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By ByLeijore Leijore Glenn 1CHAPTER CHAPTER"iV CHAPTERiV CHAPTER"iVOB CHAPTER 4V 4VOBY " : IVrosr 1 THUS XIID'S XIIDS ' FAB FAR FAH Todd blcKlurflno blcnlnrgl0e McKIn blcKlu blcnln McKInn OBXIID'S \ ' OB\ OB OBY ond and nd troall smoll smell daurl daugl tor ter tor"ore terIwire tcr.a tcra , Weth Woth troth I ICHAPTER"iV rflno rgl0e ) n } ) "ore ore " . , il rll vie lire IIDg nag M blr Sir " , Pctbody r.body rbody reahody . trya tryaiolre try tryi torI I Iwire aiolre a , olre -i i - . . 11 tlo II o ! niarder nurdor murder of Add AdeI Adel De no n * Till " ' - CHAPTER XVpause XV XVpause { pause was a bit too longoure longoure long oure scaling us Horace HoraceIlIng Horaceuhng Horaceniling IlIng uhng IlIngand uhngand and anc * Isaned leaned fom forward forwardher forwardi ard ardher her a * cigaretteertaJnlY cigarette1dy cigarette cigarette.rtainly .rtainly rtainly ertaJnlY . 1dy didn t mean to Onitrary On Onhary hary lou Iou clu kno-n kno n knov know . - I should shouldI1Dg shouldring shouldanng I1Dg ring thiS th "P P up " again if you youaeln youadn youidnt aeln adn t seemed secmed so willing to tout tolit tolout ut lit it it . . Todd couldn cOllldn t help helpJIlterested helpinterested helpinterested JIlterested interested , and of courseNn course courseffc ffc Nn N . good Why should she sheb shebirrassedexcept shembirrassed b Irrassed-eJ.cept IrrassedeJ.cept Irrassed eJ.cept eJcept birrassed-except birrassed except - - except . that itie It itfirst first cst time she d Interfer Interfereorgme interfereorgine interfereorgine eorgme eorgine took a * . deep dcep breath , " she said saxd bluntly bluntJy dId dIdr didr r of you suggest that MIss MIssmIght Missmight Miss'might Missmight ' mIght have taken her owncousins own owncousins cousins cousms sat and looked at atelf atsir atTheir [ elf sir silence was not quiteif qUIte qUItef f persons dumfounded by a adea adea adea dea but there seemed to be beatIon beation beatlon atIon in It it . . . She thought she shebegIn shebegin sheIbegin begIn to fidget before Horally Hor Horally Horsally ally spokew spoke spokejw jw w dyou d ou figure that that7 that'I 'I I ' ? HIs HIswere Hiswere Histwere ( were large behind behmd the specII speca spec II a gIVIng hIm hum a bcmgn benign look ] o k way he , S \ think Gilbert felt guilty gIlllty but butoecause butoecause butaecause oecause he d done anything anytJl1ng- anytJl1ng anything- anythinguse anytJl1ngLl - Ll use e he hadn kadn t t done any an ; , ) thing thingbegan thingbegan thingbegan began to sketch her Idea IdeabIng ideahing ideahing bIng hing their faces intently mtentJy Not Notcle Notiscle cle moved in either but butthIng butg buthing thIng g grew in Mary Helens Helenswas Helen Helenswas s swas = -was was - it relIef relief7 1 ' ? When she had hadcd haded hadled cd ed they were silent agaIn agaInL againI againmoment L I moment momentt momenttorace . . irace orace took it up You want wantacadeDllc wantacademic wanttcadenuc acadeDllc academic discussion h m'l ml m'ly m ? ' y Where d she get the lumi luml lumt luml'Because ' ' Because 'Because Beeause if somebody brought broughto broughther o ) her- her - - 'he he ' her'he herhe it two exchanged a swxft swift swxftnee swiftace swiftce nee ace , "I I 1 ' " I used to provide it for fori 1 , 1 , all right nght , , , Horace said And Anduess Anduessyou Andess uess uessyou iou ou stocked the bag Mary Maryen Maryen en Ampules and tablets isn ism ty tk t : nght n hr hray . , Juy k ay r y Helen a s voice was weight weightrxth weightpth weightith rxth pth reluctance 'Y Y ' Ye e es'hen eshen es esien 'hen hen ' ien Georgine said sa1l ( , , 'why why 'whyIn ' why whyIn whya In t Miss Adeline Adelme ha\ ha has hae \ e a stolen stolenrve stolenI've stolen've stolenve rve I've Ive ' ' had the impression that thatwannt thatwasnt ' wasn wannt t always in the roomg roomg room g ? the doctor s visits What If of Ifft offt if't ift ft ' the bag on a chair and andto andto andto to wash his hands and Miss MI5s MI5st Misst Misssimply t simply sunply reached over and anderseJf anderseif anderself erseJf erseif a tube of tne thE tnt : ; stuff s tuff btuff > tuffry ? ' ry Helen s forehead wrinkledi wnnkledh wrinkledh wnnkled wrinkled h ! her eyes e , } es remained wIde wIdecandid widecandid widecandid candid But that would - she said slowly , 'that that 'thatI ' thatmean I mean such terrible ternble careless carelessl 11 0 l whose part7 part'I part 'I I ' her cousmred cousinred cousin cousm red redhnny ed edhnnys hnny hnnys s of course 1 I I dldn didntanything t tanythIng tanything anythIng to do with It ItIdn itidn itidnt Idn t you check the sup supell 7 7eU 7ell ell eU yes , , , to the extent that I I.ed Iced Ired .ed ed ced . them when he needed neededBut neededBut neededBut But I d never have thoughtik thoughtsk thought sk how come there was an anule anule anule ule missing mlssmg or a tablet or orI orI orI I took it for granted awway alwa > , } sfed s - * . ed fed Ie d used 'em em ' himself hunseJf Sure1W0uld Surewould Sure Sureirould irould 1W0uld would But look here Maryi Maryn Marya Mary n , a i , you re not married mamed to theMY theany the themy my any moreI1It morerut more moreut I1It rut ut look ' Horace was visiblyfed visibly visiblyed led fed vIsiblyled ed now He checked the sup himself hllnself suphimself suphllnself , let lets s say once or orb ora ora orp orpa b dayhe a week-r week r week-or or week - { ) - or even every day dayk he came in from his houseHe houseHe house He might just have failed faxled to toone toone toone | one tablet at a time AndAunt AndAunt And | Aunt Adeline died if there theree therehe | e least suspicion in his mind mindS mindvis S negligence negl1gence had helped her herherselfhe herherselfhe herP herself-he herself he herself - he did his ms lus best by bystIng bysting bysting | stIng the autopsy Any Anyg Anyns | g of himself he ae ke did afterauld afterouid after afterfiaulU fiaulU auld ouid have to be in pnvatetnan privateman private pnvate ttan tnan man insisted on mvestlgat Investigat mvestlgate Investigatedhe investigatMdbeafooL investigatMdbeafooLISF e edhe d be a fooL foolY ISF Y HELEN turned her herI hercad heread herpead I cad ead . . Her look at him rum haduality had hadalxty hadahity alxty ahity ot of applause applausepidnt pidnt applausetin applausednt dnt tin t quite mean to- to toshe to - - she sheand sheand she1 and at the same moment moment"ding momentding " lding Iding momentlding momentIding doors slid back with a squeal"e * tic tie atic atie "c c " squealVe squeal "e e " Ve you all quite fmlshed finished finishedmy finishedi my y reputation7 reputation 1 ' said saxd Dr Drrane DrCrane Crane rane m In a towering towenng rage rageh bebum ragee ragedoctor doctor closed the doors be bum h and moved Into the cen ceu room his ms eyes fixed on onUSDS onusins on'using onusing ' USDS usins ! His long face seemed seemedMary seemedMary ! seemedd- seemedd seemeddMary - Mary Helen stirred un tin , > , Bottling Betthng eettlmg the collar of herplaid herplaid her Plaid dress dress'a dressn dressa 'a a ' Johnhe Johnbe n a t you glare at me John ' he be "e e " said sa1L ( . I was standing up 'u u ' up'u upU U , , , though God knows why IJohnny I Ia a . e on on , , Johnny , " Horace ' "Be Be e"Be ? " 'Be Be ' " fair fau ' to her Sh She e didn dldn tright t 11 sI right . . You did . . That Thats s I - heardas heard as I came in and not notuttmg notttmg ttmg You notYou Youwere my ear against fl the theYou were flto ' to'e toe toe You were broadcasting broadcastmg broadcastingfl to to halla ' e who stepped into the hall hallBOrry hallsorry mutteredy mutteredyou BOrry sorry orry Horace muttered , you notd "ve ve " ve ye got to admit It its s not notI d the bounds of possibilIty I d 1 never have outsideouse outsideOuae said it outside Ouae ouse 0 od ouseod 07 " redd The dark eyes were red redi * d " withangereyJust withangereyJustwere WIth WIthanger th anger Just werelnsinu msmu lnsinu msmuMnic it msmuit lnsinuIt It , , thala that a all What makes Mnic ink makesink Icouldn Icouldnt I couldnt : couldn t hand out a | The Th \ ( to to Cfl Cflbert ( ' 11 11bert bert ! 21ri hire Ir reo Peabody body I s boibund bnlband husband but ODY any ODYmon anymen anymen mon men bcr bor bee ot of ttr the fan fau ily l1y could ha hll o n beco been beenguilty beenKuilt guilty uilt } ) A letter fetter tent ecnt sent to 'cora cora 'corano ( " ' rcor reor , no by Dyke DykeTodd I ) UkTodd } ) ke keTodd ( Todd I a ncphc Dephe nephe T v Illd lad 1 ad been becD opened opeDcd and few insinuations lIISlIluatlOns of my 0\\ 0 0n own oftn7That \ n 1 ' ? 1That mightha\ mightha mighthae That sciatch sClatch scratch on your arm might ha\ ha hae ha ' \ e healed up beforenyone before ' \ inyone \nyone nyone anyone 'else else 'elsenotlccd ' 'elsenoticed elsenoticed ' elsenoticed notlccd noticed it but it caught my eyewhile eyewhile eye- eye eyewhile - - - while you were bending ovel over over ; : your yourgrcat yourgreat yourgreat grcat great aunts aunt s bed five minutes mmutes be before before before fore she died ' ' Horace Tillsit TllIslt gazed up at hIm hImlItcrally himliterally himliterally lItcrally literally open opcn mouthed That ThatI Thatscratch Thatscratch Thatscratch I scratch on my arm arin arm7 arm7A 'I I ' ? 'IA A fiesh flesh one said John Clane Crane ClaneI Clanegnmly Cranegrimly danegrimly gnmly grimly Painted Pamted with merthlOlate merthiolate merthlOlateYour merthiolateYour merthiolateYour I Your sleeve hid ItInsmuatlons itInsinuations it itInsinuations Insinuations Insmuatlons s said a I r d Horac Horace Horaceblankly Horacoblankly . blankl blankly , } Then sudde suddenly sudde'1ly sudde1ly ' ily he began beganto beganto beganto to shout with laughter Great GreatGod GreatGod GreatGod God Johnny what are you drlv driv drlvIng driving dnving Ing at at7 at'I 'I I ' ? You think thmk I came around aroundand aroundand aroundand and had a regular fight with Aunt AuntAdelme AuntAdeline AuntAdeline Adelme Adeline and poisoned her by force forceall forceall forceall all in silence and s7ie she scratched scratchedmy scratchedmy scratchedmy my arm arm7 1 ' ? Man Man ' ' All right forget it It , , Horace Horacehe Horacehe Horacehe he said saxd Skip Skip'the Skipthe "the the 'the ' " ' whole thing thlIlg I Ii Idon i don t get enough sleep sleepDr sleepDr Dr Crane Geor Georgine , ne saidI saidIm said saidI Im I m afraid this was all my fault faultt faultI . I did not think ahead far enough enoughwhen enoughwhen enoughwhen when I J wondered if Miss TIlIslt Tillsit TIlIsltcouldn Tillsitcouldn Tillsitcouldn couldn t have committed sUIcide sUIcideIt suicideIt It seemed so logicalat logical at first and andsoso andsoso andso so--so so so-so - - so convenient convement Pr"Tr PrTr Pr"Trf " f ' 1 'More More ' More money for that , " the theJudge theJudge Judge said angrily angrilyTHE doc.tor doctor . s look at her was wascourteous wascourteous THE courteous but none too warm warmI I see Well , Mrs Wyeth you re renght reright nght right , It would be converuent convenient to toI tobelieve I belIeve that 'I I if ' you want to thInk thInkthat thinkthat that there was somethlIlg something unnat unnatural unnatural ural about her death That IS an anopinion he said bItmgly bitingly In 1n you seem I can t tblame tblame tblame blame you for the suicide theory theoryin In aay a \ way \\ay ay since smce nobody seems to tohave tohave tohave have told you that Miss TIllslt Tillsit TIllsltsuffered Tillsitsuffered Tillsitsuffered suffered no pain pam was greatly In Interested interested interested terested in life and had no reason reasonfor reasonfor reasonfor for wishing Wlshmg to dieMoreover dieMoreover die dieMoreover Moreover said Dr Crane Im Impalmg impaling unpaling palmg paling her with a look she had hadmade hadmade hadmade made up her mind nund to outlive herbrother her herbrot herbrotller brot brotller er if she could He was still stillvery stillvery stillvery very weak himself after that bout boutof boutof boutof of pneumonia pneumoma and was by no nomeans nomeans nomeans means out of danger He d had a aSInkmg asinking asinking SInkmg sinking spell that afternoon Can Canyou Canyou Canyou you imagine Imagme that grand old wom worn woman wornan wornan an deciding decldmg at that moment that thatIt thatit thatit It was time tune for her to fade out ofthe of ofthe I ofI the picture7 picture picture'I picture7Horace 'I I ' ? 'IHorace Horace and Mary Helen gave gaveeach gaveeach gaveeach each other a swift glance qUIte qUIteunreadable quiteunreadable quiteunreadable quiteunreadableI unreadable unreadableI I suppose not not , , , said saxd GeorgIne Georgtne GeorgIneweakly Georgtneweakly Georgineweakly Georgineweaklyihen weakly weaklyihen 1 ihen hen thats that s all ' ' He turned turnedaWaY turnedawoy turnedawo.y turnedawoy aWaY awoy . turned back at the door to tosay tosay tosay say , without meeting meetmg her eyes eyesKeep eyesKeep Keep eyesKeep that little girl gxrl of yours In Inbed inbed inbed bed and quiet for at least another anotherday anotherday anotherday day You d be taking a grave nsk risk nskIf riskif nskif If you moved her now Good by ' , Horace and Mary Helen rose roseand roseand roseand and followed him out you nught might nughtalmost mightalmost mightalmost almost say they slunk but their theirattitude theirattitude theirattitude attitude was as nothing to theway the theway theway way Georgine Georgtne fe't fet felt ' . . GEORGINE continued to sit in inthe inthe inVy GEORGINE the sitting room viewing With Withdistaste withdistaste withdistaste distaste the Jar ] ar of pampas grass grassand grassand grassand and her preceding downfall WIth WIththe withthe withthe the Tillait TIlIslt Tillsit family fanuly Which was wasworse wasworse wasworse worse sayA BayA she couldn t really say Bay A car drew up and the Judgeof Jud Judge , . of all people proceeded to make makea a clamorous emtranceThe entranceThe entrance emtrance entranceThe The loud voice boomed througb through througbthe throughthe throughthe the ball hall ' I 1 want to know what a athe athe athe the meaning of this preposterous preposterousletter preposterousletter preposterousletter letter you wrote me Mary Helen HelenI HelenReally I ' ' Really Grandfather , the mean meaning meanlug meaning ing lug ought ougbt to be plain plam enough enough'And enoughAnd ' ' And why couldn t you write an anansv ananswer atanswer ansv answer . er , if you ' " were ere going gomg to sayNo7 say sayNo'1 sayNo No'1 No1 No ' Because that s what I see Bee In inyour ityour i your eyeShe eyeShe eye eyeShe She wasn t afraid afraxd of turn hmo him In any anycase anycase an ancase case Georgine Georgme reflected In a amoment amoment ( moment they would close the thedraWing thedrawing thedrawing draWing room doors-she doors she doors - she hopedMore hopedMore hoped hopedMore More money for that that ! ! ' ' th thJudge the theJudge theJudge < Judge saxdangny saidangrily said saxd angny angrily ] . 'You You ' You haven t tgot tgot 1got got It coming i-OlXllIlg i OlXllIlg rowing ' - anyway , . my gir girl ] , " > , part , rcnrvrd emewed removed Todd bellercd bellered believed It oODtalncd contained oODtalncd8lullle containedvalaal containedvaloal I Ipart \8lul\lle 8lul lle valaal \ \ lo to Inrorn Inforu fnforuatoa nt al OD on bat but as Dyl e a wal tuts tutson raaon 00 on army naoe n D ancn Doeu , era en ere It " nonid "oold oold could be b * Impol Impos Imposslbio ImpOliiblo ISlblo ImpolISlblo slbio to iccaro eccore secure this ( hi I > intornmUon Inrormlltlou Information for ( or loint lome some lomet somet * t me porl perl purl apl ape 3p bpn beD ben too to * lI\te lI te late lat \ but for a damn fool gamble- gamble gambleAnd gambleAnd gamble - - ' ' . And then the doors did close cloe cloeGeorgtne closeGeorgme closeGeorgine Georgme Georgtne tiptoed to a scat much muchrelieved muchrelieved |