The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1914-04-24

she said frankly:
Because ! have been so puzzled
about what happened Immediately aft.
erward that could make neither head
nor tail of the mystery"
please tell ne what happened"
las soon rs | discovered the loss of
the pearls | went to the window to see
III Edith had actually departed There
was a yellow taXicab drawing away
from the curl, and rs | looked it sud
denly speeded around the corner and
disappeared down the avenue was
surprised at sight of the taxi because
Edith has her own electric brougham.
and supposed she had arrived in that
She rarely uses public vehicles. called
a servant and inquired if Mrs. Smith
| had come In that taXicab, and the man
said she had and that she had departed
| in it.
| II was so wrought up over the loss Of
the pearls that | went to the telephone
| and called Mrs. Smiths hotel, asking
| them to have her call me as soon as she
| arrived there. To my surprise they said
she was ut home and would speak to
| me, and when she came to the tele-
| phone you can imagine my amazement
when she told me that she had not
| been out that day-She had been con
| fined TO the house with an attack of
| neuralgia She could not understand
my illusions to her call upon me.
Immediately l rang for my motor.
| and In fifteen minutes | was closeted
| with Mrs. Smith in her sitting room at
| the hotel. You can imagine my amaze
ment when she positively denied hay
ing seen me before that day. and she
was looking so very i'll that was com
| PEELED to believe her. | told her about
| on" conversation. which was of care
| less. chattering nature. as between old
| friends. and ! repeated the story of
| showing her the pearls and recalled to
her mind about TriXie and his clever
tricks, but Edith only shook her head
and looked at me pityingly. Then She
rang for her maid and sent for TriXie.
''Honoria, the maid. brought the little
dog to her mistress and said emphati-
caly that the dog had not been out of
the house that day"
Mrs. Woods paused and looked at the
lawyer.
We'll" she asked eXpectantIy. what
do you make of my mystery, Mr.. uar-
ley? Who came in the yellow taXicab
If it was not Edith Smith,"
please tell me rs nearly as you can
recolIect the last impression you have
of your friend before she left the room
What was she doing?'
Il was sitting at the telephone and
called farewell over my shoulder, ex-
cusing myself as | did so. She stood
Trixie on the table and came over and
kissed ME. Then she went back to the
table, picked up the dog and went out"
And TriXie was standing on the
same table where the string of pearls
was lying?"
YES"
"Please describe Mrs. Smith to me.
Tell me what she wore
"She Is small. fair woman. with
regular features-in fact. she is very
pretty. She was wearing q dainty
gown Of summer silk and her face was
a
said that she had been suffering from
neuralgia and dared not remove it. l
was surprised. because the day was
very warm, as you may recollect. She
lifted the veil when she drank her tea,
but only showing the line of her lips,
and was rather'surprised to note that
she had rouged her lips and tinted her
oh hoc al
emphatic in her dislike of such subter-
fuges of the toilet"
please describe Mrs. Smiths maid,
Honora."
"Honoria? / hardly know. Mr.. Har-
ley. She has been with Edith very
short time, but l understand she Is in
valuable in her position and came high
ly recommended. She is small-smal-
Ter than Edith--pale and mousey look
ing-nOt pretty-wel, one Of those
people who look like almost any one
straight features, not very young, with
sandy hair and compleXion-thati Is as
close description as | can remember
And she has been present a number
Of times when you have been to see
Wis. CulltH.
Yes. Edith has been i'll more or
lesx Ell summer and | have visited her
In her room ut the hotel. Honoria has
sat sewinS raT ny p~ady to wait upon
her mistress"
did Mrs. Smith tex you that the
maid had been absent yes,ectlVf
"She didn't say. Mr.. Harley. She
merely explained that she herself had
sept from luncheon time until l called
her on the telephone"
Harley sat in deep thought for some
time Then he excused himself and
went into the next room. where he
talked with his partner for while.
When he returned to his own office he
closed the door, but the low rumble Of
Rogers voice over the telephone could
be distinctly heard.
"Do you think you can help me?"
asked Mrs. Woods anxiously
"Yes, Mrs Woods. Not only do 1 be-
lieve / can help you. but am sure
that the mystery will be solved before
you leave my Officer
"Oh, you must be wizard"' she