franklins Franklin's apartment That s w hy hv you cnn can t tell me about It That's why hy It was necessary arv for you JOU to gibe ghe my myman myman man the shake shahe first lie He last you late In the afternoon There Is no roc rec record ord of your mo mo bet between een then and the time you ou claIm this accident occurred near Westport The fact Is after you had searched apartment you went to this his office where here you ou had the struggle with Peter Cardl Cardi Cardigan gan Then rhen you ou became frIghtened lou needed some means of accounting account accountIng Ing for your our mo at that time Besides the sergeant leaned bac back and studied his man thoughtfully you you were badly battered In that fight You were ere goIn going to ha have hae e to explain those bruises hat w hat better explanation could you find than an automobile accident apartment was searched some Bome sometime time between four thirty and sit sh thir t ty Your struggle wIth CardIgan oc oe- oe cured about eight fifteen because that's the time he went that window win In dow There are a number of Wit witnesses nesses who saw his fall drivIng driving Ing would 11 tape l e taken you ou to the scene of the so called accident by about the time ou appeared at the farmhouse It was no trick for an experienced driver to roll hIs car off the road In loose grivel I II admit you yon couldn t have I made It by the time you say the acci- acci accident accident dent occurred But you ou didn't have to tomake make mahe It quite that fast You claim you laid unconscious In the ditch for about half an hour Yet no one saw you there No passers by ered the accident It hardly seems that no one passed the spot In thirty minutes min minutes utes The roads In that section are fairly well ell tn you ou were not discos discos- ered until you regained con consciousness of your our own o accord you ou tell me Then you lImped to the farmhouse that gl es you ou the added time nece necessary to complete your alibi Carmody Carmod there was an accident all rIght But It wasa was wasa a deliberate one planned by you to throw us oft the track You were never ne unconscIous That part of your story has been added to make the time fit Into the events at Franklin s office so that It would appear to be Bible sIble that you were ere there Kilday glanced slowly about the room Where are aro the clothes you were wearIng he be neat nen asked I want to have a look at them In In the dressIng room I suppose Rylie R lIe ted indicated a door across the room It was a brown tweed You'll recognize recognize nize It because It was torn a bit As the detective rose he drew his re olver Stay rIght where you are he commanded You arent aren't going to pull any trIcks on me like you did on CardIgan I II be watching you He backed carefully to the dressing room and leavIng the door open In order to keep l the young man In sight found the suit This settles It he said Come on Get some clothes on Youre You're goIng down to headquarters wIth me It You have lost your mind declared Rylie nylie Carmod Carmody hoarsely Suppose I told you who ho I 1 Intended to meet at We Westport at nine o'clock last nIght Would you ou belle e belies e me then Kilday smiled Sure Sure he be agreed Maybe you did have an appointment to meet some one at Westport If you were ere cle cleter cleer er you dId It would strength your alibI But I 11 tell you something else TIe He leaned forward all trace of the smile vanIshed Into the stern lines of hIs face I 11 bet j you ou a hundred dol dollars dollars lars that you never neer ne er kept appoint appointment appointment ment You couldn't Not and be at frank lIns lIn's office when hen you were I CHAPTER XIII In Search of ofa a Key KeyAn KeyAn An a awning stretched above aboe abo e the side side- sidewalk walk below saved Peter life when hen he plunged through the wIn wIndow window dow of Jim Franklins Franklin's office In reality It was as only the space of ofa ofa a second but to the falling man It seemed an Interminable period Then he crashed Into the steel support or of orthe the awning the blow catching hIm midway ay between the knee and thigh on the right leg Its force spun him around so that lie he fell on his left side He did not reco er s until some time later at the ho l after the attending ph physician had had d time to determine the of hIs hf s Injuries HIs rIght foreleg wis badly fl ed Ills His left arm was broken broke n and In additIOn three ribs were ere cracked And a black eye the doctor added If theres there's an any thing else lse wrong with you youe we e ha been able to find It Peter never ne replied lie He was think lug lag with Ith cl agrin of the quarry who ho had escaped him In that bitter struggle In the darkened room Kilday kept hIm Informed or of the prore he heas was as makIng It was the novelist s thIrd day In the ho hospital lIw II hv are you feeling the ser grent Inquired w more than nUl r solicitude How v IIo are the aches antI and pains II take care or of themselves Peter studied his frIend s anxious ex expression expression w hats hat's on your mInd A habeas corpus hearing to release young Carmody on ball was the re- re reply ply It s set for this afternoon I wish Ish you vou were feeling better I think the distrIct attorney would like to toha ha babe e you In court as a witness Peter smIled I m afraid I wouldn't be much help he said r I cant can't be belIeve here lIeve Rylie n lie Carmody is Ii the fellow I fought In that office And I cant can't be belIe lIe hose e Franklin was murdered merely to stop the wedding edding It doesn t sound rea reasonable And yet argued the detective the theone theone one thing you could remember about your assailant was as that he wore a tweed suit Carmody was wearIng a at t tweed ced suit Peter raised his arm In protest wincing from the pain of themos the themo mos mo ement That seemed very mm to me when hen I was falling through the window he said Some how ho hoIt It doesn t seem so now Almost an anyone one could wear ear a t tweed ced suIt That Isn't enough to convIct young Carmody But ut couplet coupled with Ith e eer er thIng else It Is the detective e stubbornly persisted per per- persisted The The minute I heard what had happened to you I started my search I knew from what j you ou told me that you had put up quite a battle Your opponent certaInly would be battered up Young Carmody has a black eye and Is considerably bruIsed up otherwise other other- otherwIse wIse He was as wearing earIng a suit that an- an ans answers s ers your descrIption He claIms he was In an automobile accident but It looks as though that were just a acle cle erl arranged scheme to account for hIs appearance as well as his whereabouts at the time you were havIng your fight He claims he hail had hadan an appointment nt at Westport at nine o'clock but admIts he ne never neer er kept It and won on t tell us who lie he was supposed to meet He gave our detective the slip that afternoon so that he had his first opportunity to vIsIt that apart apart- meat ment And nd he be had a moth e for the crIme That's enough to hold anyone on Petel and Im I'm going to hold him The not no stu studied led his friend grab ely All logical he admitted I m not sure about one poInt In my fight I don t know whether hether I battered up my m antagonist or not Oh he smiled I know I was consIderably battered But the other fellow was landing his blows to the head I 1 Vr was as hitting to the body He was aIming for a knockout and I was tryIng to wear my mv man down working In close as much as possible I felt sure that If I could make a rough and tumble affair or of It I could beat him I think I would ha base hae e too tr if I had not dived through the window attempting to tackle him All of which means noth- noth nothing nothing ing he admitted that I dont don't know that I blackened one or of lily his eyes I cant can't remember It although Im I'm rea- rea reasonably sure I left some black and blue marks on his body The difficulty is Iq they area aren t the sort or of marks that show In a fight of that sort Kilday ob- ob objected you vou might have landed a dozen blows blowsy ou can t remember now Admitted Peter agreed But ButR R Rylie lie Carmody's black eye Isn't con con- conclusIve elusive evidence How about Dan Bums Bullis Does he show any sIgns or of orha ha haling haIng Ing been In a fight None that I could see Peter reached for a cigarette light light- lighted lighted ed It and thoughtfully watched the smoke clouds roll before he spoke again Ot Of course this lets let's the woman out out he began Neither Choo Choo TraIn nor our m mysterious woman In blue was capable or of putting up the scrap that I ran Into And of 01 course tr if the motive of the crime was to halt the weddIng the crIme was committed by a woman with the single exception of Rylie Carmody or Of course there was Webster Spears put In the detective But But Buthe he was already under arrest You dIdn't run Into him In that office WhIch means continued the nov nov- novelist novelist that either Rylie Is our man or else the wedding Itself wasn't the mo tine Ive I've already explained why r I cant can't think It was as Rylie A man con con- contemplating murder doesn't advertise the motive the way he did ditl Its It's be- be beginning beginning ginning to look as though I may be wrong but I want ant to be sure Westill We Westill still have the Bullis angle The mur- mur murder murder der might have been political all as you first filst suggested Or as I have pre pres Ious Ious- ly suggested the In blue may be maybe the key hey to the case It But ut j youse OU OUe e already admItted It couldn t ha hatie hac c been a woman Kilday protested Certainly I still think so But she Is the only factor of tile the case that unexplained I still believe It ItIs Is logical to assume that Franklin was as killed In a fit of jealous rage over a woman not by u a woman Why couldn't It have been that womans woman's brother or husband Sergeant either you ou are rIght an and Rylie Is our man or we still have to locate a blond woman wIth whom Franklin had an affair TO flit Dm CONTIN D |