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Show m : : ijicWEEPDBNG i W?3 fL3'l MONTE IV fMvi BARRETT "MIhh Shipley," he began deliberately, delib-erately, "you dliln't toll us llic truth, last night, nlioiit your ride home from the church with Itylle Cnr-inody. Cnr-inody. Later you admitted It. Why?" "I told you. I I had Jumped to conclusions concerning what had happened. I was worried. 1 was afraid of Involving' Itylle, because I was sure he was innocent. I realize real-ize now, of course, that was very foolish, hut at the time I was frightened." "Krightciii'd? Vou mean on Uy-lle's Uy-lle's account?" "Yes." She hesitated, as though reluctant at making this man her eonlldant, and then explained, "I have already told you that I love Kylie. We are to ho married this fall." "Let me see," the sergeant appeared ap-peared to he summing up the evidence evi-dence in his own mind. "Vou knew Low Temperature for Seeds Scientific experiments with be germination of seeds have brought to light a number of Interesting facts. It has been found, says Nature Na-ture Magazine, that many seeds have to undergo a period of low temperature, or even of freezing, before be-fore they will germinate satisfactorily. satisfactor-ily. Many shrub and tree seeds have definite periods of ageing corresponding to the gestation period pe-riod In animals before they will sprout. Others can be made to germinate at definite temperatures. her. In the meantime," he pulled n cigarette case from his pocket, gingerly, and carefully unwrapped the handkerchief In which It was swathed. "Here are samples of Choo Choo Train's finger-prints." He pressed the buzzer on his desk, as ho continued, "Spears Is my man, but I'm not overlooking any bets. I'm going to compare linger print samples of every known suspect with those we found in the study. "(let dales on these print s, O'.Malley," lie ordered the assistant who answered tils call, "and bring me the negal ives of I hose you found In the study at St. Matthew's yesterday. yes-terday. Also the one of the thumbprint thumb-print on the gun." Five sets of finger-prints had been discovered In the search of the room where Jim Franklin had met his deatli. Four of these, Kid-day Kid-day was Inclined to believe, were made by men. The fifth set he-longed he-longed either to a woman or to a man with exceptionally small hands. O'Malley was excited when he returned re-turned with the photographs. "We've Identified the print on the gun with one of these sets we found In the study," lie reported eagerly. "Look here, Sergeant." Kllday rubbed his hands delightedly. delight-edly. "Take a squint at them, Peter," he invited. "Here's one time our finger-prints are going to prove a case for us." The novelist examined the prints carefully. "But why didn't we find any prints on the knife, then? We know the murderer used it, but carefully wiped it off later. I don't understand why he should have been so careless about the revolver, or about leaving finger-prints In the room. Where's the joker?" "You said It," exclaimed the sergeant. ser-geant. "Carelessness I He didn't think we'd take the trouble to look for a gun In the garden, after we found the knife. And some time or another, be must have left some prints in the study. If not, these two wouldn't match. Peter, I'm going go-ing to have the man who killed Franklin locked up by night." "I hope you're right." , Cardigan looked doubtful. Kilday only grinned. "Here," he wrote down a list of suspects in the case, beginning with Webster Spears, then read It aloud. "Spears, Rylie Cnrmody, Ambrose Carmody, Callis Shipley, Choo Choo Train, Daniel Bullis, Nicholas Royce and Doctor Abernathy. With the exception ex-ception of the woman in blue, that's the list. "I already have Choo Choo's fingerprints finger-prints on that cigarette case," he continued, "And Miss Shipley will be here before long, so you don't need to worry about her." lie was addressing his assistant. "As for the others, I want specimens of their prints as soon as possible. Of course, you can't afford to be ob- WmW i CHAPTER VI Continued -io- .,''m merely pointing out that the are eliminated as one of the r es of the puzzle," exclaimed Kil-ruefully. Kil-ruefully. "1 was hoping that ,v.f would help us Identify this "uan in blue, when we found her. now," he tilted hack his chair gazed cellingward through the !"e of smoke that clouded the 'So. "Now I think you have given 1 a hint that Is just as helpful." e drew another long, reflective on his stogy. ;iriie trouble with this case," he Sin, presently, "is too many sus-:ts. sus-:ts. Of course, there aren't many 'nine clues, but we haven't need-clues need-clues so much. Not since we've an opportunity to talk to all "se people. Peter, has anything Sck you as peculiar about this '-??" 'Not unless It's the fact that n've just mentioned too many ;pects." vhe sergeant leaned forward, a ':e warming the harsh lines of his ie. "You've laid your finger on i:- he said. "Now wdiat would you that indicates? No, don't ln--upt. I know the answer myself, oever murdered Franklin pur-Eely pur-Eely entangled some of these oth-;: oth-;: in the case In order to drag a t:ring across his own trail, eh? :'t that the way you figure it?" ;;'eter eyed his friend carefully, i looks that way," he admitted. fcAll right, then." Kilday made lieffort to conceal his exuberance, it's find out who seems to have -n manipulating the herring. Let's 1 out who seems to have been in-Ved in-Ved in this case by some one else. renwe eliminate this class, per-,.s per-,.s we'll have the murderer. First," began the enumeration of the pects on his fingers, "there's (o Choo. She claims some one - ined her, saying he was Fletcher, told her Franklin wanted her to pe to the church. Royce heard argument, after she arrived will, before long. I've sent for her. She lied to us about Kylie taking her home. Kit her she lied to us about Spears' remark In the church, or else Spears lied. Personally, I don't think Spears would have made such a remark, which obviously would draw suspicion to himself, later. Not If he had already planned a murder and arranged all this false evidence to throw us off the track. This girl Is going to have to explain ex-plain to me how she knew there had been a murder, too, and what she was doing at Webster Spears' house last night. I don't know bow she fits into this case, but she fits, somewhere. I'll soon know where." Reluctantly, Peter realized that his friend was only giving expression expres-sion to the misgivings that had been troubling him concerning this girl. Only he had not before thought of her as an accomplice of Webster Spears. He had associated her with Kylie Carmody, for whom she had seemed chiefly concerned. And he had preferred to explain her evasion eva-sion as her anxious effort to extricate extri-cate Kylie from the evidence which seemed to entangle him. In that light, he had been able to find an explanation for the fact that she had lied to him. It offered a possible pos-sible explanation for her visit to Webster Spears the previous evening eve-ning a visit which the latter had denied. For, in spite of himself, he had been stirred by the girl's defense de-fense of young Carmody during that interview wdth her. Her courage had quickened his sympathies. He recalled the anxiety mirrored In her blue eyes. Surely this girl had no part in the murder of Jim Franklin. Frank-lin. She was scarcely more than a child. He thought of that second sec-ond deep knife thrust that had ended end-ed Franklin's life. Could that blow have been guided by a girl's hand? Yet, in spite of bis misgivings, and partly because of them, too, for he realized that he was not an impartial im-partial Judge where this girl was "Oh, You Two Have Been Getting Together on Your Stories, Have You?" Kylie didn't like Franklin he telephoned tele-phoned you - yesterday that he couldn't meet you because he had to see Franklin he told you he had discovered that Franklin was having hav-ing an affair with this actress, Choo Choo Train, didn't he?" The girl nodded. "And so wdien Franklin didn't show up and the wedding was postponed, post-poned, you Jumped to the conclusion that Rylie had had something to do with it. Am I still right?" "But I don't think so now. I know Rylie couldn't have had anything to do with It. Why, anyone who knows Rylie knows he couldn't have done such a thing." Kilday nodded grimly. "That's what you say now, but just the PRECEDING EVENTS IN THE STORY Waiting in the minister's study for his wedding to Dnris 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 wife's father, Ambrose Carmody; her brother, Rylie; Daniel Bullis, politician, and an unknown woman in a blue frock. Sergeant Kilday, with Peter Cardigan, begins an investigation. Rylie Carmody admits ad-mits trying to stop 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 is 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. He and Doris had had a boy-and-girl love affair. Fletcher, Franklin's man-servant, is reticent, and Milo Dunbar,- the dead man's law partner, can shed no light on the murder. Choo Choo admits her relations with Franklin were to continue after his marriage. She says she went to the church because of a telephone message from Fletcher, telling her to come. Fletcher denies calling the actress. re. Franklin wasn't expecting Of course, she may not be ing us the truth, but just at -sent, she seems to be telling a "light story. And Franklin wasn't -vet-ting her. So it looks as though rfz was part of the red herring that real culprit dragged across the ail to throw us off the scent. We'll gilnate her, for the time being, e'jrhen there's Fletcher. He hasn't n an Important suspect, up to Xr, but I'd say that this eliminates 3 from further consideration, too. L.Uy? r.ecause who ever called ijjo Choo was the murderer. If act was Fletcher, he wouldn't have 'n her his name. Third, Ambrose Carmody." Kil-"". Kil-"". turned down another finger. was dragged Into It by that nymous telephone call. Very ip,.iar to the trick employed to M'lg Ohio Choo to the church, teke him off. ijFourth, Rylie Carmody. He was Stwii into it by the story told him Webster Spears and now we're :ins hot." --3 old on," Peter objected. "If ,n,i follow this method through, kl!'ll eliminate every one, won't pW' ,he sergeant, enthused over his f, shook his head smilingly. "Not BJyou can notice it," he retorted, "n't overlook this fact. We don't who called Choo Choo. We l't certain who phoned Ambrose v inody. But we do know who J It.vlie. It was Webster Spears. 1 if Spears involved one of them, ' it's to prevent him from being J'jone who Involved the others?" ispnly one thing," the novelist re-l4d re-l4d soberly. "If he was clever ugli to draw these others Into 2jca.se without revealing his Iden-, Iden-, why did he tell Rylie Carmody ioually? Why didn't he tele-onne tele-onne him, or write him an anony-sis anony-sis letter? If he took these other e cautions to remain concealed, i i' did he happen to slip up here?" ts.ut Kilday had an answer ready. ;,f ey all slip up, sooner or later. Hi: never known It to fail. There ,;1I:'t any perfect crimes. This is , flaw in this one. It only reeves re-eves a little reasoning to discover ll ,--Iov about the others?" Tetcr f; still reluctant. "How do you (Vl.tiiin the presence of the woman e )lue? What was Callis Shipley (,ig hack there? lirrhe woman In blue could have drawn into it just as Choo ,j,o Train was. Spears only need-.to need-.to know another woman with p;m Franklin had had an affair ,-idd a new note of mystery to Ji;case which would keep us puz- and throw us off the track of j(,real criminal. As for the Ship-Kirl Ship-Kirl I don't know yet. But I same, you admit you thought he was guilty, at first, in spite of the fact that you tell us you are In love with him. You can scarcely expect ex-pect us to have more confidence In him than you have, can you?" Callis Shipley clenched her fists. "Aren't you overlooking this? The very fact that I am In love with him was probably responsible for my fears. Women nre apt to be hysterical, sometimes, concerning some one they love." The sergeant shrugged. "How many times did you visit the sacristy sacris-ty yesterday?" was his next question. ques-tion. "Once. I told you about that." "And you saw no one but Nick Royce? You never saw Doctor Abernathy?" Aber-nathy?" "No. Mr. Royce was the only one there. Mr. Franklin was In the study. We spoke to him, through the door, but I saw no one but Mr. Royce." "Now, Miss Shipley," the detec-time detec-time permitted a smile to soften the lines of his face as he leaned forward for-ward engagingly, "what made you so sure that a murder had been committed? com-mitted? You were out In front. You only heard Doctor Abernathy's announcement an-nouncement that the wedding had been postponed. There was nothing noth-ing said about murder. And yet, when Rylie took you home you told him that Jim Franklin had been murdered." "You must be mistaken. I never told him that." "ile says that's what you told him," the delective Insisted. "No, he told you I said something terrible had happened. I never used the word murder and neither did he. Later, after Rylie returned to the church and discovered what had happened, you asked him who told him about it. H said that I did. He referred to tlv fact that I had told him something had occurred to stop the wedding." "How do you know what he told me?" Kilday demanded. "He told me." "Wlien?" "Last night." "Oh, you two have been getting together on your stories, have you?" The girl's teeth gleamed where they bit, momentarily, into the scarlet of her lip. "That's a crude way of putting It. Naturally, we discussed everything that had happened, hap-pened, as soon as we saw each other." "Naturally," agreed the detective. "Now, Miss Shipley, I want to ask you concerning that remark you overheard Webster Speats make as he left the church yesterday. Just what was It he said? Tlease use his exact words, as nearly as jou can." (TO BE OONTIlfUKD.J youngster Interfere with the wedding wed-ding in some manner. Yet Royce never found Dunbar. He says he couldn't find him. Dunbar tells us concerned, he grudgingly admitted to himself that Kilday's arguments possessed a great deal of logic. By all means, have the girl down here. She had some questions to answer. And he was curious to see what his own reaction to her answers would be, this time. He would not again he fooled by a pretty face. "How does Dan Bullis fit Into your new theory?" Peter was still exploring explor-ing the possibilities of the detective's detec-tive's argument. "He doesn't fit," the sergeant admitted. ad-mitted. "The nearest I can figure, his part In the affair was accidental." acci-dental." "How about Nick Royce? Another accident?" "Accidents don't come In pairs. No. Royce was best man. Where else could he have been? He tells a pretty straight story, too." "Except at one point," Peter pointed out. "Ile claims Franklin asked him to go out In front and find Milo Dunbar. It was important impor-tant that he find him, because Franklin was worried after his interview inter-view with Rylie Carmody, lest the lie was there. We know he was present, pres-ent, because lie joined us In the study, after the crime was discovered." discov-ered." "How much Importance do you attach at-tach to that?" exclaimed Kilday impatiently. im-patiently. "There were hundreds of people out in front. There's nothing noth-ing very surprising in the fact that Royce couldn't find one man in all that crowd." In spite of his reluctance where Callis Shipley was concerned, Peter was compelled to admit that the ' sergeant's theory was the best that had yet been advanced. "What do you plan to do next? Arrest Ar-rest young Spears?" Sergeant Kilday made a wry face. j "Not too fast. Don't forget who he Is. I've got to have my case copper-riveted before I dare go that far. The Shipley girl will be here before . long. I'll see what I can get out of vlous about it. Use cigarette cases and pretend you want to question them about something else. Understand?" Under-stand?" O'Malley nodded. "Good. Clean It up as quickly as possible. Before you go, though, tell them to hurry up a report on Choo Choo's prints. I don't want any time wasted. "Now we're getting somewhere," he grunted as O'Malley left the room. Then he wheeled, with a gesture of annoyance, as his assistant assist-ant returned. "Of course I wasn't in any hurry about those prints," he began, dourly. "I'll hurry, Sergeant. I Just came back to tell you that the Shipley girl is here. She just arrived." "Why didn't you say so, Instead of standing there like an idiot?" the officer grumbled. "Show her In." lie laid a newspaper over the grisly exhibits on his desk. Callis Shipley glanced Inquisitively Inquisitive-ly from one man to the other. As before, Peter was struck by her beauty, not the least appealing thing about it being that the girl ' seemed utterly unconscious of It. Peter was usually shy of women, particularly beautiful women, who never seemed to forget their own loveliness. But lie felt Instinctively Instinctive-ly that this was the sort of girl who could he a good comrade. Hor blue eyes were made for laughter, In spite of the gravity of their present expression, and, he admitted It reluctantly, re-luctantly, she stirred his sympathies. sympa-thies. Just as site bad before. In the duel that was to come, he knew that she, not Sergeant Kilday, would claim his partisanship. That very partisanship put him on his guard against her, yet he could not control con-trol It. "You sent for me?" Peter noticed the slight tremor of her hands, but she quickly clasped them in her lap, where they might not betray her. She was frightened, fright-ened, then. Kilday deposited his cigar In the tray, careful not to disturb the ash, watching the girl shrewdly, all the while. |