Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-07-07
CHAPTER VIII.
Coquettish MeGee.

TT HE Moore boarding house, scene
or the Hanska murder, re-
NAMED closed, a plainclothes-
man from the precinct detective
force keeping 1t under watch and
ward. By routine the police should
have turned it back to its regular
occupants as soon as the coroner's
jury had viewed it and the photog-
raphers had finished with recording
the evidence. But since Mrs Moore's
boarders had transferred themselves
in a body to the more desirable estab-
lishment of Madame Rosalie LIE
Grange, the place lay vacant, dis
playing the sign ITO Rent Furnished;
Desirable for Boarding House." New
York is short-minded and cold
hearted, too noisy for ghosts and too
busy for brooding. 1t was not memory
of the tragedy which kept tenants
away, but the fact that the murder
happened early in the month, and
most boarding houses are to let from
the first to the first" Since the place,
for the time being, was of no use to
anyone else, Inspector MCGEE took
the precaution of setting a guard over
49, 40 o'iCNAAOA IA O1cSotiOit 1Ol
contingencies, he left Captain
Hanska's room undisturbed.
To this house-a plain four story
building of worn brick near it's turn
for destruction in the next trans
formation of impermanent New York
came Captain MCGEE and Rosalie
LIE Grange. They approached with
all the caution of forethought enter
ing the block through an Office build
ing on the next street, opening the
area door with a pass-key, going into
the house by the basement door at
the rear.
ugh! I hate to touch it," said
Rosalie, drawing her skirts away
from the wreckage of the cellar I'm
glad I wore my old clothes. Guess
Mrs. Moore never kept this place any
too well-an' with this dust an your
untidy cops, Martin MCGEE, it's just
scandalous now. Well, come on!"
And so she dragged her police escort
through floor after floor, room after
room-at first a superficial survey
and then minute search.
IT'S huntin' for needle in a hay
stack when you don't know for sure
whether you dropped it in the barn
yard or the pasture" said Rosalie as
she settled down to the more careful
stages of her search.
What is the needle, anyway"
asked MCGEE.
II amt sure it is a needle-it may
be a PIN" replied Resale with her
best air of mystery.
This was a house of four stories.
In Mrs. Moores reign it had dozen
occupants, what with boarders and
servants. Each room held a score of
those impedimenta, large and small,
which the complexlty of modern life
has lain upon the simplest of us.
Not an article but might be the mark
which would set Rosalie upon the
trail. The preliminary search-rein-
forced by old questioning among her
boarders-had given Rosalie the lay
of the land. The kitchen was in the
basement. The parlor, the dining
room and Mrs. Moore's room were
on the ground floor. Miss Harding
and Miss Jones lived in the second
story. On that floor also were two
vacant rooms-for Mrs. Moores
house had fallen on unprosperous
days. The third floor. where the men
lived, had been fully occupied by
Mr.. North, Professor Noll and Cap
tain Hanska- Tommy North had the
front room. Noll and Hanska lived
opposite each other at the rear. Cap
tain Hanska's room, the main OBJ
jective of Rosalie's search, was to
the right of the passage. The top
floor, again. had only one occupant
Miss Estrlla. She lived at the rear
of the house. where the lights were
lower. Her room was directly above
Professor Nolrs. Across from Miss
Estrilla's and above Captain Hanska's
apartment of accursed memory, lay
lumber-room, the catch-all for
trunks and odd furniture.
AS they came to Captain Hanska's
room, Inspector MCGEE stopped and
made Grafton.
tTo Be Continued Tomorrow.)