Show A illaff maa AA rb leinore glenn CHAPTER XVI THE STORY stony THUS fart faill toe todd d n non bon georgina wyeth and small ft daughter athler barb y were arb mr peabody trying to 0 solve the murder of adeline till CHAPTER XVI THERE HERE were a few gentle ques eions from the doctor you cant have J just u st fallen down those stairs man if you were going up your foot slipped but how did that knock you down half a flight tl todds dodds gaze traveled slowly from face to face after what seemed a long wait he shook shock his bis head cautiously 1 I cant seem to remember much he said except th that at the lights work id started up the stairs anyway so I 1 went on took the bulbs out horace began in ia his hushed voice but what were you doing f said mary helen shrilly why were you on those stairs at all allf why not todd murmured feebly his eyelids flickered 1 I was in the garden shortest way from there to my bedroom the others exchanged swift glances but what then mckinnon the doctor insisted how did you fall then todd said and gazed vaguely into space then no its black all black ilis his voice trailed away to georgine all the terror and distrust of the last few days struck t ruck inward she thought incoherently herent ly of the hard eyes and the secrets of accusations implied and spoken and the aunt with the reticule in todds dodds story and a door opening when an old woman invited death to enter her room weve got in too deep she thought in panic weve started something going on inexorably to finish itself and if we get in its way opened the door GEORGINE gand and looked in todd sitting on the edge of the bed met her glance and got up swiftly yes im really all right he murmured in answer to her gesture hardly a bruise if the truth were told 1 I gathered something of the sort eort said georgine in a low tone shutting tho the door behind her A fine performance chum black all black heaven give me strength dear georgine I 1 beg you not to snap your eyes at me he grinned unrepentantly that was the most innocent lile experiment a man ever made and I 1 got a fine surprise Bur prise from it no I 1 was not going up to the attic in the dark sticking my head out for someone to bop me there have been anyone there well what were you doing for heavens sake yes im seared scared again s she h e added defiant defiantly Y good and seared scared and im in no state to consider logic todd trying to keep ts Bs here by one means or an another ther just so they can get us as they very nearly got you on the stairs take it easy he said tranquilly that as bad as it looked in the first place what I 1 was doing foolhardy I 1 simply wanted to go up those enclosed stairs without trying to be quiet to see if the others would hear bear me and come to investigate I 1 meant to step out on the second floor without going near the attic and he went on levelly someone did hear me someone who was already up there and knew that I 1 might come up through that well at any moment no I 1 really fall you might say I 1 slid down the banisters on my hands said todd silently chuckling knocked my wind out for a minute and by then I 1 heard the light cavalry charging up the front stairs and it occurred to me to play dead dog worked fine too did it indeed it took a year off my life T SHALL try to restore it my J dear said todd gr gravely avely but consider nellas solicitude calling for the doctor at once it took him a fairish time to get to the phone too consider how opportune susies visit was and the fact act that horace came down from the second floor to find me and mary helen cams came up the enclosed stairs from the first floor almost as if I 1 were being hemmed in so that if rd fd wanted to chase chas e my giant bat toward the basement td rd have bumped into mrs crane and been headed off all very rewarding 1 I see have been better if planned it todd me annon if lay off these experiments peri ments 11 1 I give you my word this planned all right but if you got to thinking of y yourself 0 as a great detective after all youve said no he frowned a little im no detective except that th atwell well you remember what we said about the transparent mask lit it T the a ev evic Cence nce seemed t to point pe I 1 t 11 to 0 ill bar iiri husband but bot any the family could have been guilty vae line night while everyone was w playing bridge todd sneaked out oat soon you know who killed miss Till sit 1 I think so well dont tell mal me said georgine in a vigorous whisper at least not until were far away she got up ive had e enough n ough of this I 1 want to go home and forget it youre quite right why dont you go to bed now and before you know it be morning and we can go to bed you mean to sleep are you crazy after all these thes e goings on im not even planning to take my clothes off let alone ill be up if that tha t would help any what for todd if our impulsive friend goes up to the attic again said todd deliberately hes going to get caught in the act THE HE sounds of people going to bed diminished and died to silence rt it was nearly one georgine peered cautiously into the hall and saw that todd was already there on the plush settee by her bedroom door leave your door open he said on the barest thread of breath leaves us in shadow and lights up the stairs she lowered herself carefully to a seat beside him when they were together there seem any great danger about this vigil it felt ridiculous and hollow are you sure everyone is in she said in a whisper as soft as his own yes and asleep I 1 hope V 11 A L esz mp IL what made you pick on nella mella todd dear you made a mis take in letting so much time elapse between our last talk and this one so yes ive had time to think W will ill you take me away now now his smooth head ed slowly yes but if we let triem KOT know were going find some way to keep us I 1 know you want to stay to to see things out to a 8 finish you think some things due to happen tonight but we skip the last act and get out before the crowds look todd you said guessed all the answers but youre not a detective youre not a policeman youre not even a private citizen chos seen a crime committed this is all in the past the criminal part at least it well then what do you have to do about it what do I 1 have to do T dodds todds 0 dds whisper came at last nothing I 1 dont know of any way to see justice done miss T Till sits body has been ashes for all of four years and there is no other proof that a murder was committed and still you want to stay and see this out no not if you want to go 90 this badly how long will it take you to pack its all done georgine whispered in a half sob of relief then ill put my coat on todd began to ease himself to his feet and get the car out of the shed roll down without my starting the engine he bent to her ear you wont be afraid to stay alone for five minutes if anything went wrong you could scream you know she heard the front door open and close softly as he passed through but she ahe doubted that anyone else would have sensed it she slipped quietly back into her own room leaving that door open the merest crack and stood look ft erward aey ey icard card crash upstairs aln they hey found todd lying appal antly unconscious OB am the floor door while everyone was busy he let georgina know he be was wa UK OR ing round carefully to make sure that everything was packed she could carry her own bag and todds dodds light one and he could take barby with care barb barby y would not wake at all if she should and they were caught she lifted her head and stood gazing incredulously nt at the wall the lowest attic stair had pre creaked aked she could see perfectly the light illuminated the full lower half of the tha flight but there was nobody at all on the stairs S SHE HE was sitting on the floor when todd came back a few minutes later her were pressed to her eyes and she was saying to herself in a low voice ive gone mad I 1 must have gone gon e mad georgine Georg lne what Is it he ha knelt beside her 1 I scream when I 1 saw nothing at all could I 1 she took down her hands and looked at him dull eyed aget a get everyone up just to tell them there anyone on but f wait a minute what is this the treads creaked one after another and no one was there he ads was halfway to his feet when she caught at him no todd dont go into that sta stair ir well please if ive ever a asked sk e d you for anything no listen to me she took a deep breath and shuddered once strongly 1 I know that a ghost of course it cant have been but its some kind of 11 im not so sure ile he was still unruffled if someone did eng engineer I 1 that special effect maybe we were meant to think that we had been mistaken all along that there had never been a living person in the attic or if we believe in ghosts we might convince ourselves that tho the house made those noises all by itself you see maybe georgine murmured her eyes fixed on his bis but I 1 dont like this human agency any better than the supernatural thank heaven were packed we need not waste a minute im afraid we must his arm was steady about her shoulders just before I 1 started to roll the car out I 1 looked at the gas gauge let all the gas out the tank and the new coup coupons arent good for two more days can you take it for a few hours more he said levelly in the morning ill see what I 1 can do with a few threats ill have a try at taking it 1 said georgine georgina drearily the there e much else to do you wont go into the stair well will you promise 1 I promise my poor love ita about time you had your innings innings she heard him quietly reseat re seat himself in the hall she fell back against the pillows still weak with shock it would be amr impossible Os to sleep borning sun made the new M MORNING leaves a gilded green outside barby was climbing into the bed beside her jabbering about breakfast and there were voices in the hall horaces soft tones muffled and booming in the enclosed stairway hey who left this mop down here mop todd was courteously interested yeah wedged into the banisters right across the stairs great god godf horace sounded aggrieved if a fellow had come running down here in the dark hed have tripped on it and broken his neck georgine sat up yes darling she said in a low voice to barby ayou you get dressed now as fast ss as you can were going home ditto today oh mamma I 1 havelt half finished looking at those old things in the trunks but we must go some time dearest you cant stay out of school forever todd lighted a cigarette and strolled into the front hall in her wake the question of pay he said gently Is rather involved woi i ill admit Y youre oure an honest woman nella and you have no car of your own she turned the gray eyes wide 1 I i so have no use for the gasoline youre thrifty too dont tell me you poured it all out on the ground mrs peabodys ys glance fell before toddy todds level one A tall figure showed through the stained glass beside the front door and she turned as if more than grateful for the interruption ill 1 I had an early call said dr crane in the doorway and I 1 thought rd fd see the little girl before office hours ashes quite well thank you dr crane said georgine lwe W plan to leave this mornine morn morning TO bill BB CONTINUED |