Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-05-04

ner. l mad clear view or MIN, and II
ever guilt. rage, and white-lipped fear
showed on mans face, it showed on
his. He replied-7a half-dozen words,
in low tone. and made motion to
offer her chair. But she paid no at
tention.
l have no idea how long time they
talked. The fresh outburst of loise
below made it impossible to hear what
they said, and there was always the
maddening fact that could not see her
face. 1 thought of Mrs. Fleming,
but this woman seemed younger and
more slender. Schwartz was arguing
I imagined, but she stood immobile,
scornful, watching him. She seemed
to have made a request, and the mans
evasions moved her no whit.
It may have been only two or three
minutes, but 1t seemed longer.
Schwartz had given up the argument,
whatever it was, and by pointing out
the window, suppose he was telling
her he had thrown what she wanted
out there. Even then she did not turn
toward me; I could not see even her
profile.
What happened next was so unex-
pected that it remains little more than
a picture in my mind. The man threw
out his hands as if to show he could
not or would not accede to her request;
he was flushed with rage, and even
at that distance the ugly scar on his
forehead stood out like welt. the
next moment saw the woman raise
her right hand, with something In it.
yelled to Schwartz to warn him,
but he had already seen the revolver.
AS he struck her hand aside, the ex-
plosion came; saw her stagger, clutch
at chair, and fall backward beyond
my range Of vision.
Then the light went out, and l was
staring at blask, brick wall.
turned and ran frantically toward
the stairs. Luckily, found them
easily. fell rather than ran down to
the floor below. Then made wrong
turning and lost some time. MY last
match set me right and got into the
yard somehow, and to the street.
It was raining harder than ever, and
the thunder was incessant. ran
around the corner of the street, and
found the gate to the White Cat with
out trouble: The inner gate was
unlocked, as Burton had said he would
leave 1t, and from the steps OF the club
I could hear laughter and the refrain
Of popular song. The door opened
Just as I reached the top step, and
half-tumbled inside.
Burton was there in the kitchen,
with two other men whom did not
recognize, each one holding stein OF
been. Burton had two, and he held one
out to me as stood trying to get my
breath.
"You win" he said although I'm
hard working journalist and need the
money / won't lie. This is Osborne
OF the Star and McTighe of the Eagle,
Mr.. Knox. They heard the shot IN
there, and If l hadn't told the story,
there would have been a panic. What's
the matter. with you?"
shut the door into the grill-room
and faced the three men.
For Gods sake, Burton painted,
let's get upstairs quietly didn't fire
any shot. There's woman dead up
there"
with characteristic poise, the three
reporters took the situation quietly.
We filed through the grill-room as
casually as we could; with the door
closed however, we threw caution
aside. I led the way up the stairs to
the room where had found Fleming's
body, and where l expected to hnd
another
On the landing at the top of the
stairs / came face to face with David
son. the detective, and behind him
Judge Merely. Davidson was trying
to open the door of the room where
Fleming had been shot, with skele-
ton key. But it was bolted inside.
There was only one thing to do:
climbed on the shoulders of one of the
men. a tall fellow, whose face to this
day don't remember, and by careful
maneuvering and the assistance OF
Dayidsons long arms, | got through
the transom and dropped into the
room.
I hardly know what expected. !
was in total darkness. l know that
when 1 had got the door open at last,
when the cheerful light from the hall
streamed in, and / had not felt
Schwartz's heavy hand at my throat,
7 drew a long breath of relief. Burton
found the electric light switch and
turned it on. And then-I could hardly
believe my senses. The room was
empty.
One of the men laughed little.
"Stung!" he said lightly. What
sort of a story have you and your
friend framed up, Burton?'
But stopped at that minute and
picked up small nickel-plated reyol-
YER from the floor. l held it out, on my
palm, and the others eyed it respect.
fully.
Burton, after all, was the quickest.
witted Of the lot. He threw open one
of the two doors In the room, reveal.
ing shallow closet, with papered
walls and row of hooks. The other
door stuck tight. One Of the men
pointed to the floor; bit of black
cloth had wedged it, from the other
side. Our combined efforts got it open
at last, and we crowded in the door.
way, looking down fight of stairs
Hudd,ed Just below US, her head al
out feet, was the body Of the missing
| woman.
"My God Burton said hoarsely
"who is it?"
! ruApTER XXITI