Show LEADING 11 LADY BONNER it CO CHAP CHAPTER A ER continued la 18 it was tier her assurances that quieted him site she had known from tile tho first lie ho would tell na as she had known from ta 1 5 AT t i had dono it lie ho relaxed 1 unit stink sank back Us his eyes pl closing osing and the doctor motioned them to go florn flon t followed them to the door arid held them there hero it moment to repeat what she to had said us if like hetu wanting to rid tier her wind mind of nil all its secret agony it surin lae tse she had seen him when alio had turned froni from ilia hio water after tier her attempt to catch the body she had had a clear view low of him stealing through the pine wood moving noiselessly and watching the house housa ile he never knew it she said that night ight n when you ou clr willennis Wil linnis nearly caught me on the stairs I 1 was going to seo see him film say I 1 knew what lied hed dono one and that id help him and llo lie for him and stand by him ott oh yes I 1 dont care what I 1 tell now lie he was my lily husband id loved him nud and hed been cursed cursed tind and destroyed the men closed the door softly as upon the lead dead what they had heard and left behind them atheni had taken the zest cst front their accomplishment und and in the glow of the hall lights their faces looked drawn and hollowed with fatigue clawson drew draw out his watch half past two the best tiling thing they could do was to get it little sleep and stepping gently us its befitted a place wllie so ho dark daik it a doom dooin had fallen lie and into tile library bleed bleep was fui far from klassett ile he would like to have seen anne but it would leave lave been inhuman to tier her find and lie went toward the living room where lie could think in fit quiet lie dropped into a chair his breath expelled with it a groaning note then heard annes oke from ilie gallery above 10 lo ive been waiting for you ou may alay I 1 conte camu down I 1 there here she wits was dressed loaning leaning against the railing come lio lie beckoned ills ilia heart expanding pan ding his depression lightened luid arid na its site she disappeared lie ho pulled up it a chair for her site she cattle came in soft footed fooled across tile rugs niga with thru wills poring pel ing words 1 I rest till id seen you ion and heard iles hes told T very tiling thing they sat facing ench each other close together its solved and ended tho gull island murder la Is it all right light tor for you ou to tell rac ne it was till all right light und and lie told tier lier so its as it turns out anne deamer till all that misery you and I 1 went through was unnecessary yes slie she said slowly it joe lie he tit in it at all I 1 dont dundei understand stand ivo ive been sitting tit in my room while you were with stokes thinking about it till and I 1 cant wake make it out hugli slie sho leutged forward foi wardani war dand ilind rested tier her hand on ills his knee dropping tier voice alco though no one wits was there to hear heal tills Is what I 1 cant explain who lid did I 1 see in here lust last night ilas answer was prompt delivered tit in the brisk tone toile of com common nion sense 1 I can its very simple you see an anybody body you think I 1 imagined it 1 I know you iou did just consider you were in a wrought up condi condition tiou you expected to see him came down for that purpose the room was almost at dark daik quiet dark daik under tho the gallery where you iou say lie ho came caine from after what oud gone through gli farst a murder then a suspicion that would have undermined the strongest nerves you iou were in ft a state to see anything she bhe continued to stare at the light tier lier face set in troubled thought 1 I suppose that could be why ali anne dear it must have hae been lt it could have happened to anyone and theres another point if it had been joe lie he have hae spoken to you W one question even een to led find out what was waa going on what we were doing yes yes ses ive thought of that it occur to me ilia at the time but lie he would lune have said something of course lie he would you never saw anything more substantial than a shadow in fit the ilia moonlight she was silent for a moment then said well where Is ia joe wh ats lie he doing gone on oft on soine business of hla his own you were telling the truth ali when n you told rawson and williams that joos joes actions always calculable you lie ile saw tier her answering nod well lies hes evidently chosen ilia occasion of ills his leaving tile the island to light out in sonie seme new lorce tiou you cant toll tell what may have hae been in ills his head a joko joke on jimmy travers on us its any sort of lark or tomfoolery well find it al all out voon loon co come me lie said bald rising anil and drawing ter to tier her feet theres no good lo ot hering about that tiny more leave it to me and when weve got cot through the rest of this horrible business ill look around for him and anyway holt hell see ece it it in tile papers and it if he h wants to show up hell do it himself within abo next few days now you on mustio to bed arid let your poor tired fired brain rest they walked waked to the door arid and there lio lie caught tier against ills his breast und and looked into tier her face its till all over that lighting fighting and struggling alone anne after this well be together as soon ua its we ve can got ot away from hero and find a cler clergyman Y to us they kissed and parted bassett go ing to ills room he could sleep now ilow and anne faring slowly up the stairs to hers CHAPTER XIV anyone watching gull island from froin tile shore would have seen been tile tho yellow shape of ono one bright window set like a small golden square in fit the dark ness tito tho bright window was annes aa fanlo had seized him and he fie iad had made a rush from the place and ami over against it anne sat on tile the side of the bed looking lit at the floor she sat perfectly still held in a staring concentration of thought re ellew ing the happenings of the night while bassett had talked to t her she had accepted ills his theory ills I 1 Is belief in it had biad bren been so absolute n and d it was wari so plausible of course a orson in tier her state might have imagined anything and as aa sit sho dwelt on oil the sentence to persuade herself the vision of the win dim shadowy room rose lose before tier lier with the figure coming toward towar d tier her from the darkness of the gallery gall pry moving na as till an hallucination might move burits allut as the memory grew in vividness the shape took form and solidity the slim boys shape site she saw again its ita rapid advance i its sudden stoppage at tier her words its light ning quick turn and soundless night flight the snap of the closing door canic came to tier her mind as it a last confirmation and site she knew it was no delusion 1 I did she said in a whisper arid and raised tier her eydi as it if confronting a doubter with the truth 1 I knew it I 1 did see iee somebody somebody I 1 tito word struck her ear with a startling effect an effect of discovery of impending disclosures iler her body shrunk shrank together as if in fear of them tier her riveted glance grew hed fixed its a sleep walkers she lost all sense of tier surroundings tier her entire being contracted to toa va point oi of inner activity before that intensified mental vision it a series of pictures passed like the slides in fit it a magic lantern Slit shane nes s photograph the worn wide eyed face of sybi sibil joe playing sebastian ills costume his movements nwe ments a replica of Vl violas olas the living room as they heard tile the shot cliot disk falling failing outside in the summer house houpe with its vines it would have becu utmost almost dark suddenly fl a recollection flashed flaa heil up clairvoyantly distinct joe at the flat trying to ninke make bassett gite giro hi him in tile the part ot of sebastian imitating syballa walk that picture brought tier her to her feet brought a smothered cry to hr her lips the spots of light had joined run together in a leaping illumination on tile the bureau lay the key of joeb joe trunk that site sho had brought from ilia hla room after their last interview she snatched it up and ion ifon to the door out of it along tile the gollery gallery in joes joea room slie alto turned on the light and unlocked ills his trunk she went through it to tho the bottoni bottom looking for his sebastian costume coa tume it was gone every tip ment of it she had not needed the proof she know knew that sho she would bouli not find it that it was wai joe dressed in 1111 that costume stokes lind find killed tito the rest of it sybil live hiding somewhere site she st saw lw the gray dawn on tile the window the night wits was over OV er the house would soon be stirring she locked the lie trunk turned off the light mid and stole out on tile the gallery site she did not go bock back to tier room but kept on down tile hall to tile the top floor staircase half apy up lip shu sho heard fro from the floor above a sound so bo faint 0 so o furtive that it would only have been audible in the dead dawn hudi site she made it rush upward sending tier lier voice v of co low keyed but u urgent alimead of lier her 1183 sibil bil sybil if its you wait its anne im coining to help you tile the door of the bedroom opposite tile stair head was open against the palo light of tile window poised with one liand resting on olt the raised sash wits was a boys figure surely tho the figure figuro slie she find seen in III the living room two nights before it was so completely boyish the cropped round head tile the bilick knickerbockers and belted jacket that site she could not yet et be sure and went forward with slackened gait peering and murmuring fearfully sybil it Is you the figure left the window came nearer silently with a n hand raised for caution she saw the faco then pinched and li haggard aggard strangely altered with ilia curling frame fraine of hair clipped close but still sybila Sy bils it wits so extraordinary such a gulf of unknown happenings lay bet between beell them that at first arst they said nothing anne spoke list alist joe slie she said its ita joe illais illats dead yes do they know kneir they know nothing they think it was you its all over stokes has told but oil oh what Is it I 1 cant understand der stand its like it a fearful dream the words died away and a sudden violent trembling shook her with the joints of her knees like avater sho she sank on tile lie side or oc the bed gripping the other with tier her shaking hands hand pulling I 1 tier her down clown beside tier her tell me tell me she implored why la Is lie dead wily why did lie pretend lie was you what was wag lie ho doing they sat clinging together two small huddled figures in the gray light though the house below was as silent as aa the tomb they spoke in subdued voices question answer surin surmise tse I 1 kach ach knew a different aspect of the story brought tier her own knowledge of joes motives and actions in that whispered exchange they pieced together the separate facts combined thern in coli coherent erent sequence and came to it a final enlightenment joe JOB had met ills his death in ills his last effort as a police spy his last effort to got get the parkinson reward leaving his room to come down and mako make ready for hla his departure lie had heard tile voices of stokes and sybil in the living room sybil remembered stokes upward look and question about someone moving in the gallery joe creeping to concealment behind the arch the nature of their conversation would have held him listening here was ills his last opportunity to get the information lie he sought lie ile had heard the rendezvous in tile the summer house its open situation offered no hiding place outside but knowing that it would be almost dark inside he had conceived the idea or of putting on hla his sebastian costume and impersonating sybil sibil ills ilia room was next to sybilla Sy bils bills lie ile had heard her come upstairs and from ills window could command the P point when shine left it he had gone down passed the balcony where stokes was waiting and hearing his following footsteps moved with that close imitation of sybila gait to the summer house there the dim bight and tile the drooping curls of ills his wig enabled him to carry through the deception stokes wild speech followed by the drawing of the pistol had terrified him confronted by a ninn man armed arid and halt half mad panic had seized him and lie he had made a rush from the place TO BE CONTINUED |