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Show OvLt of the Dar ll imess ;V CHAPTER XI Continued. in "No. IfH Nlinply this- tliat most of us. If wo tune a pen or pencil in our tinkers, draw tluures on wlmlcvor Imp-pens Imp-pens to bo m tin ti.l. We do It with, out llilnUiii;, because It Is a subconscious subcon-scious net; and, us a rule, wo draw the- same set of tt-tires each time. Some one, Iwivtnj; nothln to do, t,y seiatebeil these IIkui'cs on tills knife handle, hardly eonselous of what he was iloliii;. I believe the same person made the figures ou the mncazlne and on tin' knife." "Why do jou think tliatT" I asked. "It bad been sclent llleully proved that, when person plays with n pencil pen-cil and Idly draws tallies, lie always draws the same ones; and that they lire symbols of sonicthtn;; deep in bis subconscious mind. These circles are so much alike that I think they were drawn by the same person." 1 bad a dim Idea 1 had heard something some-thing similar to what he was saying In college, but .Inst what It was I could not remember. As 1 started to band Mm the knife. It slipped through my tinkers and fell to the floor and Mood iiulverllii;. Its point Imbedded In the wood. Willi a sudden exclamation. excla-mation. Hartley picked It up and, to my astonishment, let It fall utiln and nc.iln. Kncli time the point stuck up-rUht up-rUht In the tloor. Then be balanced It on bis hand, smiling to himself. As he replaced It In his hnc. he said, "I am K'liid you dropped that knife, l'elt." It seemed to me such an Inane Ihini: to say that I made no comment. "We are solus over to Slyke's attain," he continued, "to svo Miss l'otter. Hy the way, there's another tiitnu. l'elt. you can aid me a good deal by solv-Ins." solv-Ins." "What's that?" I said. "Kind out why thut dog did not bark the nlnht of the murder. It's a puppy, noisy and active, and does not like strangers. The person that killed Slyke, as far as we know, had to come down those long stairs and pass through the living room where the dog was. If It was some one from outside, out-side, that dog should have barked. Tut as far as we can find out, he never made a sound." "It looks to me," I suggested, "as If the murder were committed by some one In the house." Hartley did not answer until he had opened the door Into the hall, then he paused to say, "There seems to be no motive for any of the family to have killed Siyke. The little difficulty between be-tween Miss l'otter and Slyke does not seem Important enough to consider. The will has been found and all the property Is accounted for. Ills lawyer, law-yer, you remember, discovered a large sum of money In the safe when.lt was opened." Then he proceeded downstairs. down-stairs. It was only a short drive In Bart-ley's Bart-ley's fast car to the Slyke house. He offered no explanation of our call, and I hid my curiosity as well as I could. As soon as the butler had gone. Hartley came at once to the object Of his visit. "Miss Hotter," he said, "the butler testified this afternoon thnt he overheard over-heard words between Mr. Slyke and yourself. Would you mind telling me what they were?" Her face flushed, but she kept her eyes on Hartley as she replied coldly: "The butler was mistaken. Mr. Slyke and myself never quarreled." "Oh. I don't mean that you actually quarreled, but that you had some word s." Her eyes dropped under his searching search-ing gaie, and it was not until he had repeated his question a second time that she answered rather reluctantly: "There was no no trouble. What the butler spoke of had nothing to do with Mr. Slyke's death." Bartley noticed her hesitation, and asked suddenly, "Was It over his selling sell-ing whisky?" She started and her face paled, then flushed. In a low voice she demanded, "How did you know?" "That Is not of much Importance, Is It? I am right; that was what the words were about, wasn't It?" She gave him nn appealing look, then glanced back at the floor. At last she regained her composure, and, raising her eyes, answered. "Yes. that was what the butler heard us talking about. It was not a quarrel. I told him he would get Into trouble over the whisky, and he tcld me It was none of my business." "When did he start to sell it?" She thought for a moment. "I am not sure. Ton see, I know very little about It. But before the prohibition law came Into effect he bought a great quantity of whisky. He told me that a man who had whisky could make a lot of money. He got sev.eral truck loads, but where he kept It I don't know." "And after prohibition, did he buy any more?" Hartley asked. "I think so. I think It came from Canada. He told me once or twice that he was making n great (leal of money out of It." "And you quarreled over his soiling soil-ing It?" Rather warmly she answered, "We never quarreled. It was not my nf-falr. nf-falr. I felt bad, of course, that he should do a thing like that. I warned him that he would get Into trouble, and he told me It was none of my business If he did. That must have been what the butler heard." Hartley glanced sharply at her. "Have you any idea who helped him In It?" Xo that la I never knew. I did think that maybe " Br Charles J. Dutton li'wrinlii br IK1J. U..d Co.. loa. She stopped and Hartley suggested, "You thought It was the chauffeur?" "Yes, I did. 1 know that Mr. Slyke bought a truck, and that the chauffeur would have long talks with Mm In his room, and then take the truck and be away for several days. In the Inst year or so he became overhearing, ami I wondered why Mr. Shko kept Mm -unless there was something between thein." I was not surprised. Kvcrythlng had seemed to lead up to this revelation. revela-tion. What I could not understand was why a man In Mr. Slyke's position posi-tion should be engaged In the Illegal selling of whisky, ami take tills chauit'eiir Into his confidence. Whisky bought in any quantity, since prohibition, prohi-bition, had to come from Canada, and passed through the hands of a number num-ber of men. Was Ms engaging In selling sell-ing whisky a problem In itself, or had It some bearing on Ills death?" Miss l'otter had little more to tell us, and we rose to take our leaxe. As Hartley took his bat, be asked her If she had boon using the oul.la board. She was at once excited, her eyes gleamed, and her voice rose as she responded: "Yes, I received a message from Mr. Slyke. I know it xxas from him. He has written twice, "Yon xvlll hear from me,' and I know I xxill. 1 am going to get a good medium to come and see xvhat he xvnnts to communicate com-municate to me." To my surprise Hartley listened gravely, almost reverently. When she had finished, he said he knexv of a very good medium and would try to arrange for him to come to the house for a seance If she desired. This proposal pro-posal pleased Miss Hotter very much, and she accepted at once. She told us that many people In Saratoga believed be-lieved In spiritualism. Including Doctor Doc-tor King. For a while they discussed various manifestations; and I listened lis-tened to Hartley In astonishment, as he told of receiving messages from the dead, for I knew he did not believe be-lieve In them. We were Interrupted by a knock, and the butler entered with a telegram tele-gram for Hartley. It hnd been sent Piilii The Boy I Wished to See Slouched Out From a Back Room. first to Currie's, and he had directed the boy to follow us to Slyke's. Bartley tore open the envelope and ran his eyes over the paper. I saxv hlra start, then without a word he handed It to me, and I read: Arrested In New York one o'clock this morning Jacob Asher with trxick load of whisky. Claims he paid Slyke J23.COO for It afternoon before his death. Saw him about five o'clock. Did not know Slyke was dead till he read papers. Story seems to be true. ROGERS. No wonder Bartley hnd started. Here at last might be a motive for the murder. Perhaps the man In New York could tell us xvhat had happened that night. With grave face Bartley took the telegram from my hand, and reread It ; then he asked Miss Hotter If Slyke had had a visitor the afternoon before his death. She said she did not knoxv whether he had or not, as she had been axvay most of the afternoon. After a few more questions, xve bade her good-night. In the doorway Hartley paused to say something to her, In so low a tone thnt I could not catch his xvords; but I did hear her eager an-sxverlng an-sxverlng "Yes." As xve climbed Into the car and started down the road, I said that I did not suppose she knew anything about the $23,000 xvhlsky deal. His ansxver xvns as quick as a flash : "I never thought she did. The strange thing Is that In the safe, after his death, his lawyer should find $10,000, and that he should have made a deposit de-posit of $i;S,000 that same afternoon." We rode In silence for a while. Then he startled me by saying that he was not going back to Currie's, but to Nexv York to interview the nlan arrested with the whisky, and that be would not be back until the next afternoon. It was not until xve wore at the station, waiting for his train, that I interrupted his preoccupation to ask If he thought it xvould ever be discovered who had killed Brlffour. The flickering lights above us cast xveird shadows over his face, and It seeuied to me that behind his half Hiulle xxas a look of great sadness hh ho replied, "1 know uow xx ho killed HiilVeiir." "You do?" I gasped. lie answered slowly ; "Y'es. That xxas easy enough to discover. Hut to prove It before a Jury xxill be almost Impossible." Just then the train came In and he nii I il no mere, (in my xvay buck to the house 1 pondered deeply oxer his last remark, but could llnd no clue tu Ills meaning. CHAPTER XII In Which the Robbery Is Solved. 1 had Intended to spend the next morning In either fishing or playing golf. Hartley had left In such a hurry that he had given me no Instructions as to xx hat I xxas to do In his absence. ab-sence. Hut xx lien I came dmvn to breakfast, by my plate xxus a telegram from Mm, reminding me to see the boy in the garage ami learn from him what ho knew of the robbery. I had entirely forgotten the chauffeur's dying dy-ing slatement. After a late breakfast, I took the car and drove once more to the Slyke house. I. caving the car In the drlvewny in front of the house, I went around to the rear. The house appeared descried, de-scried, although ll was the day of Slyke's funeral. j The garage xxas some yards from the house, hnlf hidden among the i trees. It xxas txvo stories high, built of stone, the upper story being used as living quarters for the men em- i ployed In It. The door stood open and I entered. Coming from the bright sunlight Into the darkened room, It was several moments before 1 could see clearly enough to make out that It was occupied hy a large touring car, txvo small runabouts and a large truck. There xxus no one In sight, and nfter waiting a moment, I called loudly. The boy I wished to see slouched out from a back room. He was about eighteen, with heavy figure, red face and unbrushed hair. His suit was dirty xxith oil from the cars. If he wondered xvhat I wanted, he gave no sign of It. His eyes met mine clearly and honestly, as If he had no secrets to hide. At first he stoutly denied that he knew anything at all about the robbery. rob-bery. He seemed to have the Idea that I thought he xxas Implicated In it. All he admitted knowing was a bit of gossip that he had picked up around the house at the time It was committed. The more I questioned Mm the more be Insisted that he knew nothing about it, and I almost believed be-lieved him. Hut the chauffeur, at the point of death, had said, "Ask the lioy." It stood to riason then that he must know something of Importance. At last I told him that the chauffeur bad insisted that he knexv, and asked If anyone had ex-er told him anything about the crime. A startled look came Into his face; and he turned to me excitedly, his xvords tumbling oxer each other. "Maybe that's what he meant. But, good Lord. I thought it was a Joke, darned if I didn't. I thought he was kidding me; he xvns drunk, you knoxv." "Who xxas drunk?" I asked. "Hriffeur. He xvas very drunk, sir. You see, you asked me did I know anything about those men breaking into Slyke's, and I didn't; but Brlffour Brlf-four told me one night " He paused. "Go on," I commanded. "It was one night soon after the trial. Brlffeur came drifting In here, pretty xvell lighted up. When .e xvas that way. he used to talk a lot ; but he never told the truth at such times, as I'd often found out. He never knew afterxvurd what he had been saying. He would tell awful yarns about women, and the like. No one ever believed Mm." I brought the boy to the point by asking what It was the chauffeur had told him. He hesitated, then In a voice that showed that he thought xvhat he xvas going to say was almost too foolish fool-ish to mention, he added, "He got to talking about that robbery, and said It was to laugh, the way the trial had gone. That no one knexv that he had committed the robbery no one except himself and one other. I thought, of course, it xvas one of his xxild yarns, and laughed at him. When I asked him why he did It, he said Slyke owed him lots of money, and that he was after It." It xvas nntural that the boy should have thought this conversation of no more Importance than many others of the chauffeur, when he xvas drunk and boasting about things that had never happened. The chauffeur, he said, hnd come Into the garage, "lit tip like n battleship." battle-ship." The talk had veered around to the robbery, and he hnd boasted that the two men were in jail for the robbery that he himself had committed. commit-ted. Who had helped him, he (lid not say. lie claimed that Slyke oxved him "lots of money." It seemed absurd that a wealthy man like Slyke should oxve his chauffeur money and not pay-It. pay-It. lie had even boasted that the evidence evi-dence against the men in prison was arranged by himself. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |