The Washington times., 1911-03-04

window How much of a
household have they here, Mr.. Barker
servants. l mean
In the farmhouse, there are Morton.
the head gardener, his wife and his four
! helpers"
| where's the farm house?''
Away over at the far side OF the
estate" Barker replied, with faint i'm
patience. You may count them out of
the window proposition. l was talking
with Morton yesterday; they turn in
, early over there-they were all getting
ready for bed before 9 Monday night.
Certain of that, Mr.. Barker?"
Perfectly. Here, about the immedla-
ate house, there is Murphy, the old
coachman, and his groom, Fabre, the
| chauffeur, and his machinist-helper-
whatever you call him. Then there is
! the housekeeper, Mrs. Fiske, and three
! maids"
And chef, doubtless?'
Man, Alsatian. 1 believe that he
has a youth of some description for a
Aha? Suppose we chat with the
coachman?"
IF you think it necessary" said Bar
ker. resignedly, as he stepped to the in
terror telephone
Murphy proved to be a sour-visaged
old man, sharp eyed and brief spoken.
looked straight at Gray as the latter
asked:
Murphy. can you tell me exactly
where you were on Monday evening,
between s and 80"
In me bed in the carriage house.
But your groom was not in bed?'
ThOt | can't say, sir. He went to his
sick mother in Pennsylvania Monday
morning, and he's not back yet"
NO one else around the stables or
the carriage house Monday EVENING"
Not wild the locks l have on the
doors!' the cOachman announced.
That Is ALL" Gray nodded.
The coachman shuffled away without
question or comment.
Perfectly reliable man?' the detcc-
tive asked, as the door closed.
Every servant on this place is alb
&outely reliable, truthful and faithful.
They wouldn't he here otherwise. You
may be certain Of that"
Suppose we see this housckeCper.
Mrs. FislIe"
Mrs. Fiske came quickly and Gray.
rOting the homely. practical middle
aged woman and the clear eyes, APP
proved her silently before:
Mrs. Fiske, l want to ask you
question or two. and I want you to be
as careful in answering as you would
be on a witness-stand. Is your recoi-
lection of Monday evening perfectly
Clear?"
YES, sir
do you happen to know where each
of the servants was between and 9
O'Clock?"
Murphy was in bed. l think Fahrc
was out with one of the cars. All the
rest OF them except the chef were in
their sitting room downstairs, sir lie
sat in the kitchen reading the papers,
as he always does"
81 was in and out of the linen room
until $3.50. They were right under my
eyes"
None Of them went outdoors?"
NO, sir"
Did any of them have any visitors.
after O'CloCk?'
wei, can you tell me in detail. Mrs. |
relatives that como here occasionally-I /
that might possibly have been about
the place Monday evening
That is something that have sue !
cessfully discouraged, the lady said'
decidedly They do their visiting away |
from the estate, sir. I have nephew !
who has been here twice in nine years; !
he is in Florida now. Murphy has
son in the city, and I believe Pell has
son, although I've never seen either of |
them. Friends and relatives don't come
here to call on the servants" she con-
Cluded. dryly.
And you would know it if they did"
Gray smiled
Il should"
Thank you, Mrs. Fisl1e," concluded
the detective.
He considered the floor for some min
utes in silence, when the houSekeeper
Lets have one more view of the
household, from Pell's standpoint this
time"
Pel seemed 10 be delayed It was
only after Barker had run6 for the
second time that the butler entered
and three of the men stared at him.
while the lawyer smiled family and
positively to be tOttering. Tears were
Il his eyes, his hands were shaking,
sheer terror seemed to vibrate from
him! And he faced Barker without
ceremony and cried:
Mrs. Fiske says these are policemen,
SIR
only detectives. Pell." the lawyer
said quietly.
here. sir!' the butler protested shakly.
Everything will come out ali right of
itself, and"
"PeIl, these gentlemen are not con-
soothingly. Brace up! We know that
you've been under hard strain. Pell,
but these gentlemen only want to ask ,
a question or two"
Why, all We want to know is wheth-
er-whether there were any strangers
about the place Monday evening" Gray {
somewhat taken aback.
Not one, SIR
You never see anything of the serv-
ants relatiVeS-relatiVeS that might pos
sibly come here to carry off stray
meal-Murphy's son or Mrs. Forbes
nephew-nothing of that sort going on
night?'
NO. sir" the voice shook violently.
"Or-some of your own friends or
your own Son?'
dill have no friends, sir, outside
this house," the butler gasped.
His lips quivered; tears rolled down '
MS cheeks. A voluminOus handkerchief
came into sight, and Pell's face was
buried in it!
And Barker, with a glance at Gray,
stepped hurriedly to his side and patted
MS shoulder with Il
Never mind, Pell. That's all they
want l understand"
Gray's lips twitched as the door
well, I didn't mean to precipitate
hat emotional outburst."
Poor old Pell is all broken up,
Barker said sadly. He never got over
Oeston'S death, and since Norman went
ne has hardly been able to hold up his I
head. The Lord knows what ideas he
may be entertaining privately about
Gerald and the rest. I suppose the no
ton of having policemen here was the
very last straw
mans feelings hereafter" Gray said
lightly well, Barker?" II
Have you learned anything?", 7
Half an hour ago | would almost A
have laughed at Forbes theory of
plot. Now l believe that there's some ,
thing behind the idea that we don't '
know. We do know most certainly that I
startling things began to happen imme-
iiately after Monday evening. We know |