Show R 16 BY RK rr 11 a ff aam nunra T ij SYNOPSIS asa M la m innes spinster and guardian of gertruda Gertru oe rt r ud df anil a I 1 d summer bummer headquarters head quart er lit at sunnyside Sunny side amidst nu ruru the servants deserted A alles anne locked up tor for the night the was wan startled by a dark figure on the v veranda eranda unseemly noises disturbed dl her d during the night in the morning atlas iones found a strange link cuff button in a hamper Gor gertrudo trudo und and halsey arrived with ill jack bollei the rhe house was wa awak nod ned by a volver ri shot and arnold arm was found shot to death in the hall strong annos found halseys Hal B revolver en 0 n tile the lui lawn ile he rind and jaik jack bailey had dl di appeared tile the link curf cuff button mysteriously disappeared detective jamieson Jam lenon r r r 1 1 I j artrue r revealed she was wag en ed to jack li alley with wh whom orn she he talked in the billiard room a few moments before the murder accused atlas innes of holding balk back eviden danco 0 lie he imprisoned an intruder in an empty room the rho prisoner escaped down 11 laundry chute gertrude was A negro found the is other halt of roved 0 ved to be jack 1111 halloy ys 8 cult cuff button afa alsey reappears and says he and nalley bailey left in response to a telegram gertrude said aid she had given chan bailey an union led jd revolver fearing to give him a loaded loa ed weapon cashier nalley of blaul art ann strongs trona bank defunct was arrested tor for embezzlement halsey said armstrong wrecked his bin own bank banit and could clear halley ailey fl paul armstrong n death waa as announced Hal halsey fiancee lan cee louise armstrong was waa found at the lodge the ludge keeper said houlbe and arnold had it 1 long talk the night of abe the murder iou I lie ie I e was prostrated pr iou so told halsey that while she still loved him she was wag to marry another and that he would despise her when he ha learned the tha whole story ston it developed that dr walker ond end loui louise were to be married A prowler was wa hourd hoard in the house louise was found at the 01 bottom ol of tile the circular staircase louise loouise said laid she he had bad heard a knock at the door and answered it something brushed brush d past val her h er on the stairway and she fainted halley Is suspected of armstrongs murder after seeing a ghost thomas the lodge keeper was round found abad dead A sll blip was waa found in his pocket bearing the name nama lue luceen 1 en wallace 14 elm street klch field eld 1 CHAPTER continued certain in what part in the east wing can you tell me when these intrusions occurred and what the purpose teemed seemed to be was it robbery no I 1 said decidedly As to time once ence on friday night a week ago again the following night when arnold armstrong was murdered and again last friday night the doctor looked serious ile he seemed to be debating some question in his mind and to reach a decision miss atlas innes he said 1 I am in a peculiar position I 1 understand your attitude of course but do you think you are wise ever since you have have come here there have been hostile demonstrations against you and your family im not a croaker but take a warning leave before anything occurs that will cause you a lifelong regret 1 I am willing to vike tike the responsibility I 1 sald said coldly I 1 think he gave me up then as a poor proposition lie ile asked to be shown where arnold armstrongs body had been found and I 1 took him there ile he scrutinized the whole place carefully examining the stairs and the lock when he had taken a formal farewell I 1 was confident of one thin thing dr walker would do anything lie he could to get me away from Sunny sunnyside side CHAPTER fourteen elm street it was waa monday evening when we found the body of poor thomas monday night had been uneventful things were quiet at the house and the peculiar circumstances of the old mans death had been carefully kept from the servants took charge of the dining room and pantry in the absence of a butler and except for the warning of the casanova doctor everything breathed ot of peace affairs at the traders bank were progressing slowly the failure had hit small email stockholders stock holders very hard the minister of the little Aleth methodist odist chapel in casanova among them ile he had received as a legacy from an uncle a few shares of stock in the traders bank and now his joy was turned to bitterness he had to sacrifice crince sa everything ht he had in the world and hf his a feeling against paul armstrong aca dead d as he was must have been bitter in the extreme ile he was asked to of at the simple services when the dead bah bankers kers body was interred in casanova churchyard but the good man providentially took cold and a substitute was called in A few days after the services he sailed to see me a kind faced little nan man in a very bad frock coat and laundered sun ered tie tic I 1 think he was uncertain as to my connection with the armstrong family and dubious whether I 1 considered mr air armstrongs taking away a matter tor for condolence or congratulation ile he was not long hing in doubt I 1 liked the little man lie ile had known rhomas well and had promised to officiate at the services in the rickety african zion alon church ile he told me more of himself than he knew and before he left I 1 astonished him and myself I 1 admit by promising a new carpet for his church ile he was much affected and I 1 gathered that he had yearned over his bis ragged chapel as a mother over a halt half clothed child you are laying up treasures miss atlas innes he said brokenly where neither ither moth nor rust corrupt nor thieves break through and steal I 1 sent him home in the car with a bunch of hothouse roses for his wife and he be was quite overwhelmed As tor for roe me I 1 lod a generous glow that was heap cheap at the price of 0 a church carpet I 1 received less gratl Beat ion and less gratitude when I 1 presented preben ted the now new silver communion set to st barnabas I 1 had a great many things to think about in those days I 1 made a list of questions and possible answers but I 1 seemed only to be working around in a circle I 1 always ended where I 1 began the list hat was something this who had filtered entered the house hour tile night before the murder thomas claimed it was wag mr air bailey whom he tied had seen on the footpath foot root path and who owned the peart pearl cufflink cuff link why did arnold armstrong come back fitter after he had left the house home the night ho he was killed no answer was it on the ati mission louise had mentioned who admitted him gertrude said she had locked the th east entry there was no key on the dead man or in the door lie must have bern admitted from within who had been locked in the clothes chute some one unfamiliar with the house evidently only two people missing from the household rosie and gertrude rosie had been at the lodge There therefore foTe but was it gertrude might it not have been the mysterious intruder again who had accosted itolle on oil the drive Again perhaps the nightly visitor it a seemed more likely somo some one who suspected u EL a secret at the lodge was louime ou under surveillance who had passed louise boulse on the circular staircase could it have been thomas th the key hey to tile the east entry made this a possibility but why was ile he there it it were indeed he who bad made the hole in the trunk room wall it was wag not vandalism it had been done quietly and with deliberate dell berata purpose it if I 1 had only known how bow to read the purpose of 0 that gaping aperture what I 1 might have saved in anxiety and mental strain why hull had louise left her people rind and come home to hide at the lodge there was wa s n no 0 answer as yet to this or to the next questions of if thomas funeral in the villare village and alex and i were in tile the conservatory cutting flowers for the old mana casket liddy Is never so happy as when sho she Is making herself wretched and now her mouth drooped while her eyes were triumphant 1 I always said thero there were plenty of things going on here right under our noses that we sue see she said cald holding out her apron 1 I dont see with my nose I 1 remarked what have you got there liddy pushed aside a halt half dozen geranium pots and in the space thus cleared she dumped the contents of her apron a handful of tiny hits bits of paper alex had stepped back but I 1 sa saw v him watching her curiously walt wait a moment liddy I 1 said bald you have been going through the library paper basket was arranging tier her bits bit of paper with the skill of long practice is I 1 ce and paid no attention did it ever occur to you I 1 went on putting my hand over the scraps that when people tear up their correspondence it la Is for the express purpose of keeping it front from being read it if they ashamed ot of it they hey take so BO much trouble miss atlas rachel liddy said more afore than that with things happening every ever y day I 1 consider it my duty it you dont read and act on this I 1 shall give it to that jamieson Jam leson and ill venture hell not go back to the city today to day that decided rae ine if the scraps had anything to do with the mystery ordinary conventions had bad no value so liddy arranged the scraps like working out one of the puzzle pictures children play with and she did it with much the same name eagerness when it was finished she stepped aside while I 1 read it wednesday night nine X 2 17 14 1 he scrutinized the whole place carefully why wh did both she and dr walker volker warn us away from the house who W ho wn WHO duclon wallace what did thomas see ace in the shadows the night he died whit what was the meaning of the subtle hanat in derl fler rude trudo was jack hallei an or a in the looting of taw lie Trall trailers erm bank what all powerful poM reason made louise determine to marry ur dr walker tho the examiners were wt re still belll working on the books of the traders bank and it was waa probable that several weeks would elapse before everything was cleared up the inn firm of expert ac coun tants who had examined the books some two months montha be before fore testified that every bond every piece of valuable paper was there at that time it had been shortly atter after their examina tion that tile the president vho aho had apen in bad health had gone to california mr air dalley bailey was still ill at the knickerbocker and in this as in other ways gertrudes conduct puzzled me she seemed indifferent refused to dischi discuss s matters pertaining to the bank and never to my knowledge either wrote to h him im or r went to see him gradually I 1 came to the conclusion that ger trude with the rest of the world believed her lover inver guilty and although I 1 believed it myself for that matter I 1 was irritated by her indifference girls in my day did not meekly accept the publics verdict as to the man they loved hut dut presently something occurred that made me ale think that under ger brudes surface calm there was a seeth lap ing flood of emotions tuesday morning the detective made a careful search of the grounds but he found nothing in the after noon he disappeared and it was late that night when he camo home ile he said he would have to go back to the city the following day and arranged with halsey and alex to guard the house liddy came to me on wednesday morning with her black silk apron held up ulf like a bag aril her eyes big with virtuous wrath it was as the day dridge bridge I 1 rend read aloud then aware of alexs stare I 1 turned on liddy some ono one is tu play bridge tonight at nine I 1 said Is that your business or wine liddy was aggrieved she was waa about to reply when I 1 scooped up tile the V pieces feces leces and left the conservatory conservator Y now then I 1 said when wo we got outside will you yon tell me why you choose to take alx alex into your confidence fi lies hes no fool do yo you u suppose lie he thinks any one in this b house ouse Is going to play bridge tonight to night at nine by appointment I 1 suppose you have shown sho it in tile alio kitchen rind and instead of my being able to slip down clown to the bridge tonight to night quietly and see who Is there the whole household will be going in a procession nobody knows it liddy said humbly 1 I found it in thu the basket in miss atlas gertrudes dressing room look at the back of the sheet I 1 turned over fiora homo 1 l of the scraps and suro sure enough I 1 it 1 was a blank deposit slip from the traders Tr adera bank so gertrude certrude was going to meet jack balley allty Il that night by tile the bridge and I 1 had thought ho he was ill it hardly seemed like the action of an innocent man this avoidance of daylight and of ills francees fiancees fian flan cees people I 1 decided to make certain however by going to tho the bridge that night after luncheon mr jamieson Jam leeon sug that I 1 go with him to richfield and I 1 consented 1 I am inclined to place more falth faith in dr stewarts story he said since I 1 found that scrap in old thomas pocket it bears out the statement that the woman with tile the child and the woman who quarreled with armstrong are the same it looks as if thomas had stumbled on to some affair which was more or less ies discreditable to the dead man and with a certain loyalty to the family had kept it to himself then you see your story about the woman at the window begins to mean something it is 3 the nearest approach to tangible that we lavo lava had yet warnor warner took us to richfield in the cir car it was about 25 miles by railroad but by taking a soles series of 0 atrociously clou sly rough 0 rt c cuts ats w we e g bot 0 t there h e r e allo ty er acty y k it t w was as a p pretty re t 1 little it t 1 e town on the river and back on the hill I 1 could see the morton mortem big country house houge where halsey halacy and gertrude had been staying until anul the slight night of the murder vm elm street was almost the wroy only street and number 14 was easily found it was a small white house found di all I 1 ad a tel without having rained gained anything picturesque with a low window and a porch only a foot or so labove above the bit of a lawn there was a baby carniago in the path and from a swing at the side came the sound bound of conflict three small children were disputing vociferously and a faded young wo woman man with a kindly face was waa trying to hush the clamor when she ahe saw us she ahe untied her gingham apron and came around to the porch good afternoon I 1 said bald jamieson lifted his hat without speaking 1 I camo came to inquire about a child na named m ed lucien wallace 1 I am glad you have come she sa said id in spite of the other ca children 11 aldr W I 1 think the little follow la is lonely we a thought perhaps tits his mother would be here today to day mr ir jamieson Jam leBon stopped stepped forward yo you I 1 I 1 are mrs tate tale I 1 wondered ered how the detective know knew yes sir air mrs tate we want to make some inquiries perhaps in the house bouse curoe come right in she said hospitably and soon we wore were in the little shabby purler parlor exactly like a thousand of its prototypes mrs tate sat uneasily her hands folded in her lap ilow how long has licten been here A mr r Jamie jamieson Jam leson tion asked since a week agro ago last friday ills hla mother paid one ona weeks board in advance the other has not been paid was he ill when he came no sir air not what call sick lie he was wag getting better of typhoid she said and lies hes picking up fine will you tell me ma hla his mothers name and address the trouble the young woman said knitting her brows browa she gave her name as a mrs wallace and said BOO had bad no address she was BBB looking for a boarding house in town she said aid she worked in a department store and take care |