| Show desert moon mystery ft by KAY CLEAVER STRAHAN 0 by doublot Doub today Y doran co ine inc SYNOPSIS sam stanley weal wealthy t 1 by owner of the th desert moon ra ranch n ch informs inform him bl housekeeper uary feagin that his former cifes twin daughters danielle Oan telle and gabrielle oa brielle br lelle are coming to the ranch mollyo tol to live lyo th their ir mother be being ln dead and th their r father D daniel ane 1 arc Canne annet ilano tano wh who 0 had been the cause of sams sami d divorcing iv arcing his hi wife in the peal penitentiary tent iary lary sams cam adopted boy john has grown crown to manhood and it girt girl martha weak minded mrs nicker nurse hubert hand and chadwick cu cau alel field d or are the e ot other he r members of hol the houe household d T the h e girls arrive john becomes engaged to danl elle gabrielle seeks to win john from her sister bister and her actions when site he receives rec elvea a letter from france mystify mrs magin sa sam learns learna Canne ilano to IB soon oon to be e rel released need from rom the penitentiary ur mra mattin finds gabrielle cb choked 0 ked to death caufield commits nil ts Bul 41 clde the coroners coroner verdict Is murder and sui suicide elde sam 1 ands ads a note left by caufield Cau flold con C leebing ing he killed hilled gabrielle but th the ranc rancher lier proves proven he be could not have done it and the entire household Is under suspicion A conference la in held in an attempt to tolve solve the mystery it Is in revealed that the two girls came to the ranch seeking becking the proceeds of a train robbery in ID which tit their ir father participated CHAPTER X continued 10 enough sam aal burt of sighed it 1 I 1 dont cure care about details whitt do you say we forget it let bygones by gones be bygones by go gones ies no said airs sticker martha did not kill gaby kis you think she did sam I 1 killed her sam drogi ed his pipe there was another one of those dead awful silences the guilt mrs hickein went on la Is enil entirely rely mine all of my life I 1 have been cursed with an abnormal jealousy and with the violent tem per that usually accompanies such jealousy lea lousy martha you all know possessed both bogli of 0 these traits a heritage from her mother without the balancing power of 0 an adult mind she he chint cant he blamed no one could dare to blame her for fo that ll it was 1 I who planted those seeds of 0 violence jealousy hatred and murder ous intent who killed gabrielle Gabr lelle martha was only the helpless lostra ment 11 I 1 was sorry that there was eagerness axed with the pity in johns voice as lie he naked did martha tell you that sh committed committe dhe he murder 7 no other parental heritages of hers were a lying tongue and slyness she sli persisted in her bet denials denla ls to me but it Is all so BO evident gabrielle joined martha at the rabbit hutch you know how one sits alts down on ones heels to peer in at the rabbits in the low hutch I 1 think gaby must have been squatting so when martha jumped at tier and overpowered her martha was strong you know tier her hands were very strong she had bad hated onay ever since gaby claby had come martha had said to me dozens of times chrit some day she thought she would kill gaby seized unaware it would not take long to strangle a person Al martha artlia roust must have done it in two 0 os three minutes she took the bracelet then roll rolled d the body under the clump of berry bushes right there arid and come came straight into the file house she showed iio ao fueling of guilt because she had none at that moment we should ill have suspected something we should have known that girl would not suddenly have given martha the bracelet later ater she told you about it she sam and you yon left chad in the barn to hoodwink fl hubert ubert and came up and hid bid the body tr far t r herl gy by G d I 1 did not sam said no need to deny it now sam she said it was the tha deed of a good man mail martha was never responsible but courts might not have understood now we will all shield her keep her secret chads confession will satisfy the world danny must know kilow I 1 suppose hut but no one else need ever know cut but I 1 tell you sam shouted I 1 dont know how without raising her voice she made it sound through his shouting and silence it but she did sam dont why cant we be honest onest li now among ourselves you ou see I 1 know that both you rind and martha were on those stairs when the body was put there my thoughts jumped out into words chad must have known it too ue he roust must have that hed rather ile die than betray either sam or martha ue lie might have thought it saw sam said with will a lack of emphasis that edged stupidity he could not have known it it Is not true mrs sticker john questioned makes you think that dad and martha had both been on the stairs stair sl pipe ashes were strewn aboul anti and there was an old tatting shuttle with which I 1 had been try log to teach marthajo Mart hato tat that morning she had bad it in her pocket it must have dropped out I 1 think that mary tried to clean the pipe ashes away they weri were gone when I 1 saw the body the second time I 1 should have tried to do it but I 1 think I 1 had no DO time I 1 arns frantic with fear wait she be answered our looks and our exclamations of astonish ment 1 I t will explain martha and I 1 an aa you yon know were alone here in the house while the rest of you were out look looking ing for gaby martha was sleepy I 1 wo worried about her sleeping so much and tried oil sorts sort of ways to keep her awake until bedtime I 1 kept sending her out to look at the sky eky to see wat a ether lier it a storm was coming to spoil tier tire ire works she w ald run outs out and right lo in again to curl on the davenport and try to sleep finally Fl nalty though she stayed outside for a long time when the wind rose I 1 looked first for martha I 1 called her several times before she answered finally site she come came ground around tile the house from the direction of the rabbet il hutch again surely yen ou must have noticed as I 1 did tint that she had seemed strangely excited during till nil the late inte afternoon and early evening at the time i thought it was because she had been given the monkey charm rind and because she wag to have the fireworks but when we were alone she talked very iven even for her she began with it again when she had answered toy aay t mil nil she kept in that boob we were all going to be surprised something something very nice thel had to do with gadbut had but site she would never oever epli hill it was walk As aa a rule I 1 should not DO have paid any attention to such nuch tat talk but toi to 8 am e reason her excitement and her in insistence istance about a surprise dis disturbed turbid me I 1 spent some minutes her I 1 even tried I 1 bribe her I 1 could get nothing from her tut rut further talk about the nice surprise then the storm mine crime and I 1 ran upstairs to begin closing tile the house I 1 thought id begin with the attic and corne come don dewi through the house I 1 tried the attic loor inor it was locked and the key was missing I 1 was wall alarmed possibly bemuse we were all disturbed gabys ab sence and possibly bemuse because doors are so self seldom loui locked here I 1 remembered the he old skeleton key hanging in the broom closet closel I 1 ran down and got it 1 I 1 opened the door i 1 saw the body I 1 touched iland knew even before I 1 pow tile the tatting flitting shuttle there and aar the headed beaded bag covered with sams pipe ashes I 1 snatched the shuttle and ill hid it in 0 o my dress at that instant through the open win dow at the end of the hall I 1 heard your voices ng you ran up the road from the s irace to the rain I 1 shut the door locked it und ran downstairs oo do you know when ft hen I 1 met you I 1 hod had that key in my hand mary entre up to ro me to help me close III I 1 in french windows I 1 did not think thick I 1 had a wild desire to rid myself of that key I 1 was ws determined to protect martha at any cost marys mary pocket was hanging like an open hag bag right below me I 1 dropped the key into it it was 9 frightful rats take if I 1 had kept it and thrown it away every one in the house would have been exonerated it was us as you know the one link that connected household with t the he crime that Is after mary had cleaned away the pipe ashes the tittle little fleck or two of them which danny saw might have fallen there diye days before mary sam questioned were my pipe ashes oil in the bag did you stop to clean them olt off before you gave the alarm yes the they were sam yes tea I 1 did then sam said whoever put the body there put the pipe ashes there to throw suspicion on me and whoever it was knew my habits too he fie must have put the tatting failing shuttle there as weil nell fur for good measure anieas does anyone an one of you think that martha would have had the wits to save sae ashes out of my pipe rind and put them on OD the bag hagl chada Ch adl john almost sang bang it in hla his eagerness lie ile was wise enough and fool enough ills his ono one idea was to protect martha he helped her get the body up there between seven and eight arid tie he put pill the ashes there to shield her I 1 said tool fool enough but come to think 1 of I IL it he knew what le was doing lie he was protecting tier her with the one person in the house who could not have done it with the one person that no nevada neda jury would convict then lie he turned around rind and abl shielded elded dad with his death and his written con bession from start to it works out us as lay day gosh I 1 say it ts Is terrible lush bunh horrible I 1 think of it nut flut thank god it to Is cleared up cleared up anyway Is right sam sald said and looked around at all of 0 us pityingly like hed look at it a litter ot or sickly puppies poppies all then he ques cloned all satisfied that martha killed her and that chad carried the body upstairs and hll it for her and left the false clews In including duding the tatting shuttle for reasons unknown arid and came down men inert and happy enough until he took a sudden notion to write a false and walk out and shoot himself through the head dad 1 there was wag pleading IL johns voice you dont mean to say that you cant see the thing that you arent satisfied with this absolutely logical explanation yes brim anchored with his most dangerous drawl what I 1 mean to say any it takes more or seems to to me thun it takes to satisfy some folks Sall sned fied not by a 1 I 1 n sight 1 john lost his bla temper for the love of alete why arent you what would satisfy you bayl what are you trying to doa do do you like the case me so well that you cant give it up the use of bucking backing straight facts D n your straight facts we got tiny ive a few straight fact questions though that will blow tills his story galley neat veres one of them noes does it stand to reason that for two months gaby lived right here her un harmed tv by martha hut but that on the very day when shi ahe feared death from some outside enemy martha should L HII 1111 her it Is coincidental 1 john admitted but lust just the same there are lots ot of coincidences we rill all neet meet them all t the 10 t time me it a coincidence that gaby was afraid of cle eting when she wa walked aked out of this house on the fourth of july ceres another qu question questin es mrs richer nicker ane says wits wa plumb con convinced vinced that maralia committed the murder and I 1 helped her b by I 1 carrying the body upstairs afterward slie she thought this the night of the murder arid and the next day and ever since why then she come to me aie and anyway put out a feeler or two in my direct direction linn she knew that id go as for far to save martha as slie she would go I 1 t protect john nor any other person on t this ills alike ut ans 11 child younger even een than a child in some ways mrs ricker knew that id save sae martha with my las dollar and as somebody said the other day with my last lie ile mrs ricker richer arid and I 1 were alone together for more than halt half an hour tile morning of the fifth why she give ghe me a hint then of any of this 11 1111 1 was afraid mrs airs flicker an so long as she was living I 1 was afraid of everything of every evary one I 1 wits was afraid of myself I 1 dared not act think I 1 dared not look now now sam barn suld 1 I 1 see your point in that especially since talking had got you in bull bad once but see liere here I 1 said a while mille ago that id al ways known you were n good woman well I 1 am going to keep heep on knowing it for or the present but you thinking as you say you think directly accused danny the other lay day that was not the ait act of a good woman 0 d gillet hubert lland burst out lie ile Is going to try to pin it on you to save sae martha and the SL stanley artley name even yet you iou sum said are a liar safe enough I 1 fight you and you know it if old mno man sam jumped to ills feet I 1 had to stumble over john hut but I 1 managed to reach sam first and to stand in front of him film boys boys I 1 begged not here not in this house bouse tonight lie ite member hubert stuck his hands in his bis pock ets eta and walked away sam dropped into his chair the telephone bell in the other room began to ring CHAPTER XI Canne ziano hubert answered the telephone and called to sara sam I 1 followed him into the living room to hear what was to be hoard heard I 1 think that john and mrs richer nicker followed for the same reason when sam said head it please I 1 knew that it was another telegram they telephone all of our telegrams to us is front from and enil then them later when hen they get around to it if they dont forget forest sam kept writing things on the tele phone pad and asking central to re peat and to repent repeat again and to spell tint that please lands but I 1 got ner inus before he binally hung up tile the revolver receiver and turned to us and asked any 0 you ever hear bear of a fellow named lynn none of us of course ever bad seema he Is a kind of detective sam explained ile he calls himself a crime analyst and he specializes in cases works on his own kiok book kind of like sherlock SIer lock holmes lid I 1 guess tle HP wants to tome colne here rind ond take tahe the aitse ile he wants wanti his ex and nothing else if he fulls falls it if lie he succeeds lie he wants ten tell thou sand s nd cash ioor listi id have hae ild aid wenty twenty thousand just jost as quick A any ny way a fair proportion im eoln to wire ulin him to come coma lets see we danny Dandy Is coming up on friday afternoon site she ill 11 wire macdonald to take tahe the tha firme train that will save us two trips to ll It attall to in the heat beat listen dad sleep over it john urged if mrs airs ticker Is 1 right about all thin and I 1 swear that I 1 think site she Is it enough for us as to know about it daill if you get a detective here and he comes to the some conclusion cl we cant liepp it a so secret cret then sani sam sold bald ile he wont and we arent wanting nor needing any ite crets on the desert moon just now tie lie sat eat down and began to write the telegram rive five n minutes lind he was vas reading it if to the operator fit at flat tall tail tie HP had just tiling up the telephone receiver when the doorbell rang for a minute I 1 did not recognize the standing there on the porch in the next minute I 1 did recognize him my feurt stood stock still lie was daniel Canne ziano lie he pushed right pilot me into the room without waiting for or tin an indita tion ue ile always was a polished per 1 1 P I 1 my heart stood stock still he H was wai daniel Canne ziano fumed little fellow but that evening what with his gray spots spats and a cane he be was right down got a chap to drive me up from rattail attall ll he said 1 I left lefi my trunk down there lie he |
