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The Baniwtll Peeple^ScaUikei, Bara we) 1, n« WEDDING MARCH MURDER B by MOMTE BARRETT ek^rtirkt. im. by tk» Bobba-MsrrOl O*. WNU SattIc*. . '. 4- CHAPTER XIII—Continued “That," declared Peter, wTth aWw emphasis, "Is the most' slgnlflcaot point of all Fletcher claims'Franklin never kept a gun at the apartment. * else he la protecting the murderer. And yet, we can find no motlv^ that would cause Fletcher to pursue such a course, 1 think the fellow might iiro- teet the identity of a woman who had been Indiscreet. I don’t think he would protect the murderer. We have proof of it, in fact. Had he been in league with Franklin’s.^slfiyer^lj, would not have been necessary to search the apartment, as was done. Fletcher could have accomplished such a search without any difficulty and without our knowledge. “That means that Franklin kept the weapon elsewhere. Where? At the apartment he kept for Choo Chon Train? In another possible apartment kept for the woman in blue? At his office? “Sergeant," Cardigan spoke with evident conviction, “this evidence led me, ultimately, to two clues to which I did not at first attach sufficient im portance. And those two clues, I be lieve, will prove not only the identity, but the guilt, of the murderer. They are the revolver and the key-ring we found In the murdered man’s pocket.” 1 CHAPTER XIV "I gather that yon have come to the conclusion that jealousy waa the mo- nre ror tu€ cniD6“ • “Tea, Either jealousy or revenge. In bis relationship with this woman, Franklin betrayed a trusted friend and that friend committed the murder. If my theory works out. And It must work out, Mr. Dunbar,” continued Peter with conviction. "It’s the only, thfeory that fits all the facts.". *T’m Interested.” Dunbar took a chair beside the bed. “I’d like to hear the whole story. Can’t you take me into your confidence? Remember, Franklin was my partner. only one who fits the every detail" “ ~DUnhar, bead, on ^na. aide. Ups pursed judiciously, s judge weighing evidence, "AH very plausible," he nodded his head "Bet still only theory." "Here is some more 6f it,” retorted the novelist ’"The night before the wedding, your suspicions of your wife and Franklin aroused, you broke Into its compartment of the safe. There you found evidence which supported hose suspicions. And the revolver, too. That” lie admitted “is still only "WhenKIlday comes back,”promised the noveust “He won’t be long.” "May I see those keys?” The at torney extended his palm. “I’m curi ous to know what they had to do with it. Why did you ask me to bring the key to Franklin’s compartment of the safe? What does young Carmody have to do with that key?” “The. keys?” Cardigan stared about him blankly. “They were here a mo ment ago. I must have dropped them." “Yes,” declared Dunbar evenly. “You must have dropped them—Hrto- Kilday’s hand. You’re lying to me, Cardigan. Why did you give those keys to Kllday? Why did you write Introducing the Murderer . "We have identified six of these seven keys,” Peter continued, indicat- - ing the ring which Kllday was holding In his hand. "One opens the street door of Franklin’s apartment building; a second opens his apartment; another fits Choo Ch*o Train’s door; the fourth opens the door of his general offices and the fifth is to his private office. That’s an end of the large keys. Of the smaller ones, the first opened his desk and the last one still remains un identified. Call Milo Dunbar, will you? I believe he can help us trace this key. We should have done It before. And unless I’m clear off the track, we’ll know who the murderer Is when we succeed in doing that.” Franklin’s partner was located at his office and promised to come at once. "Ask him to bring the key to Frank lin’s private compartment of the safe," Peter interrupted to suggest. •‘We’ll want that, too." "I think," he continued after Kll day had replaced the receiver, “that we can definitely abandon the idea that Franklin maintained a separate apartment for this woman in blue. If he had done so, why doesn’t the key appear on this ring? All his other keys are here. There have been times I have been tempted to abandon this woman as a clue, for this very reason, and yet she was the motive for the crime. I’m sure. No other solution fits the facts. And since I have arrived at that solution. I can see a very good ren- . son why Franklin had no key to her tpafftrient" “Was it the Shipley girl?" Kllday de- mnnde 1. “I’m sure It wasn’t she.” replied — Petee.- “t*—their effort to protect others whom they feared were gut tty, s vimber of people have deceived us. That has added to our complications and that’s why you have suspected this girl." At this point the attorney arrived. Peter Cardigan was still contemplating the slain man’s key-ring when he en tered. "Did you bring the key?” "Here.” Dunbar handed It to the novelist, who compared It carefully with the small, unidentified key on the ring. His examination completed, he reached for the nurse’s pad on the table beside him, and scrawled a few hurried notes unon it. “How does this key fit Into the case?” Kilday could no longer restrain his curiosity. "I’m not sure.” Peter directed • significant glance at his friend. "Here," he handed him the notes he had Just written. "With that much to i,o on, perhaps you can make Rylie Carmody talk.” “But I thought you .said—’’ •Never mind what I said before," Peter replied earnestly. “I may have changed my mind. Look over these notes and follow Instructions.” Kllday shrugged and left the room. "Then you think it was Rylie Car mody, after all?” suggested Milo Dun bar. "I must confess I don’t under stand how that key had anything to do with him." "We’ll soon know," Peter replied shortly. The attorney walked to the window, his back to Peter and hummed a few bars of a tune. “I suppose the theory Is that young Cprmody committed the * murder to prevent Franklin’s marriage to his Sister?" “No. That’s no longer the theory. We now believe that the murderer killed Franklin because he discovered the latter’s love-sffsir with the woman In bine.” s “The woman in bluer Dunbar wheeled % and eyed the novelist curi ously. “That’s the mysterious visitor Franklin had In the sacristy just be- ’ fore the crime. Hare you been able to identify herT* “That all depends on Kilday." de clared Cardigan frankly. "If his eri rand Is successful we’ll be able to Identify her without - any further •Poison.- him that note? What did you have to say that you didn’t want me to hear?" Peter smiled into the angry man’s eyes, his hand sttdlng stealthily, al most imperceptibly toward the bell cord on the table beside his bed. "1 believe I mentioned Rylie Carmody," he was sparring for time. “Only to throw me off the track." retorted Dunbar. “Kllday didn’t know what you were talking about when you mentioned him.” Then, for the first time noticing Cardigan's cautious reach for the bell he forestalled it with a deft Jerk of his elbow that sent the small table careening and knocked the bell cord to the floor. “Then I we# eight," be said shortly. “You win—again." declared the nov elist, his alert glance intently study Inc the attorney's expression. “My luck was Just as bad the other night— at your office.” Before replying, Dunhar locked the door. “I suspected you had guessed when you wrote that note to Kilday," the lawyer admitted calmly. “How did you do It?" His eyes, slightly blood shot, returned the novelist’s steady gaze. “You left a very plain trail,” de clared the latter. “Once It was dis covered. we couldn’t miss. The only difficulty was that there were so many trails, partly due to your efforts, that yours was obscured. We knew Frank lin was killed by gome one he knew Intimately, otherwise^he would have warned Royce. who was only a few feet away ; the murderer carried Frank lln’s own revolver; the murderer called Choo Choo Train and Imitated Fletch er’s voice in telling her to go to the church; the murderer could not have been in the church,. proper, at the time the crime was committed, but he had to be on the ground. "The woman In blue must have been the motive, because the guilty person took such active steps to remove all clues to her identity, and, in conclu sion, Franklin’s apartment was searched, not once, but twice, and I was attacked In your office. Only one person answers all these descriptions, Mf. Dunbar. That Is you. “Royce looked for you at the church but couldn’t find you out In front, for the very simple reason that you weren’t there. Franklin kept that revolver at his office. After searching elsewhere, there was no other conclusion we could reach. You were the only person who had access to It there. You were In great haste to search your partner's apartment. Immediately after his death. You told Fletcher you were looking for a will. But you and I know you were there to destroy any evidence which might Identify the woman in blue as your wife, before the police arrived. Yon didn’t find It then, and were anxious for another opportunity to conduct the search when Fletcher wasn’t present At the first oppor tunity, that's exactly what you did, and that's when I picked np your trail although even then I didn’t real ize who nr quarry was. You used a key you found la your wife'* poasta. sion to enter that apartment Remem ber, toe, that my ssenllsnt must have bad a key te eater your oflku. Urn 4 guess. But I’ll know whether or not It’s s true one In a few minutes." An expression of anhoyance flitted across the attorney’s countenance. “Guesses!" he said, “fiueaafts! You’re always talking of guesses! What made you make such a guess?" “In the first place, you were the only person who fitted every possibil ity of the crime. In the second, there were Franklin’s keys. I couldn’t unt derstand why all his keys were In tact upon his ring, except the key to his compartment of the safe. It seemed strange that he should have kept that, of all keys, lying carelessly in his desk where you found it for us. Then the solution occurred to me and I compared that key we found there with the one we had been unable to Identify upon the key-ring, remember ing how similar thej were In size and appearance. Remember, I had tried ^ to use that unidentified key to open that compartment. I was able to In sert It In the lock but it wouldn't turn the bolt. Do you know why? “They were both keys to that safe. When I compared them a few minutes ago, I discovered they both bore ths same manufacturer's serial number. One of those keys belonged to you, Mr. Dunbar. The other was Frank lin’s.” Peter stared at the attorney expres sionlessly. “With that much to go on, I felt confident that I 1 knew bow we had been duped. We were puzzled be cause we couldn’t find any clue to the woman In blue among Franklin’s per sonal effects. This was now explained. You had removed those clues wher you searched Franklin's compartment the evening before, to verify your sus picions regarding him and your wife Afterward. It occurred to you that this broken drawer might incriminate you If we discovered It So you trans ferred the remainder of his effects tc your own drawer, leaving your key In Franklin's desk. The broken drawet you appropriated for your own use And that” declared Peter with finality “Is what I wrote Kilday a few minute? ago. He is on his way to your office to check up on those two drawers In your safe. Unless ! am mistaken, ha will discover that the key on Frank lin's ring fits the broken compartment which you are now using. “Simple, when you think about It, Isn’t it?” “You make It sound simple,” the at torney replied. “The only thing that puzzled me I* why you returned to your office thal night,” Peter continued. “You had already destroyed the evidence Ir Franklin's compartment," “I was afraid there might be som? evidence elsewhere that I had ever looked, and I wasn’t expecting yon tf hunt the murderer there.” The Bttor ' ney was making no effort to maintain a pretense of Innocence. “I couldn’t very well go through the place in the daytlihe without exciting comment from the employees. I felt |>erf4rtly safe In making the search at night, however, until." he shrugged, “you appeared on the scene. None of my employees had an excuse to be there at that hour, and I knew that the jan itor’s force did not come on duty un til ten o’clock, so naturally I was alarmed when I heard your key In the lock. I didn’t realize, or have time to consider that you might be coming there to trap some one else. I lost my head, I guess. At any rate, I deter mined not to be trapped there, so 1 turned out the lights ^nd waited for you in the dark. You know what hap pened." Peter glanced at the locked door “What’s the idea?" he asked. “You can't hope to escape. By this time Kllday has verified the manner In which you switched boxes with Frank lin.” “Oh, yes. There’s always one meth od of escape. But don’t he alarmed. Thai was only a precaution against Interruption.” From his pocket he took a small vial Removing the cork, he smelled of the contents. Then he smiled. “Poisoq,” he explained. ‘Tve been carrying it about with me for several days. Even before I killed Franklin, I made up my mind that. 1 would never be taken alive." Dunbar raised the bottle gravely. “Before I go,” he said, "I want to say I’m gorry you went through the win* dow. I had nothing against you. I only wanted to get out of there, unde- tected.” The momentary delay gave Peter the opportunity for which he waited. With all his strength be hurled his pil low it the bottle poised in Dunbar’s hand, hoping to knock It from his grasp. .. His aim was true, but the bottle did not fall. The fingers which clutched it were too sure of their grip. There was reproach In the attor ney’s glance. “After making this the only escape possible," he asked, "would you rob me of Itr T 'He raised.the bottle slowly. “I don’t blame you for anything bat that pillow." he declared gravely. “Yon’re quite a detective, Cardigan. -I should bn nn authority on the subject" IfUo Dunbar took his oaly atsans of aacapa. __ (THB END.] ew county Jail of San Francisco, Calif., held to be a model penal Institution, has Just been completed. It la about fourteen miles from the city, on Sneath Ridge, has Its own water and sewer systems and cost $700,000, Just a Little Canine Harmony, Folks 3P mmm wmm % ■ ■m ±M 4* **m*ie' . it Left—“Folks, I’m going to treat you to a bit of real music. Don’t you know me? Pm Taffy, a Welsh terrier, and I live in Chicago." Center—“Just half a minute and 111 he tuned up." Right—“Owoo-o-o. How do you like that call of the wild? What, no applause! I’m doggone chagrined. 1 guess my master Is right I can’t sing worth a dog biscuit Well, 1 tried my best So long. See you at tl>e show.” Making It Unpleasant for Criminals ■" $ a ' * « N!? in; V ^ Joining the nation-wide drive on crime that is led by the federal Depart ment of Justice, the New York police rounded up scores of known criminals and suspects. Some of them are here seen behind the bars waiting to be questioned. She Grew Tired of Women’s Work Han la Now York’a first womaa truck the la Miaa Ann Middleton of Washington, work about ths boan, and twang to the at the wheel of her vehicle. tired of woomb’s LADY IN UPPER SIX ■ /t' SS?* m sf fTJ % i* X. ■ \ tyi A i m H.' This la not a scene from a motion picture but a view o' the new stylo upper berth in the sleeping cars with which the Union Pacific streaatfint train Is equipped. Folding stairways take you to the upper, and a Utt platform provides room enough stand up while dressing. A aluminum panel completely the berth, making It in fact A small compartment. All berths, both upper and lower, are provided with indi vidual washstands. The new style sleeping car la one of the innovations being shown at A Century of Progress in Chicago as part of the Union Pa* eifle’s streamline train. jackT