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Show i the pmj YTrnsW?FS 5 WEDDING MARCH IVNtl J HW 1 iMi i By MONTE BARRETT a PRECEDING EVENTS IN THE STORY Waiting: in the minister's Btudy for hia wedding to Doris Carmody, Jim Franklin, lawyer and politician, is stabbed to death. While waiting, he had many visitors, among them his mistress, an actress, "Choo Choo" Train; his Intended wile's father, Ambrose Carmody; her brother, Rylie; Daniel Bui lis, politician, and an unknown woman in a blue frock. Sergeant Kilday, with Peter Cardigan, begins an Investigation. Rylie Carmody admits ad-mits trying to atop the wedding, after being informed by Webster Spears that Franklin was still friendly with Choo Choo, despite his approaching marriage. Kilday secures the dead man's keys. Callis Shipley, a bridesmaid, whose actions have appeared furtive, is questioned unavailingly. An interview inter-view with Bullis ia also fruitless. Webster Spears admits informing Rylie Carmody of Franklin's relations with Choo Choo, for Doris Carmody's sake, in the hope of preventing the wedding. Fletcher, Franklin's man-servant, is reticent, and Mllo Dunbar, the dead man's law partner, can shed no light on the murder. Choo Choo admits her relations with Franklin were to continue con-tinue after his marriage. Six of the seven keys Franklin carried are traced. Callis Shipley, again interviewed, confesses previous deception. She admits being in love with Rylie Carmody. RHAPTER VII Continued 13 sssibly. 1 really couldn't ants an-ts yes or no." The man's man-;.-ad grown less reluctant now. I'.ive you ever seen this before, :,,'ier?" In his palm Cardigan jjled the revolver found in the ,:y garden. T,j servant made no move to j.' It. "No, sir. I don't know l about guns." I'.t this one belonged to Mr. ,':liu ! Surely you've seen it be- ildn't know he had a gun, sir. never seen it. I think there " be some mistake." probubly kept It in a drawer le bedroom, or in his desk," 'suggested. lie had, I should have known la Cardigan," the man insisted. never seen it before. I'm sure e,s been some mistake." zr rose abruptly. "That's all, !'ik," he said. But he paused it:one hand on the door, for a -Question. "Who has been here 1,I:yesterdny evening? Anyone?" fc., sir. Not since you left last iriTii e'Vs not telling us all he knows," itied Kilday after the door had to i behind them. le, j sure of that, the novelist all J. "But why? I don't think Kier had anything to do with teclin's murder. After all, he's a servant. Where would the e be?" louldn't see a motive for Web-a Web-a Spears at first," declared the ctcuit. Then he shook his shoul-itlwearily. shoul-itlwearily. "This case is giving ist.e willies," he complained. "I'll 'empeetlng you, next. Well, what ii think now? There were no - tends there, and I've got to see listrict attorney right after If I don't have something, it'll crime was about to be committed, or i else he was a fool. The same thing! goes for the people who visited that! room. The person who visited j Franklin openly certainly didn't know that a crime was about to be committed. To do so only invited suspicion. The man who killed Franklin slipped In the rear door, unseen. "And no one saw Webster Spears enter that study. No one even saw him in the sacristy. But we know he left the church, just before the crime. "That's why I'm going to have him arrested, without any further delay. He had the motive, he had the opportunity, and he was trying his utmost to stop that wedding. We've been blind not to see It from the first." "And Callis Shipley?" "You can't arrest anyone for telling tell-ing a lie. That's all I've got on her, so far. First she tried to protect pro-tect Rylie Carmody, then Webster Spears. But I've been thinking about that angle. If this girl knows so much, maybe young Carmody is I in on the secret, too. From now on I'm going to have him shadowed." CHAPTER VIII An Unexpected Appeal. A SIDE from the arrest of Web-ster Web-ster Spears, there were no new developments that afternoon. The newspapers, of course, made much of the arrest. Whatever else he had done, the sergeant had placated the press. And there seemed to be no doubt in his mind concerning Spears' guilt. With Peter Cardigan It was different. dif-ferent. "Let's go back to St. Matthew's," he suggested, as he and Kilday were returning downtown. "It's only a few blocks out of our way." "We've hppn over thnt nlnre. with she can tell what she knows, and It's probably plenty. But we think maybe we can find the woman without with-out any help from Bullis." "Good. As I told you yesterday, if there's any way I can help you " "There is, Mr. Dunbar. We want you to identify the revolver that Mr. Franklin kept In his desk drawer." Milo Dunbar took the weapon Kilday extended, and examined It carefully. "I'm afraid I can't be of much help on that score, Sergeant. I didn't even know Jim had a gun." "He bought that two years ago." Kilday pointed to the serial number num-ber stamped on the weapon. "We keep the registration of all guns sold. There can't be any doubt about that being his. We're anxious anx-ious to find out where he kept It." "Of course," Dunbar agreed, "Jim could have kept a dozen guns In his office without my knowledge. Perhaps Per-haps his secretary could help us. I'll see." Before he could touch the button on his desk, Peter interrupted him. "Not yet," he cautioned. "I want to know something about his secretary, secre-tary, first. Is she young attractive?" the gun before, must have recognized recog-nized It, but refused to admit it. Who was he protecting? How was the servant Involved in the murder of his master? The more he revolved re-volved the question in his mind, the more certain Peter became that the woman in blue was the key to the crime, and that Fletcher, if he could be made to talk, could reveal her Identity. He could not share Kilday's conviction that the case against Webster Spears lacked only substantiating proof. "Just like every other trail we've hit," Kilday complained, as they headed back So his office. "A blind alley. Dan liullis and Fletcher are the only two who can identify that woman (or us, but neither one of them will talk." "We'll find her," Peter reassured him. "We've got to find her. It seems to me that, one way or another, an-other, she supplied the motive for this crime." Kilday stopped and laughed aloud. "Why didn't I think of that before?" he asked, and then, not waiting for the question on Peter's lips, continued. "That sedan parked in front of Spears' last night was a Cadillac and it belonged to Callis Shipley. Did you notice Its color? GPt too bad." d yet," the novelist answered r, "we know that the murder-'ried murder-'ried Franklin's revolver to the .1 yesterday afternoon. That i :tain. The simplest sort of Convinces us that it must have Jone of his Intimate friends. e else could have had access The gun must have been ta-vithin ta-vithin the past few days ably yesterday. If the crime -een planned far in advance, I : hard to believe that the mur- would have chosen the church gel: scene for his crime. It seems he ithat no one could have taken nisiiout Fletcher's knowledge, and ;0ir,id him reluctant to talk. He to id motive, so it must have been one for whom he has a feeling npathy or regard some one willing to take some risk to n,. Who could that be?" ,j jDther woman, eh?" Kilday lv 51 on the steps. "A former u'v.;ss, that the servant liked bet-A bet-A .an he did Choo Choo." r 'vJt sounds reasonable," Peter 'I. "Or else it was a new mls- Franklin never had the repu- of bei.ig exceptionally con-aw con-aw In his loves." '"S,lng back to your woman In muttered the sergeant. "Ev- j:ig leads back to her. But ;fu what about young Spears? jo you think of my theory ning him now?" The attorney shrugged. "Passably so. I hadn't noticed. I'll call her, and let you judge for yourself." "Don't tell her who we are," the novelist cautioned. "Make some excuse ex-cuse to talk to her, without mentioning men-tioning the revolver. It is barely possible she may be the lady in blue we are looking for. She certainly would have had an excellent opportunity oppor-tunity to remove the weapon if it was kept in his desk." The girl was called. "I wish you'd get me Mr. Franklin's Frank-lin's file of unanswered mail, Miss Wilson," said Dunbar. "I shall need it, In straightening out his affairs." "Not the girl in blue, obviously," declared Cardigan, after she had left. Miss WIIsod was attractive, and in her early twenties, but was decidedly a brunette. "Call her back, Mr. Dunbar. Let's ask her about the revolver." But the girl could not remember ever having seen the gun, although she was familiar with Franklin's affairs, af-fairs, and had frequent access to his desk. "When he Is out of the city," she explained, "it Is often necessary nec-essary for me to find papers in his desk. I'm sure I would have noticed no-ticed it, If the gun had been there. It wasn't." "How about the safe?" "Only Mr. Franklin and Mr. Dunbar Dun-bar had access to the private sec- ..niiiiiMflmiWHWwrir.... a fine-toothed comb," the sergeant demurred. "There's nothing more to find there." Nevertheless, he accompanied his friend for another visit to the scene of the crime. Except for one circumstance, cir-cumstance, he had been correct. That was the empty scabbard which had contained the knife with which Franklin had been killed. It still hung where Peter had first seen it, on the west wall of the rector's study, just to the right of the door leading Into the sacristy and about eight feet high, on the wall. Peter whistled tunelessly as he surveyed the room, his eyes finally coming to rest on the scabbard. "H'm," said Peter. Then, turning turn-ing to his friend, "If Spears Is guilty," guil-ty," he said, "he entered through the rear door. We know that, because there was some one In the sacristy all the time and we have been able to account for every one who came In the other way. "Let us try to reconstruct the scene. You move over to the rear door. There. Now I'm Jim Franklin, Frank-lin, standing here In the door leading lead-ing Into the sacristy. Nick Royce was standing out there. This door is open, and my back Is to you. I'm looking toward Royce. Now open the door, Sergeant, Just as quietly as you can." The detective cautiously turned the knob. There was no sound. But as the door swung slowly back, It creaked, mournfully. Cardigan smiled. "At least we know the murderer didn't surprise Franklin," he declared. de-clared. "But we haven't thought so, all along. All right, I turn and see you standing in the doorway. I recognize you, don't I? You don't think Franklin was alarmed by the sight of his visitor, do you?" "Franklin knew Websler Spears," was Kilday's laconic rejoinder. "I don't think the sight of him would have frightened him." "Regardless of who It was," Peter declared emphatically, "Franklin ; wasn't alarmed. We know that because be-cause Nick Royce, his best man, was only a few feet away In the sacristy and the door between was ajnr." "All right," Kilday agreed. "Neither "Nei-ther of us believes Franklin was alarmed." "Now, one of these two men had Franklin's revolver," the novelist continued. "I think it was the murderer. mur-derer. If Franklin had had it, he surely would have tried to use It, when his assailant reached for that dagger on the wall. Remember, the murderer had to come all the way across the room to get that kiiL'e. In addition, you could hardly have expected Franklin to be carrying a weapon to his weddlnj, unless he had very unusual reasons for believing be-lieving his life to be in danger. If he had thought that, surely he would have been alarmed when the murderer entered." HO BE CO-STINTED.) t i no it t t; c u i "No good," declared Peter. "I had thought of that, but unless Bullis was deliberately trying to throw us off the track, the woman in blue could not have been Callis Shipley. You forget she never left the church at that time. She returned to the front. She was one of the bridesmaids brides-maids and was in the church when the crime was discovered, only a few minutes later." The sergeant meditated on this. "That's right, of course. But did Bullis tell us the truth? Was there a green Cadillac at all? That may be a detail out of his own Imagination, Imagina-tion, simply to throw us off the track." "That's possible, of course," Peter admitted. Kilday returned to his former theory of the crime. "After all," he declared with much earnestness, "After all, who do we know tried to stop this wedding? Webster Spears. Rylie Carmody, too, of course, but his action was instigated instigat-ed by Spears. Both Doctor Aber-nathy Aber-nathy and Nick Royce talked with Franklin after the senior Carmody left the study. Choo Choo Train was the last person we know of that saw Franklin alive. Royce saw her step into the study with him a few minutes before the crime was committed. com-mitted. And yet it doesn't seem possible pos-sible that she could have delivered the death blow. Added to that, we have the fact which she, herself, pointed out. She was known to be his mistress and she knew Royce had seen her enter that room with 111 in. It doesn't seem reasonable to believe that she would have committed com-mitted the crime under these circumstances. cir-cumstances. She was too openly Inviting In-viting suspicion to be contemplating a crime. "Doctor Abernalhy was in the church. We know that. Daniel Bullis had a motive, but he evidently evident-ly had left before Ambrose Carmody was admitted to the study. Of course," the detective admitted, "he might have returned later, but I hardly think so. He, too, had walked In there openly, and every one knew he and Franklin were enemies. That wasn't the way he would have gone about It If he had had Franklin's Frank-lin's revolver In his pocket and was planning a murder. "Of all those we know to have been back there, that leaves only Nick Royce, Callis Shipley and the woman In blue. Whether we want to or not, we'll have to leave the woman In blue out of our present calculations, because we don't know who she Is. As foriioyee, what motive mo-tive did he have? And Callis Shipley," Ship-ley," the detective shrugged, "you know what I think about her. She's lying. Why? To protect Fome one? Then it must he Rylie Carmody, whom she admits she loves, or Webster Spears, who she says is only a good friend. Nevertheless we know that she visited him at his lior.se last night, although she denies de-nies It. "l'eter." the detective continued earnestly, "your theory in regard to the finger-prints is H good one to follow concerning young Spears. You declared that the man who left finger prints cither didn't know a your question, you answer 'ster declared wearily. "I'll you've built up a very con-r con-r case against him. It has r B'Me Haw. What could he have ff-oing Willi Jim Franklin's re-f re-f They weren't Intimate It! . How could he have ob- possession of It?" ei'.t isn't so hard as you seem -ik. Callis Shipley probably posJ'd It and passed It on to him. l,ee with you on one point. I sU;think the blow that killed rcpliu could have been delivered I'wonian. Rut that doesn't let rontiiirl out nor the woman In -rather, If they were two differ-inrfsoiis. differ-inrfsoiis. If wo can only prove jtI passed that gun on to we'll have a case pinned j that will convince any jury. -1 the only man who can help her Is Fletcher, and he won't ulded the sergeant grimly, .ire's one other chance," Car-isagrt-ed with him. "The fel-positive fel-positive he'd never smi Reiver before, if he was tell-A tell-A J the truth, perhaps Franklin wwmw if l V But the Girl Could Not Remember Ever Having Seen the Gun. tion of the safe. It might have been there, without my knowledge, of course," she admitted. "lie might have kept it in his private pri-vate drawer there," Dunbar volunteered. volun-teered. "The one you examined lust night. But he was the only person per-son who could have taken It from there, and your point Is that some one else procured the gun without his knowledge. That being true, it couldn't have been there, lie must have kept It at his apartment, Cardigan." Car-digan." Thnt seemed to be the logical answer. an-swer. Then Fletcher must have seen y, ut ills otliee. Let's go and ,lunbar admitted them to his V ; office without delay. "I hope A,,;.:it!enien have some progress Y-: . lle bpRn, after sealing ' "According to the papers. It's "K to look like a political -"lt Jim was killed over this ate Investigation, then the r " . vasn't," Sergeant Kilday !n--'..''d him bluntly. "I don't .an Bullis had anything to do tX 'cept. Possibly, to shield ij-ynfa in the case. He prob-:gj.s prob-:gj.s to do that, because that j overheard his conversation I ,UDklln- If he Identifies her, |