The Washington times., 1913-04-29

4 tance, SO / turned little away from
him, leaned back a little and made
somebody else who was coming alons
] behind and to the right Of me.
His eyes wavered at that-almost
any mans willard jumped aside and
sGe soysr behind a1sd tree Come .ps on; on
and get his boat. I'll get him myself!
Then. making all the noise I could.
! came crashing down the hill q little
| farther
1T was an old trick. Of course; and
way that could know that Richards
about II. because he didn't know Of any
was up there, unless really had him
with me. He hesitated q second and
pushed on and then backed away few
strokes with the sculls.
| Then he hesiteted again. / think
the fact that he wasn't fired on may
have convinced him that he had been
tricked. But the next minute there
Claire fired 1t when she heard me
call out. and that decided II. -
He began pulling straight out to-
| ward the river. But a couple Of min
utes later Richards and the police.
boat hove in sight around the end Of
the island. swear I never thought
] should be so glad to see the lieu
tenant. Crow waved to him as II
nothing was the matter, and began
Ss RsecS Hi, sngush us TOWARD
meant to get there first and welcome
him ashore. Blu: he hadn't gone three
boat-lengths when l heard another
motor and saw Jacks Limousine come
tearing down the drive and pull up
in the circle just at the head Of the
bank.
'T shouted to Richards: Get him!
Get Crow! Don't let him go ashore"
Grow stopped rowing at once and
wait waited d,a for the & &policebos, to ;ome ne
anything more just then. becauee as
soon as I saw that Jack and Gwendo-
lyn were safe ] was down over you,
trying to find out whether he'd left
anything of you or not"
His voice made amends for the
jocularity of his words. Indeed. /
could sec that that was the only way
he could speak OF moment like that.
There was a little silence. then he
went on with his story.
Richards gave me the details Of what
happened next. Crow unshirped his
sculls and stood up in the boat when
the policeboat came alongside, just In
the act, apparently. of climbing aboard
IL something had tripped him. Richards
doesn't think he meant to do 1t. 1
can't be sure. Richards says 1t was
the painter-that very same long paint
er. Drew"
Yes" / said, II know
Anyhow. he threw up his arms in
an attempt to gain his balance. and
went overheard. capsizing the skin as
he did so. OF course. they expected
him to come up and wasted minute
or two for that to happen. But he
with the graphing hooks His pockets
We're weighted-not with regular
weights, but with all sorts Of heavy
things.
There were two revolvers-one Of
bag Of English sovereigns. Oh; and
lot of documents and notebooks and
things that he evidently hadn't time to
destroy. He was ready to make a good
getaway if he got the chance.
took you and Claire over to Beech Hill
and-well. that's about all to that part
Of the story
"One more question. jeffrey" said I.
why didn't Crow kill her as soon as
Why did he waltz
i've an ida" said Jeffrey. that We
found the reason down at the boat
house. Some one had been working
down there very recently on dragnet.
putting weights on it. He didn't mean
wanted everything ready first.
And then-weli there was choral
enough in the coffee he left for her to
drink, and that she happened not to
want, to have put her sound asleep. IL
not to have killed her. Oh. 1t was COM |
plete enough, 1t was the net that fin |
ished Richards. He looked as sick as / |
felt when he saw 1t, and as soon as he |
could get a telescope he sent word to |
turn Barton loose. |
How did Richards feel about the |
whole thing?" I asked
Thank the Lord for something cheer |
full to talk about at LAST said jeffrey. |
and the rest were all shaken with sud |
den laughter.
Can you find it," asked Gwendolyn. !
Never this" said Jeffrey proudly. |
and he took from his pocket what |
proved to be an editorial clipping from |
one of the more serious evening papers. ,
1t is often the unpleasant duty OF
this newspaper to speak in sharp
criticism of the police department.
And consequently II Is doubly re-
freshing to have an opportunity to
offer II unqualified praise as wei! as
our hearty congratulations on the
possession OF so brilliant and eff
cient an officer as Lieutenant Rich
ards. The solution of the mystery
Of the Beech Hill murder would be
credit to the police department in
any of the European capitals. and in
our own annals 1t is unique. With
All dDseHSt VI dilu Will
admirable reticence. with persever-
ance and logic. and occasional
flashes of intuition almost uncanny.
this officer unraveled the tangled
threads Of that mystery and brought
II to a triumphant solution.
From the fact that the suicide or
the accidental drowning OF the GRIM
inal at the moment Of his capture
obviates the necessity of n sensation
al trial-and for this the community
ia IN he congratulafed-it is only fair |