Show THI m m EE E SHUTTERED 5 hm HOUSES ht ar ia USES by BEN AMES WILLIAMS copyright SERVICE THE STORY SO FAR FAK driving home through a torrential rain young well todo clint jervies picks up a girl scantily clad running in terror stricken flight down the road Sher she rides ldes a short ways leaves the car and runs into the woods he decides to talk to his dear friends inspector tope and miss bliss moss about his adventure clint still thinks of her a as s miss bliss moss bloss his former guardian though she and the inspector are married clint having settled down now manages the jervice estate himself in three shuttered houses all gloomy and forbidding on kenesaw hill near where clint picked up the frightened girl lived three families in one house lived old denman hurder his wife who had beef been ella kenesaw Kc and his daughter kitty leaford Lea tord and her daughter june living in a second house was aunt evie taine uncle justus and brothers rab and asa the third held old matthew bowdon and his wife living on the estate was a man known only to june as uncle jim following their usual custom the three families gathered in the hurder home saturday night kitty junes mother retired early with a headache she was given warm milk and insisted on taking two sleeping tablets one more than usual strangely upset june slept fitfully and in the middle of the night went in to see her mother she finds her dead panic stricken june ran from the room out the unlocked door and into the storm to get doctor cabler it was here that clint jervies picked her up clint tells his story to the inspector and mrs tope they communicate with the police who are arc told by the family doctor that kitty leaford died of an overdose of sleeping powders clint and the inspector are not sail satisfied saied and feel further investigation Is necessary essary when clint clant and tope drive back to kenesaw hill they find inspector heale and the medical examiner who also reports the death due to an overdose of the powders powder he becomes angry when hen tope intimates that queer circumstances surround the cle death alter after returning home june ran to see sec uncle jim and told him of her mothers death there clint and the inspector visit them VI continued 6 glovene explained then watching these newcomers 1 I dont know anything about last nig night ht miss leaford had just told me that her mother was dead his eyes flickered er ed from one of them to the other and when no one spoke he said in a sort of swift passion some one tell me what has happened why did you come here they said miss leaford might be here clint answered 1 I was driving past last night overtook her on the road she was running through all that rain I 1 gave her a lift as far as doctor callers Cab lers house june was afraid he would say more than this she hurried to explain you see uncle jim mother hated thunder and lightning so when the storm came near I 1 went in to see it if she was all right and when I 1 saw her I 1 knew she was dead but I 1 lost my head I 1 guess calling the doctor was the only thing I 1 could think of what happened uncle jim insisted she took too many sleeping tab lets june told him in a low tone you know she was sick from doing that once before her face suddenly was stony calm 1 I gave them to her she whispered 1 I gave them to her and she died clint caught her hand now listen he protested you her head leaned back against the cabin wall she insisted on taking two the girl said 1 I persuade her not to I 1 was afraid she whispered oh I 1 wish id spilled them all and then she explained pla ined you see she get to sleep so she got up and went to the bathroom and took the rest of them tope asked thoughtfully you spilled some of them you say while I 1 was getting one for her june answered 1 I set the bottle down on the basin and it fell and tipped over they spilled out and there was water in the basin a little it the tablets in the water dissolved there but three left in the bottle and I 1 took one of them to her one besides the one I 1 already had then she must have heard the thunder coming and she was afraid of lightning so she got up and took the other two oh I 1 wish id spilled them all how do you know all this uncle jim asked there was a rasp in his tones something challenging and angry how does anyone know what she did why the other tablets were gone said june bottle empty uncle jim insisted the girl hesitated 1 I dont know she said we find the bottle its probably under the bed or in the bed or something we look there she was there her tone wavered clint held her hand hard he said now you forget it MISS miss leaford dont worry theres nothing to be afraid ot of 1 I afraid of yiu she confessed and saw the leap of pleasure in his eyes and was happy that she had pleased him but suddenly she was uneasy she had stayed too long 1 I must go back she said clint rose ill go with you will you she asked gratefully they went past the others miss leaford is going home clint explained pla ined ill come back here they came within sight of the houses and clint paused 1 I wont go in he said 1111 remember e though im coming again soon lie he caught her hand and held it incredibly he kissed her hand the backs of her fingers she saw his eyes shine goodby good by he said she loosed her hand and went on alone and she held one hand over the other to protect and treasure the spot his lips had touched she went on toward the house when she had gone in asa came after her quietly out of the wood CHAPTER VII it t was to be miss moss who perceived beyond dispute that kitty leaford had been murdered she had stayed behind in the car when the garage man thayer in response to topes inquiry went to point out the path that led to jim Gl overes cabin thayer returned and a girl came out of the office of the garage to join him thayer called her lissa she was miss moss perceived his daughter and miss moss had some casual talk with them after a time she saw bissas eyes suddenly fix on something toward the house in an expression of concern and miss moss looked that way to see a man moving secretly among the trees then lissa without a word went toward the house and disappeared indoors she did ka not much chance he said not reappear but neither did the secret man miss moss thought she would know his form again she fell to talking with thayer and when by and by the inspector and clint returned she thought her time here had not been misspent misspend mis spent clint said eagerly ive seen her talked with her ashes a won wonder derl miss moss said Is she clint fine but she looked expectantly at the older man inspector tope without a word got into the car and clint took the wheel they started back toward boston accident miss moss asked presently tope answered in an abstracted tone doctor derrie says sol so he will call it accident yes ile he sighed as though he were tired the trouble with me he confessed im a meddling fool what is it she asked what disturbs you he wagged liis head doubtfully 1 I dont know he admitted heres a woman dead and as far as you can see theres no mystery about it but there are a lot of little things strange unusual miss moss asked what are they that miss leaford should run for a doctor without stopping to dress tor for instance the old man made a gesture as though to brush away an annoying swarm of mosquitoes why that yes he agreed then the telephone was out of order and the electric light went out at the wrong time and the front door of the house blew open in spite of the fact it was always bolted at night and thep this man that lives up here in the woods miss moss broke in with a question what is he like what did you think of him hes a strong man answered tope doing nothing lives up there alone writes poetry for fun tramps around the woods and looks at miss leoford leaford as though she meant a lot to him he told roe me that now that her mother is dead he had a mind to take june away from here clint cried angrily he did that tramp 1 ill miss moss asked acutely if hes so fond 0 of miss leaford what does he fie think of the rest of the kenesaw connection tope chuckled he talked quite a lot about them he admitted he seemed to know them pretty well know a lot about them he says 0 old id mrs bowdon and her daughter mrs taine have things their own way up there he said they were like people living in the valley below a big dam bowdon is a wealthy man and hurder harder too and their money is like the water behind the dam waiting to flow down the valley when they die flow into new channels the others all sit there waiting for the dam to break with their buckets ready to catch the overflow afraid let a few drops get away miss moss said softly why afraid afra idi tope looked at her in quick attention eh he exclaimed why should they be afraid after all the money cant get out of the family I 1 having things makes people afraid she reminded him A man with nothing to lose has nothing to fear tope shook his head 1 I dont know he demurred its mighty easy to be afraid theres one other thing probably no connection but when clint and I 1 were on our way in to Gl overes cabin we saw a man in the woods he was coming down the path toward us but he spotted us about as soon as we saw him a hundred yards away or so and he ducked to one side out of the way and kept out of sight while we went by why you speak to him clint here re was in a hurry to go on the inspector chuckled 1 I even see this man clint explained 1 I think the inspector imagined him iles hes seeing things today anyway miss moss sat thoughtful for a while but she said at last smiling he imagine this I 1 saw your man come out of the woods the garage proprietor has a daughter he calls her lissa I 1 think that was her young man she was with me when he came in sight but she left me then and neither of them reappeared tope chuckled trust you to dig up any romance lying around he exclaimed dont know who it was do you no but I 1 know lissa thayer was troubled by his coming miss moss declared that was plain in her eyes and she asked this mr glovene how old did you think he was the inspector watched her for ty five and up he said maybe ten years more old enough to be miss Lea fords father miss moss reflected and she added still smiling you see I 1 begin to wonder about things too inspector ive caught the habit from you she ceased to smile im wondering now she said gravely how many of these tablets it would take to kill a person so quickly the inspector looked at miss moss with a sort of wonder he said at last mrs tope you make me feel like ike a man on crutches you can jump farther and straighter than anyone I 1 ever saw 1 I was just wondering she protested d her cheek bright with pleasure in in his praise 1 I think youve hit it he said derrie missed it and heale and so did I 1 but I 1 think youve hit it on the nose well see ile he looked ahead clint pull in at the first drug drugstore store he said 1 I want to telephone when he came out to them again clint asked quickly did you call doctor derrie 1 I called doc gero tope explained pla ined this was the medical examiner with whom the old man had worked for so many years doctor gero thinks that it would need eight or ten tablets maybe more to have killed mrs leaford so soon he said if one was a dose dos I 1 an and d three made her pretty sick four or fi five ve might put her into a coma so that she would die in twenty four hours or so specially it if she had a weak heart but to be dead in three hours that would need eight or ten tablets and maybe more his tone had the finality of doom and there that many tablets left in the bot bottle tIel i he concluded miss moss said in a low tone 1 I was afraid so then it was murder what will you do tope shook his head why he said 1 I guess well have to go back he chuckled in a dry mirth it looks like id have to annoy young doc derrie again when they came back to headquarters heale was there now what is it tope he asked patiently tope hesitated he said then heres the sticker heale miss leaford gave her mother two tablets there were two more left in the bottle in the bathroom cabinet and doctor derrie figures the dead woman got up and took those two right it heale nodded yes he said now then tope explained two and two make four it if doctor derries right she took four tablets and two or three hours later she was dead sure heale repeated tope leaned back in his chair then heres the rest of it he said you know doctor gero the medical examiner in town of course well doctor gero says it would take at least six and more likely eight or ten tablets to kill this woman dead in three hours inspector heale looked at tope frowning a little for a long time he started to shake his head then abruptly he lifted the telephone beside him get me doctor cabler he directed and presently doctor cabler inspector heale speaking id like to consult you on this leaford case can you come down thanks ile he returned the receiver to its hook again doctor cabler will know he told them tope nodded the bottles missing he reminded inspector heale that may have significance or not have you been in the house searched the bedroom heale shook his head no excuse to do that he protested so far as we knew officially it was an ace accident ident I 1 dont want to antagonize those people unnecessarily tope you can see that id alk like e to look around in there 1 tope confessed unofficially without their knowing inspector heale grinned not much chance he said miss moss spoke for the first time a when is the funeral she inquired it might be managed then inspector heale agreed if they all go of course lock the house they have no servants well have hav to get someone to arrange it so we can get in miss leaford will do that clint proposed id rather try asa tai taine ne inspector heale decided ile he might be reasonable I 1 know him bet better ter than I 1 know any of the others he lifted the telephone ill send one ot of the boys to ask him to come down he said TO BE CONTINUED |