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Show ' Ofe TEPontho STAIRS I osthaiIde 1 it jjiBWSS I i (Contaaned from our 1hi ) I l'rofessor Semyonov replied blunJ-ly: blunJ-ly: " The policeman on guard outside ; Miss Shaw 's door happened to be an 'old acquaintance. He helped me to opt.n the small xkyllght In the main l hall Which led to tho roof, (from 1 i there I descended the fire escape to the window of miss flhaw studio and 'found her hu.Jdled up In a bare, hard Chair in a slumber that l fear was not a normal one. for a small carton of tablets was beside her. I went through the entire attic, examined thv Pitifully few garments and other things and found no paint or other! , stains, nor any eradicator save soap. 1 "Climbing farther down tho flro escape es-cape past tho windows of my own . apartment. I came to those of my neighbor, Henry GriawoldHil dreams muHt have been deep. Hu smiled as , 1 looked at him and made sounds in his throat like those of an exultunt dog over a bone. And mentioning dogs, that stuffed monstrosity which holds the place of honor In his sitting sit-ting room was the only object In the 1 whole apartment that gave any evidence evi-dence of having been cleaned in the I last decade, and I found It redolent of various chemicals, among them also ; a strong odor of turpentine." "The dog!" muttered Barry "The old 6tuffed dog' 1 "When I had completed my search there I left as I had come. That portion por-tion of the flro escape ends on tho I floor below as yon know, on the sky- ; light of Mrs. Vane's studio, but a walk -way runs around the edge to l the outside row of windows of tho extension, where the second section of 1 the fire escape begins and continues In f h xt roof " "Was Gordon Ladd out or asleep?" demanded Barry, half incredulously. Professor Semyonov smiled meaningly. mean-ingly. "Neither, at first When I appeared ap-peared at the window of his studio 1 could see through tho door that led Into his living room. He was tramping tramp-ing up and down, and though I do m-1 pretend to bo a psychologist, I would , he- willing to swear that sorrow alone. grief that tore at his heart-strings, was reflected upon his fact. He was 1 in solitude, aware of no eavesdropper. I mid yet I saw no Blgns of olther grlei Or fear." "You returned then, professor, the way you had come?" "Yes; for a soporific made from a formula of my own which ls less harmful and inoro effective than that in which Mis.-, Sh:m huci Indulged. With it I returned by way of the flro escape to Mr. Ladd'S window ana rapped on tho casement. He was astonished and resentful, naturally but when I made myself known to him not only us his neighbor but as the person you know at headquarters, he admitted me. I think the poor young man was glad of someone to talk to, ; for after your departure the full lm- port of what had occurred must have I descended upon hirn. We had a sympathetic sym-pathetic little hour. In which I learned I much that had no bearing upon the i crime but which I will tell you of lat-' lat-' er, and at its end he was quite willing will-ing to take tho opiate and get a little rest and surcease from his grlof. He fell Into a deep sleep almost at once, but It was then morning nnd I colld make only a superficial search There was turpentine nowhere but iu his ' studio." I "So wo drew a blank, oh. Professor Profes-sor Somyono ?" Barry shrugged. I "Sorry to have kept you up all night and made that request of you for nothing, but I had a hunch that someone some-one who had no business to do so had touched that portrait of Mrs Vanslt-tart Vanslt-tart last night while the paint was wet and brought away traces that they would try to get rid of at all costs." It was the professor's turn to shrug. ' I know nothing of that, for I have not yet heard what you may have to tell me, my friend, but the turpentine I did find, and in a most unlikely place," he observed. "You forget that horrible stuffed dog In the apartment Of. Henry Grlswold." "No," responded Sergeant Barry, thoughtfully, "I have not forgotten the dog." CHAPTR VHI. "You may have forgotten the dog. but I have not forgotten my breakfast!" break-fast!" Professor Semyonov laughed. J "You have had yoars, sergeant? Then, while I make my tea I hold you to vour promise to toll me what is permissible per-missible of your investigations." "It seems fairly evident, then, that Miriam Vane, the portrait painter, was born only a few ears ago" He remarked when the detective finished. fin-ished. "I wonder who inhabited that splendid bodj before that, and what havoc she wrought in the lives of men and women?" "Oh, undoubtedly sho burled a past of some kind, but as I told the chief, it need not hav been a discreditable one." Barn's matter-of-fact tone was in sharp contrast to tho dreamy, almost mystic note whicn nad come into the Russian's voice. "And the empty cartridge shell?" the professor reminded him. "No my friend. That was her ghost of Bonquo!" "1 think so. myself." The sergeant rose. "I won't keep you from your laboratory any longer now, professor "Will you let his know the real report re-port of the medical examiner after the autopsy .' The full report, whether wheth-er It is all given out to the press or not?" asked Professor Semyonov "I make particular reference to the distance dis-tance from which the shot that killed Mrs. Vane may have boon fired." In spite of himself the dotectlvo started sllghtlj . "But you have calculated that al-roady, al-roady, sir. You said last night after we returned hero to our rooms that It must have been fired by someone sho knew who was In the studio with her and that sho may have turned from her canvas to spik to this person per-son and so presented tho opportunity 'or an unimpeded aim !" Again the professor smiled and this time It was with a significance which told Barry thai it would be useless to dissemble. "You forgot that I spoke then before be-fore I hud made my search of all the apartments for traces of turpentine," said the professor. T respect your professional roservatlon". my frfend, but I. too, have eyes! Jn tho studio if Mi". Vane 1 observed the raised window shade, the little bull's-eye the cross In red paint on tho back of the portrait and tho smul puncture Which had penetrated it. and turning, I looked over at that dark ami silent boUSe rOSS the strip of garden Some of Its blank, staring windows wero directly di-rectly In line and I wondered " Not another word on tho subject could Barry porsuado that ea entra scientist to utter and the latter departed, de-parted, still smiling, to leave tho detective de-tective In a decidedly reflective frame 'if mind Time pressed, however, and descending tho stairs Sergeant Barry easily persuaded Kedge to unlock the "What Was That Dog's amf?" door of Henry Grlswold's temporarily L empty apartment for him. After dlsmfssing the Janitor he pr. - : coeded to force tho drawers of tb" desk ne.-itly and with dispatch but thi documents and ledgers with which, 1 I was filled told him ntitmng, and in splto of himself the rigid form and fixed, glussy start of the melancholj , moth-eaten old hound in the corn' seemed boring Into his conclou?ne reproachfully as thounh even In desfi. hl tho beast would guar ! and defend hi-master's hi-master's possessions. Leaving the desk at last he CTOSS4 A and examined the stuffed animwl closely, it was, as the professor had said, redolent of turpentlpc and tb. musty, spicy odor of taxidermy of otb -er days. He was fingering ono of th- UH lung, still silky ears when the do" suddenly burst open with such force that it banged against the wall and Grlswold strode in. stopping short In spccchloss aatonlshmenl and affront when he beheld the intruder. Then his glance traveled to tin rifled desk and found his voice in string of oaths which b ft him pant-lug pant-lug ami mottled of countenanoe. Must moment." Mr. Grlswold " Barry remarked smoothly. "Youc apartment was entered and your d' ft opened by otflcial authority and 1 think your interview at headquarter with the chief during the last bun must have told you that even you c;m not combat it. Who owns this hou m xt door?" Ho shot tho question so unexpccli ly at the angry man that for a mm uto Grlswold blinked. Then ho rc -plied with a gulp: 'The Gothim Iti -ally comparr, "Who is the president of it?" "I am, ami I refuso to reply to any further question!" "But Mrs, Vane has stated to wit-nesses wit-nesses whom wo can produce that yo 1 and sho know each other before sh ever came here," Barry declared. "Then she lied!" Grlswold cried, hU temper rising again. "I never (aid eyes on tho woman!" "Mr Grlswold! Uarr asked quick-ly. quick-ly. ' What was that dog's name? ' ' Marcus, but we called him Marl. for short." Grlswold drew hlmseit up. "Now that you have asked your last idiotically Irrelevant question, iti -geant Barry, will you go?" But Barry seemed no to have heard the furiously uttered request. H till stood stroking the stiffened', S drooping' ear of tne beast and re-marked re-marked He looks quite lifelike, Mr. GxiS-wold, GxiS-wold, with that dejected expression I should not have called him Marcu." but Mopus!" As the name fell from the detec-tlve's detec-tlve's Hps the change In tho man fore him was instantaneous and hide ous beyond nil description. His sal-low sal-low skin turned a SUltiy gray and In shrunk back arid Beamed to wither like .1 mummy that is unrolled "Mopus!" It was a more breath that issued from between tho thin, dr., lips. "Mopus! She culled him that' "She? Who," Barry's voice ram: through tho room and then indee i ! the nlummy came to life. A harsh, choking cry repliod to hii 1 and Henry Grlswold staggered c i 11 to the chair by the table and flinging his arms wide burled his face in them. H "My wife!" H ( ontlnued lu Our Next Duc.) (Copyright, 1922. NEa ServlcsJ IH |