Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-08-17


Then you know nothing OF Mr..
Armstrong; movements after he left
the house?'
Nothing. / read of his death Mon
day evening for the first time"
Mr.. Bailey did not see him on his
way across the lawn?"
81 think not. If he had seen him
he would have spoken of it,
Thank you. That is all. Miss
Gertrude Innes."
Gertrudes replies We're fully as
concise at Halsey's Mrs. Fitzhugh
subjected her to close inspection,
commencing with her hat and ending
with her shoes. fiatter myself she
found nothing wrong with either her
gown or her manner, but poor Ger
trude's testimony was the reverse OF
comforting. She had been summoned,
she said, by her brother, after Mr..
Armstrong had gone. She had waited
in the billiard-room with Mr.. Bailey,
until the automobile had been ready.
Then she had locked the door at the
foot of the staircase. and. taking
lamp, had accompanied Mr.. Bailey to
the main entrance of the house, and
had watched him cross the lawn. In
stead of going at once to her room,
she had gone back to the billiard
room for something which had been
left there. The card-room and bill
liard-room were in darkness. She had
CROPPED around, found The article she
was looking for, and was on the
point of returning to her room, when
she had heard some ore fumbling at
the loci: at the east outer door. She
had thought 1t was probably her
brother and had been about to go to
the door, when she heard it open. AL
most Immediately there was shot.
and she had run panic-stricken
reused the house.
"You heard no other sound?" the
coroner asked. There was no one
with Mr.. Armstrong when the en-
tered?"
at was perfectly 6lrk. There
were no voices and heard nothing.
There was just the opening of the
door, the shot; and the sound of
somebody falling"
Then, while you went through the
drawing-room and upstairs to alarm
the household, the criminal, whoever
it was, could have escaped by the
east door?'
"Yes"
THANK you. That will do"
l flatter myself that the coroner got
little enough out Of me. | saw
Jameson smiling to himself, and the
coroner gave me up, after time.
admitted | had found the body, said
had not known who it was until Mr..
Jarvis told me, and ended by looking
up at Barbara Fitzhugh and saying
that in renting the house l had not
expected to be involved in any family
scandal. At which she turned purple.
The verdict was that Arnold Arm
strong had met his death at the hands
of a person or persons unknown, and
we all prepared to leave. Barbara
Fitzhugh flounced out without waiting
to speak to me, but Mr.. Harton came
up. as I knew he would.
you have decided to give up the
house, hope, Miss Innes,' he said.
Mrs. Armstrong has wired me again.
Il am not going to give 1t up
maintained, until understand some
things that are puzzling me. The day
that the murderer is discovered, I will
leave'
Then, judging by what I have
heard, you will be back in the city
he suspected the discredited cashier
of the Traders bank.
Mr.. Jameson came up to me as
was about to leave the coroner's
Office.
How is you patient?" he asked with
his odd little smile.
81 have no patient" I replied,
startled.
81 will put it in different way, then.
How is Miss Armstrong;"
"She-she is doing very WELL l
stammered.
Good" cheerfully. "And our
ghost? It is laid?"
"Mr. JAMESON I said suddenly, 81
wish you would do one thing: l wish
you would come to Sunnyside and
spent few days there. The ghost is
not laid. l want you to spend one
night at least watching the circular
staircase. The murder of Arnold Arm
strong was a beginning, not an end
He looked serious.
rSlAdpS Call w IL, ne sdlu
have been doing something else, but
well, l will come out tonight
We were very silent during the trip
| back to Sunnyside. I watched Ger
trude closely and somewhat sadly. To
me there was one glaring flaw in her
story, and it seemed to stand out for
every one to see Arnold Armstrong
had had no key, and yet she said she
! had locked the east door. He must
have been admitted from within the
house; over and over repeated it to
myself.
That night, as gently as l could,
told Louise the story of her step
brothers death. She sat in her big,
| pillow-flled chair, and heard me
through without interruption. 1t was
clear that she was shocked beyond
words: If I had hoped to learn any
thing from her expression, had fail
ed. She was as much in the dark as
we were.
(To Be Continued
Leaves $500 to Charity.
New Haven, Conn, Aug. 14.-Whcr