Show 15 SYNOPSIS lawrence blakeley Dl akeley lawyer goes to pittsburg with nith the forged notes in the bronson case to get the deposition of john ohn gilmore mill onalee in the latter s dome home he Is attracted by a picture of a boang ung girl whom the millionaire explains Is his granddaughter A lady requests blakeley lakeley 13 to buy her a pullman ticket he gives her lower eleen and retains lower ten he finds a drunken man in lower ten and retires in lower nine he ile awa kens in lower seven and finds his clothes und find bag missing the man in lower ten Is found murdered circumstantial evi eyl flence dence points to both blakeley and the unknown man who had exchanged clothes with him blakeley becomes interested in a girl in blue the train Is wrecked blakeley Is rescued from the burning car bv by the girl in blue his arm Is broken they go to the carter place tor for break tast fast the girl proves to be alison west his partner partners s sweetheart her peculiar actions mystify the lawyer she drops tier her gold bag and blakeley puts it in his pocket blakeley returns home he ile finds that I 1 e Is under surveillance moving pictures 0 f the train taken just before the wreck reveal to blakeley a man leap ne ng from the train with his stolen gr p blakeley learns that a man nan ed sul livan van leaped from the train near M and spra ned his ankle he stayed some time at the carter place while making indu ries at carter carters s blakeley finds al son and kisses her mrs airs conway the woman for whom baal eley bought tl e pul P u I 1 man ticket tr es to make a bargain w with alth I 1 in for the forged notes not know ing that they are missing CHAPTER mcknight Mc Knights a theory I 1 confess I 1 was staggered the people at the surrounding ta tables les a after r glancing curiously in my directs direction looked away again I 1 got my hat and went out in a very uncomfortable frame of mind that she would inform the police at once ol 01 what she knew I 1 never doubted un less possibly she would give a day or two twos s grace in the hope that I 1 would change my mind I 1 reI reviewed eRed the situation as I 1 waited for a car two passed me going in the opposite direction and on the first one I 1 saw bronson his hat over his eyes his arms folded looking moodily ahead was it imagination or was the small man huddled in the corner ot of the rear seat hotchkiss 7 As the car rolled on I 1 to fo md ind myself smiling the alert little man was for all the world like a terrier ever on the scent and scouring about in every eveir di dl d r I 1 found mcknight at the incubator with his coat off working with enghu spasm and a manicure file over the horn of his auto it its a the worst horn I 1 ever ran across he groaned without looking up as I 1 came in the blank thing wont won t blow he punched it savagely finally elic gitig a faint ft throaty croak sounds like croup I 1 suggested my illy sister in law uses camphor and goose grease tor for it or how about a baice poultices 7 but mcknight never sees any jokes but fals his own he flung the horn clat into a corner and collapsed sulkily into a chair now I 1 said it if you youre re through manicuring that horn III tell you about my talk with the lady in black wrongs wrong asked mcknight languidly police watching her too not exactly the fact is rich there s the mischief to pa pay stogie came in bringing a few add addi eions to our comfort when VV hen he went out I 1 told my story you must remember I 1 said that I 1 had seen this woman before the morning of the wreck she was buy ing her pullman ticket when I 1 did then the next morning when the mur der was discovered she grew hyster ical and I 1 gave her some whisky the third and last time I 1 saw her until tonight to night was when she crouched be side the road after the wreck mcknight slid down in his chair un til ill his weight rested on the small of his back and put his feet on the big reading table its it s rather a facer he said it s really loo good a situation borla for a corn com mon place lawyer it ought to be dramatized you can cant t agree of course and by refusing you run the chance of jail at ai least and of having havir g alison brought into publicity which is out ut 0 of f the question you say she was at at t the h e pullman window when you 1 les es I 1 bought her ticket tor for her gave her lower eleven and you took tena ten lower ten mcknight straightened up and 1001 ed at me then she thought you were in lower ten I 1 suppose she did it if she thought at all but listen man mcknight was growing groning excited what do you figure out of this the conway y we woman man knows aou ou have taken the tle I 1 notes note to pittsburg the probabilities are that she follows you there on the chanc of an port unity to get them either for bronson or herself nothing doing during the trip over or during the day in pittsburg but she learns the number of your berth as you buy it at the pullman ticket office in pittsburg and she thinks she sees her chance no one could have foreseen that that drinken fellow would ha fis e crawled into yoi r berth now I 1 figure it out this way she wanted those notes desperately does still not for bronson but to hold ove eye F by MART MARY ROBERTA AUTHOR of T THE STArs CAiS KB 0 amr G r m R aar T a a his head tor for some purpose in the night when everything Is quiet she slips behind the curtains of lower ten where the mans breathing shows he is asleep didn t you say he snored he lie did I 1 affirmed but I 1 tell you now keep still and listen she gropes cautiously around in the dark ness finally dincov discovering ering the wallet un der the pillow can t you see it your self 9 he was leaning forward excitedly and I 1 could almost see the grew some tr tragedy he was depicting she draws out the wallet then perhaps she remembers the alligator bag and on the possibility that the notes are there instead of in the pocketbook she gropes around for it suddenly the man awakes and clutch es at the nearest object perhaps her neck chain which breaks it is all in silence the man Is still stupidly drunk but he holds her in a tight grip then the tragedy she in must get away in a minute the car will be aroused such a woman on such an errand does not go without some sort of a weapon in this case a dagger which unlike a revolver Is noiseless with a quick thrust ashes she s a big woman roman and a bold one she strikes possibly hotchkiss is right about the left hand blow harrington may have held her right hand or perhaps she held the dirk in her left hand as she groped with her right then as the man falls back and his grasp relaxes ohe straightens and attempts to get away the swaying of the car throws her almost into your berth and trem bling with terror she crouches behind the curtains of lower ten until every thing is still then she goes noise lessly back to her berth 1 I nodded it seems to fit partly at least I 1 said in the morning when she found that the crime had been not only fruit less but that she had searched the wrong berth and killed the wrong man when she saw me emerge un hurt just as she was bracing herself for the discovery of my dead body then she went into hysterics you remember I 1 gave her some whisky it really seems a tenable theory but like the sullivan theory therease there ther eare are one or two things that don t agree with the rest for one thing I 1 ow did the remainder of that chain get into alison ests ast s possession 9 she may have picked it up on the floor well we 11 admit that I 1 said and I 1 in sure I 1 hope so 1 ihen I hen how did the mur dered man mans s pocketbook get into the sealskin bag and the dirk how ac count for that and the blood now what s the use asked me knight of my building up beautiful theories for you to pull downa well take it to hotchkiss maybe he can tell from the blood stains it if the murderer murderers s finger nails were square or pointed hotchkiss Is no fool I 1 said warm ly under all his theories there theres s a good hard layer of common sense and we must remember rich that neither of our theories includes the woman at doctor van kirks hospital that the charming picture you have just drawn does not account for all ali son bests connection with the case or for the bits of telegram in the sul livan fellow s pajamas pocket you are like the man who put the clock to gether you ve got halt half of the works left over oh go home said mcknight dis gust edly I 1 m no edgar allan poe what s the use of coming here and I 1 asking me things it if you re so lar I 1 with one of his quick changes 0 of mood he picked up his guitar listen to this he eaid said it Is a I 1 hawaiian song about a fat lady oh ignorant one and how she fell off her mule but tor for all the lightness of the words the voice that followed me down the stairs was anything but cheery there was ras a kanaka in balu did dwell who had tor for his daughter a monstrous fat girl he sang in a clear tenor I 1 paused on 0 the lower floor and listened he ile had stopped sin singing gingas as abruptly as he bad had begun CHAPTER at the boarding house I 1 had not been home for 36 hours since the morning of the preceding day johnson was ras not in sight and I 1 let myself in quietly with my latch late h key it was almost almot midnight and I 1 had eardly settled myself in the library when the bell b ell rang and I 1 was surprised to find hotchkiss much out of breath in the vestibule why come in mr hotchkiss I 1 said I 1 thought you were going home to go to bed so I 1 was so I 1 was he ile dropped into a chair beside my reading lamp and mopped his face and here it la Is almost midnight and I 1 in wider awake than ever ive I 1 ve seen sullivan mr air blakeley you have I 1 lave 1 ave he said impressively you were following bronson at eight 0 clock was that when it hap penedo something of the sort when I 1 left aou ou at the door of the restaurant I 1 turned and almost ran into a plain clothes man from the central office I 1 know him pretty well boned or twice he has taken me merith ith him on interest ing bits of work he lie knows my bobby hobby you know him too probably it was the man arnold the detective horn rhom the state s attorney has had watching matching bronson johnson being otherwise oth erwis e occupied I 1 had asked for arnold myself I 1 nodded well he stopped me at once said bed he d been on the fellow fellows s tracks since early morning and had had no time for luncheon bronson it seems isn t eating much these days I 1 at once jotted down the fact because it ar gued that be he was being bothered by the man with the notes it might point to other things I 1 suggested indigestion you know hotchkiss ignored me well ar nold had some reason for thinking that bronson would try to give him the slip that night so he asked me to stay around the private entrance there while he ran across the street and get something to eat it seemed a fair presumption that as he had gone there with a lady they would dine lei let surely and arnold would have plenty ot of time to get back what about your own dinner I 1 asked curiously sir he lie said pompously I 1 have given you a wrong estimate of wilson budd hotchkiss it if you think that a question of di iner would even obtrude itself on his mind at such a time as this he ile was a frail little man and tonight he looked pale with heat and oi 01 er exertion did you have any luncheon 9 I 1 asked U R I 1 U ft or man awakes and clutches at the nearest object J i ts ra lie ile was somewhat embarrassed at that I 1 really mr blakeley the events of the day were so engrossing well I 1 said I 1 in not going to see you drop on the floor from echaus tion just raft a minute I 1 went back to the pantry only to be confronted with rows of locked doors and empty dishes downstairs in the basement kitchen however I 1 found two unattractive looking cold chops some dry bread and a piece ot of cake wrapped in a napkin and from its surreptitious and generally hang 1 dog appearance destined forthe tor the coach man in the stable at the rear trays there were none everything but the chairs and tables seemed under lock and key and there was neither napkin knife nor fork to be found the luncheon was not attractive in appearance but hotchkiss ate his cold chops and gnawed at his crusts as though he had been famished while he told his story I 1 had been there only a few min utes he said with a chop in one hand and the cake in the other when bronson rushed out and cut across the street he lie s a tall man mr blake ley and I 1 had hard work keeping close it was a relief when he jumped on a passing car although being well behind it was a hard run for me to catch him he ile had left the lady once on the car we simply rode from one end of the line to the other and back again I 1 suppose he waa was passing the time for he looked at his watch now and then and when I 1 did once get a look at his face it made me er uncomfortable abIe he ire could have crushed me like a fly sir air I 1 had brought mr hutchkiss a glass of wine and he was looking better he stopped to finish it declining with a wave of his hand to have it refilled and continued about nine 0 clock or a little later he got off somewhere near washing ton circio he ile went along one of the residence streets there turned to his left a square or two and rang a bell he ile had been admitted when I 1 got there but I 1 guessed from the appear ance of the place that it was a board ln ing ghouse house I 1 wal waited ted a few minutes and rang the bell when a maid answered it I 1 asked tor for mr air sullivan of course there was no mr sullivan there I 1 said I 1 was sorry that the man I 1 was looking for was a new boarder she was sure there was no such hoarder boarder in the house the only new ar rival was a man on the third floor she thought his name was stuart my fy friend has a cousin by that name I 1 said III go up and see she wanted to show me up but I 1 said it was unnecessary unnecessary so after tell ing me it was the bedroom and sitting roon on the third floor front I 1 went up I 1 met a couple of men on the stairs but neither of them paid any attention to me A boarding house ia Is the easiest place in the world to en ter they re not always so easy to leave I 1 put in to his evident irnita tion when nhen I 1 got to the third story I 1 took out a bunch of keys and posted myself by a door near the ones the girl had indicated I 1 could hear voices in one of the front rooms but could not understand what they said there was no violent dispute but a steady hum then bronson jerked the door open it if he had stepped into the hall he would have seen me fitting a key into the door before me but he spoke before he came out you youre re acting like a maniac he lie said you know I 1 can get those things some way I 1 in not going to threaten you it isn t necessary you know me it would be no use the other man said I 1 tell you I 1 haven t t seen the notes for ten days but you will bronson dronson said sav abely you re standing in your own way that s all if you re holding out expecting me to raise my figure you re making a mistake it its s my last offer I 1 couldn t take it if 11 it was for a million said the man inside the room I 1 id d do it I 1 expect it if I 1 could the best of us have our price bronson slammed the door then and flung past me down the hall after a couple of minutes I 1 knocked at the door and a tall man about your size mr blakeley opened it he ile was very blond with a smooth face and blue eyes what I 1 think you would call a handsome man I 1 beg your pardon for disturbing you I 1 said can you tell me which is mr johnsons room mr francis johnson I 1 cannot say he answered cly illy I 1 ve only been here a few days I 1 thanked him and left but I 1 had had a good look at him and I 1 think I 1 d know him readily any place TO BE CONTINUED |