The Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Ark.) 190?-current, 1912-11-22
MM5HaIiWM X&aney

equally guilty, always the pair. Some
times it is the man and the woman.
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.
The third kind of evil idea. that of
the group. is responsible for the
strike. the mob, the conspiracy. 1t is
the contagion of crime The Black
Hand is typical example. The mem
bers of this notorious organization,
while they profit financially by their
, misdeeds, care little about that end
of It, 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 societys
exactions. 1t is this evil spirit that
kills kings. burns witches. destroys
property and lynehes negroes. The
Parrish mystery. however, is of the
second class-the crime of the pair
| am certain CT it"
The important thing then for us
to do" said l, trying to bring him
from the abstract TO the concrete, is
to tind Hugh Crandall and also to dis
cover who was his closest associate
man or&oman.
Do you think so?" he asked enig.
| matically. adding a second later,
Cant you take me to see Miss Far
risk ,"
Hardly another word passed be
tween us S the taxicab vhirled us up
Madison avenue TO the generals home.
| was thinking about Davis strange
| theories of crime and his opinion that
this was crime of the pair | felt
sure that he. as well as /, must be
| convinced of Crandall's 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 II might be
! either two men or a man and a wom-
an. A woman Gould 1t be that ne
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
II was she who for d long time had
been Crandall's closest associate. That
association apparently had been re-
! Gently renewed in secret. Was it pos
sibe that back Of the mystery there
was some crime and that Katharine
was guilty?
For a moment | was tempted to or
der the chauffeur to stop. II seemed
almost deseeration 10 take this heart
less analyzer of crime into the home
where death stalked SO close. Sup
post Katharine was-No, had pledged
my word to Louise that would
solve the mystery and | would keep
my promise, no matter where 1t 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 married Better the knowledge of
evil than the terror of mystery.
Davis wasted little time in cere-
mony As soon as | 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 serv-
ants TO escort him upstairs | was re-
joiclng at the opportunity TO be alone
with her The cold formality Of her
greeting would have troubled me had
| not attributed 1t 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 matteroffact 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? Gould
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 us there a yellow letter in
that case. too? Do you believe there
can be any connection between Mr.,
Elser apd-and what Katharine did,
Greatly perturoed. yet trying to con-
,ince myself that her attitude was
only girls natural reaction as she
,,aotod the events of the evening