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Show It 4 STEPoiitho STAIRS (i , oniinafld faun "or Last irrue.) ihi girl altndcr figure did not 1 1 -emble the splendid, censuously full lines of the body of Mr. Vane save , " n It helm, and the face was an In-.iis!jiiKTiii.illM In-.iis!jiiKTiii.illM l.ljr. but n a Hidden -plratlon Harry rose, still carrying lho picture, and going into the studio lie turned on the hrlttunt light Ithln the redactor, Then BS drew from his pocket a small but powerful microti micro-ti ripe. It proved of little aid beyond -nowlng thnt the blurred Object by the ill's aide wa Indeed a large dog, tot 1 hr photograph w:i.' 1 1 worn ami fad-cd, fad-cd, but on the reverse side tho dls-IllOtlon dls-IllOtlon I" 'ween tho pencil mark and iif-n scratches was plainly visible, and ret words written In a round, girlishly girl-ishly unformed hand were unmistakably unmistak-ably revealed: vMopus would move."' Then, utanding almost on the same tot which thT lod -f Miriam Vane i id occupied In front of the easel, Harry used hi microscope to scan every Inch of the- portrait with meticulous meticu-lous care. Straightening at length with vers ::rav expression upon his boyish oantenence, he switched off the glaring glar-ing light In the reflector, leaving only tho sldo brackets in the wall glowing .. oftly, an'd crossing behind the por- w. lit he passed the model throne and went to the row of windows. When he raised tho shade of ouc of them the empty house beyond tho n irrow strip of garden stood out more distinctly than before and a i ivlsh effulgence was spreading over hi cloudy sky The sultry summer lawn was at hand. Dropping tho shade once more. Larry turned and reflectively regarded regard-ed tho back of tho portrait upon the nscl. 'Hie. huge square 01 canvas wa idunk except for some numbers ' icrawled in charcoal on the upper left i band corner and a small cros.- In red 1 paint a little below tho center. Fori "inn minutes these enigmatic charac- rv occupied the close attention of sergeant, then he turned off the tost Of the lights and left the studio, going directly Jo the outer hall without with-out a second glunce toward the boudoir bou-doir and bedroom Big Doane. seated upon the lowest stop of the staircase, rose hastily and saluted. " One of tho boys came up. sir, to find out about the light in that -tu- lHJ lio, but I fixed It with him," he rc- IHH marked. "Did you find tho answer v re what was puzzling you. sergeant?" JT "If Iva found the answer to what FEa puzzling me, Doane," hi replied, I've on i yet, and a blacker one." KH He found at headquarters thnt Cra)g had already turned In his report, and H the chief was awaiting his own ap- HH pearanco with ill-concealed impu- "What do you think"" the chief "As to the identity of the murderer, I .i "" Barry ask- I. i niiluusly. "I'm K quite certain that several people who I i n I lied Mrs 1 'ano did not do It, and that lets me J out for the moment. However, I took II upon myrep ',, do a little unoffl-Hf unoffl-Hf Mi Investlgatin,-: " nf courso! That's what I oxpect-ed oxpect-ed you to do:" the chief Interrupted eager 13 . "The medical examiner hasn't performed the autopsy yet, naturally, but from his account of the affair as Ha well as the reports of the boys from 1 the local precinct, and Boyle and Hf v "raig; it appears that the Vane WOhi- H f in was shot by aoaie visitor, some- V one she knev well, and that the had M no premonition of the attack There's B one queer point about the murder that the press is bound to pounce on and up big, and ' I explanation; l thought perhaps you K n Ighl ha e Bome Idea." fc W hat that, tone wi '.'..is guileless . "There were no powdei marks on the woman's smock, and the medical examiner says that the shot must hav been fired from a distance of several The chief paused. "Now, accord-mg accord-mg to Boyle's report. Professor Sem-yonOV Sem-yonOV stated that when you and he heard the sound of the shot and ' pened his door he heard footsteps on tho stairs " Sergeant Barry smlkd, "The professor and I have a slight difference of OSlnloh about the dlrec-tlon dlrec-tlon of the sound of tnosc footsteps; lie bolleves that thej were coming Up, while I am quite certain that they Bfl were descending," he said. "How- Hb ever, that's not the main point. You arc wrong, 1 thjnk, sir, though not In HH the way you mean. That 'slop on the r"M stairs' had everything to ! with the "What-t:" The chief sprang from his chair. "Has anyone given you a dcscrlp-Xfl dcscrlp-Xfl lion yet of th portrait winch Miriam g Vane was pamting when she met Bj -kill !'.:. "Only that ft Is a picture of Mrs. HI Theodore Vnpsittart " piB "Coming flown a staircase," Barry Tie ' lM' .! Step 1 1 1 I ht H is Just on a It vel with the artist's i HHH breast as she sat on a stool before tho I easel, and there is a bullet holo in the ) i aitvaa, Miriam Vane was shot J icii the heari b omsbas on the other side of tin- portrait!" For a moment the chief seemed pHJ about to explode with the mingled IB ' motions which consumed him. The Bl text he sank back In his chair and HJH raised Ills powerful hands, to let them Hflflj fall with a slam upon his desk. HHl "A bullet holo through the poi - JIB trait:" he xclulmed. "And nor.e pflB those no-account flatfoot dicks, not i ven the medical examiner himself, lad eyes to see it! Tho reporters IH would have smoked it out and had a fine laugh on the department if it hadn't been for you, John!" No woman deliberately destroys all signs of her former identity unless she has a secret to hide." said Barry, "and ll am not cort;iln th a previous trag-edy trag-edy was not linked In some fashion (Willi h-r life. Th' shot which killed her was not the first to be Involved in her destiny." I "The ribbon, dried flowers, lace, ami the hair and the locket why. I sup-I sup-I pose every woman treasures Just such ihlngs the world over," commented the chief. "That empty cartridge 1 though. It must have meant something some-thing mlKhty serious to her. mil we've got to find out what that something , is. The photograph is too faded to bn (of any ue as evpience, end whatever : was written on the back has been ' scratched out long ago " "Look at it thmugb ihi sir." Barry offered his microscope. "The pen-I pen-I ciled words beneath the ink scrawl are 'Mopus would move ' Now. as 1 make it out. that refers to the blur beside the figure of the girl, which under un-der the glass resolves Itself into a t large dog of some sort." Barry laid the little packet of sketchev before the chief and took his leave. It was brbdtd daylight when lor a Moment tlu Chief Secmod lbout to ESzplode ho reached the street, and on reaching reach-ing the antique shop found that at crowd had collected before its doors, i Boyle's temporary successor and the ' plainclothes men were sharply inter- rbgating a surly individual who was in the act of unlocking the basement door. At Barry's approach they greeted him and stopped aside "Are you the Janitor of this building'."' build-ing'."' he asked. j "I am, Jacob Kedge by name, and I what business is it of yours?" the other repllod truculently, eyeing tho 'detective sergeant up and down I "Come Inside." Barry drew him I within the entrance door, dosing it : upon the gaping knot of curious sight- 1 . seers. "I'm from headquarters, In charge here with Sergeant Craig. I j BUVpose you know that one of your tenants nas been murdered0" 1 "I ought to.'" Kedge ejaculated. , "Your men have boon badgering me ''ur since I got back It's hard to believe her cold in death! Why, it's (scarcely twelve houis since 1 was I talking to her"' "Mrs. Vano knew the other tenants ten-ants in the house." Barry remarked. "Not that crazy Russian with tho whiskers, but she sometimes spoke to , the top-floor tenant, Miss Shaw, when she pas.-sed her on the stairs. The young gentleman Just above was fair 'crazy about her, as you could see with ' half an eye, and Mrs Vane and Mr. j Griswold seemed to be old friends, from even before she came here." "Indeed:" Barry sinned engagingly. 1 "It seems to me now that he said something about that last night when l Interviewed him after Mrs Vane's death was discovered. Didn't they come originally from the same cr j "1 don t know anything about that. I All I know la that Mrs Vane was' American, for all she landed here I from France like1 that young Mr. Laidd, and Sheld no mo.r than got sr t - tied than she si nt me upstairs with a I note for Mr. Cirlsw old. as formal as you please. Surprised, ho was, too," I "Yes. he must have been pleased to find that so charming a neighbor wns nn old friend." Barry's tone was guileless. "I'll warrant he gavo you ;a big tip." "Tip"- Tho janitors repetition was1 as expressive as nn oath. "Well, when I gave him that note and he saw the writing on the envSippe he jumped and got a little bit more green and. then nibbed his chin and smiled In that slow way of his. At last hot opened the note and read jt. and then 1 he told me. still smiling, to tell Mrs Vane he would do himself the honor I of calling on her in a fcew minutes. I remembered it because it was such a queer, old-fashioned wav of putting it." I Am) did he call?" A trace oi -a:-, i n ss had crept into the sergeant's VOicS, and Kedge became suddenly war How should I know, sir? J delivered deliv-ered his message to Mrs. Van-., and then went about my business." Barry rpse, b-tt him and ascended to the fifth floor.' I'rofessor Semyonov opened the door v "Did you succeed, sir?" tho detective detec-tive demanded eagerly. (Continued In Our i t (sane.) (Copyright. l'JL'2. NBA Service.) |