Show ia lie adv L I 1 i 0 BY ill BYRE WHAT akl ORE FORB simon judd amateur detective and william dart mi an undertaker badoi taker are arc visiting jolia john drane maa of wealth at biane place suddenly bud denly the howa hold Is to find that john dralle lias has beer murdered the dead man Is lira soon by jos boale the maid then b ajr amy drane dralle and slinda judd the latter faints I 1 police officers call and 1 allons begin dr blessington Blessing tou la is called and after seeing tue me murd ei oil ad john drane dralle makes the astounding revelation to amy drane that tier nor uncle Is 6 not a man but a 0 woman dr blessington discounts tho the theory of suicide saying that drane was mui murdered dered dr blessington on tho the fact that all th the servants in ia the household ot of drane are sick and thai dears has never discharged a fi servant ervant for ill III health dick Bre brennan naan the detective arrives to investigate the case brennan questions the persons in the ahouse asking akyi it if anyone had any amy to kill her uncle amy says no one had any reason to kill flier uncle after wither que stio ning rahe ghe is asked about dart meanwhile ile judd has told the story ot of his acquaintances with the actual john diane in riverbank simon judd proposes to brennan that he be help in the solution c of if th thi case serving as brennann Bren nans partner r brennan accepts ill proposal immediately judd confides that amy what she says she is NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY what do vou mean by that brennan ashod you mean ashes c crooked roo ked 1011 oh loll black my cats no simon judd exclaimed if I 1 know 0 W folks ashes the straightest sort there is and tha nicest too she aint this late john dranes dianes niece nor yet his grand niece what I 1 mean you hear hw sv say oft off that rigmarole ab about out john dranes brother goin to california in 78 and marlyin mar a mary oryan and havin a son san thomas that was this amys pa and bout this thomas drane marlyin mar some amelia gartner that comoe to be this amy girl ma well black my cats its all true brue except none mone of it there was ot no brother danl Dani no sir I 1 take my oath to that I 1 knowel that drane family as well as I 1 knote myself and there no daniel in it all lins liis are you sure of that brennan naked asked why listen said simon judd this girl got the story from john drane john drane told har bit this daniel drane went west in 78 in 78 john drane was twenty five years old and him and me had been chums since we were born never a day we didat see teach each other I 1 was at their house more than I 1 was at zay my own I 1 them axom A to Z and there any daniel drane I 1 tell you there was lust just two kids in the family john and bis sister named ella and I 1 know thiera ithem both all the time he made up this story to tell the girl said because he was mas a woman said simon judd and no chil aren to love and cherish ile he was she mind you brennan and when she he this john drane whoever she wat was got along she had bad to have some child to love so if 1 aint an old tool fool wild and gussin gu gue asin wrong the she picked out some orphan child somewhere and told a lot of lies lust just to have a kid to come back ture and love her when she got too ad and feeble to fuss with this wall street stuff and so on this may be mighty important it if it la Is true brennan said it might account for the murder ome connection of the child hir br rather father perhaps wanting wa inting money something along that line its trw true simon judd In insisted why look here this old woman this john drane made it all up rake fake the names mary oryan was i girl we both know anaw out ethere in riverbank bank when we were all kids she died out there thra only last year aind and daniel she had a brother daniel this mary did and amelia gartner that was said to be a amy na she was another kid idd we both knew in riverbank when we cepa kids together ashes alive yet out ihre ih re and she had a brother thomes sr that gave the notion of a thomas drane you go out to riv embank and find all he you go out to california alifornia and I 1 bet you dont find my trace of a daniel drans drane or a fary oryan ibis wife or a thom is s drane or of hush brenahan Bre naan said the girl I 1 3 coming amy returned with the ibe notebook tor for which simon judd had sent her and almost immediately mrs vincent camei came out imling on the arm ot of bob carter she had been rest ing on her bed biag being in great pain and had been obliged to put on a dress before she could answer bren nans summons ahe poor wi woman dina n seemed to be in a very bad state indeed but she did her best to answer brennann Bren Brem nans ians questions and she answers were full and quite circumstantial cum she was a widow six EP said and had been employed by the supposed john drane for five years ile he had personally derso ally nally engaged heir as housekeeper at an employment agency in the city where she had registered and lils offer had been a great relief to her because it had been hard to find a position on account of af her poor pooh health di he probably would not have taken her she said except that the house bouse had been for two months without a mistress alic th onner former liou housekeeper aper having died the wages waie all she could have expected she said furthermore that she was a widow and the antecedents she rave Q afie api e such that brennan could easily look up mr air drane had always left the household expenses to io hr her on the first of eacle month about the ath to be ex exact t h he e laid given her a check tor for the estimated expenses it if the expenses ran higher lie he gave her extra maney money it they iran less ille made the check less he was always very particular in checking the bills with kith her but they had never had ad any quarrels qua wels he was fair th atway she sh had never had she said the i lightest idea that john drane was a t female e M ale he was peculiar in some ways b but ut no ino more so than other people she considered him a finicky old bachelor his ais shaving twice a iday day for instance which she now saw was in order that the lack of 1 a beard might not be noticed hasl has seemed to her heir merely one fi cation of his old very few people came t to the house sirs airs vincent said although the young folks began to come after amys arrival and sir mr drane liked that lie he encouraged it telling mrs airs vincent to do all she ehe could to make the place pleasant rr for them AT dart the undertaker had been the most frequent visitor visitor often coming to play cards and staying the inight the blue room had been used by him so often te that the sel servants usually called it mr darts room personally she did not like mr dart much lie he was apt to be when mr drane was not present by she meant bossy she explained pla ined for he acted as it he thought he had a right to order the servants around be hadnot ile he never acted so when mr drane was around of course mr air drane always had a way with him and knew how to keep people in their places the servants mrs vincent said were all decent and reliable she had personally looked into the references of all of them ithem when they were engaged eff mr air drane she said got them from the hospital you mean she lie took tho the ah spital empol away from the li Bre brennan linam asked her oh no indeed mrs airs vincent exclaimed as it if afraid Gf fennan might think ill of john drane ill it was quite the other way sir mr drane took a great interest in the you see lie IMS bulli buila it and all that was one of the few places he ever went at night to tr the meetings of the hospital blaid the hospital you see sir cint keep chionio patients but so ion long a couple of weeks maybe and then they must go and where to te ru very few of them know sr mr drane took them that is why they ale aie all so sickly one way and another it was easy work here for them hem almost no family and mr air orane drane always wanted them to test irest when ill the li hospital would let him know when there was a cas that could work but was incurable as you might say all ah sir so many of them never did get wll well died you mean brennan asked yes sir air dr BlEssing blessington tan can tell you the housekeeper said theres no house in the town when he comes oftener ot tener nor where that man datt dart comes oftener the more pity it is the undertaker dart that nat same mrs airs vincent said and if I 1 may say so str sir I 1 think think it was tor for that avason ilie he made a d U up to mr air drane so ta t not a ulce nice thing to think and im ashamed to it but there have been a great many funerals from this house and no expense ever spared mrs vincent wiped ihor her eyes just when you get to lika a person it was another funeral it seem seeni ted fed like norbert ithe poor fellow ive a great fondness tov sov him even it if he is black foil hi he la Is a good man norbert norl ert Is iles hes not tong long to live great heavens what a house bouse 13 brennan rennan exclaimed yes thore were times when I 1 felt it was lugubrious said mrs shaking her hond lt it was not always cheerful cheer tul knowing that all those under me would almost surly surely die and make place toi foi those that would die in heir turn Un Brinan glanced at simon judd the rhe fat man main was listening with his bis eyes closed but he was no asleep he was rubbing hlll plump hands back and forth across his enormous slowly 1 I think that will be all mrs airs vincent brennan said send me norbert next will you when mrs vincent had gon gons a Brenn brannan wrt sat a few moments tapping the veranda floor with his toe and he to amy suddenly this pleasant tor for you hf bor said and there is ino need of your list listening ming to all this it Is only what you rou know already I 1 imagine if there is anat anything hing else like to do you need not stay bob cartish took her by the arn am hes heli trig lit he said suppose we go and sit in the summer house A while we weve e enough to talk over Dur ourselves selves amy and the girl arose rrt vort p twi with him what do you make ot of all this tas 0 partner brennan Bren can aspeel smon simon tudd its queer all through dont rou think it sounds to me as it this john drane drane woman was crazy slightly touched in the head anyway an al alienist lenist could giva it a name I 1 suppose when a woman masquerades as a man mam all her life and gathers around her a lot ot of chronic invalids and nothing much else and makes an undertaker undertake her best beat friend and chum ashes crazy or what do TOU think about it well I 1 dont know as ashes been masquerading as a man all her life richard simon judd said deliberately 1 I go so tar far as to say all her life not yet anyway oth oh you know W stat bat I 1 meant brennann Bren Dren nain said A long time 1 I dont know as id say a long time not yet simon judd insisted po for r all I 1 know mister she may have started in halt half an hour before I 1 come colue here the ahola bunch of 0 these folks may be byln alyin to iw far as I 1 know I 1 dont know what they are trying to cook up on us therea one thing I 1 would like to know ills HIs city to learn it camo came promptly f for f dr Dl blessington essington drove up to the veranda at that moment his other affairs having received attention brennan who knew win well asked him to sit a while 1 I mess youre the very man I 1 want to ask a couple of questions of simon judd said eaid abis mar vi amt lady says youve been coming ia there r regular right along and you look like you had a couple of eyes eye in ill your head about this john drane is there any time you noticed any special ea change ange in himl him I 1 Continue TI next week |