Show THREE SHUTTERED HOU pra M by y BEN AMES WILLIAMS copyright SERVICE CHAPTER XII continued 12 tope handed june the pad on which he had been writing and clint stood at her shoulder so that they read it together miss leaford began getting supper before dark everyone came to supper except mrs bowdon they came in relays about mrs taine came to rut put mr and mrs hurder to bed about eight asa taine came for a cup of tea used milk out of the bottle after he left mrs taine heated milk for mr and mrs hurder rab taine came in to say good night the milk was on the stove he stood near the stove then he left for providence about mrs taine left mr and mrs hurder in bed about miss leaford turned out downstairs lights and went to her room about she met clint outside about 1105 clint and miss leaford returned and stopped in front of the house about 1110 they saw the f fire ire at 1119 exactly the alarm was rung in the apparatus arrived at exactly 1123 mrs taine and asa arrived at the fire about 1121 at exactly 1151 mrs taine put in a call for providence to her son while june and clint studied this schedule in silence tope explained you know when you went upstairs and when you went out to meet clint and ive guessed at the times before that I 1 know when the alarm was rung in and when the apparatus arrived and by allowing for all you and clint did after you saw the fire and before the apparatus arrived I 1 can figure out about the time you saw the fire yes june said this seems about right ive a record of the call to brov ya idenie tope added how bad was the fire then when your aunt went to lo phone tic A hole house was burning june U t d tope theres one other question ive got to ask you he said gravly do you think any one of your relatives might inight have given your mother poison or set the house on fire no no june whispered they hard and stubborn but no I 1 no did any of them except your mother ever take a sleeping pow der he insisted she hesitated why yes she said doubtfully uncle justus did and she explained in a faint amusement he really had insomnia sometimes it seems odd because he could always sleep in a chair but sometimes he sleep in bed doctor cabler gave him some tablets once but aunt evie took them away from him aou let him use them so poor uncle justus used to ask me to give him a tablet out of mothers bottle now and then and I 1 know rab took some for him once when was that tope asked gravely about a month ago june reflected ted 1 I found rab in the bathroom he told me tope wagged his head but he did not push this matter fu further arther did you know miss thayer W he asked her names lissa yes june assented that is I 1 saw her sometimes when I 1 was walking in the woods did you ever see your cousin asa with her tope asked the girl shook her head and T tope ope explained pla ined 1 I saw them kiss each other tonight at the fire they were back in the shadows but I 1 saw asa june cried incredulously you never knew anything aboud about that ohl oh no she declared but if asa loved her he have dared tell anyone have been furious aunt evie and grandma bowdon I 1 mean you think so tope prompted her yes mother used to tell me she hesitated went bravely on mother used to tell me that if I 1 married without their consent they would crush me they did crush her you know inspector tope nodded and he picked his words with care you remember mr glovene Gl overe who lived in the cabin in the woods the man you called uncle jim you liked him you yes she said so much ile he went away after mother died hes come back the inspector said where when is he she cried eagerly tope hesitated he confessed at last inspector heale is holding him you mean arrested him her cheek was pale heale thought he might have had something om mom ething to do oh she protested in loyal pride uncle jim no no he came back at noon today tope explained came back asking for you miss leaford I 1 used to be a policeman im trying to find out what happened out there you understand that we are sure your mother somehow was poisoned someone put some extra tablets in that glass of milk she drank it might have been done while the milk was still in the bottle in mrs bogdons Bow dons refrigerator or afterward in your grandmothers kitchen or on the way upstairs or after it was taken upstairs and anyone might have dine it anyone at all the girl was trembling but her eyes were steady and when he did not speak she cried why should they do a thing like that he said slowly they might have been afraid afraid of something we dont know about or wanting something and he spoke to miss moss justus taine has all the wills bow dons and harders Hur ders he tell me in them be public by and by but there may not f clint whoever did this is a monster not human be time his tone was deeply troubled he spoke to june you and your cousins would inherit all the money I 1 expect he said AU all the money in the family 1 I dont know she confessed was there much but before he could answer she cried that matter now though rising anger steadied her 1 I want to know who killed my mother she said tope looked at her apprising ly mean that do you of course because he said you can help find out this is ugly business to talk about hard to believe but miss leaford your grandpa mr hurder is out there in that house near dying it take much to make him die whoever set fire to the house last night wants him dead and after a moment tope added soberly they refuse to have a nurse tor for him lie he shook his head he said in a grim and stricken tone 1 I think theres an insane murderer loose out there insane and clever as a cat hes managed to get by so tar far without leaving a trace its the first time in forty years that ive seen a case without one single lead clint cried what are you getting at inspector tope hesitated for a moment he ignored clint said slowly then theres one more thing you ought to know miss leaford inspector heale has arrested this man you can call uncle jim heale thinks he did it but why should he she protested what reason had he and tope said briefly kindly hes your father june for a long moment then silence held them all june sat still and the color drained out of her cheeks till she was white as snow clint caught her and she clung to him yet she did not hide her face from them she stared at inspector tope and her eyes were streaming and her lips worked as though she would speak but no words came she watched him and tears streamed down her cheeks and she began to hiccough cough with smothered sobs tope spoke slowly in explicit terms your mother ran away with him when she was a girl he said by and by they came home to live and after two years there the old folks broke it up mrs bowdon and mrs taine he told me turned your mother against him he said mr and mrs hurder were on his side but the others broke them down finally he left he wanted your mother to go with him but she was afraid so he be went away alone and he explained he know about you till afterward years afterward when you were about ten years old he came back and met you in the woods and you told him who you were so he stayed to be near you lived in the cabin there they wanted to put him oft off the land but there any divorce and he threatened to make trouble unless they let him stay he ask anything of them except to be near you to see you sometimes he looked at miss moss sure she would understand 1 I guess he still loved kitty leaford he said when she died it hit him hard he went away but he came back yesterday says he was asleep in in his cabin all last night so heale has locked him up it would seem simple enough to heale she pointed out heale will say that mr leaford killed mrs leaford and then the harders Hur ders so that june would inherit their money then he could claim june as his daughter and get her and the money too june moved about to speak and clint held her close protecting I 1 y she said faintly 1 I can remember once when I 1 was a little girl aunt evie tried to make me stay away from him and I 1 told him and he came to the house to see her and after that she never bothered me but he do this she rubbed her eyes with her hands like one just waking she stood up supporting herself by clints clients arm oh I 1 want to do something she cried what can I 1 do the inspector said soberly this if you want to he said 1 I know its not safe for you safe she exclaimed almost scornfully 1 I dont want to be safe with my mother dead and my father mr harders Hur ders in the bowdon house tope explained they aim to keep him there they wont have a nurse in to take care of him but miss leaford have you they want you home and if you went and insisted on nursing him clint made a swift indignant protest but june hushed him yes I 1 understand she told the man steadily ill go but why what am I 1 to do to watch he said to be ready ready for what she insisted so reluctantly he put the thing in in words whoever did this wants mr hurder dead he be pointed out 1 I think therell be another try at killing him and he said gravely there might be more than that there might be a try at killing you CHAPTER XIII clint aunt had listened to inspector topes suggestion that june return to kenesaw hill with an incredulous and angry horror now he cried in a bitter wrath no I 1 wont stand for that junes been through enough well be there to take care of 0 her tope urged you and I 1 clint well be on the job its only for tonight ive a notion tonight will tell the tale no clint insisted ashes with out those people im going to be all her family from now on it if you think im going to let her go out there for bait to bait a trap and he cried why do you have to mix in inspector let them was wash their own dirty linen tope urged gravely its any citizens duty to do what he can clint his tone was grim and son theres a murderer loose out there maybe a maniac I 1 think he is theres a terrible mad persistence si in him or her her clint echoed startled by that pronoun tope hesitated him or her whoever it is he repeated clint whoever did this is a monster not human no telling what will come next and you want to risk junes life 1 I dont aim to tope argued shell have her eyes open ill tell her what to watch for shell have a pistol to use if she has to well be right outside he spoke to june herself you wont go into it blindly he said nor at all unless you want let heale work it out clint cried its his job june was a long time in taking any part in this discussion between them but when she spoke at last it was decisively 1 I dont trust inspector heale clint she said if he thinks uncle jim my father did this he must be a dull witless man they watched her she seemed to think aloud it was money the money always she cried halt half to herself 1 I can see that now everything had to be done to keep the money in the family that was why they were so furious when mother m married uncle jim for fear some of the money would get away from them ohl oh ive heard them talk and claril clint said warmly sweet haehl youre never going back there again but june smiled at him and she said yes I 1 am clint I 1 can go back and watch and see things thing now that I 1 see before I 1 can understand inspector tope said slowly heale is afraid of your people he wont grafter go after them hard the way he would after other folk and I 1 never saw an uglier business this senseless pitiless butche butchering 1 theres a maniac loose out there and heale wont act ive got to find some way IU ill do whatever you say june insisted and clint knew at last that he could not dissuade the girl he said slowly 1 I wish you june but I 1 can see can feel the same way inspector what do you mean to do tope considered his eyes on the floor his head wagging 1 I think the thing will ripen tonight he confessed 11 II if it seems sure that mr hurder will live the murderer will try to end him tonight he watched june intently and maybe you tool im guessing at this but im a good guesser some one out there is money crazy mr hurder is a rich man and someone out there wants that money maybe wants it quick maybe has to have it quick im guessing he repeated justus taine tell me what was in the wills but my guess is that the hurder money is in a trust agreement for mrs leaford but ashes dead and then for you miss leaford with trustees maybe taine himself maybe his sons it matter help us r any y it if we knew because all in in the same pot together but it comes down to it that youre the only one left in the way miss leaford with you dead the hurder moneys bound to stay in the taine family june nodded yes she said yes they could make grandpa hurder write his will the way they wanted it leave him no pence peace tiu till he did so there it is tope agreed w with ith a grim simplicity the money waiting ready to run into their pockets as soon as mr hurder dies youre the last dam in the way the last thing that holds it back be after you im not afraid said june TO BE 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