The Washington times., 1910-12-25

W. chief hurried 10 the iaspec-
w ter's quarters. As he entered
the men arose and saluted-
/ One Of them had been bending over a
/ table and was evidently engTossed in
/ some inportan- study II was Javey,
! the man who lad first called the chiefs
attention 10 tie fragments OF paper
Are you " wD-king on anything very
[ Important slled the chief.
The man smiled
Very snpors rsant. The sooner I'm
I done the better III know where
I all the streets with de in their names.
y Hou remember that one OF the bits of
/ envelope read -ue de Il doesn't cost
much 70 look up streets, anyhow"
We'll, drop IL Get a cab and see II
I NJ Victor Bart0n is al home His ad-
dress is No. Is Rue de DouaL"
Rue de- Javel was clearly inter-
/ ested-
Rue de DouaL No. I6 You know
where II IS don't yod2
Il know The number. you say. is
/ de-"
The chief looked at him with half
closed eyes What was the man driV-
ing at2 It flashed upon him suddenly
that No. IS had been written upon one
OF the pieces OF paper. The number 70
which ne had attached absolutely To
importance began 70 have some mean
ing now. He looked at the inspector
spoke for q few seconds; neither dared
TO utter the thought that was upper
most in the mind OF each At last the
chief broke the silence
well, as 7 said before you'd better
drop this for the time being Run over
70 No. 16 Look uD this man BARTON
and ind out where he Is. Call me up
on the telephone as soon as YOU leave
there I wouldn't place too much i'm
D0rtance on the fact that he lives at
No l6- II I were YOU A coincidence
such as the one YOU evidently have in
Elind means noting in particular.
It's odd. said Javel. very odd
Wen. I'u or
The chief Of police was far from en-
tertainiuE the opinion be had expressed
The number was relevant II was not
easy to forsake the position he had as
suHled in the morning when the man
first suggested the possibility Of utiliz-
inE the paper fragments Il seemed too
much like VaClil2tloD- The inspectors
knew him and respected him as a man
OF fixed purpose. To change his views
suddenly might mean q loss Of prestige
Besides, Il was hardly likely tnat Ear
ton was involved n this case There
really seemed but slight justification Tor
dragging him IN merely because Of d
certain agreement il numbers
Absurd as the idea vas he could not
drive it from his mind de went to his
own room, picked I'D a report from his
desk and began 10 read it. When ne
had finished the first page he realized
upon his mind He could not remem-
her q single phrase The number IS
danced on the page The face OF Victor
Barton kept II company The two were
inseDaTable- Little bv little he recalled
details Of his meeting with the man
First Of all, there was the strange
account Of the murder published in the
Planet before police headquarters had
been notified He had not vet succeed
ed in discOVerlnE now the paper had
anticipated him Then, there was Bar
tons eniSmatic behavior. his ironiC at
titude amounting almost 20 insOlence,
his mysterious answers, the discovery
OF the footprint IN the garden Lne
mans uncOn-roIlable emotion when he
entered the victims room and his apollo
gies for his singular conduct when he
have some bearing upon the case But.
assuming that the reporter had played
some part IN the crime how audacious-
lv foolish vas his behavior
When he arrived at this stage OF MS
reasoning the chief felt himself con
fTcnted with an obstacle which was
apparently lnSUTmOUUtable. He was
piQued that Javei. a man who had never
displayed an inOrdinate amount Of as
tuteness IN his eyes, should have been
the first to link Barton with the crime
And vet Javel might be wrong The
old man had no friends, no relatives.
So far as the police knew. Barton had
never heard Of Forget How could the
reporter be connected with the cr1meg
This was an obstacle
The chief returned once more 70 Bar
tons unwilbngness 10 give the source
Of the Planets information That was
certainly suspicious Barton had told
Of its own Of finding out things" what
were these ways2 It was clearly neces-
sarv TO find out and not to allow him
self TO be intimidated by q. newspaper !
mans boast It was absolutely neceS-
saTy to find this man Barton. to put /
him through rigorous crOss-eXamina- [
ton, 10 frighten him into a full con- I
feSsiOn Of the Planets devious ways Of I
obtaining news before the police.
TIE telephone bell rang
WHO IS this9- re asked
''Javei- I've Just left Rue de Douai'' /
Good What's the neWs2'
Barton has not been home for three ]
DAYS"
The chief Of police was 7uufouudsd. /
For three DAYS Barton had not reported 4
ct his Office and for three davs he had i
not been % his home. Incredible as his 4
connection with the crime seemed. it 4
was necessary to discover the mans 4
wheTea bouts. II II was simply for the I
purpose OF proving his sSsolt1e iuno- /
cence or any Frong-dOing. The disaD-
pearance OF the reporter so soon after
the discovery Of the crime might have I
no special significance Nevertheless II 4
vy-as worth investigating-
Two theories suggested themselves i'm
rnedtately 70 the chief Of nolice Either 4
Barton was keeping himself coucos 4a5 !
Tor Jhe purpose Of Independently bur
rowing into this mystery Gan idea which 4
rnight enter any newspaper mans head /
or he was in some xav Connected -<-ifb
the murder II the second supposition I
we're true the chief reasoned Barton 4
had either fed from the country and I
placed the frontier between him and the
police fand this conclusion seemed most
plausible) he had been disposed Of by 4
those who feared he might by some i'm
prudence. betray them. Following his /
habit. the chief promptly leaped at this
latter conclusion as soon as il was
formed.
He leaned forward on the desk and in
ouired, Anything eIse?'F
The inspector did not reply immedi- /
atelv-
Did you hear me2 HanO!''
Yes heard There's nothing else.'' |