Rural Retreat times. [volume] (Rural Retreat, Va.) 1892-1918, 1912-12-13

times 1t is the man and the woman,
1 sometimes the strong man and the
weak man, sometimes two women,
though seldom, for women have little
OF the inventive or creative faculty,
even in crime. Notorious women Grim
lnals, Just like all other feminine ce-
lebrities in literature or art, have
much Of the masculine in their make
| up.
Tie third kind of evil idea, that of
the group, is responsible for the
| strike, the mob, the conspiracy. It is
the contagion of crime. The Black
Hand is typical example The mem
Ders OF this notorious organization,
| While they profit financially by their
misdeeds, care little about that end
OF 1t. Their greatest pleasure is in
the torture of their victims, in the
agony they suffer from the time the
nameless dread of the Black Hand
first seizes them until finally they are
put to death for refusing the society's
exactions. 1t is this evil spirit that
kills kings, burns witches, destroys
property and lynches negroes. The
Parrish mystery, however, is of the
second class-the crime Of the pair.
| am certain Of it,"
! The important thing then for us
to do" said I, trying to bring him
from the abstract to the concrete. sis
TO md Hugh Crandall and also to dis
cover who was his closest associate
man or woman"
1
10 you think so?" he asked enig-
matically, adding second later.
Cant you take me to see Miss Far
rish?"
Hardly another word passed be-
tween us as the taxicab whirled us up
Madison avenue to the generals home.
/ was thinking about Davis strange
theories of crime and his opinion that
this was a crime Of the pair. I felt
sure that he, as well as |, must be
convinced of Crandalls connection
with the matter and surely his flight
did not argue innocence. But if this
was crime OF the pair, who was the
other guilty person? Whom did Davis
suspect? He had said that it might be
either two men or man and WON
an A woman? Could it be that he
suspected Katharine Parrish Of shar-
ing Crandall's guilt?
No, no 1t was impossible. too alb
| surd. Yet certainly the yellow letter
seemed link between her and Elser.
IL was she who for a long time had
been Crandall,s closest associate. That
association apparently had been re
Gently renewed in secret. Was If nos
/ slDie that back Of the mystery there
was some crime and that Katharine
was guilty?
For moment | was tempted to or
der the chauffeur to stop. 1t seemed
almost dissertation to take this heart
less anaiyzer of crime into the home
where death stalked SO close. Sup
post Katharine was-No, I had pledged
my word to Louise that would
| solve the mystery and would keep
| my promise, no matter where it led
me. After all, the important thing
was my beloved ones peace of mind.
AS long as the shadow hung over her
father and sister, her happiness must
be marred. Better the knowledge of
evil than the terror of mystery
Davis wasted little time in cere-
mony AS soon as I had introduced
him to Louise, he said abruptly:
I'D like to see the room where 1t
happened alone"
AS Louise called one of the sery
ants to escort him upstairs | was re-
1olclng at the opportunity to be alone
with her. The cold formality of her
greeting would have troubled me had
l not attributed it to the Inspectors
presence. AS soon as he had left us.
with the memories of the evening be-
fore glowing in my mind, turned to
embrace her.
Don't. please don't!' she said cold
ly.
why, dearest!" stammered in
amazement.
She offered no explanation but said
in the most matter-of-fact tones-too
matter-of-fact to be natural, thought
Tell me, Mr.. Kent, what you
learned at the place where Mr.. Elser
| lived"
was dumfounded. What had
come over her? What could have
happened to make this sudden change
in her attitude toward me? Could
this cool, distant young woman be the
! same girl who only few hours before
had chung SO desperately to me and
had wept out her sorrows in my arms
Had she overnight forgotten the kiss
with which we pledged our Joint eff
forts to solve the mystery?
Tell me, Mr.. Kent" she persisted
quietly. SIS there yellow letter in
that case, too? Do you believe there
can be any connection between Mr..
Elser and-and what Katharine did?"
Greatly perturbed, yet trying to con-
vince myself that her attitude was
only girls natural reaction as she
recollected the events Of the evening
before, was just beginning to rehearse
what little we had learned in the
boarding house when Davis came run
ming down the stairs.