The Washington times., 1911-10-09
THE TIMES DAILY SERIAL STORY
The Maxwell Mystery
By CAROLYN WELLS
,y CAROLYN WELLS
Copyright. 1911. The Frank A. Munsey Co,


/ In the first place. whoever killed Philip
Maxwell must have had a strong per
4 S,al motive for the deed.
1 There Is no reason to suspect an
ordinarJ burglar, for there Ii nothing
whole AFFAIR. II Philip Maxwell had
any personal enemies, the fact ID not
known to us. Even his uncle In un-
| aware of the existence Of any such.
1.-The The only only ma man We know KNOW, Of wns
rhiiip Maxwell-mind, ! say. might
have had-is Gilbert Crane. We know
that an a1tagonism existed between
the two men on account Of Miss Leslie.
antagonism was sufficient to develop
crime, yet parallel cases are not un-
known. Gilbert Crane II q man Of
deep passions. fiery temper, and un-
controllable impulses.
He Is erratic, eccentric, and while
do not wish to judge him too harshly-
must admit he seems to be OF the
stun Of which villains are made"
But none Of this Is definitely incrfnn-
mating" said, appalled, at the sudden
directness Of Hunts attack.
NO. he replied. ''and that IL why
I'm not willing to proceed as II 1t were.
or as l 50 considered IT,"
1T Is absurd, anyway, ''I said almost
angrily. "for you know that he was In
the billiard-room at exactly 10 o'clock.
l saw him there myself. And, accord
ing to Miss Maxwell, the shots were
Yes, according to Miss MxweIl. But
| 1t has occurred to me that hers is the
| only evidence that the shots were fired
| at 10 O'Clock. and we are by no means
| certain that her clock or watch was
"The clock In the study was right" I
said doggedly; ''it always is, Mr. Max
well Is very particular about that
Yes, but ladies are not apt to be %
l Hr0aniaCoa = rrxr
rate, I shall make It my business to
LET US find out now" I said eagerly.
IF there is anything In this horrible
| GO yourself" said Hunt. Go at
once, and ask Miss Maxwell as to the
accuracy of her clock"
found Miss Maxwell alone, and I
| knew It was 10 o'clock when she heard.
| or thought she heard. the two pistol
shots.
'It was 10 by the little clock on my
of that, for It was striking at the time
| heard the reports"
And is that clock always right?' I
asked.
never right. For some time have been
intending to have 1t regulated.
rs 1t slow or fast?" 1 asked, trying
to preserve my casual manner.
1T runs SLOW" she said, and that
night 1t must have been as much as ten
| minutes slow, because l remember I
was late for dinner, though ] thought
was in ample time"
You should have stated this discrep-
ancy sooner, Miss Maxwell" said. un-
able to keep a note of grave concern out
of my voice.
"Why?" she returned. in astonishmsnt,
Il had no idea that would make any
difference. In fact. didn't think any
I q yNvrv SaIr or1x-
difference?"
Never mind. Miss Maxwell" I said
soothingly; perhaps IL won't make any
| difference. Don't give It any further
thought: You have quite enough trou-
"Oh. have indeedr" said the dear
old lady. Il don't know what I shall
do, Mr.. King. Philips death has af-
II fected my brother terribly. Dudley was
always a quiet man. but now he Is 50
| crushed and heartbroken that he Is
more silent than ever.
And I can't seem to comfort him.
I think We will have to go away from
Maxwell Hall. We have a sister out
West. and I think we win go out
! there. 1 am sure that entire and per-
manent change OF scene Is the only
thing that will help Dudley at all"
I looked admiringlv at the dear lady
brothers comfort. ignoring her owH
sorrow, and assuring her Of my sincere
sympathy and my assistance in evezy
possible way, I returned to Hunt.
'I am not surprised" he said. when
told him that Miss Maxwells clock
had undoubtedly been ten minutes
| on Monday evening. TT Is alarming.
the way the links flt into the chain Of
| evidence. but II must be more than
| mere coincidence.
Look at it in this way for q mo-
ment-supposing. for the sake of ar
gument, that events proceeded Ike
this:
You saw Gilbert Crane in the BILL
Hard room at 10 O'Clock. This you are
sure Of Now, according to Cranes
own statement, he looked into Mr..
MaxwelPs study some twenty minutes
| later. But we have no other witnesses
| for this.
Mr.. Maxwell says he neither heard
nor saw him, and Crane himself ad-
n1itts that he did not. With the ex-
| ception OF Miss Gardiner on the bal
| cony. the guests were all in the music
| room, not only absorbed in their nu-
sic, but making great deal OF noise
Continuation OF This Story VIII Be
Found I'm Tomorrow's Issue
| of The Times.D