Show TH IRE E shuttered SHUTT I 1 na EnED put 11 F W W j IN M H ar mall COPYRIGHT I 1 nu SYNOPSIS young well to do dint clint jervice Jer who Is managing the jervies estate alter after the marriage of his former guardian miss moss to his clear friend inspector tope is driving home through a torrential rain he picks up a girl scantily clad running in terror stricken fright down doin the road he offers to help her she rides a short way leaves the car and runs into the woods clint continues on his way deciding to tell inspector actor tope of his experience in three shuttered houses house all gloomy bloomy and forbidding on kenesaw hill near where here clint pic picked k ed up the frightened girl lived three f families n ml I 1 in one house dived lived old deri denman man hurder his wife who he had been ella kenesaw Konc saw and his daughter kitty leaford and her daughter june living in a second house was as aunt evie baine uncle justus and brothers rab and asa the third held old matthew bowdon and his wife living on the c estate s tate was ups a man known only to june as 1 I U uncle jim following ing their usual custom the three families gathered in the hurder home saturday night kitty junes mother retired early with ith a headache she was given warm arm milk and insisted on taking two sleeping tablets one more than usual strangely upset J june u nc slept fitfully and in the middle of th the e night went in to see her mother her uncomfortable position warned arned june jun that her mother was not sleeping she was as dead panic stricken june ran from the room out the unlocked do door 0 r and into the storm to get doctor C cabler bacr CHAPTER ill continued 5 the car stopped beside june and someone asked a question she stammered something tor for this was a mans voice and june was not habituated to encounter strange men but instantly while he used some persuasion she found herself in the sent seat beside him he ciff offered ered her his coat but she refused it then this young man beside her turned out the dash light so that darkness drew a protective garment over her and she was warm with gratitude to him she said thank you she watched him covertly controlling her breath he asked some question suggesting that she was afraid and she told him that she was not afraid yet her knees were trembling and her fingers pressed her palms he spoke again but she did not hear him she watched the road and at the beginning of at the path through the wood to doctor cab lers house she bade this young man stop the car he did so and she alighted and ran away along the path but hidden in the wood she stopped to look back and she stayed there till he drove on watching the headlights of his car till their gleam was lost behind a screen of trees when he was gone she stood like one bereft as though with him a part of herself had departed too but then in the darkness and the rain terror returned to spur her on she ran up the path and so came pounding on the doctors door at length a flashlights beam came down the stairs she could see it through the panel of the door it struck her in the eyes through the glass and at the same time the door opened the light was in her eyes and doctor cabler exclaimed june god bless mel me she whispered come quick doctor cabler come in june he commanded and led her into the hall and shut the door youre drenched what is it oh hurry aurryl she cried its mother ashes dead the word on her own lips struck her like a blow she had not till this moment shaped this word even in her thoughts oh hurry she repeated and thought in a dispassionate apathy that the injunction was vas absurd if her mother was de dead ad there could be no reason for haste this had not occurred to her before eh the doctor exclaimed dead yes said june in an empty tone even though the admission convicted her of folly convicted her of having lost her wits of having run without the slightest occasion half a mile through drenching rain yet she had no doubt that what she said was true kitty lenford was dead of this now june was sure CHAPTER IV inspector tope tape and miss moss mass had found in marriage the chalm happiness of middle age the inspector had looked all his life on violence yet with gentle comprehending eyes for a score of years or more he was at the head of the homicide bureau at police headquarters and won for himself there a reputation not soon to be forgotten miss moss mass was in a different fashion as shrewd as he while they were away on their leisurely honeymoon clint had planned a surprise for them there was among the properties of the berv jervies es trust a one story six room house sandwiched on a narrow lot in longwood hidden in a backwater away from the traffic arteries with four trees on this lot and room for a flower garden dana jervies clints clients father had taken his bride there thirty years ago and he had kept it afterward tor for the sake 0 of f sentiment clara and mat lodged in this house for a while after their marriage and when inspector tope tape and miss moss came home from their honeymoon clint met them at the station and drove them to this familiar door miss moss with tears of pleasure in her eyes protested but clint said s strongly tron gly why of course come here this is where all the jervies family starts housekeeping you know cant go against tradition and when she argued she was not of the jervies family he insisted gently youre the only mother I 1 can remember you know she yielded at last said they would stay a little while but clint said they should lodge here till he wanted the house for his own bride and that will be a long time by all the signs he promised on the morning after clients dints ride over kenesaw hill he rang the bell as they were about to sit down to the breakfast miss moss had prepared and tope tape in an old blue dressing gown and slippers the morning paper crumpled in his hand opened the door for him he greeted clint and he be called over his shoulder mrs tope tape heres clint for breakfast she appeared for a moment in the dining room door to smile a welcome and bade them both sit down at the table almost ready she promised she watched these two for a second a deep fondness in her eyes before she disappeared into the kitchen again when she presently returned with the coffee in one hand and a platter of eggs and bacon in the other tope tape said wait clint start over now and he said to miss moss mrs tope tape clients clints had a curious adventure see how it sounds to you and clint told them how driving back to town he had overtaken a girl in her nightgown running through the rain upon that lonely road now what do you make of that he asked challenging them miss moss reflected 1 I know a little about that she told them 1 I know there are three houses house side by si side d e ma matthew t the w bowdon lives in one hes a lawyer trust law mostly the firm is bowdon and taine mr bowdon must be an old man now two of his grandsons are in the firm with him and justus mainc his son in law clint exclaimed well what I 1 want to know is who was this girl what had frightened her the inspector got up and crossed to the telephone 1 I wonder if charley Har harquail is downtown he said he might know it anything has happened out there charley was a reporter and he and the inspector were old friends tope tape called the newspaper office and miss moss and clint listened to the one sided conversation when the old man turned back to them again there was a quickening interest in his eyes and clint caught him by the arm demanding what is it inspector what did harquail say tope tape sat down at the breakfast ta ble again 1 I need another cup ot of coffee mrs tope tape he said to think this over and while she poured it he began to explain you heard me ask charley if denman hurder had any children he reminded them and he chuckled that surprised charley he said with a certain gratified vanity in his tones charley wanted to know how I 1 got onto it and I 1 asked him what he was talking about he hesitated said soberly this is what he told me mr hurder had a daughter named katherine katharine she eloped twenty odd years ago with a man named jerry leaford leaford amount to much charley said he said there was a row at the time and finally she and leaford went home to live with her folks and then lenford leaford left her and disappeared for good and all he added and his tones were somber now the reason charley had all this stuff so pat mrs leaford died last night and hed been getting up an obit for her died clint cried she was alive P it her you saw tope tape reminded him she must have been past forty now you asked something about children miss moss prompted 1 I asked charley if she had any children tope tape explained he know they just got a flash about her death from the district man out there and they wanted to give her a good obit because of course hurder is a big advertiser charley said the district man was going to get all the dope children and so on the others sat thoughtful watching him and the inspector was silent for a moment he said at last with an apologetic glance at miss moss mass think im seeing things at nights night but theres something wrong out there miss moss urged slowly why do you think so mrs leaford wa was s sick and the telephone was out of order and they sent someone for a doctor that all tope tape shook his head no one runs for a doctor no ma maiter how big the hurry is without putting some clothes on what was the matter with mrs leaford charley said heart trouble tope tape explained but that covers a lot of ground if a man gets shot or stabbed he dies of heart trou brou ble as far as that goes heart failure will kill a person yes but it takes something to make a heart fail takes quite a lot too these hearts of ours go on pumping pretty steadily unless something happens to them id like to kno know what made her heart tail fail he took up the telephone and miss moss moved to his side inspector she urged it our business he smiled at her lot let me poke my nose in he be begged 1 I cant keep out of a thing till I 1 know he used the phone for a while turned fumed back to them again TO HE BI CONTI CONTINUED |