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Show THE Biff IID W IF 13 WEDDING MARCH MUIiLJiLffi Copyright. "33.by the BobU-Marrlll Co. JQJXK B A.R.R.ETT - ' SYNOPSIS Waiting: In the minister's study, Jim Franklin, about to be married to Doris Carmody, Is stabbed to death, Callis Shipley, one of tha bridesmaids, Is obviously In a stato of anilety. Sergeant Kllday, of the New York police, Is called to the scene. The dagger used to kill Franklin Is found. Franklin, while waiting, had many visitors, among them his mistress, an actress, "Choo Choo" Train; his Intended wife's father, fa-ther, Ambrose Carmody; her brother, broth-er, Rylle; Daniel Bullis, well-known politician, and an unknown woman In a blue frock. The dead man's law partner, Milo Dunbar, appears. Kil-day, Kil-day, with Peter Cardigan, novelist and amateur detective, begins the official Investigation. CHAPTER II Continued "Of course," the novelist agreed. "But I still am very doubtful about her ability to have delivered that blow. That required more strength than the ordinary woman possesses, I think." "Getting back to me, eh?" Nick Royce's smile was sardonic. ' "Not necessarily. You have told us about the two Carmodys and the actress. Was anyone else here?" The newspaper man hesitated, and when he spoke his manner was very deliberate. "I've mentioned all the men," he said. "Doctor Abernathy and I were here most of the time. Rylie Carmody came in early and quarreled violently with Jim In the study. His father," he glanced at Ambrose Carmody, "came back here just a few minutes before the wedding wed-ding was to start. I think he quarreled quar-reled with Jim, too." "Perhaps I may be able to help a little," Doctor Abernathy volunteered volun-teered hesitantly. "Mr. Royce was out for a while and in his absence, there were two other visitors, a woman and a man." "Two others!" Kilday exclaimed. "Man, why didn't you tell us about this before?" "You gave me no opportunity. The man I recognized from his newspaper pictures. He was Daniel Bullis, the well-known politician." "Dan Bullis!" The sergeant whistled. whis-tled. "Did you recognize the woman, wom-an, loo. Doctor?" "No." "Could you describe her?" The rector was doubtful. "She was a very handsome woman," he said. "A blond, I think. At least, she gave the Impression of fairness. She was dressed in blue, an afternoon after-noon frock I believe, but I can't be sure of that, either. I am sure she was dressed In blue, however." "Doctor Abernathy, suppose you tell us In your own way just what happened when these two people entered the sacristy." "Well," the rector crossed his knees slowly, "the woman entered first. I was called to the telephone In the study. When I came out, she was quarreling with Franklin. She seemed quite hysterical and Franklin, too, was angry. "I didn't hear what had gone before, be-fore, but as I came through the door, the woman said, 'You will or I'll' "Franklin grabbed her roughly and shut off the last part of her sentence by clapping his hand over her mouth. " 'Doctor Abernathy,' he said. This woman Is growing hysterical. May we use your study?' " 'Let me talk to her,' I advised him, thinking that I might be able to quiet her. "But Franklin refused my help. 'I can handle this myself,' he told me. "I then addressed the woman, who had been silent since she had been aware of my presence. 'This Is a serious time for a quarrel,' I told her. 'If there Is anything between you and Mr. Franklin which I should know, now is the time to speak.' " That's nonsense !' Franklin Interrupted In-terrupted me.' 'If you will just permit per-mit us to use your study for a few minutes, we can reach an understanding. under-standing. This is a client of mine, Doctor,' he explained. The misunderstanding misun-derstanding Is of a confidential nature, na-ture, concerning a trust a trust fund.' "He appealed to the woman. 'For heaven's sake, tell him so,' he said. 'Can't you see the position you are placing both of us in? Everything is going to be all right.' "The woman In blue nodded In confirmation of his statement," the rector continued, "and after that assurance, as-surance, I allowed them to enter the study. Franklin closed the door after him." "Could you hear what was said after the door was closed?" Kilday inquired eagerly. "I didn't listen," the doctor replied re-plied with dignity. "I didn't mean it in that way," the sergeant hastened to assure him. "But their voices were raised, weren't they? You could scarcely have avoided hearing them if they were quarreling." "Perhaps not, under ordinary circumstances," cir-cumstances," Doctor Abernathy agreed. "But the organ was playing. play-ing. Inside the church. I could tell they were quarreling, however. I could hear the woman's voice, raised shrilly, from time to time. But I could not distinguish what was being be-ing said." "And then what happened?" Peter Cardigan prompted. "Then Daniel Bullis came in, through the side door of the sacristy. sac-risty. 'Where's Jim Franklin?' he asked me. I told him he was In the study but could not be disturbed. dis-turbed. You see the woman was still there." "And Bullis waited for him?" ' "No." The rector leaned forward earnestly. "Bullis swore. He said, 'Franklin can't put me off any longer,' long-er,' and walked on into the study without knocking." "What did you hear then?" "I heard nothing more inside the study. I had just decided to Inform Mr. Carmody concerning the quarrel, quar-rel, when Mr. Royce came back." "Where had you been, Royce?" Kilday wheeled quickly to the newspaper news-paper man. "Out In the vestibule of the church, looking for Milo Dunbar," replied Royce. "For me?" Dunbar looked at the editor Inquisitively. "Jim wanted you to do him a favor," fa-vor," Nick explained. "We'll come to that later," Kilday Kil-day interrupted Impatiently. "How "You Will, or I'll" about the woman in blue? Did you see her? Was that Choo Choo Train?" "No, I didn't see her. But it couldn't have been Choo Choo," Royce wag quite positive. "Choo Choo entered later, from the outside door. I'm sure she hadn't been here before, be-fore, because Jim was surprised to see her." "And you never saw the woman in blue?" Nick shook his head. "Both she and Bullis must have left by the back door. This Is the first I had heard of either of them." "Didn't Doctor Abernathy say anything about them?" Kilday persisted. per-sisted. Royce meditated, frowning. "No, he never mentioned them. I remember re-member he did say, This Is the strangest wedding I ever saw.' I didn't know he was referring to these visitors, however." Doctor Abernathy leaned forward quickly. "Tell them what you said, in reply to that, Mr. Royce," he urged. "I don't remember what did I say?" inquired Royce. "You said," the rector's face flushed with sincerity, "'It may be stranger, before it's over.' " "Yes," Nick smiled. "I remember saying that now." "Just what did you think was going go-ing to be so strange, Royce?" Sergeant Ser-geant Kilday was quick to follow up the new lead. Royce hesitated. "That gets back to the reason Jim asked me to go out in front and find Milo Dunbar," he began slowly. "And to Rylie Car-raody's Car-raody's quarrel with him, just after we arrived here." "Did you hear that quarrel?" "No. Jim told me about it. It was about twenty minutes to four. Rylie Ry-lie drove up to the side of the church In a roadster and came In here demanding to see Franklin alone. He was beside himself with anger. "Doctor Abernathy Invited him to use his study. He and Jim were in there about two minutes. Then Rylie rushed out. He didn't stop to speak to either the doctor or me. He left the church very hurriedly and drove off in his car. I watched him from the door there." "But you say Franklin told you about this quarrel?" "Yes. Immediately afterward, he called me into the study and ex plained that some one had told Rylie Ry-lie about his affair with Choo Choo Train. The boy had come to demand de-mand an explanation. Jim had told him the truth. There was nothing else to do." Royce left his chair and walked restlessly about the room as he continued con-tinued his story. "It seems that Rylie demanded to know if the affair af-fair had ended. Jim made the mistake mis-take of trying to talk to the boy as one man of the world to another. It didn't work. Rylie declared he was going to stop the wedding. Before Be-fore Jim could stop him, he rushed out of the room, and was gone. "Jim was worried. He was afraid the boy might cause some sort of disturbance during the ceremony. So he asked me to hurry out In front and find Milo Dunbar. Mr. Dunbar is or was Jim's law partner. I was to explain what had happened and ask him to keep an eye out for Rylle when he entered the church. Jim was certain that Mr. Dunbar could handle It. "But I couldn't locate Dunbar. That was why I was gone so long. But Rylie wasn't there, either, and I finally decided that the boy would be all right, after he had had time to think things over. At any rate, I couldn't remain away any longer, as it was about time for the service serv-ice to start So I came on back here." "I was right there in the church all the time," declared Milo Dunbar. Dun-bar. His alert gray glance was fastened fas-tened on the newspaper man. 'Td like to know where? I couldn't locate you." "Let's get all this straight." Kilday, Kil-day, hands behind him, studied Royce shrewdly. "Shortly after you and Franklin arrived, Rylie Carmody Car-mody came. He was evidently very angry. Both you and Doctor Abernathy Aber-nathy saw him. He talked with Franklin in the rector's study, and then left hurriedly. Later Franklin Frank-lin confided the nature of this quarrel quar-rel to you, and you went out in front in search of Mr. Dunbar, but were unsuccessful in finding him. "While you were . away, Doctor Abernathy was called to the telephone, tele-phone, and when he came out he found Franklin quarreling with a mysterious woman in blue a blond. Franklin declared the woman was hysterical over a trust fund and hurried her into the studyy where they quarreled. This woman was not Choo Choo Train, because Choo Choo was wearing green. At any rate, while the woman was still in the study, Daniel Bullis came here demanding to see Franklin. He refused to wait, and pushed on into the study in spite of Doctor Aber-nathy's Aber-nathy's warning that Franklin was busy. Then you came back, Royce. "And when the doctor told you he had never seen such a strange wedding, wed-ding, you told him It might be stranger, before it was over. You say you were referring to Rylle Carmody." Car-mody." "I was," declared Royce emphatically. emphat-ically. "Never mind that now." Kilday brushed aside t he interruption. "Neither of you saw the woman in blue or Daniel Bullis leave the study., But just a few minutes before be-fore the ceremony was to start, you say that Mr. Ambrose Carmody came back to see Franklin. I believe be-lieve your inference was that they quarreled." "I can explain that." Ambrose Carmody broke in. "I did have an argument with Franklin. Just before be-fore we left the house for the church, some one telephoned. It was an anonymous message. Normally Nor-mally I would have paid no attention atten-tion to it. But it so vitally concerned con-cerned the welfare of my family, I thought It deserved recognition. After Aft-er reaching the church, I asked Franklin for an explanation." "What was that message, Mr. Carmody?" Car-mody?" "It concerned this actress, Choo Choo Train. I was informed of her affair with Franklin." "Was it a man's voice, or a woman's?" wom-an's?" demanded Peter Cardigan. "A man's." "And you asked Franklin about It?" "Yes. When I reached this room, both Royce and Doctor Abernathy were present. I inquired for Franklin, Frank-lin, and they informed me he was In the study. I knocked. Franklin opened the door almost Immediately. Immediate-ly. I don't know what had become of all these people they say had been In the study. There was no one else there at the time. I told Franklin what I had heard, and demanded de-manded an explanation. I made it clear that I had to know the truth before the wedding. Franklin denied there was any truth in the message. He gave me his word as a gentleman on It and I believed him." "That was all then?" Kilday prompted him. "Yes." Except for the heightened color in his face, Carmody gave no outward sign of emotion. "I can substantiate a part of that," volunteered Doctor Aber nathy. "When Mr. Carmody left the study, I heard him say, 'I have your word for it?' and I heard Mr. Franklin say, 'You have.' " Peter Cardigan Interrupted with a question. "Did you take advantage advan-tage of Mr. Cnrmody's presence to Inform him of this quarrel which had so disturbed you?" he asked the rector. "No." Doctor Abernathy again moistened his lips. "I decided against it. I only intended to interfere in-terfere if, in my opinion, there were cause to question the advisability of proceeding with the ceremony. After consideration, I decided this was not true. The woman in blue had confirmed Franklin's statement that their quarrel was of a business rather than a personal nature. Of course," he added, "it would have been different had I been present when Miss Train, the actress, arrived. ar-rived. This Is the first I had heard of that." "H'm !" Sergeant Kilday digested this In silence for a moment. Then he turned to Royce. "When was It Choo Choo arrived on the scene?" "After Doctor Abernathy had entered en-tered the church," said Royce. "When Mr. Carmody left the study Doctor Abernathy walked to the door with him. Mr. Carmody walked around the outside of the church. The last thing I heard him say was 'Let's start on time.' It was then only about one minute of four. Doctor Doc-tor Abernathy turned to us and asked If we were ready. Jim said we were. Doctor Abernathy then entered the church through this door. I was standing here, by the door, leaving It open a crack so that I could see what happened inside, so, naturally, my back was to Jim. "I never saw Choo Choo enter. The first I knew that she was here, was when I heard Jim say, 'What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay away?' "She said, 'I intended to, Jim, until un-til Fletcher phoned me that you said to come after all,' she said. "Jim denied that he had told Fletcher to phone, and they started to quarrel. I was afraid they could be heard In the church. " 'Pipe down,' I warned them. 'Do you want to break up the wedding?' wed-ding?' " 'That's exactly what she'd like to do,' Jim said. 'Come on In here where we can talk.' And he pulled her toward the door of the study. That's the last I saw of Choo Choo." "Who is Fletcher?" Kilday wanted want-ed to know. 'That's Jim's man-servant," Royce explained. "And that was the last you saw of Franklin, too?" inquired Peter. "Yes. But I spoke to him after that." "When?" Royce faced Peter squarely. "When Callis Shipley came in," he said. "Callis Shipley? Who is that?" "See here, this is preposterous," preposter-ous," Ambrose Carmody interrupted angrily. "Callis was one of the bridesmaids. She was out in front all of the time." "Oh, no, she wasn't," Nick denied. de-nied. "She was back here just before be-fore the wedding. She came running run-ning in the side door, very excitied and out of breath. '"Where's Rylie? Is he back here?" she wanted to know. "I told her I didn't think so. "Then where is Jim Franklin?' she asked me breathlessly. She was so agitated, I was afraid something was wrong, particularly in view of what had happened between Rylle and Jim just a short time before. So I knocked on the study door. "Jim asked me what was wanted. "'Have you seen Rylie Carmody?" she asked him. 'He .isn't in there, Is he?' "When Jim said he wasn't, the girl sort of caught her throat, and said, 'Oh.' "I could see she was very much excited. 'You'd better let me take you around front,' I urged her, but she said, 'Oh, I'll be all right,' and left the way she had come." "Mr. Royce," demanded Kilday eagerly, "did Callis Shipley have on a blue dress?" The newspaper man hesitated. "Why yes, I think she did," he said finally. Doctor Abernathy sprang to his feet. "You're making a terrible mistake," he cried. "Callis Shipley wasn't the woman In blue not the woman in blue I saw. That why, that's absurd." His fingers fumbled with his handkerchief as he mopped his brow. "I'm sure she was out In the vestibule, ves-tibule, in front," added Ambrose Carmody. "You're getting nowhere, jumping about this way, trying to connect innocent people with the crime." Sergeant Kilday frowned slowly, from one man to the other. Then he turned back to Nick Royce. "You say Callis Shipley came back here after Doctor Abernathy left the room? She was the last visitor?" (TO EE CONTINUED.) |