, 1913-01-16

1855 ""pTPnpfSsrpsne and INK. Al
lone corner wR3-a tray ~.contatnine ths
remnants Of a meal. q pillow and I
Pair Of blankets on a couch at ons
is1de showed the room had been serytus
lag q sbedehsmber.s
Al the table, leaning forward. hA
bead on bis arms, Was q man. I q cough
ed' and. receiving no answer, stepped
into the room.
Il beg your pardon" I said, but
am looking. for
Then the. truth. hunt on M. ovsr
rwhslmed me. A thin stream was
spreading over the ipaperslon the tapie.
moving slowyu sluggishly, as IL the
way With blood when the heart pump
Is stopped. L hurried over and raised
the heavy. wobbling. gray head. It
was Allan Fleming, and hs, had been
shot through the forehead.
My first impulse was to rouse the
house. my second to wait for Hunter.
10 turn loose. that mob Of half dylnken
men in such q place seemed frofana-
ton. Fleming had been our key to the
Bellwood affair, and he had put him
self beyond helping to solve any mys-
berry. I locked the door and stood won
dering what to do next. had seen
enough of death to know that the man
was beyond aid Of any kind.
1t was not until l had bolted the,
door hat I discovered the absence Of
any weapon. Everything that, had
gone before had pointed to q position
SO untenable that suicide seemed its
natural and ineyitable result. With
the discovery that there was no revolv.
'er o the table or floor the thing was
more ominous, l decided at once to
call the young city physician in the
room across the hall and, with some
thing experimenting panic. l threw
open the. door-to face Harry Wardrop
and. behind him. Hunter.
Z do not remember that any one,
spoke. Hunter jumped past me into
the room and tool In In q single
glance what 1 had labored to acquire
In three minutes. As Wardrop came
in Hunter, locked the door behind
him and we three stood staring at
the PROSTATE figure over the table,
1 watched Wardrop. I have, never
seen SO suddenly abject d picture
Every particle Of color left his face
and he was limp, unneryed.
did you hear the shotT' Hunter
asked me. ut has been q matter Of
minutes since It happened"
II don't know" 1 Bald. b~ewildered.
81 heard Q lot Of explosions. but !
thought It was an automobile out In
the street"
Hunter was listening while he e1-
amined the room. peering under the
table. lifting the blankets that had
tralled OF the couch on to the floor,
Some q outside tried the doorknot
and. finding the door locked. shook II
slightly.
"Flemingr' he called under his
breath. "Flemingw
We were silent In response to a sig
nal from Hunter, and the steps re,
treated heavily down the hall. The
detective spread the blankets decently
! owe the couch. aud the three. of ne
moved the body there. Wardrop waa
almost coliapsing.
Now" Hunter said quietly. what
do you know about this thing. MI.
WARDROBE"
Wardrop looked dazed-
HE was In a bad way when ! left
this morning. he said huskily, There
isn't much use. now trying to hide
anything. God knows I've done all ]
could. But he has beer using cocaine
for years, and today he ran out Of the
stuff. When ! got here about half an
hour age be was on the verge Of kill
! ing himself. got the revolver from
him He, was like q crazy man. and
as soon as 1 dared to leave him ]
went ont to try to End q DOCTOR
ITO get some cocainef'
yes"
~Not because be was already wound
ed and you were afraid It was fatalfT
whats the use Of lying about itp'
said wardrop YEARLY. "You won't
believe me II l tell the truth. either,
but he was dead when ! get here, ]
heard something like the bang Of q
door as l went upstairs, but the noise
was terrific down. below, and ]
copldn't tell. When ! went in he was
just dropping forward. and BE
hesitated.
.The revolverr', Hunter Queried.
lynx eyed.
WAS in his hand he was dead
then"
Where is the re~volverT"
II will turn 1t over to the coroner"
"You will give 1t to me-" Huntei
replied sharply. And after a little
fumbling Wardrop produced 1t from
his hip pocket, It was an ordinar,
thirty eight, The detective opened It
Two chambers were empty.
"And you waited, say, ten minutes
before you called for help. and ever
then you went outside hunting q doc.
tor. What were you doing In those
ten mipptesT'. ,
"ord-cn .hut hio lima and refused