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Show CLEAVER. V ST RAMAN lyy I VI COPYRISH-b, DOU6LE1WY OORAK CO INC. " 1Mf ,.. HTTeluidrL'sscd another envelope, nnd added It to the pile beside her. "It isn't," she said, noticing my reluctance reluc-tance to leave, "that I am not Interested, Inter-ested, Mary, t la only that I know that I haven't a scrap of her writing-" I turned to go. I had reached the door when she called to me and asked me to take her letters downstairs for the mailhag, when I went downstairs. I returned to Miss MacDonald with my information. "Dear me I" she said. If only they would work with me, Mary, instead of by themselves, or against me. At any rate," she put aside the photograph, photo-graph, a ruler-like thing, and her magnifying glass, "the note to Danielle Canneziano, and the writing on the photograph were done by the same person. What are the letters you have there, In your hand, Mrs. Magin?" I told her they were some that Danny had asked me to take downstairs. down-stairs. She held out her hand for them. 1 had to allow her to have them. But first I read the addresses They were the names of mail-order stores in Portland, Ore., and in San Francisco, Calif. Miss MacDonald looked at them closely. Then she took up a flat paper knife, from Gaby's desk, and deliberately delib-erately opened the envelope by lifting the flap. "She surely does not seal hor letters carefully," she said, and took out a check, nothing else, from the en- likeness. "A most unusual state of affairs for duplicate twins. Miss Danielle Cnn uiucu 10 :1 jli caoar oft the track, suspecting especially Danny, could one of us do better than to steal the code leller?" "My word!" she said. "And you. wilh n mind that works like that, spending your life doing cooking. All the same, It does prove one thing. That the murderer, or his close accomplice, ac-complice, Is right here on the place, now." "Chad's confession proved that. The key in the fireplace proved It, too." "Dear me, no. Not conclusively. Now, let me see." She took .1 folded paper from the front of her dress. "Here is my copy of the letter. II does look n mess, doesn't It?" I looked at the paper and read, as before . "I'aexznzlytpl f-y nys ogrgrago, rn fgao atf Jan J-asn, ahzgo zkg e-ahhalo, e-ahhalo, vkgt nyx clplzgf rg zkg kypulzae, zkaz nyx. . . ." It surely looked a mess. "The fact that It was wrlttten on the typewriter," she said, "makes me suspect that the typewriter may tin write It for us." I told her "nen what 1 had not thought to tell her before; about my having heard the typewriter going, slowly, in Gaby's room right after she had received the letter. "Fine I" she said. "May 1 ase the same typewriter that she used?" Wo went together into Gaby's room. "I should have thought you'd want to clean this roora, first of all," I said. "Mr. Stanley unlocked it for me that first night. I spent five or six very busy hours In here, and I slept here that night, too." "Upon my soul 1 Doesn't that go to show? I'd have takcD oath in any court that you spent the night in your own room." "That is exactly It, ' she said. "Honest "Hon-est people are so sure that they know things, which they don't know at all, and that they have seen things, which they haven't seen." I have wished, since, that 1 had said something else instead of saying. "Well, I might think I knew something which I didn't know; but I'd never mistake about what I had seen or had not seen." "Perhaps not " she said. "Did you find anything In here that night?" I questioned. "Nothing. The burned papers were completely burned, as they usually are. Of course, the complete absence of clews should be made Into a valuable val-uable clew but I haven't quite worked it out. For Instance, though, you insist in-sist that she was a vain, conceited person?" "If ever there was one," "Vain women usually have photo graphs of themselves about. I found not one in here." "She used to have one, in a silver frame," I said. I looked around nnd saw the frame lying face down on the mantel. I picked it up. An old faded picture of Sam and Margarita in their wedding togs confronted me. When I had shown it to Miss MacDonald, Mac-Donald, she took it and carried it to the window. ' "The glass has been washed, carefully," care-fully," she said, "since the picture was put In here." She pressed on the purple velvet back and took the picture from the frame. Across the bottom of the picture, pic-ture, where the wide silver frame had hidden it, written in Gaby's bold hand- velope. "It is dated today, the thirteenth of July," she said. "Of course it Is," 1 answered, tartly, not liking any of this. "She was writing writ-ing them just now, while I was In there." "Did you see her writing them?" she asked. "I certainly did." She sighed and moved her head with an impatient gesture, rather like John's worried gestures. "Then that Is that," she said, and returned the check to the envelope, sealed the envelope, en-velope, and gave it, with the others, back to me. "Now for the code letter," she said, and sat down in front of the typewriter. type-writer. I left her there, and went to ljloJi for Saru. (To Be Continued) "If You Are Accusing Danny" I Interrupted. j CHAPTER XIII Continued. j rTnTmyurnetfTTrTTIe. "Mary," she said, "yesterday afternoon that man ;nme to my room when I was nlone. Be slipped in, closed my door, nnd locked It I ran into Gaby's room, bnt I could not get out of It because the Joors were nil locked. I went into laby's bnthroom nnd locked myself in. I stayed there for half nn hour, or longer, until he left. Miss Mnc-Ponnld Mnc-Ponnld evidently thinks that he and 1 were In conversation during that time. I have no proof that we ireren't. Do you believe me, Mary?" j "I do, with all my heart," I said, j Miss MacDonald persisted. "Yon ;:oUl no one about this?" i "I did not dare to tell. If John .bought that that man " She stopped short j "Yes?" questioned Miss MacDonald. I "I mean that John would fight with !.iim ; would whip him within nn inch jf his life." j "Why should you care?" j Danny look at me. j "She'd care," I said, answering the crtpeal in her big, hurt eyes, "because jihe is a woman, Miss MacDonald. It pay be hard for you to understand ; Jit women, who aren't crime analysts. loa't want their men fighting." j "Thank you, Mary," Danny said, and Talked hurriedly out of the room, j "Mrs. Magin," Miss MacDonald bean, be-an, right off the minute the door had Cosed behind Danny, "I want to nsk nu to help me with this case." j "I couldn't be any help to you," I hid. I guess I was rather tart ibout it. i "Why not?" I "One reason is," I said, "that anybody any-body who doesn't know any better San to suspicion Danny, In this af-Jjir, af-Jjir, would need a lot more help, to : et anywhere, than I could give them." j "My only suspicion concerning Miss ! 'annezkano," she answered, "is that she I inows more than she Is willing to tell. ' may be wrong about that. Have i pa any other reason for refusing to ielp me?" j j"0nly that yon don't believe a word ; say. If you would consider that I p, anyway, trying to be honest, and i Tou'd do the same with, the others, jLtil yon are sure that you have rea- -n to do otherwise, I'd consider it an I 'nor to help you, and I'd thank you ' idly. I'd be no use to you, as long J k you doubted every word I said. I know that you are believing bt I'll help, and tell the truth, I'll j? to. If I think I am to be doubted, i r7way, maybe I'll say what I'd like J ' say." jShe sat and looked straight at me : fr at least half a minute. "I do be-l be-l he you," she said, "and trust you. i j have, since I first met you at the -.f -lion. I can't help myself. You're t right, Mrs. Magin, and I know it. il agree to your terms. Now then : I? I my assistant, is there anyone on Is place who would benefit in any y by Mr. Stanley's conviction?" II (ln a way," I said, though it all but ? ked me, "John would. He is to t) i?rit everything Sam has. But John ij :;s Sam. And John didn't do it." tj Hiss Canneziano would also ben-5 ben-5 V-then, wouldn't she, since she is to iV'ry young Mr. Stanley?" I - It doesn't make sense," I said. J? in has plenty of his own, right 3;; and Sam would give them any- ) g and everything they wanted be- I I s, as long as he lived." J s there," she isked. next, "any per-J per-J ') at present on the ranch whom you 1 i 5 J 'd concede might, possibly, com-i com-i a murder?" ! J 'anneziano." J ; es, I know. And leaving him out 3 ;? 4 'Veil," I had to hesitate, "1 am not 3 1 Every Instinct I have tells me J neither Hubert Hand nor Mrs. ter No. It is an awful thing ?55iy; but, do you know, Gabrielle Jneziano herself was the only olliet :"n who has been on this ranch n I could even imagine doing such -rrible ihing. She didn't have any decent, ordinary virtues. She j'l know anything about them. Not ;i'.V, nor gratitude, nor kindness, ! honesty, nor modesty, nor nor filing " jsn'f it strange that twin sisters, J looked as much alike as these did, should be sc entirely differ-lis differ-lis to character?" grange or Lot, it is true. In char- ;: those two glrs were as different : I'iglit and day. I never even ,M that they looked alike. Who you that they did?" ,'iave seen their photographs." she !Jded me. jheir photographs may look alike ! didn't." fit they did," she insisted, tall you," 1 said, "that ihey acted Iflerently, and dressed so differ that there was Dot one bit ' i i i writing, were these words. "My one deadly enemy." "My word 1" said Miss MacDonald. "Are you certain," she questioned, next, "that the girl's mother Is Dot living?" "Don't ask me to be certain of anything," any-thing," I said, and looked for a chair to sit down in. She came and put one of her capable bands on my shoulders. "You shouldn't let this trouble you," she said. "It is more than likely that Gabrielle Canneziano had nothing to do with It. I must verify the handwriting." hand-writing." In the next Instant she certainly gave me a One turn. Her eyes went big and round, her cheeks blazed wilh blushes, and she clapped her hands to them and stood staring at me as If I were the original human horror. nezlano came here on a most doubtful errand; an errand that amounted to robbery, nothing else " "If you are accusing Danny " i Interrupted. "Oh, I am not 1" There wa3 a flash of temper in that. "Making all allowances allow-ances for mistakes in time. Miss Canneziano Can-neziano could not have committed the murder herself. But, suppose that her past was not as innocent and blameless blame-less as she would like to have you all ! think. Suppose that a revelation of all she knows, or suspects, concerning ; ber sister's death, would also bring j to light things that she cannot afford ' to have brought to light concerning . herself. It is at least reasonable to think that she knows more than she is willing to tell. "I wonder whether you noticed," she went on, "tiiat coming up from the station I set u trap for Miss Canneziano. Canne-ziano. Just for in instant, 1 fancied that there was more fear lhan grief in her attitude toward meeting her father. I suggested, you remember that she see him alone': I wanted to see whether she desired a private In I terview with him. Her prompt re-' re-' fusal made it evident that she had no secret to give to him, and expected to get none from him. That is in her favor. Still j "Before you go now, since you have agreed to help me, do you mind If I direct a bit? I want you to keep one eye on Miss Canneziano. I want you to keep the other eye on Mr. Can-1 Can-1 neziano, Mr. Hand, and Mrs. Ricker : Will you do that?" j "One whole eye for Danny," 1 ques tioned, "and only a third of an eye for each of the others?" "For the present," she smiled. "Will you do that?" I said that J would. It was not until after dinner the next day, when I was resting In my own room, feeling as virtuous as the three monkeys, who see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, pleased as Punch over my failures fail-ures of the past twenty-four hours, that I realized that 1 just naturally could not carry through a Job that went as much against the grain as that Job went. We are, I thought, allowed to know ' some things-just simple, honest know-in" know-in" And 1 knew that keeping a sus picious eye on the girl who had said "bless your heart" to me, on the evening eve-ning of the second of July, was as sensible as sitting up for Santa Claus Some one knocked on my door, 1 answered the knock. Miss MacDonald MacDon-ald all smiles, was standing there. "I et me come In," she said ; and. as soon as my door was closed behind her "A most fortunate thing has hap nened Some one has been to my desk and has stolen the code letter. ' I could manage nothing but an echo. "Fortunate 1" I said. "I had a careful copy of It, locked un of course. I have been leaving the letter in plain sight on my desk or bait. Don't you see. Mary," she forgot her formality in her excitement, excite-ment, "this is the mistake I have been hrt for. I have found a beg.n-IlnsIat beg.n-IlnsIat last. The letter could not hJp ,-,ircerned anyone in this house She gasped out, "I have made a mistake." I felt like rising and giving her a good shaking. "Lands!" I snapped. "Who hasn't?" "I would discharge one of my ns slstants like that," she snapped her fingers, "for such a mistake. Crime analyst! Confounded assl Conceited amateur I Oh!" She went running out of the room, leaving me sitting there to do whnt I liked with that talk of hers. She was back In two minutes. She had Gaby's late note 'o Danny in her hands. "I have been assuming," she said, and her cheeks flamed up again, "that Gabrielle Canneziano wrote this note. I have had a pleasant little as sumption. Now I will get some fads I must find a sample of her hand writing" She began to search through Gaby's desk. I "helped ber. Gaby had made a thorough job of her burning. There was not a scratch of her writing to be found. "Danny will have something, I said. "I'll see whether she is in her room." Danny was in her room, sitting at ber own desk, writing out checks and addressing envelopes. I told her i had come to ask ber for a sample of Gaby's handwriting. "I am sorry, Mary," she said, as she finished addressing an envelope, sealed it, and looked for a stamp in the StMtir. box, "but 1 haven't anythit-g except, of course, the last note she wrote to me, and Miss MacBonald is keeping that.:' eNcept Miss Canneziano, ber .at her. and. possibly, not probably, young Mr Stanley." . , 1 guess," 1 said, "that was Hkclj -l,at you were wanted .o think. -II,r' gray eyes questioned me 'Supposing." I answered, that air Ul.m or Hubert Hand, or anyone o- |