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Show WEDDING MARCH MUMILJILK -.c By MONTE BARRETT CHAPTER XIII Continued 20 There Is another very vital due which we must not overlook. That I.s the revolver. Unless we believe be-lieve that Franklin thought his life was In grave danger, it Is ridiculous ridicu-lous to suppose that he carried u revolver re-volver to his own wedding. I prefer pre-fer to think Unit he had no warning warn-ing of his danger. In the first place, If lie had, he would never have permitted his assailant to approach him near enough to stab him, without with-out firing. lie was stabbed from In front, remember, not from behind. be-hind. Again let me remind you (hat Itoyce was only a few feet away In the next room. "No, if Franklin had been armed, It would have been because he suspected sus-pected danger. And In that event, lie would have used his weapon when the murderer entered the room. I am convinced that the revolver re-volver was carried to tho church, not by Franklin, but by the murderer mur-derer himself, who Intended, by this very reason, and yet she was the motive for the crime, I'm sure. No other solution fits the facts. And since I have arrived at that solution, I can see a very good reason rea-son why Franklin had no key to her apartment." "Was It the Shipley girl?" Kilday derail nded. "I'm sure It wasn't she," replied I'eter. "In their effort to protect others whom they feared were guilty, a number of people have deceived de-ceived us. That has added to our complications and that's why you have suspected this girl." At this point the attorney arrived. ar-rived. Peter Cardigan was still contemplating the slain man's keyring key-ring when he entered. "Did you bring the key?" "Here." Dunbar handed It to the novelist, who compared It carefully wdth the small, unidentified key on the ring. Ills examination completed, com-pleted, he reached for the nurse's pad on the table beside him, and scrawled a few hurried notes We know Franklin was killed by some one he knew Intimately, otherwise oth-erwise he would have warned Itoyce, who was only a few fuet away; the murderer carried Franklin's Frank-lin's own revolver; the murderer called Choo Choo Train and imitated imitat-ed Fletcher's voice in telling her to go to the chinch; the murderer could not have been In the church, proper, at the time the crime was committed, but he had to be on the ground. "The woman in blue must have been the motive, because the guilty person took such active steps to remove re-move all clues to her Identity, and. In conclusion, Franklin's apartment was searched, not once, but twice, and 1 was attacked in your ollice. Only one person answers all these descriptions, Mr. Dunbar. That Is you. "Itoyce looked for you at the church but couldn't find you out In front, for the very simple reason that you weren't there. Franklin kept that revolver at his oflice. After searching elsewhere, there was no other conclusion we could reach. You were the only person who had access to it there. You were in great haste to search your pressionlessly. ''With that much to go on, I felt confident that I knew how we had been duped. We were puzzled because we couldn't find any clue to the woman In blue among Franklin's personal effects. This was now explained. You had removed those clues when you searched Franklin's apartment the evening before, to verify your suspicions sus-picions regarding him and your wife. Afterward it occurred to you that this broken drawer might incriminate in-criminate you if we discovered It. So 'you transferred the remainder of his effects to your own drawer, leaving your key in Franklin's desk. The broken drawer you appropriated appropri-ated for your own use. And that," declared Peter with finality, "Is what I wrote Kilday a few minutes min-utes ago. He is on his way to your oflice to check up on those two drawers in your safe. Unless I am mistaken, he will discover that the key on Franklin's ring fits the broken compartment which you are now using. "Simple, when you think about It, isn't It?" "You make It sound simple," the attorney replied. "The only thing that puzzled me Is why you returned to your oflice that night," peter continued. "You had already destroyed the evidence In Franklin's compartment." "I was afraid there might be some evidence elsewhere that I had overlooked, and I wasn't expecting you to hunt the murderer there." The attorney was making no effort to maintain a pretense of innocence. inno-cence. "I couldn't very well go through the place in the daytime without exciting comment from the employees. I felt perfectly safe in making the search at night, however, how-ever, until," he shrugged, "you appeared ap-peared on the scene. None of my employees had an excuse to be there at that hour, and I knew that the janitor's force did not come on, duty until ten o'clock, so naturally I was alarmed when I heard your key in the lock. I didn't realize, or have time to consider that you might be coming there to trap some one else. I lost my head, I guess. At any rale, I determined not to be trapped there, so I turned out the lights and waited for you In the dark. You know what happened." Peter glanced at the locked door. "What's the idea?" he asked. "You upon it. "How does this key fit into the case?" Kilday could no longer restrain re-strain his curiosity. "I'm not sure," Peter directed a significant glance at his friend. "Here," he handed him the notes he had Just written. "With that much to go on, perhaps you can make Rylie Carrnody talk." "But I thought you said " "Never mind what I said before," Peter replied earnestly. "I may have changed my mind. Look over these notes and follow Instructions." Instruc-tions." Kilday shrugged and left the room. "Then you think it was Rylle Carmody, after all?" suggested Milo Dunbar. "I must confess I don't understand how that key had anything any-thing to do with him." "We'll soon know," peter replied shortly. The attorney walked to the window, win-dow, his back to Peter and hummed a few bars of a tune. "I suppose the theory Is that young Carmody committed the murder to prevent Franklin's marriage to his sister?" "No. That's no longer the theory. the-ory. We now believe that the murderer mur-derer killed Franklin because he discovered the latter's love affair with the woman In blue." "I gather that you have come to slaying the man with his own gun, thus to escape detection. You will argue, of course, that he used the knife, Instead. I believe that was an afterthought, suggested when he saw the knife hanging on the wall as he entered the room. It suggested a silence, and greater time for escape, that he could not hope for If be used the gun. "Another point which puzzled me was why the revolver should have been discarded in the shrubbery of the garden. Of course, the murderer murder-er had already taken the precaution precau-tion to leave Franklin's own fingerprint finger-print upon It, but nevertheless, this revolver has been a significant clue In the case, and marks an apparent appar-ent mistake on the part of the man we seek. My only explanation for this action Is that the murderer joined the throng in front of the church, after the crime, seeking safety in the crowd, rather than in flight. I think It probable that he even entered the church. That is quite likely, as I am sure his acquaintance ac-quaintance wilh Franklin was such that he had been Invited. That being be-ing true, lie could not afford to have the murdered man's revolver in his possession. That explains this point, but It does not explain how and when he obtained that revolver. "That," declared Peter, with slow emphasis, "is the most significant sig-nificant point of all. Fletcher fPIHIf If 1 "Poison." can't hope to escape. By this time I Kilday has verified the manner in which you switched boxes with Franklin." "Oh, yes. There's always one method of escape. But don't be alarmed. That was only a precaution precau-tion against interruption." From his pocket he took a small i vial. Removing the cork, he smelled of the contents. Then he smiled. "Poison," he explained. "I've been carrying it about with me for several sev-eral days. Even before r killed Franklin, I made up my mind that I would never be taken alive." Dunbar raised the bottle gravely. "Before I go," he said, "I want to say I'm sorry you went through the window. I had nothing against you. I only wanted to get out of there, undetected." The- momentary delay gave Peter the opportunity for which he waited. wait-ed. With all his strength he hurled his pillow at the bottle poised In Dunbar's baud, hoping to knock It from his grasp. His aim was true, but the bottle did not fall. The fingers which clutched it were too sure of their grip. There was reproach in the attor-" uey's glance. "After making this the only escape possible," he asked, "would you rob me of it?" He raised the bottle slowly. "I don't blame you for anything but that pillow," he declared gravely. "You're quite a detective, Cardigan. I should be an authority on the subject." sub-ject." Milo Dunbar took his only means of escape. THE END. partner's apartment, immediately after his death. You told Fletcher you were looking for a will. But you and I know you were there to destroy any evidence which might identify the woman in blue as your wife, before the police arrived. You didn't find It then, and were anxious anx-ious for another opportunity to conduct con-duct the search when Fletcher wasn't present. At the first opportunity, oppor-tunity, that's exactly what you did, and that's when I picked up your trail, although even then I didn't realize who my quarry was. You used a key you found In your wife's possession to enter that apartment. Remember, too, that my assailant must have had a key to enter your office. The trail was plain from the first, and you are the only one who fits the description, in every detail." , Dunbar, head on one side, lips pursed judiciously, had the manner of a judge weighing evidence. "All very plausible," he nodded his head. "But still only theory." "Here is some more of It," retorted retort-ed the novelist. "The night before the wedding, your suspicions of your wife and Franklin aroused, you broke Into his compartment of the safe. There you found evidence which supported those suspicions. And the revolver, too. That," he admitted, "is still only a guess. But I'll know whether or not it's a true one in a few minutes." An expression of annoyance flitted flit-ted across the attorney's countenance. coun-tenance. "Guesses!" he said. "Guesses! You're always talking of guesses! What made you make such a guess?" "In the first place, you were the the conclusion that jealousy was the motive for the crime?" "Yes. Either jealousy or revenge. re-venge. In his relationship with this woman. Franklin betrayed a trusted trust-ed friend and that friend committed commit-ted the murder, if my theory works out. And it must work out, Mr. Dunbar," continued Peter with conviction. "It's the only theory that fits all the facts." "I'm interested." Dunbar took a chair beside the bed. "I'd like to hear the whole story. Can't you take me Into your confidence?" "When Kilday comes back," promised prom-ised the novelist. "He won't be long." "May I see those-keys?" The attorney at-torney extended his palm. "I'm curious to know what they had to do with 1t. Why did you ask me to bring the key to Franklin's compartment com-partment of the safe? What does young Carmody have to do with that key?" "The keys?" Cardigan stared about him blankly. "They were here a moment ago. I must have dropped them." "Yes," declared Dunbar evenly. "You must have dropped them Into Kilday's hand. You're lying' to me, Cardigan. Why did you give those keys to Kilday? Why did you write him that note? What did you have to say that you didn't want me to hear?" Peter smiled into the angry man's eyes, his hand sliding stealthily, almost al-most imperceptibly toward the" bell cord on the table beside his bed. "I believe I mentioned Rylie Carmody," Car-mody," be was sparring f time. "Only to throw me off t..e track," retorted Dunbar. "Kilday didn't know what you were talking about when you mentioned him." Then, for the first time noticing Cardigan's cautious reach for the bell, he forestalled it with a deft jerk of his elbow that sent the small table careening and knocked the bell cord to the floor. "Then I was right," he said shortly. "You win again," declared the novelist, his alert glance Intently studying the attorney's expression. "My luck was just as bad the other oth-er night at your oflice." Before replying, Dunbar locked the door. "I suspected you had guessed when you wrote that note to Kilday," Kil-day," the lawyer admitted calmly. "How did you do it?" His eyes, slightly bloodshot, returned the novelist's steady gaze. "You left a very plain trail." declared de-clared the latter. "Once It was j discovered, we couldn't miss. The ' only difficulty was that there were so many trails, partly due to your efforts, that yours was obscured. claims Franklin never kept a gun at the apartment. The man is telling the exact truth, or else he Is protecting the murderer. And yet, we can find no motive that would cause Fletcher to pursue eueh a course. I think the fellow might protect the identity of a woman who had been indiscreet. I don't think he would protect the Murderer. We have proof of it, in fact. Had he been in league with Franklin's slayer, It would not have been necessary to search the apartment, apart-ment, as was done. Fletcher could have accomplished such a search without any difficulty and without our knowledge. "That means that Franklin kept the weapon elsewhere. Where? At the apartment he kept for Choo Choo Train? . In another possible apartment kept for the woman In blue? At his office? "Sergeant," Cardigan spoke with evident conviction, "this evidence led me, ultimately, to two clues to which I did not at first attach sufficient suf-ficient Importance. And those two clues, I believe, will prove not only the identity, but the guilt, of the murderer. They are the revolver and the key-ring we found in the murdered man's pocket." CHAPTER XIV Introducing the Murderer. "WK IIAVE identified six of VV these seven keys," I'eter continued, Indicating the ring which Kilday was holding in his hand. "One opens the street door of Franklin's apartment building; a second opens his apartment ; anoth-r anoth-r fits Choo Choo Train's door; the fourth opens the door of his general gen-eral offices. That's an end of the large keys. Of the smaller ones, the first opened his desk and the last one still remains unidentified. Call Milo Dunbar, will you? I believe be-lieve he can help us trace this key. We should have done It before. And unless I'm clear off the track, we'll know who the murderer Is when we succeed in doing that." Franklin's partner was located at bis office and promised to come at rnce. "Ask him to bring the key to franklin's private compartment of the safe," Peter interrupted to suggest sug-gest "We'll want that, too." "I think," he continued after Kilday Kil-day had replaced the receiver, "that we can definitely abandon the Idea (bat Franklin maintained a separate apartment for this woman in blue. If he had done so. why doesn't the oy appear on this ring? All his 01 her keys are here. There have Veen times I have been tempted to abandon this woman as a cine, for only person who fitted every possibility pos-sibility of the crime. In the" second, sec-ond, there Were Franklin's keys. I couldn't understand why all his keys were Intact, upon his ring, except the key to his compartment of the safe. It seemed strange that he should have kept that, of all keys, lying carelessly in his desk where you found it for us. Then the solution occurred to me and I compared that key we found there with the one we had been unable to identify upon the key-ring, remembering re-membering how similar they were in size and appearance. Remember, Remem-ber, I had tried to use that unidentified unidenti-fied key to open that compartment. 1 was able to insert it In the lock but it wouldn't turn the bolt. Do you know why? "They were both keys to that safe. When 1 compared them a few minutes ago, I discovered they both bore the samo manufacturer's serial number. One of those kevs belonged to you. Mr. Dunbar. The other was Franklin's." Peter stared at the attorney ex- |