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Show j ISABEL Q ST R.ANDEJU1 I Continued From hiv im kiic Tho jar was half filled with creamy white suhatanco, and Barry carried 'It to ono of tho windows and deposited deposit-ed It up on the sill. Then, drawing the cover of the gas mask from his pOOk-let, pOOk-let, together with a small but powerful 1 microscope, he fell to examining the I finger marks upon It. comparing them i to those whleh. in the fading light, woro yet plainly visible In the grease upon tho out.-r side of the Jar. This Jar of French cold cream must have belonged to Foy. The finger prints upon It woro identical with tlniBC upon the gas mask case. The mask had born worn by some ono in tho room of death on tho previous pre-vious night, tho odor of carbon monoxide mon-oxide was pfoof of that, and the i henry hen-ry that now sprang Into hi mind was without s flaw However! reluctantly, he- entertained It, he wan compelled to admit that any Othoi hypothesis would bo Impossible The girl was not Innocent Inno-cent but merely a superb actress after aft-er all! She must have worn that mask and remained in the room while she accomplished ac-complished her cousin's death. The slippers, the gas mask, the cold cream Jar. the knowledge that the other oth-er girl had suoplanted her with her former lover oil theso, combined with the possible evidence of the little box which still remained In hla pocket, heaped up a sinister proof against Fay Tudor. Barry paused midway of the back stairs and struck the rail softly with his clenched fist. What a fool ho had I been I What had been Fay Tudoi i I -'act words when she mentioned her I brother's effects." I "Old 1 tell you the other day that I I went In the lucked room where all j his belongings, which you so kindly I brought homo to us. have boen placed? plac-ed? I BSW hla helmet and his gas mask, but there were stains upon It." 1 Now, there had been no stains such j as ho Implied upon the mask when ! he examined it a short time before, but on the ease, which reposed in lil-i pocket were several faint but unmls-takable unmls-takable traces of dried blood. She could not have detocted them In tin-dimness tin-dimness of the room unless she had taken the cover up In her hands, and the sight of the rtalns must havo revolted re-volted her bo that she replaced tho case unopened. Someone else must have entered that room during the night before; someone who was careful to leave no traces or flngor marks. But who? Continuing on his way downstairs Harry' entered the kitchen, where he j found the cook weeping over her preparations prep-arations for dinner. Ho beat a hasty 1 retreat to the pantry. There he discovered pretty Louise. ' tho waitress "Louise," he began, seating himself unconcernedly upon the edge of the table, "we're there guests last night for dinner?" "No, sir; just Mr. Clayton, and he's here so often that ho seems like one of the family." The words camo In Is loquacious little rush. "Ho and Mrs. Tudor bad coffee together eiut on tho porch afterwards." "Only ho and Airs. Tudor? Didn't tho young ladles take coffee?" "No. sir. Poor Miss Laurel never I does and Miss Fay came back bo ner-! ner-! voub that tho doctor forbid her having any, for fear that she won't sleep nights. That's heen her greatest trou-i trou-i bid Insomnia, they call It." Insomnia! Barry drew a deep breath, and for a moment his hind I strayed toward the pockot where reposed re-posed the little box of powders which he had taken from the bathroom upstairs. up-stairs. ' That's too bad' Doesn't the doctor doc-tor give her something to make her sleep medicine. I mean?" 'i inly hot milk last night she drank ' It lilrei tlv aflf-r rllnner nnrl Mtu l.inrpl poor thing, had some with her." "Arc you sure?" asked Barry quickly. quick-ly. . "Well. I took It up to them myself, and in the morning after after they had carried poor Mis Laurc-1 away and I wont In with Martha to take tin-breakfast tin-breakfast things downstairs. I found there empty." "Were the two ladles alone when you took tho milk up?" "Of course." On tho porch a table had boon laid for the sheriff and Barry, and at Mrs. Tudor a insistence, they had both ro-i ro-i malned for dinner. "Have you found anything that's worth looking Into " Barry demanded. Sheriff Hulse chuckled "'Worth looking Into"' " he repeated. repeat-ed. "My boy, we've been looking into It for days In advance, only we didn't know It!" " 'In advance!" " echoed Barry J ! " pat In the world do you mean0" ' I That feller that's boen frightening j servants, stealing boat cushions and , clothes, and getting In and out of houses without anybody knowing how . he does It. He's tho one wo re after, j and wo moan to look out to nab him tonight If we can. ' "Who's wo?" Barry inquired. "Tho two gentlemen that are here , for dinner tonight and Frank and me. You can come. along If you want to, Hulse responded patronizingly. "It seems that Frank has boon scouting around most of the afternoon, and he thinks he has found traces." Tho sergeant accepted Hulso's invi- i Itation to the man hunt that evening , carelessly enough, but as soon as dinner din-ner was over, managed to eludo him and enter the hall just as tho uth-i uth-i ors emerged from tho dining room. Fay Tudor caught his eye, and. with la gesture so slight as to he Imperceptible, Impercept-ible, to the red, ho motioned toward tho drawing-room. ' Did you wish to see mo alone?" sho asked in a breathless tone 'Miss Tudor, I understand that yon are a sufferer from insoinpla: dt you ever tak.- anything for it except hot milk?" "No, that l, not lately." "But you have taken medicine for It?" PoWderp of some .sort "" A quick light, of sudden Interest rather than of alarm, sprang into her eyes. "How did you know?" she asked then added hastily. "A physician In Paris recommended a sort of powder. They worked like magic but I discontinued discon-tinued their use more than two months ago because they made my head feel so congested after each doso." "Did you bring any of them to thll country the powder! I nn-.in'' Bar ry Inquired. 'Yes, I bolievo I d;d ': There had boon a nllght pause. but hor repl camo In tho half-l wildered tone or one who had been searching1 hor memory. "It had tho proscription filled fill-ed again the day before we left Paris." "How many powders wore contained contain-ed In the prescription?" Barry ignored ig-nored her querj "Twelvo." She bit her lips and then cried sharply: Tho box was UU- j touched when 1 arrived here. Don't, tall me gergeani Barty that a has! bom tampered with! i -i felt tnis morning I mean It seemed to mo I that my head felt Just ns it usod to "I WANT THE CASE DROPPED" elo when I had taken a double dose of the stuff!" Barry's hand went to his pocket and hS drew forth the little box and gave it to her. Sho seized It eagerly. 'Yes. this Is It. of course!" Then sho opened It and a wave of astonishment astonish-ment and horror swept over hor face. "Why, there are only fix hero; half of them are gone! If anyone had takn them all they would never have awakened." awak-ened." "What would be the effect of three?" "I don't know; I have never tako.i more than two, but I fancy that thro I would produce n lumber more profound pro-found oen than nn anesthetic bring and which would make one sleep until J the effects had worn off, and then he ' very ill afterward. Sorgoant Barry, ' Is that what was the matter with me 1 this morning'.' I told you how dizy ' 1 was and how my head ached DM j someone drug me? I half suspected it when I learned that Laurel had boon murdered there, practically beside rttS and I had slept so stolidly through .t all." ' I don't know yet," Barry replied i adding in B significant tone: "Did your hot milk taste all right last nigh! Miss Tudor?" "The hot milk!" she exclaimed. "I don't think that it did. now that y.m I remind me of l. It seems to nu that ! ihero was a chalk quality' In it and I tho touch of aerldnesa that one some-' some-' times notices m buttermilk something some-thing like fermentation. But Laurel i drank It with me! Sho took more than I. enuhl those powders have i heen mixed with It and killed her"" "No. it would only havo produced a sleep a llttlo more profound than 1 your own," Barry replied. "You may I have suffered slightly from your shaiv of l this morning, but I think some- thing else was the matter too. Tho symptoms you dcscrlbeel to me are Identical with those induced by i slight Inhalation of the gas which killed your cousin " Fay!" Mrs. Tudor's gentU voie-i sounded from the porch. "My dear, where are you ?" "Coming directly. Aunt Clara!" Fay turned to the detective in swift dls-' j may. "Oh, you see that I must go! ' "Just ono question more. ' Barry j thought that Captain Warren was a detained her with a gesture. " , stranger to your aunt, ns he Is to the neighborhood. How does It happen that he dined here tonight0" "He has offered his services to us, 1 as has Mr. Clayton, to help us through I ft Via .1. n,. ..n.-l ... n.int ly accepted. The sheriff wants thom to go with him tonight 00 some wild goose chaso after the man who has been lurking about and that Is why they remained to dinner" "I see. Please do not feel offended. offend-ed. Miss Tudor, at any question 1 ma ' ask I think you can help me mo.o than anyono else to discover tho truth." When she had gone he replaced In his pocket the box which the girl had given back to him, and was turn-i to the roar of the hall when the rustlol of a skirt sounded behind him and. Wheeling about, ho saw Mrs Tudor! standing in the dooruay "Sergeant Barry." she said tenselv, I "you must come where wo can talk quietly. I want the oaSS dropped." (Continued In nr Next Issue) (Copyright, 1929, NBA Service) oo |
