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Show the TIT T?0)inFO $ WEDDING MARCH flU r c.Wr.h..m b,,hw..M.rr.Mcfc gy MONTE BARRETT :- ; . s ; CHAPTER V Continued 9 . "I just want to iimUo sure," tlio defective retorted, over tils slioul-? slioul-? dor. as ho disniineiired toward the 4 living room. i When he returned, he nodded to-' to-' :. ward IVter. "It tits. That's six of them." l:; "You sound disappointed," observed ob-served Choo Choo. "I had hoped that key would help me find some one else," the detee-. detee-. tive coimnented. "No matter. We'll IT .'play the hand Just ns It Is dealt." i",1 Teter frowneil thoughtfully at his .."lean brown hands. "Miss Train," ..he put the question deliberately, "how did you feel about this mar-riage mar-riage of Franklin's? You were In love with him, weren't you?" Choo Choo moistened her lips. . "Yes, I loved him. What of It?" ;' "What did you think of this mar-'riage?" mar-'riage?" Cardigan repeated. v She lingered over her answer, her ' head bent so that It was Impossible - to read the expression of her face. "What does 'It matter what I "; thought?" the girl answered finally. "He was getting married, wasn't he? That's your answer." "No." Feter wished that It were answer enough, and that he need no longer probe this girl's wound. "No, that was his answer. Miss Train. I'm asking how you felt?" i "There are times," said the girl distinctly, "when your feelings don't count I wasn't exactly happy over J the marriage. You can't expect me to say that Still," her glance fal-'. fal-'. tered before the novelist's unwaver-u unwaver-u lng scrutiny, "I figured that I'd get over It Other people have." "Then when you left Franklin . there in the study, you knew you were telling him good-by, for good, didn't you?" Kikhiy questioned for " the first time. "I didn't say that," the actress r replied quickly. She fumbled on the table by the stand and found a cigarette. Cardigan held a match for her. For a minute she puffed, deeply, as though keenly enjoying the :' smoke. Her glance traveled slow- - ly, from one man to the other. : "What made you ask me that?" he inquired of Kllday, finally. The sergeant shrugged. "He was getting married, wasn't he?" A half-smile curled about the r girl's lips, momentarily, and was - gone, as quickly as It had come. - "He was marrying a position," she said quickly. "Jim never loved Doris Carmody. He loved me." "He did love you," Kilday conceded. con-ceded. "But that was finished, yesterday, yes-terday, wasn't it? By the wedding, r I mean." ; "The wedding," said the girl slowly, slow-ly, "wasn't going to make any dif-, dif-, ference between Jim and me. We ! had been all over that" "You mean you were going on the same as before?" The detective's detec-tive's tone was incredulous. Choo Choo exhaled a cloud of smoke. "That's exactly what I . mean," she declared. "For a detec-. detec-. tive, you can be terribly dense, sometimes." "You can say that now," Kilday objected. "Franklin's dead." "I'm only telling you what Jim ' and I had decided." The girl leaned forward angrily. "There's one thing you don't seem to understand. Jim ' loved me! He didn't love that Carmody Car-mody girl." "But he was marrying her," the sergeant declared, with finality. "Marrying her !" Choo Choo tossed her head. "He wasn't marrying a girl. He was marrying a social position. po-sition. Jim was going to be the next governor of New York." Kilday could cope with the worn-: worn-: an's anger, where her sorrow, a short time before, had silenced him. . "And I suppose you were going to Albany with him, eh?" "I wouldn't have been so far i away," retorted the actress. "If he loved you so much, why didn't he marry you?' the sergeant Insisted. "Don't be silly," the actress scoffed. "Where would Jim have been if he'd married an actress? That would have been murder. It would have finished him." "As It turned out," replied Kilday dryly, "It was murder anyway." The girl shivered. "You're wasting wast-ing time here," she said in a quieter quiet-er voice. . "Why don't you t;k to Dan BulUs. Maybe he can tell you what happened yesterday afternoon. He was sore at Jim, arM he'd been trying to see him. Hul'is called me here, yesterday, wn-ntiiio to sec Jim. When I said he wasn't here, he swore. He said Jim was hiding from him, and that ' was helping him. But he said lv: d find him. If you really want to rtnJ who killed Jim Franklin, talk to Dan Bullis." "We've tallied to Bullis," Peter informed her quietly- "We've come here to And on' wilt you know, Miss T i:n." ' telling you where to go If want Information about the xnw '," said the actress impa tiently. "Do you think I'd kill the man I love? Dan Bullis is your man, I tell you." "Yes. You've said that before," tho novelist nodded. "We'll take care of Mr. Bullis. But some people peo-ple don't think Franklin was killed by a man. Miss Train. They believe be-lieve a woman killed him, and that tho motive was Jealousy." "You're crazy!" Choo Choo stared at him angrily. "That means iue, of course, and how do you figure I'd have done a thing Uko that? In the first place, I couldn't get away with it. Everybody knew how I felt about Jim. But you're overlooking a bigger bet than that. I loved him. Why would I murder the man I loved? That doesn't make sense." "If you thought you were losing him, It would make sense, all right," Kilday Interjected. "But I've told you I wasn't losing him." "Forget about the wedding for a minute," Cardigan invited. He rose and strode about the room aimlessly, aimless-ly, but his eyes never left the woman wom-an who sat upon the bed. "Have another cigarette, Miss Train?" The sergeant offered his case, a smooth silver one. Cardigan, watching, knew this was Kilday's ruse to obtain the woman's finger-prints. "Thanks." The actress lighted It from the ember In the ash-tray beside be-side her. "You've been reading these accounts ac-counts of the murder." Cardigan Indicated In-dicated the newspnpers beside the bed. "Did you notice anything there that sounded strange, Miss Train?" "Plenty," replied the actress. "It looked like half of New York came around there to see Jim, just before be-fore the wedding. They make It sound like he was quarreling with all of them, too." "Including yourself," said Kilday. "Yes," the actress admitted, "Including "In-cluding me." "It seems to me you have overlooked over-looked one of those callers," Peter continued. "I mean the woman In tbe blue dress." Choo Choo looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Who was she?" "That's what I'm asking you," said Peter. She shrugged silk-clad shoulders. "How should I know? I didn't see anybody there In a blue dress." "Nobody else knows who she was, either. Miss Train," declared the novelist. "We can't find anyone who ever saw her before. We only know that she was Jealous of Jim Franklinthat Frank-linthat she" "Jealous?" Then the actress leaned back, more calmly. "What is this? Are you trying to trick me, some way?" Peter shook his head. "There's no trick to it," he replied simply. "Apparently, this was another woman wom-an that loved Franklin. She thought she had some claim on him, evidently. evi-dently. In fact," Peter was remembering remem-bering the story Daniel Bullis had told of the scene In the study, "she threatened to ruin him, If he went ahead with the wedding. Are you still sure you don't know who that woman was?" Choo Choo studied the novelist's face. "Are you telling me the truth?" she demanded. "Is that what she said?" "I believe that Is exactly what she said." "And then what did Jim say?" the actress questioned eagerly. "Did he let her get away with It?" Peter shrugged. "H promised her that everything was going to be all right, I believe." "Say 1" Choo Choo was sitting erect, her eyes stormy. "Why don't you question her? If this Is straight, she's the one you are looking for." Then she related against the pillows. pil-lows. "But that isn't on the level." Her voice had gone flat. "If It was, you wouldn't be wasting your time here.'' 'Tri-haps It Isn't wasted," said Peter. "Perhaps you are the very perpjn who can tell us where we mry find this woman in blue." The actress did not answer, but tier eyes watched the novelist's, guardedly. "Suppose you have told us the truth, as far as you have gone," l'eter continued. "Suppose you weren't Jealous of Doris Oinnody, and didn't care whether Franklin married her or not." Choo Choo winced. "Kven granting that everything was Just as you have said, that would not havo kept you from being be-ing madly Jealous of Franklin, If yon had discovered there was still a third woman this woman In blue that he loved." "There wasn't anybody else," the actress Interrupted shrilly. "And I'm Just as sure that there was," replied Peter. "Thero Is no doubt of It. I can't help but wonder, won-der, Miss Train, If tho discovery that this woman existed wouldn't be a better explanation of your visit vis-it to the church yesterday, than the one you have given us." "But I tell you I didn't know there was such a woman." Choo Choo raised clenched hands above her head. "I still don't believe It. Jim wouldn't have done thnt to me. I loved him. And he loved me! Can't you understand? Mel" She beat her breast with her fists. Peter waited quietly until the actress' act-ress' storm of emotion had passed. 'Tcrhaps," he suggested, "this other oth-er woman heard of you yesterday, for the first time. That being the case, she might have been the one who went to see Franklin, with vengeance ven-geance In her heart." There was hatred In the glance Choo Choo turned on him. "You're mighty sure there was another woman, - aren't you?" was all she said. In spite of his certainty that there had been another woman, and that she had played a dramatic, probably prob-ably fatal, part In the slaying of Jim Franklin, Peter felt that he was making no headway. He had succeeded suc-ceeded only In antagonizing a witness wit-ness from which he had expected much assistance. Like every other trail they had followed, this, too, seemed to lend nowhere. And yet Choo Choo Train had been the last person, as far as they could deter mine, wno naa seen r ranniin auve. According to the testimony of Nick Itoyce and Doctor Abernathy, she had been in the study with Jim Franklin after Daniel Bullis and the woman In blue had left And her motive, too, was apparent. If she had known of the existence of that other woman. Or even If she hadn't, could he believe her statement that Franklin's wedding was to have made no difference In her relationship relation-ship with him? He wondered, too, at the woman's apparent lack of grief. To be sure, there were moments when she appeared ap-peared grief-stricken. But they were only moments. She seemed to turn her emotions on and off, like a faucet, fau-cet, almost at will. Opposed to these arguments, of course, were Webster Spears' activities; Daniel Bullis' reticence concerning his conversation conversa-tion with Franklin; Rylle Carmody's efforts to halt the wedding; the suspicions aroused by Callis Shipley's Ship-ley's movements, and, of course, the woman In blue, still unexplained and as mysterious as ever. "Miss Train," the novelist Inquired In-quired suddenly, "how well do you know Webster Spears?" "Webster Spears? I've never heard of him." "Are you sure a man by that name didn't telephone you yesterday?" "If he had, I'd have heard of him." Choo Choo's manner was contemptuous. con-temptuous. "Outside of Jim and Dan Bullis, the only man who phoned me yesterday was Fletcher," she declared. de-clared. "I've already told you about that." Peter frowned. "What was Franklin's Frank-lin's number?" he demanded curtly. She told him. "Do you mind If we use your telephone?" tele-phone?" "Certainly not." Choo Choo handed hand-ed him the Instrument from the table at her bedside. Fletcher answered the call. "This is Peter Cardigan, Fletcher. I called with Sergeant Kilday to ask you some questions last night, remember?" re-member?" "Yes, sir, I remember." "I forgot to ask you about your telephone call to Miss Train, yesterday, yester-day, Fletcher," Peter explained. "How did you happen to telephone her?" PRECEDING EVENTS IN THE STORY Waiting: in the minister's study for his wedding to Doris Carmody, Jim Franklin, lawyer and politician, is stabbed to death. Franklin, while waiting, had many visitors, among them his mistress, an actress, "Choo Choo" Train; his intended wife's father, Ambrose Carmody; her brother, Rylle; Daniel Bullis, well-known politician, and an unknown woman in a blue frock. Sergeant Kilday, with Peter Cardigan, novelist and amateur detective, begins an Investigation. Rylla Carmody admits trying to stop the wedding, after being informed by a friend, Webster Spears, that Franklin was still friendly with Cnoo Choo, despite his approaching marriage. mar-riage. Kilday secures the dead man's keys. Callis Shipley, whose actions in the church and immediately following the discovery of Franklin's body have appeared furtive, is questioned, but the investigators learn nothing of Importance. An Interview with Daniel Bullis is also fruitless. Webster Spears admits Informing Rylle Carmody of Franklin's relations with Choo Choo, for Doris Carmody's sake, In the hope of preventing the wedding. He and Doris had had a boy-and-girl love affair. Fletcher, Franklin's man-servant, Is reticent, and Milo Dunbar, the dead man's law partner, can shed no light on the murder. Choo Choo admits her relations with Franklin were to continue after his marriage. She says she went to the church (Franklin having forbidden her to attend the ceremony) because of a telephone message from Fletcher, telling her to come. "There must he some mistake, sir. I never telephoned Miss Train.". Tho novelist liesllated, his hand over tho transmitter, "What tlmo did you say you received that call, Miss Train?" "It must have been about half past two," replied tho actress. "Think again," snid l'eter, Into the telephone. "Didn't you call Miss Train about two-thirty yesterday afternoon?" Fletcher's tone was positive. "I'm quite sure. Blr. I have never telephoned tele-phoned Miss Train." "Here, let me talk to him!" Sensing Sens-ing tho tenor of the servant's replies re-plies from Peter's conversation, she snatched the Instrument from the novelist's hand. "What did you say, Fletcher? You never called me! Don't be a fool, man I" She slammed tho receiver In place and faced the two men. "Just the same, he did call," she declared stormlly. "lie told me Jim life "Jim Didn't Love Her He l.oved Me! Can't You Understand? Mel" wanted me to come to the church. I don't know why he should lie about it." CHAPTER VI Cross-Exami nation. "0 YOU think Choo Choo Is -'lying about that phone call?" Kilday Inquired as the two men started back down-town. "I can't figure her out" Peter puffed his cigarette meditatively. medita-tively. "She received a telephone call, I'm satisfied of that," he replied re-plied finally. "Why else would she have changed her mind about going to the wedding? And she did change her mind. Franklin was surprised to see her. "However, It wasn't Fletcher who called. I can see no reason why he shouldn't tell the truth about It What I am trying to determine Is whether Choo Choo really believed it was Franklin's servant, or is only trying to make us think so, In order to conceal the Identity of the person per-son who really did call." "She seemed mighty surprised that Fletcher didn't remember it," Kilday volunteered doubtfully. "I can't forget that she's an actress," act-ress," Peter confessed. "I find myself my-self wondering how much of what she said and did was sincere, and how much was only for our benefit. What If It were the woman In blue that would provide a motive for Choo Choo's visit, and for the crime. I don't think she was acting when she told us she loved Jim Franklin. It must have been that, or else the murderer knew of Choo Choo's relationship re-lationship with Franklin, and telephoned tele-phoned her in an effort to bring her to the church. If that is the case, of course this actress had nothing to do with the crime and was only drawn In, by the real culprit, In an effort to confuse the trail." Peter shrugged. "If that's what happened, we're farther from a solution than ever." The car had reached police headquarters, head-quarters, and the novelist followed Kilday up the battered steps. On the sergeant's desk lay the revolver revol-ver discovered in the rectory garden, gar-den, the dagger with which the crime had been commuted, and the stained curtain on which the murderer mur-derer had wiped the blood from the weapon. "Every blessed thing we have to go on," complained the sergeant disconsolately. dis-consolately. "Except, of course, the thumb-print on the gun. The keys won't be much help now. The only one we haven't Identilied Is obviously obvious-ly not a door-key. It couldn't fit the apartment of our woman in blue." "JuS. because the pieces of the puzzle dou't fit the first time we try them, is no sign we don't have all the pieces." retorted Peter. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |