Show huun ans Y arfer FREDERIC F VAN DE WATE WATER R ft ad U VAN U VC ber Y W V TV ite R tal CHAP XVI continued 11 f trek 17 Is s I 1 youre not miss agatha asked askea aly V a vy very generous gene roua young lut anaro you 3 alt I 1 hive too little I 1 told her still to E wa to be generous gene roua that I 1 Y av Is why I 1 fight to keep tt it too n ay far beneath the Pa gets rth Doot talk nonsense she bode bade arazi a shrugged deliberately provoking thy hurt A SoT much that Is uncomfortable ba ii nj naus is nonsense non to a paget I 1 ian re e t ShA grinned mockingly altet you care less Orr bou 1111 ting yourself than pulling V athe ly i lits lets drop it I 1 said and flipped ug ugly ay iy cl ci Barette into the wastebasket t force ri willingly she agreed and laid alp f the rim ot of her cr chairs jh eeli will you stay to lunch hoi avld jg iati h na I 1 said ungraciously 1 I have m engagement with cochrane of JJ press I 1 added to rub it in ao cs 1117 ilee tee said miss agatha calin calar y when you come back this aft gooon ro oon well get tile the typewriter from s he basement bi and before you go ut you might see ee that whatever is in the wastebasket la Is extinguished weve enough on our bands aanada without adding arson scorching paper and bedcover ben Cover the basket 4 annie said miss agatha amov stoward ng gt toward oward the door should Bli have emptied it but when the police come in thi the door reason flies out walt a minute I 1 begged there wasla waith single balled sheet of paper in the wastebasket and the tip of tny ny casta castaway ay cigarette lay on it I 1 picked up the crumpled wad and an half inspiration half ith theory cory excited me my fingers trembled as I 1 undid tho the ball it kaaa waif a halt half completed letter broken d j ott off in mid sentence As I 1 read it I 1 could see grove blindly in love as twenty odd can be hammering out reproach and devotion to the woman who had not kept their tryst I 1 eid could s see ee him look up where the typing 9 ended and mark that a window adrin in the ferriter Ferr lter flat was bright ions had returned she had not ailed him he had torn the paper froni the typewriter cast it into the basket and rushed headlong into disaster I 1 handed the crumpled sheet to miss agatha without a word and she too read it through before she spoke poor boy she said at last and ald thare le was tenderness in her usually brisk voice poor passionate tool fool I 1 f isaf grove ahad had expected something more 1 from her than this though even to i w the missive was more pitiful abid less ridiculous than most letters baits of its sort but dont you see I 1 asked y h hat at this means she turned to waid A me and replied with equal tartness SS 1 see of course I 1 see this Is what put my nephews fingerprints on those typewriter keys this Is the letter he said he had been writ ini ing that note the police found fod on him was written by everett bent on suicide earlier this merely proves that grove has told the truth it beems seems more of a sar surprise prise to you david than it does to me she read it over again with a crooked little smile and folded it with gentle hands I 1 suggested shant we turn it over to S shannon hannon n ot f it proves shannon she repeated with odd indecision 1 I dont know it seems to we a rather sacred thing you see eleno ano one ever wrote such a letter to vre te let me think it over da aldr ald t well talk of it later ae she rolled herself away without another word I 1 looked at tha clock ay iy it was a s almost time tor for my appointment men t with cochrane H i the food before us cooled while I 1 aked talked and cochrane listened like mariners marinero Ma stooge jerry had to take it and like it I 1 had come to the beanery to tell all my p had been partly laundered by my confession to miss agatha I 1 iwanter Yan to complete the cleansing by holding back nothing from jer ity iry there was too much darkness tor foi me to increase it by further i fience t eh c e tit sit was bitter his mild and f trustful regard to toy lay bare things h have ave told long ago but I 1 ant wint through with it I 1 saw his aie brows go up and up as I 1 told at groves earlier visit to the fer after apartment of the voice I 1 had earce in minos mines and finally of dukes letter then I 1 leaned back feeling empty but easier and cochrane jane looked from me to the salt shaker he fingered S dukel duke 0 he said still watching it awas sore of course over the skinning ling weve handed him he ihnow how much worse it might inight have abeen if lie he stuck J I 1 said it I 1 held out on you go a head ahead and tell me what I 1 am I 1 wont argue it ile he looked at me ag again ain and gave his beaming smile A guy chos that way Is never quite normal I 1 might have done dona worse myself you have large ideas lochinvar leisten lie Li ten iSten I 1 told him film ive got one idea that is to get that noble and highbred sap out of this jam and theia ande out of the picture 1 I 1 get gel you lie ile grinned with a bad and gesture that will live forever in her memory I 1 checked what I 1 started to say lay go ahead I 1 answered rub it in I 1 rate it lie ile still played with the shaker ile he asked at last so the old lady have winter ter show you the door no all I 1 have to do Is help her get her nephew out of the coop and substitute the murderer which should keep you busy jerry said at least until day after tomorrow would you like alko any help I 1 did not understand him 1 I mean he went on Is this just a personal or a professional conference do I 1 forget all youve told me or do we work it out together ilia his generosity threw me olt oil balance if you still want me to play ball W with ith you I 1 began after 1 I dont quite see how im to finish it off solo ile he seemed relieved and went on more briskly since were still accomplices ive got something to show you ile he pulled from his pocket a creased and glazed placard bear ing the picture of tour four men in tights and spangles posed beneath a good deal of dangling cordage below the halftone half tone was tho the legend the four I 1 picked up the he crumpled wad flying Fer cochrane davelt gave it to me and said handle it gently I 1 got it from henkel old time vaudeville agent and ive got to return it recognize anyone I 1 did and started to speak I 1 looked more closely and at last faced jerrys expectant grin either of the two middle ones I 1 said at last could have been lyon ferriter Ferr lter ten years ago excellent watson cochrane crooned my own idea the one on the left henkel tells me was lyon ferriter Ferr lter ills his neighbor was tits his cousin andrew Horst horstman mon the other Fer were named levine and pappas they were semi head liners in n the old two a day era proving what I 1 asked him folding the placard carefully and returning it not a thing in the we world ald jerry answered except that your friend used to be the daring young man on the flying trapeze henkel has the memory of an elephant but even he know what happened next ile he does say that lyon and his cousin were very intelligent Int elligen t tor for acrobats when the movies ruined art and the four flying Fer flew apart henkel thinks that horstman went into acting and played in stock for a while and that lyon went to alaska part of which I 1 told him checks it does more than that cochrane drawled with the sleepy air that was his mask for excitement it practically proves that the horstman who joined the Fer lyon and lone in their tonk or whatever in alaska was their cousin and he if you r recall went out looking for gold with them they found it and lost horstman ile he never came back well I 1 asked at last for he seemed to have run down yet I 1 knew the pause was for dramatic effect neither cochrane crooned did lyon and lone lie he beamed I 1 said all right spring it ft they never came back to their cozy little shack jerry went on pure robert service eh ch lone and her brother showed up the following spring in fairbanks which is a considerable hike from tanana crossing where i air place stood they claimed that Horst horstman mon got lost in a blizzard and he there to say he they had samples with them that started a stampede lyon went in with it and sold his claim when he came back he and sister went down river took steamer for the states and vanished they left so fast they forgat to do anything about the dump at tanana crossing this was sold last year for taxes awl thanks to the assiduous fairbanks corres correspondent of tile the press thero you ore are I 1 where I 1 asked cochrane chuckled it nil all adds up ho he gAmIt admitted ted to whatever you choose to make it its background on the guy you and the old gal have elected murderer anyway I 1 sold said its also a problem in relationship everett used to be a horstmann Horstm nn then he brother to lyon and lone lie ile may have been I 1 bogged down brother or something to the horstman the blizzard Is alleged to hove have abolished cochrane finished for me take a genealogist to figure it out eh 7 and the authority on the subject broke his neck last night too bad we need him no I 1 told him what we really need Is lyons lyona weakness th thata ts I 1 what miss agatha paget wants I 1 went over my recent talk with her cochrane ate and then forgot hla his food to sit listening apparently half asleep you know he said when I 1 end ed a pretty unusual crone id like to meet her 10 why not I 1 asked ile he had find been too generous for me to hold back now the question shook him out of his drowsiness do you mean it ill phone and see I 1 said rising but have to keep her out ot of the papers ikc jerry beamed be enough of a thrill just to get inside the morello at the telephone I 1 told miss agatha I 1 was bringing cochrane up to see her if I 1 had asked permission I 1 think she might have forbidden it but I 1 followed up with persuasion and reassurance until she consented and promised at my suggestion to clear our way through the hostile lobby she was in the workroom when we ente entered red she seemed relieved that jerry had neither horns nor tall and welcomed him serenely I 1 had grown accustomed to the spirit that dwelt intact in that crippled body but cochrane was a little littie dazed the ten tea wagon glass and bottle laden stood beside the old ladys wheel chair one of the tha few perquisites of ago age miss agatha told us briskly Is liquor 1 I hope you drink mr Cochrane och rane 7 1 only he sold said solemnly in my social moments miss agathas face changed and she glanced at me she picked her words 1 I had understood that this was asocial a social call it Is jerry told her and she chuckled as she reached for the glasses we talked and sipped our high balls I 1 watched cochranes cochranee Coch ranes reticence melt and saw the old ladys stiff face relax presently with his doubt completely gone jerry was telling her in a low intimate voice all he had learned from henkel and the press fairbanks correspondent of lyons past miss agatha heard him through with slowly narrowing yes eyes e she surveyed the placard cochrane showed her and looked at it so long that jerry repeated ferriter Is the second man from the left this seemed to rouse her yes she said with forced briskness yes I 1 see and threw oft off whatever odd abstraction had held her ile he and his neighbor look much alike so hes the one who went with his beloved sister to the arct arctic ic I 1 dont think im over inhof bitable in wishing stayed there Is she cochrane asked suddenly his beloved sister elster miss agatha looked at him hard before she spoke ive seen n no 0 birth certificates s she he replied tartly but there certainly is a family resemblance and he Is utterly devoted to her it he were less so my nephew be in jail at the moment because cochrane went on 1 I 9 gather ather from our fairbanks man mani I 1 wish id brought along that dispatch that they quarreled a good deal while they were living at tanana crossing pooh sold said miss agatha brothers and sisters always quarrel she was good looking in a region of few women and lie he probably was jealous our correspondents idea jerr jerry y answered as is juit the opposite he wires that lyon objected because she attentive enough to customers after Horst horstman mon arrived there was a blowup blow up ile he and lyon had a fight that was just before the three of them went prospecting and horstman come back miss agatha thought aloud and was silent tor for an instant well she added pulling herself together lyon and lone probably murdered him theres nothing to compare with a murder as a solvent or maker of trouble yet yet when cochrane had gone that part of his narrative seemed to arl tate tale he her r she spoke of it willie while annle annie rolled away the tea wagon youve seen for yourself she appealed to me as though she needed C d end endorsement 0 arsem c nt there never was a more devoted brother than ly u n I 1 nodded OB as the bell 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