The Red Cloud chief., 1905-12-01
theory with great interest"
"And assCnted to it?"
III said l thought II plausible"

hTOuIl TIE TDOUl.
That's IT, cried Rankin. That's
what he wanted. Now. It isn't his
theory any more. It's yours. oh, |
can eee his headlines. Won't you tell
us what II wssi"
l looked UP AT him.
Now, frankly, Mr.. Rankin" | asked,
Elf you were In my place wonid you
teil7'
He hesitated for II moment and then
held out his hand.
NO. he said as I took II. II
shouldn't. Shake hands, sir; you're all
right. Come on, boys; we ight az
well be going"
They filed out after him. and l heard
them go singing up the street. Then
l sank back into my chair and thought
again Of Godfrey's theory. 1t se mo
to ft the case precisely, point by point
overland l started at the thought
to Miss Holidays reticencc rs TO her
whereabouts the afternoon before. Tho
whole mystery lay plain before me. In
some way she had discovered the eI-
istence Of her half sister. had secured
her address; she had gone to visit her
and had found her away from home
1t was probable, even, that the half
sister had written her, asking her to
come-though. In that case, why had
she not remained at home to receive
herr At any rate, Miss Holiday had
awaited her return. had noticed her
agitation; had. perhaps. wen seen GER
tain marks Of blood upon her. Tho
news Of her fathers death had pointed
all too clearly to what that agitation
and those blood spots meant. She had
smirch her fathers name, and also,
perhaps, that she might protect the
other l felt that l held in my
hand the key to the whole problem.
Point by point--but what a snarl 1t
was! That there would be a vigorous
search for the other woman / could
not doubt, but she had a long start aud
should easily escape. Yet perhaps she
had not started. She must have re-
manned in town. else how could that
note have been sent tn us7 She had re-
NAMED, then-but why? That she
should feel any affection for Frances
Holiday seemed absurd. and yet how
else explain the note?
! felt that l was getting tangled up
in the snarl again. There seemed no
limit to it's i~ntricacies; so, In very de.
SPAR, / put the matter from me as
completely as / could and went to
bed.
! The mornings Record nttested the
truth Of Rankin's prophecy. ! had
grown famous in n night. for Godfrey
had in a measure made me responsible
: for his theory, describing me with Il
wealth Of %adjectivcs which l blush to
remember and which I have even yet
not quite forgiven him. l smiled as I
read the first lines:
A Record representative had the pleas
ure yesterday evening of dining with Mr..
Warwick Lester. the brilliant young at
torney who achieved such a remarkable
victory before Coroner Goldberg yester-
day afternoon In the hearing OF the Hol-
laday case. and. of course, took occasion
to discuss with him the latest develop
ments Of this extraordinary crime. Mr..
Lester agreed with the Record In n the
DRY which is the only one that fits the
facts or the case and completely and sat-
isfactorily explains all its qualifications.
The theory was then developed ut
great length, and the article concluded
with the statement that the Record
was assisting the police in q strenuous
endeavor to find the guilty woman.
Now that the police knew in which
J quarter to spread their net, l had little
doubt that she would soon be found,
since she had tempted Providence by
remaining In town.
Mr.. Graham and Mr.. Royce were
looking through the Record article
when l reached the office, and | ex-
planned to them how the alleged inter
view had been secured. They laughed
together in appreciation Of Godfrey's
audacious enterprise.
ut seems a pretty strong theory
said our senior. Pm inclined to be,
lieve it myself"
l pointed out how 1t explained Miss
Holidays reticence-her refusal to as
sist us In proving an alibi. Mr.. Royce
nodded.
Precisely. AS Godfrey said, the the
DRY touches every point of the case
According to the old police axiom, tina
proves it's the right one"
CHAPTER VII